Andy Massagli's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Andy Massagli has demonstrated Political Courage by telling citizens where he stands on the issues he may face if elected.
Washington State Legislative Election 2012 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | a) Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| Federal funding for organizations like Planned Parenthood is only a small part of their total funding. Don't buy the lie that not spending tax dollars will shut them down. They will be fine. | |||
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 Washington's budget.
| Maintain Status | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Environment | ||
| Slightly Decrease | d) Health care | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Slightly Increase | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Welfare | ||
| Greatly Decrease | h) Other or expanded categories: | ||
| Greatly Decrease | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | d) Property taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | e) Sales taxes | ||
| f) Other or expanded categories: | |||
| Yes | a) Tapping into Washington's "rainy day" fund | ||
| No | b) Increasing tuition rates at public universities | ||
| Yes | c) Reducing or eliminating public worker collective bargaining | ||
| Yes | d) Reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions | ||
| Yes | e) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees | ||
| No | f) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| We cannot have an honest discussion about funding until we know the real numbers. Legislatures are creating new budgets based on old budgets (guesses) rather than on the actual spending data. The accounting must be better and we must look at what money came in, minus the checks that were paid out and look at the difference. That is the ONLY way to really talk about funding. We can do more and spend less if we get our state accounting in order. Education budgets say we are $88million short, but the actuals show that we have a $187million surplus. | |||
| We just need to make sure the math works. I don't want to hurt state employees or try to fix something that isn't broken. But when we do find those problems, I'm not afraid to address them and take action. | |||
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? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support requiring a two-thirds vote of the legislature in order to approve all future tax increases? | ||
| It's sad that we have to vote SO MANY TIMES on an issue before the legislature actually listens to the people. Make the 2/3 majority permanent by making it a constitutional amendment. With campaign finance, it might be interesting to allow a maximum budget then see how the candidate handles it. Isn't that a more realistic job interview? | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | c) Do you support decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana? | ||
| No | d) Do you support legalization and regulation of small amounts of marijuana for individuals 21 and older? | ||
| Yes | e) Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | ||
| No | f) Should a minor who sends sexually-explicit or nude photos by cell phone face criminal charges? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| These are not really hard yes/no questions. They all have areas of grey. I think punishing a minor as an adult should be determined case by case. I think kids should be educated about and even punished for sending nude pics, but let's not ruin lives over teenage stupidity. Marijuana legalization will cause MAJOR tax and worker's comp insurance rate hikes. Nobody cares what responsible citizens do in their homes on their own time. But my experience as a cop says that where there is a constant supply of weed, there is other crime waiting to happen. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| I support job-training programs, I'm just not sure I support INCREASED funding. I have to see the numbers. I do think it's sad that the banks got bailed out, but the people who paid the taxes to bail out the banks got nothing but a foreclosure notice. Sad and wrong. | |||
| No | a) Do you support the national Common Core State Standards initiative? | ||
| No | b) Do you support a merit pay system for teachers? | ||
| No | c) Is the tenure process for public school teachers producing effective teachers? | ||
| Yes | d) Should parents be allowed to use vouchers to send their children to any school? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| No | g) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Washington's high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| While people complain that American test scores are lower than other countries, they forget why. Common Core countries teach to the test. If you prepare a kid all year for one big test, they will get it right. But then why do Americans have WAY more Nobel prizes and why do we hold more patents on intellectual property? Because we teach many approaches to solving problems, not just how to pass a common core test. Americans are critical thinkers. Common Core countries are not. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state funding for the development of alternative energy? | ||
| Yes | 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 state funding for improvements to Washington's energy infrastructure? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | ||
| No | e) Do you support enacting environmental regulations aimed at reducing the effects of climate change? | ||
| When I was a kid, climate change was called "seasons". In the 1970's they called it, "Global Cooling", then in the 2000's they called it, "Global Warming", because their models were wrong. Then an MIT study proved that wrong, so now they call it, "Climate Change". Maybe we should have state funding to stop the tide. It would be just as ineffective and just as harmful to the economy, which is the real goal. We do need to be good stewards of the land. But let's not be fooled by this New World Order garbage. | |||
| 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? | ||
| A gun is a tool. As a cop and a soldier I used that tool often. I also used tools like cars, which kill more people than guns and spoons which are not responsible for making people fat. The biggest deterrent to gun violence by criminals is for good people to have guns and know how to use them. The 2nd amendment is a check and balance against a tyrannical government, not a skeet shooting or hunting amendment. That's just a bonus. Guns are statistically way more safe than cars, knives, bicycles and even water. Get educated. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| A doctor/patient relationship is just that. Not a government affair. Health insurance is NOT healthcare. Just as life insurance does not make you live forever, health insurance does not keep you healthy. It is a financial tool against the risk of financial loss, like any other insurance product. So why is it that the majority of bankruptcies happen due to medical bills by people who have health insurance, but still can't afford the bills? There are other problems with healthcare and both government and insurance companies are part that problem. We need to change how we deliver healthcare. | |||
| No | a) Do you support legalizing same-sex marriage? | ||
| Yes | b) Should same-sex couples be allowed to form civil unions? | ||
| No | c) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Washington's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | d) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Washington's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| When you include a specific person or group in an anti-discrimination law, it is called an oxymoron. You have just discriminated against everyone else. Marriage has always been an institution of religion. The state has recognized it as a civil union for its purposes, but it's offensive to the church when people want their label without their standards. Make up your own word. Nobody cares who lives with who, or what wedding party you want to throw for yourselves. The rest is just about entitlements. You can legally make anybody a beneficiary of anything you want, except Social Security. | |||
| JOBS: We have to make Washington State attractive to businesses. We currently have the highest rates in the nation for worker's compensation and we are the only place in the known free world who taxes businesses on total revenue and not on profit. The fix would be to reform the B&O tax and to get rid of the state-run L&I insurance program. REGULATIONS come from non-elected agencies. They are part of the executive branch and bypass the People's representatives. A regulation should automatically expire when a new executive takes office, unless the elected House and Senate approves it for longer. |
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