William Yarbrough's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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William Yarbrough refused to tell citizens where he stands on any of the issues addressed in the 2012 Political Courage Test, despite repeated requests from Vote Smart, national media, and prominent political leaders.
This candidate has responded to a Political Courage Test in a previous election. As a continued effort to provide the American public with factual information on candidates running for public office, these archived responses are made available here.
Ohio State Legislative Election 2010 Political Courage Test
| a) Do you consider yourself pro-choice or pro-life? | |||
| b) Should abortion be legal only within the first trimester of pregnancy? | |||
| Yes | c) Should abortion be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape? | ||
| Yes | d) Should abortion be legal when the life of the woman is endangered? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support requiring parental notification before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support requiring parental consent before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support sexual education programs that include information on abstinence, contraceptives, and HIV/STD prevention methods? | ||
| Yes | h) Do you support abstinence-only sexual education programs? | ||
| Direct Response to Questions A) and B): I do not consider myself pro-choice or pro-life -- it does a disservice to honest discussion. I am against all public funding for abortion services. I am against any procedure that would take the life of an otherwise viable child outside the womb -- this means reviewing legislation as it is presented and judging it on its merits. However, I favor availability for the "Morning After Pill." I favor any education programs that a parent may wish to use for their children in an open marketplace free from public funding of any kind. | |||
1) State SpendingIndicate what state funding levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one level per category- you can use a number more than once.2) State TaxesIndicate what state tax levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one level per category- you can use a number more than once.3) Budget StabilizationIndicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing Ohio's budget.
| Slightly Decrease | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | c) Environment | ||
| Greatly Decrease | d) Health care | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Law enforcement | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Transportation and highway infrastructure | ||
| Greatly Decrease | g) Welfare | ||
| Greatly Decrease | h) Other or expanded categories | ||
| Greatly Decrease | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | d) Gasoline taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | e) Property taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Sales taxes | ||
| Eliminate | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | h) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Yes | a) Issuing the early release of certain non-violent offenders | ||
| No | b) Increasing tuition rates at public universities | ||
| c) Instituting mandatory furloughs and layoffs for state employees | |||
| d) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | |||
| Yes | e) Privatizing certain government services | ||
| Funding of corporate welfare subsidies in the name of economic development. Government spending must be replaced with free market incentives for the general well-being of Ohio's citizens. For example, requiring corporate accountability greatly reduces the need for funding of environmental programs. Likewise, reforming the health care industry by de-coupling "health insurance," from "health maintenance" (among other free-market steps) will lower costs and reduce the need for welfare. Institutions of higher learning must be forced to match public funding with use of endowments for capital improvements. | |||
| Important: While I favor greatly reducing or eliminating most taxes in Ohio, this must be done in a fiscally prudent way. This means addressing the size and scope of state government first so that lower taxes may result. I favor a flat consumption tax over taxes that punish wealth creation. Taxes should not be used as a means of behavior modification. | |||
| Direct response to Question C): Mandatory furloughs and layoffs of state employees should be an option only if unable to negotiate reasonable but significant changes to state employee compensation systems. Direct Response to Question D): Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients should be examined only in-light of a full health care reform package that reduces costs in a free market -- thus minimizing the need for Medicare services. Other options include: Selling government property, single-sourced administration of government jurisdictions, reducing government employee benefits, raising retirement ages, prohibition of drawing a state salary and pension simultaneously, and moving to a defined-contribution system. | |||
c) Do you support limits on the following types of contributions to candidates for state government?
