Ed Rankin's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Ed Rankin is currently being tested through the 2020 Political Courage Test.
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.
Texas Congressional Election 2014 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| I believe life begins at conception. | |||
| Yes | In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing defense spending? | ||
| No | In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| I believe we should drastically reduce the size of the federal government in order to balance the budget. | |||
| Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| I believe the source of funds should be disclosed. | |||
| No | Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| I am opposed to capital punishment | |||
| No | Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | Do you support lowering taxes as a way of promoting growth in the economy? | ||
| No | Do you support providing tax incentives to businesses for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| I believe the government should not intervene in the marketplace. Individual consumer choice should drive economic behavior. | |||
| No | Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants? | ||
| I am in favor of abolishing the US Department of Education. The states and local school systems should make those decisions for themselves. | |||
| Yes | Do you support building the Keystone XL pipeline? | ||
| Yes | Do you support reducing restrictions on offshore energy production? | ||
| As long as the US is dependent upon fossil fuels, we should not restrict domestic production. | |||
| Yes | Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change? | ||
| No | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| I think the science continues to be inconclusive about the cause of "climate change". It seems we really don't know the total impact of human activity upon the climate, although it seems na�ve to deny that humans do indeed impact it. I prefer to let market forces determine how we address greenhouse gasses. | |||
| No | Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| I don't think additional restrictions on gun purchases and possession are needed. Neither to I believe they would have the intended impact. | |||
| Yes | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act? | ||
| I support Health Savings Accounts as a means of addressing the nation's healthcare "crisis". | |||
| No | Do you support requiring illegal immigrants to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
| I am in favor of temporary worker permits for anyone here or anyone who wants to come here. I also favor a streamlined immigration process. | |||
| Yes | Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| The government should not be involved in the marriage business. | |||
| 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 governments hostile to the United States from possessing a nuclear weapon? | ||
| We need to stop our international interventionism. | |||
| Yes | Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts? | ||
| I support phasing out the Social Security system and replacing it with private retirement vehicles. | |||
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.
| Eliminate | a) Agriculture | ||
| Eliminate | b) Arts | ||
| Greatly Decrease | c) Defense | ||
| Eliminate | d) Education | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Environment | ||
| Greatly Decrease | f) Homeland Security | ||
| Eliminate | g) International aid | ||
| Greatly Decrease | h) Medical Research | ||
| Greatly Decrease | i) Scientific Research | ||
| Greatly Decrease | j) Space exploration | ||
| Eliminate | k) United Nations | ||
| Greatly Decrease | l) Welfare | ||
| Eliminate | a) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Eliminate | b) Corporate taxes | ||
| Eliminate | c) Excise taxes (alcohol) | ||
| Eliminate | d) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | ||
| Eliminate | e) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) | ||
| Eliminate | f) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | g) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | h) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | i) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Eliminate | j) Payroll taxes | ||
| I think you must phase in these changes. You cannot implement drastic spending reductions quickly. It will take decades to bring about these changes. | |||
| I support the "Fair Tax" or a national sales tax. All other taxes should be eliminated. | |||
| We must drastically reduce the size of the federal government and eliminate the federal income tax. This will need to be done over a period of one or two decades. This reduction and the elimination of the income tax system will stimulate the US economy in ways we've never seen before. We must reinforce the Bill of Rights. |
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