Peta Lindsay's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
Official Position: Candidate addressed this issue directly by taking the Political Courage Test.
Inferred Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, but Vote Smart inferred this issue based on the candidate's public record, including statements, voting record, and special interest group endorsements.
Unknown Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, or we could not infer an answer for this candidate despite exhaustive research of their public record.
Additional Information: Click on this icon to reveal more information about this candidate's position, from their answers or Vote Smart's research.
Other or Expanded Principles & Legislative Priorities are entered exactly as candidates submit them. Vote Smart does not edit for misspelled words, punctuation or grammar.
Peta Lindsay has demonstrated Political Courage by telling citizens where she stands on the issues she may face if elected.
Presidential Election 2012 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| We have a ten point program on votepsl.org that explains our positions. The first 3 points are: 1. Make a job a Constitutional right: Tens of millions are jobless and under-employed because the capitalists control employment. A decent paying job must be a legal, guaranteed right. The minimum wage should be raised to $20 per hour and a living income must be guaranteed for those who cannot work. 2. Make free health care, free education and affordable housing Constitutional rights! 3. Shut down all U.S. military bases around the world- bring all the troops, planes & ships home! | |||
BudgetIndicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing the federal budget.In order to balance the budget,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.
| Yes | 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 an administrative priority? | ||
| Greatly Increase | a) Agriculture | ||
| Greatly Increase | b) Arts | ||
| Eliminate | c) Defense | ||
| Greatly Increase | d) Education | ||
| Greatly Increase | e) Environment | ||
| Eliminate | f) Homeland Security | ||
| Greatly Increase | g) International aid | ||
| Greatly Increase | h) Medical Research | ||
| Greatly Increase | i) Scientific Research | ||
| Greatly Increase | j) Space exploration | ||
| Eliminate | k) United Nations | ||
| Greatly Increase | l) Welfare | ||
| Greatly Increase | m) Other or expanded categories | ||
| Greatly Increase | a) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | b) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Excise taxes (alcohol) | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | ||
| Eliminate | e) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) | ||
| Eliminate | f) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | g) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Slightly Increase | h) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Greatly Increase | i) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | j) Payroll taxes | ||
| As a reform measure, we support the idea of increasing taxes of the rich and the corporations. But our goal is socialism, where all of the banks, corporations, transportation and industry would belong to the people. That means that all of the wealth that working people generate in these enterprises would be used to provide for people's needs. This would radically overhaul the system of taxes as we know it. | |||
| We would provide housing, healthcare, education and jobs to every person in the United States. The U.S. doesn't have a defense budget, it has a war budget which we would eliminate in order to free up funds to provide for human need. The UN is just another vehicle through which the US launches imperialist wars of aggression, so we're against UN spending. And homeland security has been used time and time again to suppress peaceful demonstrations in the US, like when it coordinated the eviction of the occupy movement nationwide. So down with homeland security! | |||
| Under socialism all the wealth is publicly owned, there's no need for taxation. But right now Corporate taxes in the United States are way too low. The official top corporate tax rate is 35% but in 2010, General Electric paid nothing although it made $14.2 billion in profits. Meanwhile, individuals pay more than corporations! Our money is used to wage war, slaughtering working people around the world who are just like us. Our taxes also bailed out the banks, giving their CEO's huge bonuses with our money. Our taxes also support the prison system, keeping 2.3 million people behind bars. | |||
| Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | |||
| Without a doubt, the capitalist electoral system is a sham. It is a rigged system to ensure the domination of the tiny ruling class of Wall Street bankers, corporations and big-business owners over the vast majority of people in the United States?the working class. The U.S. electoral system is reflective of a capitalist plutocracy. We live under a government of, by and for the wealthy. These politicians from President Obama to Mitt Romney, Rick Perry and on down the line are fully beholden to their corporate backers, the 1 %. | |||
| Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | |||
| The death penalty is used constantly by advocates of "law and order" who cite capital punishment as a crime deterrent in the United States. But the death penalty is really legal lynching. In fact, studies show that the same states that historically had the most lynchings are also the states with the most executions. Many of the mostly Black death row inmates have been thrown in prison unjustly, many on trumped up charges perpetrated by racist police tactics. And the wealthy hardly ever face such stiff sentencing for their crimes. So we're for abolishing the death penalty under this system. | |||
