Blyden Potts' Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Pennsylvania State Legislative Election 2010 Political Courage Test
| 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? | ||
| 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? | ||
| a) I do not consider myself either pro-choice or pro-life. I believe abortion must remain a legal option for women, but that society should change the social context so that fewer women have unwanted pregnancies, there is more support for having the baby, and the number of abortions declines. Strange how, except for sex education, you don't ask about any social programs, e.g. child care, labor law, etc, that could reduce the number of abortions. b) the exception would be when the life of the woman is endangered. | |||
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 Pennsylvania's budget.
| Maintain Status | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Environment | ||
| d) Health care | |||
| e) Law enforcement | |||
| Maintain Status | f) Transportation and highway infrastructure | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Welfare | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| c) Corporate taxes | |||
| Maintain Status | d) Gasoline taxes | ||
| e) Property taxes | |||
| f) Sales taxes | |||
| Eliminate | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | h) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| No | a) Tapping into Pennsylvania's "rainy day" fund | ||
| Yes | b) Issuing the early release of certain non-violent offenders | ||
| No | c) Increasing tuition rates at public universities | ||
| d) Instituting mandatory furloughs and layoffs for state employees | |||
| e) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | |||
| No | f) Privatizing certain government services | ||
| We are facing a budget shortfall which may require reductions across the board. That said, ensuring the quality of education is imperative, especially K-12. I believe there may be savings to be had in our corrections programs, in the administration of state government (one of the costliest in the nation!), and in reducing some tax expenditures and "loopholes". I belive PA's economy could save a lot of money, i.e. total health care spending greatly reduced but government or quasi-government spending increased, by adopting a universal PA health care program of the sort suggested by HealthCare4AllPA.org. | |||
| Ideally I would eliminate income taxes, replacing them with a single flat wealth tax, which would subsume property taxes and sales tax on durable goods, combine state, local and school revenue, with the majority going to state and school revenue. I'd keep gas and "sin" taxes, and have a household exemption on the value of primary residence that was tied to median home value, which would eliminate the property tax pinch for people on fixed incomes. A wealth tax of less than 2% would provide PA more revenue than our current tax system and would be far more fair. | |||
| a) we've already drained it. PA needs to do a better job of loading the fund when the economy is healthy. | |||
d) 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 Pennsylvania governors? | ||
| b) Do you support limits on the number of terms for Pennsylvania state legislators? | |||
| Yes | c) Do you support reducing the size of the General Assembly? | ||
| 1) Individual | |||
| 2) Political Action Committee | |||
| Yes | 3) Corporate | ||
| 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? | ||
| Term limits are a two-edged sword, OTOH bringing in fresh faces and reducing the concentration of power by long-term office holders, but OTOH disrupting continuity. I would probably support term limits for legislators if the limit were 4 or 5 terms, or more. I would not support limit at 2 terms. Corporations ought not to be allowed to contribute to political candidates at all. | |||
| 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? | |||
| f) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | |||
| a) I have no objection to capital punishment for certain horrific crimes in principal, but research shows us that the penalty is applied unfairly (e.g. in racist ways) and that we execute a certain portion of innocent people. And although some criminals deserve it, we don't really need it. f) state and local police already have some ability to enforce federal immigration laws, and I support that. I oppose laws of the sort in AZ that encourage police to racially or culturally profile, interfere with the rights of US citizens, and which outlaw humanitarian behavior toward illegal immigrants. | |||
| a) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | |||
| b) Do you support increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers? | |||
| c) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | |||
| 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? | ||
| f) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | |||
| Yes | g) Do you support the taxation of cigars and smokeless tobacco? | ||
| d) I do in very select situations, but not generally. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support national education standards? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support requiring public schools to administer high school exit exams? | ||
| c) Do you support using a merit pay system for teachers? | |||
| d) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | |||
| Yes | e) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| f) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Pennsylvania high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | |||
| Having national education standards is a good idea. What is a bad idea is when those standards dominant the education process to the point of squeezing out other things, when teachers teach to the test, and when schools that perhaps most need help are instead penalized for failing to meet the standards. Merit pay sounds good on the face of it, but how do you determine merit? The real quality of education is usually not known for years after, if ever. I oppose private school vouchers, but support the idea of competition among public schools. | |||
| 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? | |||
| d) Do you support state funding for improvements to Pennsylvania's energy infrastructure? | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| A lot of biofuel farming is an environmental scam. | |||
| 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? | ||
| c) Do you support allowing individuals to carry concealed guns? | |||
| No | d) Do you support requiring a license for gun possession? | ||
| e) Other or expanded principles | |||
| 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? | ||
| c) Do you support interstate health insurance compacts? | |||
| No | d) Should individuals be required to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| e) Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits? | |||
| f) Do you support legalizing physician-assisted suicide in Pennsylvania? | |||
| Yes | g) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| e) I support caps on the "pain and suffering" part of lawsuit damages, but not on total damages. | |||
| No | a) Should marriage only be between one man and one woman? | ||
| Yes | b) Should Pennsylvania allow same-sex couples to form civil unions? | ||
| c) Do you support state funding for stem cell research? | |||
| d) Do you support state funding for embryonic stem cell research? | |||
| e) Do you support the state's use of affirmative action? | |||
| Yes | f) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Pennsylvania's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Pennsylvania's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| h) Other or expanded principles | |||
| #1: reform PA election laws in ways (e.g. adopt Instant Runoff Voting) that increase number of competitive elections, increase number of candidate choices voters have, give more voters a meaningful vote, save money, have the same rules for all candidates regardless of party, and make government more accountable to the voters. Also reform bureaucracies in ways that make them more accountable to the people. #2: decentralize political and economic power to empower individuals and communities, remove corporations from politics, and dilute the power of the state. #3: promote a greener, more just, communal, and compassionate society. |
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