Brandon Black'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.
Brandon Black has demonstrated Political Courage by telling citizens where he stands on the issues he may face if elected.
North Carolina State Legislative Election 2012 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | a) Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| Yes | b) Should abortions be illegal after 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? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support requiring parental consent before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for abortion procedures? | ||
| Yes | h) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions? | ||
| i) Other or expanded principles: | |||
1) State Spending:Using the key, indicate 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 Taxes:Using the key,indicate 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 Stabilization:Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing North Carolina's budget.
| Eliminate | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Eliminate | c) Environment | ||
| Eliminate | d) Health care | ||
| Greatly Decrease | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Eliminate | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Greatly Decrease | g) Welfare | ||
| h) Other or expanded categories: | |||
| Eliminate | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Eliminate | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Eliminate | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Eliminate | d) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Eliminate | e) Property taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Sales taxes | ||
| Eliminate | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | h) Income taxes (mid-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| No | j) Should North Carolina increase its sales tax to support education programs? | ||
| No | a) Tapping into North Carolina's "rainy day" fund | ||
| Yes | b) Increasing tuition rates at public universities | ||
| Yes | c) Reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions | ||
| Yes | d) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees | ||
| No | e) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| It was hard to answer specifically on each item because some are reliant on others. In general, I support taxes being greatly decreased and eliminated wherever possible. Any tax that represents double taxation (including all hidden taxes) should be completely eliminated. I would favor a doing away with the NC income tax all-together if it were to only result in a slight increase in the sales tax. I would prefer that spending levels go down drastically so that taxes can simply be eliminated. | |||
| Budget stabilization needs to come through a decrease in spending levels. I also support a balanced budget amendment that eliminates the reliance upon federal dollars. The state should not be accepting any federal money. | |||
a) Do you support limits on the following types of contributions for state candidates?
| Yes | 1) Individual | ||
| Yes | 2) Political Action Committee | ||
| Yes | 3) Corporate | ||
| Yes | 4) Political Party | ||
| Yes | b) Should candidates for state office be encouraged to meet voluntary spending limits? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support the use of an independent AND/OR bipartisan commission for redistricting? | ||
| No | e) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| Yes | f) Should a referendum among affected residents be required for annexation approval? | ||
| Annexation should not be forced upon anyone. If one household votes no to being annexed, then no matter the vote on a referendum, they should not be annexed. | |||
| No | 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) Do you support decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana? | ||
| No | d) Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | ||
| No | e) Should a minor who sends sexually-explicit or nude photos by cell phone face criminal charges? | ||
| No | f) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| I don't believe the state should be in the business of killing people. If it is illegal for me to use lethal force after a threat has been removed, then it should be the same for the state. The entire justice system needs to be overhauled. "Victimless" crimes should be eliminated. Nonviolent offenders should make restitution instead of being incarcerated. Immigration laws should be enforced by the federal government. If an illegal alien breaks any laws, s/he should make restitution, and should be deported. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| No | b) Do you support increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers? | ||
| No | c) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | ||
| No | d) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| No | e) Do you support increased spending on infrastructure projects for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| No | f) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| The government needs to stay out of trying to manage the economy and let the free market work. I do not believe in the state being biased towards any person or business by providing incentives, credits, or financial assistance in any other form. | |||
| No | a) Do you support the national Common Core State Standards initiative? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support a merit pay system for teachers? | ||
| No | c) Is the tenure process for public school teachers producing effective teachers? | ||
| No | d) Should corporal punishment be allowed in public schools? | ||
| Yes | e) Should parents be allowed to use vouchers to send their children to any school? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| No | g) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| No | h) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from North Carolina high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| NC Public Schools are failing. The education our kids are getting is mediocre at best. Increases in funds do not show a substantial improvement in education quality. We need to move towards school choice and privatization. Studies show that when parental involvement is higher, that students perform better. By using a voucher system and tax credits as a transition, we can use a free market approach to move towards lower education costs and better results. | |||
| No | 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)? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support legalizing hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" in North Carolina? | ||
| No | d) Do you support state funding for improvements to North Carolina's energy infrastructure? | ||
| No | e) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | ||
| No | f) Do you support enacting environmental regulations aimed at reducing the effects of climate change? | ||
| Alternative energies have not proven themselves to be viable at this time. The state should not be subsidizing any industry. Fracking should be allowed, but only if the people who own the land from which the fuel is being drawn are compensated justly and in the case that it causes environmental problems or damages a person or their property, that the companies involved are held 100% responsible. | |||
| No | a) Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| No | b) Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows? | ||
| Yes | c) Should citizens be allowed to carry concealed guns? | ||
| No | d) Should a license be required for gun possession? | ||
| The 2nd Amendment to the US constitution recognizes our right to bear arms. ALL laws infringing upon this right are unconstitutional and should be abolished. | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| No | d) Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| No | e) Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| The problem with health care is that the government is too heavily involved with it. Studies show that costs generally go up with more government involvement. I am opposed to any government mandate that forces people to buy any goods or service. | |||
| No | a) Should marriage between one man and one woman be the only domestic legal union recognized in North Carolina? | ||
| No | b) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in North Carolina's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | c) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in North Carolina's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| The government should not be involved in marriage in any way. It is a religious institution and is protected from the government under the first amendment. People discriminate every day, whether for good reasons, or bad. Private businesses should be allowed to discriminate however they wish, but the government should not. If a business puts a sign on it's door that says they don't serve redheaded people, then they will most likely lose business because their customers will not tolerate it. A free market usually brings people of different backgrounds together as opposed to pushing them apart. | |||
| Priority #1 is to drastically cut spending. With 56% of the general fund going to education, most cuts will probably have to come from this area. Much of the bureaucracy can be cut from the system. We currently spend on average over $8,000/student. I see many ways to spend less and get our kids a better education. Priority #2 is to cut taxes. If we increase the sales tax to 9% and cut spending in half, then we can cut all other taxes. #3 Deregulate as much as possible to allow the free market to work. |
Vote Smart does not permit the use of its name or programs in any campaign activity, including advertising, debates, and speeches.