Elaine Mastromatteo's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
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Elaine Mastromatteo has refused to provide voters with positions on key issues covered by the 2014 Political Courage Test, despite repeated requests.
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 Congressional Election 2012 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| It's not about pro-life or pro-choice, it's about control: who gets to control a woman's body: the woman herself or a legislative 85body made up mostly of men? I feel that all women of childbearing years need easy access to safe, effective, low cost birth control, including the "morning-after" pill, and when we get it the need for abortions will all but cease. | |||
| No | Do you support United States' combat operations in Afghanistan? | ||
| Yes | Do you support a timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan? | ||
| Our excessive military spending is shameful, so are our interventionist policies and empire building agenda; so are drone attacks and so is the treatment, or lack of it, that our returning vets receive. We have had enough of killing and dying. It's time to spend our vast resources on the enrichment of the human race, not its destruction. | |||
Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing the federal budget.In order to balance the budget,
| Yes | do you support reducing defense spending? | ||
| Yes | do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| No | do you support reducing Medicaid spending? | ||
| No | do you support reducing Medicare spending? | ||
| Yes | Is balancing the budget a legislative priority? | ||
| Proper Taxing and Spending is a legislative priority. Our government is having financial difficulties because it has failed to collect revenues. Legislation has been passed that has allowed huge multinational corporations and those with the largest incomes to avoid paying taxes in an amount which would reflect their great fortune, leaving the burden on the already-struggling American worker. Raising taxes on the upper income brackets, taxing financial transactions and eliminating subsidies to highly profitable businesses would bring a return of effective government services as well as a less desperate approach to community financial planning. | |||
| Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| I believe in the Green Party philosophy of not accepting corporate campaign contributions, only small donations from individuals. The political influence of big-money special-interest donors is in direct conflict with the best interests of the people, and is the main reason our citizens are so poorly served by their government. | |||
| No | Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| State-sponsored killing is wrong in whatever form it takes, and too many innocent people are killed. | |||
| Yes | Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | Do you support providing tax incentives to businesses for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| Yes | Do you support spending on infrastructure projects for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the temporary extension of unemployment benefits? | ||
| No | Do you support the 2010 temporary extension of tax relief? | ||
| I do not support the Bush Tax cuts for the wealthy. They have been disastrous for our financial solvency. I do support government spending to provide services for citizens, including extended unemployment benefits in a time of need. Too many businesses have been given tax cuts and then not passed them on to benefit the community, causing serious financial hardships to many school systems and localities. Ordinary People are the job creators. Put the money back in their pockets! | |||
| No | Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants? | ||
| Schools need better funding and less "reforms". We need to return to a community-based, humanitarian approach to learning without competition for funds. We should do away with arbitrary ratings systems that often do not take into account the unique requirements of the students. Teachers should be accorded the respect and financial remuneration they deserve as caretakers of our next generation, not blamed and demonized for failing to meet unreasonable and impossible goals. | |||
| No | Do you support reducing restrictions on offshore energy production? | ||
| I support increasing restrictions on offshore energy production. The energy industry is notoriously careless and prone to accidents. They have no conscience and no morals and no remorse. They are in a position to destroy our environment to the point of being unable to support human life. We can and must have better energy alternatives not controlled by the destructive energy industry. | |||
| Yes | Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| I support immediate climate-change-related legislation to reduce greenhouse gases, as well as other measures to enhance the quality of our air, water and land. We need to protect our resources rather than lay them bare to the highest bidder. We need to stop selling our environmental lifeblood for money from industries that destroy our future. | |||
| Yes | Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| I absolutely support the constitutional right to bear arms. Living in a rural area, I see that gun ownership is a necessary way of life, and I understand that guns are an effective tool to help provide food and control vermin. But I do think reasonable regulations are acceptable and necessary for deadly weapons. | |||
| 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? | ||
| I support enacting SINGLE PAYER UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE. Replace the ACA with Medicare for all. It is the only reasonable way to cover the health care needs of all Americans while saving an amazing amount of money on administrative fees and health insurance company profits. We could eliminate bankruptcy due to medical bills, become immediately more competitive with countries that do have this type of health care policy, devote more of our health care budget to real care, not insurance, and finally have a better quality of life. | |||
| No | Do you support requiring illegal immigrants to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration law by state and local police? | ||
| Yes | Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| I absolutely support same-sex marriage and equal rights for all! | |||
| No | Do you support targeting suspected terrorists outside of official theaters of conflict? | ||
| No | Should the U.S use military force in order to prevent Iran from possessing a nuclear weapon? | ||
| America should not use its vast military force to invade or intimidate other countries, whether it's about nuclear weapons, or oil and other resources, or just because we don't like their leadership. Our military should be used to defend our borders and those of our allies if under attack. We should not be the attackers. | |||
| No | Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts? | ||
| Retirement accounts have been looted by the unscrupulous in the financial industry. Keeping Social Security Safe and Strong is extremely important. Social Security works. We need to work to keep it. | |||
SpendingIndicate 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.TaxesIndicate 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.
| Slightly Increase | a) Agriculture | ||
| Greatly Increase | b) Arts | ||
| Greatly Decrease | c) Defense | ||
| Greatly Increase | d) Education | ||
| Greatly Increase | e) Environment | ||
| Eliminate | f) Homeland Security | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) International aid | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Medical Research | ||
| Greatly Increase | i) Scientific Research | ||
| Maintain Status | j) Space exploration | ||
| Slightly Decrease | k) United Nations | ||
| Greatly Increase | l) Welfare | ||
| Greatly Increase | a) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | b) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Excise taxes (alcohol) | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | f) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Greatly Increase | h) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Greatly Increase | i) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | j) Payroll taxes | ||
| I would increase aid to family farms and decrease aid to huge and harmful factory farms. I would greatly decrease foreign aid in the form of weapons and armaments and concentrate on encouraging positive social programs. I would drastically cut defense and have enough to fund lavish departments of science, education and the arts. I would greatly increase aid to truly clean alternative energy development to get us all out of the control of the toxic energy industry. I would eliminate Homeland Security and use the money to better fund local safety forces. | |||
| Our legislators must stop colluding with the corporate & financial elite to eliminate taxes on the corporations and upper income brackets. The wealthy few have hoarded the benefits created by years of rising production, but they have gotten out of sharing the rewards. We need a fairer method of income distribution using taxation. | |||
| My priority would be to break the stranglehold the corporate financial elite have gained over the functions of our government to the detriment of the citizenry. I would try to pass legislation that enhanced the basic needs and rights of the people, rather than constant profits and growth for business. I would support returning control of their communities to the people. I would legislate against our excessive support of violence and destruction. |
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