Ken O'Brien's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Massachusetts State Legislative Election 2010 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | a) Do you consider yourself pro-choice or pro-life? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| 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? | ||
| There are bills pending in the legislature about parental notification and I have not taken positions on these at this time | |||
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 Massachusetts' budget.
| a) Education (higher) | |||
| b) Education (K-12) | |||
| Greatly Increase | c) Environment | ||
| Slightly Decrease | d) Health care | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Law enforcement | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Transportation and highway infrastructure | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Welfare | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Gasoline taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | e) Property taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | f) Sales taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Greatly Increase | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| j) Other or expanded categories | |||
| Yes | a) Tapping into Massachusetts' "rainy day" fund | ||
| 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 | ||
| e) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | |||
| f) Privatizing certain government services | |||
| a) 1-2 b) 1-2 | |||
| b) e) f) Maybe reduce spending across the board to balance budget, seek additional federal assistance, have to invest in developing more public/private partnerships | |||
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 Massachusetts governors? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support limits on the number of terms for Massachusetts state legislators? | ||
| Yes | 1) Individual | ||
| Yes | 2) Political Action Committee | ||
| Yes | 3) Corporate | ||
| Yes | 4) Political Party | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| I will support a "no rollover provision" which would require all candidates to start a "0" at the start of each election | |||
| 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? | ||
| d) Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | |||
| e) Should a minor who sends 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? | ||
| d) maybe e) maybe I am a supporter of capital punishment in cases of disregard for murder of prosecutors/police/prison guards. Prosecuting minors as adults must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. | |||
| a) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | |||
| Yes | b) Do you support the expansion of state-regulated gaming? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers? | ||
| No | d) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support increased spending on infrastructure projects for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| g) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | |||
| g) I believe the state should do more to force banks to restructure loans d) I think unemployment benefits are widely available now but would consider any legislation that addresses real problems of access by those who need it. a) I think timely review/devision of regulations is appropriate. I for more post audit oversight to ensure regulatory measures are not redundant or unfair. | |||
| No | a) Do you support national education standards? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support requiring public schools to administer high school exit exams? | ||
| No | c) Do you support using a merit pay system for teachers? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| No | f) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Massachusetts high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| I believe we must create seperate funding stream for charter schools. I believe we must revisit National education standards in the future to ensure they do not dilute ours. I think we need to modify testing, merit pay can be entertained in some settings as incentive to attract teachers to failing school settings | |||
| 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)? | ||
| c) Do you support providing financial incentives to farms that produce biofuel crops? | |||
| No | d) Do you support state funding for improvements to Massachusetts' energy infrastructure? | ||
| e) Should municipalities be allowed to take control of their electric infrastructure through the use of eminent domain? | |||
| Yes | f) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support enacting environmental regulations aimed at reducing the effects of climate change? | ||
| c) maybe e) maybe - I support coming down hard on companies like unitel and do support, in limited cases, the ability of municipalities to take over power infrastructure I fully support efforts to preserve critical habitat for water protection, greenways, corridors, and I would work to modify impacts of cap and trade legislation on wood/pellet business | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support requiring a license for gun possession? | ||
| I am not for expanding regulations on guns. Guns coming into our state illegally are a problem - that is not a state issue though. | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Yes | 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 Massachusetts? | ||
| No | g) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| I do not understand clearly the concept of interstate compacts but health care premium increases demand we investigate all avenues of cost control. | |||
| No | a) Should marriage only be between one man and one woman? | ||
| Yes | b) Should Massachusetts 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? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support the state's use of affirmative action? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Massachusetts' anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Massachusetts' anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| I believe the principle of equal protection should guide the law. I support this in relation to all issues surrounding equal protection. | |||
| 1) Job creation - strong regulatory measures must be implemented to control premium increases for health care for the private + public sector. I support expanding access to GIC. I support expanding access to capital by establishment of loan pools of private capital to make small business loans 2) Clean energy initiatives. I am for |
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