Gaelan Brown's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Vermont State Legislative Election 2010 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | a) Do you consider yourself pro-choice or pro-life? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| No | h) Do you support abstinence-only sexual education programs? | ||
| The government has no business at the state or federal level telling a woman what medical treatments she can do with her body. A fetus is attached/part-of her body, until it is born. | |||
1) State SpendingIndicate what state funding levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one level per category; you may 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 may use a number more than once.3) Budget StabilizationIndicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing Vermont's budget.
| Slightly Decrease | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Slightly Increase | c) Environment | ||
| Slightly Decrease | d) Health care | ||
| Slightly Decrease | e) Law enforcement | ||
| Slightly Increase | f) Transportation and highway infrastructure | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Welfare | ||
| Eliminate | h) Other or expanded categories | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | d) Gasoline taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | e) Property taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | f) Sales taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | h) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Slightly Increase | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| No | a) Tapping into Vermont's "rainy day" fund | ||
| Yes | b) Issuing the early release of certain non-violent offenders | ||
| No | c) Increasing tuition rates at public universities | ||
| No | d) Instituting mandatory furloughs and layoffs for state employees | ||
| No | e) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| No | f) Privatizing certain government services | ||
| Vermont's share of the federal military budget is more than $1.5 billion per year. This figure represents more than one third of the entire State operating budget. Vermont needs to greatly decrease its annual funding support for the bloated US military industry and the 1000+ military bases around the world. Vermont cannot afford $1.5 billion per year to police the rest of the world while we have a "budget crisis" in terms of funding in-state programs. | |||
| Resource Extraction/export Tax: how could you leave this off the list? Foreign corporations extract and export more than $1.2 billion per year worth of natural resources such as water, minerals and timber. These operations create no value-added jobs while depleting state-resources without compensating the state. Vermont needs a resource-extraction/export tax, similar to Alaska, to prevent our natural resources from being depleted without compensating Vermonters. A resource-extraction/export tax, along with reforming property tax to a land-rent tax based only on the non-development value of the land instead of taxing property improvements, can fill all of the state budget gaps. | |||
| Removing some or all of Vermont's $1.5 billion annual share of the bloated US military budget, and instituting resource-extraction/export taxes, can more than offset our current and future state-budget deficits. | |||
d) Do you support limits on the following types of contributions to candidates for state government?
| Yes | a) Do you support the use of instant runoff voting for Vermont elections? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support limits on the number of terms for Vermont governors? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support limits on the number of terms for Vermont state legislators? | ||
| Yes | 1) Individual | ||
| Yes | 2) Political Action Committee | ||
| Yes | 3) Corporate | ||
| Yes | 4) Political Party | ||
| Yes | e) Should candidates for state office be encouraged to meet voluntary spending limits? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information? | ||
| Campaign finance should be 100% public-funded. Any candidate who meets the qualifications to get on the ballot should get an equal share of the state-funded campaign budget. The state can accept donations from corporations, PACs or individuals who want to help fund election campaigns but those funds will be distributed equally to all the candidates. This is the only way to prevent special corporate interests from buying politicians and buying elections. All elected officials should have term limits equivalent to no more than 8 years in office. | |||
| Yes | 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 a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | ||
| No | e) Should a minor who sends sexually-explicit or nude photos by cell phone face criminal charges? | ||
| No | f) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| All victim-less "crime" in which there is no person who was harmed who is pressing charges should have a maximum penalty of a $100 fine. Our courts and police are wasting time and money prosecuting victim-less crimes while corporate crime is completely ignored. States need to exercise their Constitutional rights to determine what substances are controlled, taxed or banned, and the federal government should have absolutely no say on these matters except regarding transactions and distribution of substances across state lines per the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support increased spending on infrastructure projects for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| No | f) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| Incentives for job creation should only be for jobs that PRODUCE value-added goods. Infrastructure investments should not be done merely to create jobs, but only as part of a plan to create a more PRODUCTIVE ECONOMY (incentives to create production vs consumption) Most of Vermont's economic challenges exist because no longer produce goods, instead we rely on tourism and debt-funded over-consumption which keeps the retail stores in business but provides no quality job market or economic security for the state. A State-owned bank ala North Dakota would insulate Vermont from Wall St speculation and corruption. | |||