| Yes | a) Do you support limits on the number of terms for Ohio governors? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support limits on the number of terms for Ohio state legislators? | ||
| No | 1) Individual | ||
| No | 2) Political Action Committee | ||
| Yes | 3) Corporate | ||
| No | 4) Political Party | ||
| No | d) Should candidates for state office be encouraged to meet voluntary spending limits? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information? | ||
| Unions and Corporations are not "individuals," and thus should not be afforded the same benefits. However, individuals should be able to band together for the specific purpose of influencing elections. So long as PACs and political parties are prohibited from being unduly influenced by corporations and unions, they should not be limited in their participation in the free market of ideas. | |||
| No | a) Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support alternatives to incarceration for certain non-violent offenders, such as mandatory counseling or substance abuse treatment? | ||
| Yes | c) Should the possession of small amounts of marijuana be decriminalized? | ||
| No | d) Should minors accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as adults? | ||
| e) Should minors who send sexually-explicit or nude photos by cell phone face criminal charges? | |||
| Yes | f) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| Direct Response to Question E) Minors sending sexually-explicit or nude photos by cell-phone should be charged under some circumstances (e.g.: when violating privacy rights of another), but should not be subject to the same laws governing pornography as currently defined. Rather, sensible regulation specifically referencing this behavior should be drafted. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| No | b) Do you support increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers? | ||
| No | c) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | ||
| No | d) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| No | e) Do you support increased spending on infrastructure projects for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| No | f) Do you support the construction of passenger rail lines between Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati? | ||
| No | g) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| Generally speaking, the regulatory and tax environment in Ohio needs to be such that private businesses will wish to invest in Ohio of their own will. This is what creates jobs and strengthens the economy. The short-term gains associated with corproate welfare are far outweighed by the long-term societal cost. Politicians will always try and make a case for corporate welfare (e.g.: who's against high-tech manufacturing in Ohio?), but Ohio needs the foresight to understand how these giveaways punish the economy as a whole and the burden is squarely on Ohio's taxpayers to support pet-industries. | |||
| No | a) Do you support national education standards? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support requiring public schools to administer high school exit exams? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support adding more days to Ohio's 180-day school calendar? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support using a merit pay system for teachers? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| No | f) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| No | g) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Ohio high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| Education standards should be administered at the state level and not the national level. Each state should have the ability to coodinate with other states voluntarily as they deem necessary. Each local school board should be given the widest latitude possible in how they choose to meet state standards and prepare students for mandatory examinations. | |||
| No | a) Do you support state funding for the development of alternative energy? | ||
| No | b) Do you support state funding for the development of traditional domestic energy sources (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil)? | ||
| No | c) Do you support providing financial incentives to farms that produce biofuel crops? | ||
| No | d) Do you support state funding for improvements to Ohio's energy infrastructure? | ||
| No | e) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | ||
| No | f) Do you support enacting environmental regulations aimed at reducing the effects of climate change? | ||
| To the unenlightened, it appears selfish to oppose such subsidies. Being against subsidies does NOT mean you are against the concepts of clean energy and innovative technology. Ohio can lead the way in environmental reform by making it viable to start and expand business in the state -- business of all types. Innovation requires fewer subsidies and more freedom to explore. For example, it's California's higher education system that encourages private investment to innovate. A high-tech and/or environmentally conscious company will want to come to a state that has a highly educated workforce able to keep most of its earnings. | |||
| a) Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | |||
| b) Do you support requiring background checks on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows? | |||
| Yes | c) Do you support allowing individuals to carry concealed guns? | ||
| No | d) Do you support requiring a license for gun possession? | ||
| Direct Response to Questions A) and B): Restrctions on the purchase and possession of guns should be practically non-existent. The U.S. and Ohio Constitutions make it very clear that there is an inalienable right to private gun ownership. That said, it is reasonable that weapons not designed for personal protection may require some level of registration where a handgun for personal protection should not require any restrictions. Laws regarding background checks for handguns need to be either eliminated or uniformly administered regardless of venue -- otherwise the law is useless. | |||
| No | a) Do you support a universally-accessible, publicly-administered health insurance option? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support expanding access to health care through commercial health insurance reform? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support interstate health insurance compacts? | ||
| No | d) Should individuals be required to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits? | ||
| No | f) Do you support legalizing physician-assisted suicide in Ohio? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| h) Other or expanded principles | |||
| No | a) Should marriage only be between one man and one woman? | ||
| Yes | b) Should Ohio allow same-sex couples to form civil unions? | ||
| No | c) Do you support state funding for stem cell research? | ||
| No | d) Do you support state funding for embryonic stem cell research? | ||
| No | e) Do you support the state's use of affirmative action? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Ohio's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Ohio's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| h) Other or expanded principles | |||
| 1) The size, scope, and role of state government must be fundamentally re-examined in Ohio. This includes how overlapping jurisdictions are administered, how state projects are funded, how employees are compensated, and how Ohio uses its soverignty to make decisions in the best interests of its people. 2) Ohio must gain such significant efficiencies from #1 above that it is able to dramatically reduce regulation and streamline corporate, CAT, and individual tax structures -- unleashing the economy. 3) Ohio should be a "laboratory of democracy" with regards to how the private market can innovate in both health care and education. |
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