| Full Name: | Stephen C. Smith |
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| Gender: | Male |
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| Family: | Wife: Andrea |
| Birth Date: | 1949 |
| Birth Place: | Los Angeles, CA |
| Home City: | Los Angeles, CA |
Stephen C. Smith
Stephen C. Smith's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Stephen Smith submitted the 2012 Political Courage Test after the official deadline and release of results to the media. The candidate's late responses are provided here as a public service.
What is the Political Courage Test?
California Congressional Election 2012 Political Courage Test
Key
- Official Position: Candidate had the Political Courage to address this issue directly.
- Inferred Position: Candidate refused to address this issue directly, but Project Vote Smart inferred this issue position based on the candidate's public statements, voting record, and evaluations from special interest groups.
- Unknown Position: Candidate refused to address this issue.
- Project Vote Smart's Research: Click on this icon to reveal more information about this candidate's position.
Other or Expanded Principles & Legislative Priorities are entered exactly as the candidate has submitted it. Project Vote Smart does not edit for misspelled words, punctuation or grammar.
Pro-life | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? |
| Other or expanded principles | |
If murdering a pregnant woman is a double murder, how is not (especially late term) an abortion also murder. |
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| Yes | Do you support United States' combat operations in Afghanistan? |
| No | Do you support a timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan? |
| Other or expanded principles | |
We must help the country to able to defend itself. After that, we should keep a limited specials opps training force. |
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Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing the federal budget. | |
In order to balance the budget, | |
| No | do you support reducing defense spending? |
| No | do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? |
 | do you support reducing Medicaid spending? |
| do you support reducing Medicare spending? |
| Yes | Is balancing the budget a legislative priority? |
| Other or expanded principles | |
All wage earners need skin in the game, even if the amount is small. The questions about Medicaid and Medicare are not yes or no questions, they are more nuanced. |
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| Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? |
| Other or expanded principles | |
Regulations tend to be bad. Either all reported or nothing allowed from corporations and unions. |
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| Yes | Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? |
| Other or expanded principles |
| No | Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth? |
| Yes | Do you support providing tax incentives to businesses for the purpose of job creation? |
| No | Do you support spending on infrastructure projects for the purpose of job creation? |
| No | Do you support the temporary extension of unemployment benefits? |
| Yes | Do you support the 2010 temporary extension of tax relief? |
| Other or expanded principles | |
We need to dramatically simplify the tax code and lower taxes, especially corporate taxes. |
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| No | Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants? |
| Other or expanded principles | |
I support state sovereignty. Regulations cause most of the problems. |
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| Yes | Do you support reducing restrictions on offshore energy production? |
| Other or expanded principles | |
We need more energy production, especially the new technology nuclear energy. |
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| No | Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change? |
| No | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? |
| Other or expanded principles | |
Mars is heating at the same rate as the earth. We need to be good stewards, by protecting forests and open spaces. Low polution, especially unburned hydrocarbons, but CO2 is natural and necessary for balance. |
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Unknown Position |
Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? 
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| Other or expanded principles | |
This is a bad question because there ARE restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns now. I fully support the Second Amendment. Restrictions on violent felony and mental incompetents is reasonable. I support more safety training. |
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| Yes | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act? |
| No | Should individuals be required to purchase health insurance, as mandated in the 2010 Affordable Care Act? |
| Other or expanded principles | |
Gross violation of the Constitution. If upheld, we could be forced to buy anything. Incredible abuse of power. |
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| Unknown Position |
Do you support requiring illegal immigrants to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship?
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| Do you support allowing illegal immigrants, who were brought to the United States as minors, to pursue citizenship without returning to their country of origin? |
| Yes | Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration law by state and local police? |
| Other or expanded principles | |
These questions put the cart before the horse. Absolutely control the border first. Remember when amnesty was offered under President Reagan the program failed because the borders were not controlled. We can offer solutions for those who are here AFTER we secure the borders. |
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| No | Do you support same-sex marriage? |
| Other or expanded principles | |
Domestic partnerships should be legal. |
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| Yes | Do you support targeting suspected terrorists outside of official theaters of conflict? |
| Yes | Should the U.S use military force in order to prevent Iran from possessing a nuclear weapon? |
| Other or expanded principles | |
As a last resort. |
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| Yes | Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts? |
| Other or expanded principles |
Spending | |
Indicate what federal spending levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one number per category; you can use a number more than once. | |
| a) Agriculture |
| b) Arts |
| c) Defense |
| d) Education |
| e) Environment |
| f) Homeland Security |
| g) International aid |
| h) Medical Research |
| i) Scientific Research |
| j) Space exploration |
| k) United Nations |
| l) Welfare |
| m) Other or expanded categories | |
The categories may change due to current events, but I support a balanced budget. We need to transition to self-funding for SS and Medicare. The SS trust is a sham. It is not a trust. |
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Taxes | |
Indicate what federal tax levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one number per category; you can use a number more than once. | |
| a) Capital gains taxes |
| b) Corporate taxes |
| c) Excise taxes (alcohol) |
| d) Excise taxes (cigarettes) |
| e) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) |
| f) Income taxes (low-income families) |
| g) Income taxes (middle-income families) |
| h) Income taxes (high-income families) |
| i) Inheritance taxes |
| j) Payroll taxes |
| k) Other or expanded categories |
| Please explain in a total of 100 words or less, your top two or three priorities if elected. If they require additional funding for implementation, please explain how you would obtain this funding. | |
1. Rewrite the tax code. |
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