| No | a) Do you support national education standards? | ||
| No | b) Do you support consolidating Vermont's school districts? | ||
| No | c) Do you support requiring public schools to administer high school exit exams? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support using a merit pay system for teachers? | ||
| No | e) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| Yes | g) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Vermont high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| The federal government has no Constitutional authority to regulate any aspect of Vermont's education systems. Schools should be locally controlled, including funding, curriculum and standards. Vermont don't need the federal government or Montpelier telling them how to educate their children. No Child Left Behind is unconstitutional and should be nullified. Vermont should create a Tax-Forwarders Office, and all federal income-tax due from Vermonters should go through the TFO. State needs for education, health care, infrastructure, law enforcement, social programs should be taken out of the TFO escrow account, and any remaining funds should then be forwarded to the IRS. | |||
| Yes | 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)? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support providing financial incentives to farms that produce biofuel crops? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support state funding for improvements to Vermont's energy infrastructure? | ||
| No | e) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support enacting environmental regulations aimed at reducing the effects of climate change? | ||
| Renewable energy should not be funded by state tax-subsidies. We should employ proven market-based programs such as Renewable Portfolio Standards or Feed-in-Tariffs that spread the cost of renewable-energy investments across the energy market, with cost-index based adjustments over time so as to prevent rate-payers from being dramatically impacted. This will create thousands of local energy jobs without creating a burden on tax-payers. In-state renewable energy should be seen as an insurance policy against increasing costs of fossil fuel and nuclear power, which are bound to increase as their limited fuel-sources run out. Mitigating climate-change is a secondary priority. | |||
| No | a) Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| The fourth amendment of the US Constitution is pretty clear. Vermont has very few gun regulations, and we also have very few gun-related crimes, proof that regulating gun possession is not necessarily effective at reducing gun-related crime. Criminals will always be able to find guns on the black market, gun regulations do nothing to prevent this. In fact, gun regulations CREATE the conditions that allow for a black-market to flourish, which in itself creates more crime. Having a gun is a last-line of defense against criminals and tyrannical governments, a right the fourth amendment of the US Constitution affords me. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support a universally-accessible, publicly-administered health insurance option? | ||
| No | b) Do you support expanding access to health care through commercial health insurance reform? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support legalizing physician-assisted suicide in Vermont? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| The insurance industry is nothing but dead weight on society, a single-payer system is the only sound solution. But we also need tort-reform and more importantly a system that encourages provider-performance, and patient wellness along with natural-alternative health-maintenance. The federal government has no business regulating health-care or insurance, unless specifically regarding companies engaged in inter-state commerce. Mandating that people buy into the corrupt insurance system is the worst possible solution, and completely unconstitutional. If Vermont had a state-owned bank it could issue emergency-low-interest loans to people who could not afford their medical bills, as a transition step toward single-payer systems. | |||
| No | a) Should marriage only be between one man and one woman? | ||
| Yes | b) Should Vermont continue to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support state funding for stem cell research? | ||
| Yes | 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 Vermont's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Vermont's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Affirmative action, while well-intended, is a flawed approach. We need equal rights and equal opportunities, not preferential non-merit-based programs to attempt to make up for the sins of our fore-fathers. If we really want to make up for the disparities of the past, we would make every effort to STOP using skin color, gender or sexual orientation as a criteria for decision-making. The fact that our culture is arguing over whether gay people should have rights, while the world is suffering from over-population, is a telling example of how immature our culture is. | |||
| -Exerting Vermont's sovereignty as a State, within the bounds set by the US Constitution; -Standing up to the corrupt federal government on matters including education, health-care, illegal and immoral wars of occupation and 1000+ foreign military bases, and our unconstitutional monetary system that allows a private central bank to charge us interest on money created out of thin air. -Re-localizing Vermont's food, education, energy and finance systems. -Feed-in Tariff for distributed renewable energy deployment. -Transition incentives to move farms away from milk, toward diversified food production. -State-owned bank similar to Bank of North Dakota. -Property-tax reform -Resource-extraction-tax -Justice -Moral leadership |
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