Maria Alvarado's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Maria Alvarado has demonstrated Political Courage by telling citizens where she stands on the issues she may face if elected.
Texas Congressional Election 2012 Political Courage Test
| Do you support United States' combat operations in Afghanistan? | |||
| Do you support a timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan? | |||
Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing the federal budget.In order to balance the budget,
| No | 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? | ||
| No | Is balancing the budget a legislative priority? | ||
| Balancing the budget is a priority but not the first priority. Congress has the important task of creating opportunities for strengthening the American potential for prosperity. We risk threatening national security through austerity measures. | |||
| Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| Yes | Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | Do you support the temporary extension of unemployment benefits? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the 2010 temporary extension of tax relief? | ||
| Efforts by Congress through extension of unemployment benefits eases the pressure on Congress to act on job creation. However, temporary tax relief does more to help Americans facing economic hardships from unemployment. | |||
| Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants? | |||
| Yes | Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| I believe in human ingenuity to resolve risks to environment. | |||
| Yes | Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| I support guns laws that do not diminish the spirit of the second amendment and those laws that protect the public from those that would guns to commit crimes. | |||
| No | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act? | ||
| Yes | Should individuals be required to purchase health insurance, as mandated in the 2010 Affordable Care Act? | ||
| The cost of healthcare is a burden on the insured and uninsured. I support the cost burden for healthcare to be shared. | |||
| 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? | ||
| The cost burden for addressing illegal immigration is prohibitive. It is not fair to pass on that cost to state and local authorities. We must amend immigration laws such that they reduce cost of enforcement. | |||
| Yes | Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| The covenent between two persons should not require constitutional action. Only a decision by the Supreme Court will establish the equality issue of same-sex marriage. My opinion is moot. | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Our military is over-extended. The actions by Security Council of the United Nations are called for on this issue. | |||
| No | Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts? | ||
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.
| Maintain Status | a) Agriculture | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Arts | ||
| Slightly Increase | c) Defense | ||
| Slightly Increase | d) Education | ||
| Slightly Increase | e) Environment | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Homeland Security | ||
| Maintain Status | g) International aid | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Medical Research | ||
| Maintain Status | i) Scientific Research | ||
| Maintain Status | j) Space exploration | ||
| Maintain Status | k) United Nations | ||
| Maintain Status | l) Welfare | ||
| Greatly Increase | m) Other or expanded categories | ||
| Maintain Status | 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) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | f) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | i) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | j) Payroll taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | k) Other or expanded categories | ||
| Job creation through skilled training for jobs of today and tomorrow | |||
| Federal tax on long-term unemployed for specified time once re-employed. | |||
| Priority one is to put Americans back to work. Divert unemployment payments for unemployed into training programs for jobs in demand. For those with skills in demand use payments for relocation. Our military members have been over-tasked and now face a Veterans Administration that has been unable to provide healthcare for those disabled. The VA must be held accountable for ensuring American tax dollars to take care of our veterans are used effectively and efficiently. |
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