| Yes | Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the 2010 temporary extension of unemployment benefits? | ||
| No | Do you support the 2010 temporary extension of tax relief? | ||
| No | Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants? | ||
| Currently "education reform" has come to mean measures that lead to increased standardized testing, privatization, public school closures, charter school expansion and less job security and union busting for teachers. There is something very wrong with the education system in the U.S. but the problems will most certainly not be solved by denying funding to the schools that need it most. We're for more funding for all public schools, hiring more unionized school employees, smaller class sizes, building more schools and making free, quality education all the way through college and beyond, a constitutional right. | |||
| Yes | Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| No | Do you support reducing restrictions on offshore energy production? | ||
| Under the current system the energy corporations and the military industrial complex have carried out consistent rampant destruction of the earth. Whole areas of the earth have been completely destroyed, ecosystems irreparably disrupted, species pushed to the brink of extinction and the neighborhoods workers live in polluted. Non-renewable natural resources of all kinds are being rapidly depleted for the sake of maximizing profit. A long-term, sustainable, socialist economic system is the only way this can be stopped. This is also the only real solution to the crisis of climate change, pollution, and environmental degradation of all kinds. | |||
| No | Do you support United States' combat operations in Afghanistan? | ||
| No | Do you support a timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan? | ||
| No | Do you support targeting suspected terrorists outside of official theaters of conflict? | ||
| We are for an immediate end to the war in Afghanistan and for the return of all the troops NOW. The U.S. military constitutes the main threat of war in the world. U.S. foreign policy uses the pretext of national security to enforce the imperialist interests of the biggest banks and corporations. That?s what is behind the endless wars and occupations. They use a massive propaganda machine, the US media, to launch campaigns of demonization against countries, always curiously resource rich countries that they want to invade for profit. Working people of the US want peace not war. | |||
| No | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act? | ||
| No | Should individuals be required to purchase health insurance, as mandated in the 2010 Affordable Care Act? | ||
| I stand for, and the PSL stands for the right to fully comprehensive (which includes dental, optical , psychiatric and more), free healthcare. A single payer health care system is the most effective, financially efficient form of providing healthcare to the entire population. Health care should not only cover birth control, but access to free, on-demand abortion as well. Insurance companies are parasites that generate huge profits off the commodification of well-being, of health. They should be entirely removed from the process of providing health care. We can do a lot better than the Affordable Care Act. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Our campaign demands amnesty and full rights for undocumented workers, including the right to vote. A worker is a worker regardless of national origin and all workers deserve rights! In 2010, undocumented immigrants paid $8.4 billion in sales taxes, $1.6 billion in property taxes, and $1.2 billion in personal income taxes last year. General Electric paid NOTHING. Undocumented workers contribute to the economy and society while being denied basic human rights. We want to dismantle ICE immediately and put an end to all the racist raids and deportations now. In addition to full rights, all anti-immigrant laws should be abolished. | |||
| Yes | Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| Marriage is a civil right and the right to marry should be afforded to all people, regardless of sexual orientation. This fundamental right should not be left up to the states to decide, the right to marry for same-sex couples should be federally instituted and protected. We are for full equality for all people. | |||
| Yes | Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts? | ||
| Social security is a right. Those receiving the lowest payments should have their monthly check doubled, in fact. Social Security benefits are not keeping up with the real rate of inflation. Increased benefits should be paid for by raising the employers? Social Security tax rate. Social Security should be guaranteed for all retired workers, and disabled and unemployed people. In the $12 trillion U.S. economy, working class people should be guaranteed, as a legal right, an income that assures that they will not spend the last years of their life in poverty. | |||
| We would like to end the wars and seize the banks and use those funds to provide a massive jobs program so that every person in the United States would be guaranteed a job at a living wage. We would also use the money to provide housing, healthcare and free education all the way through college for every single person. We want to cancel all student loan debt. For more information on our platform go to http://www.votepsl.org. |
Vote Smart does not permit the use of its name or programs in any campaign activity, including advertising, debates, and speeches.