Mikel Weisser's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
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Mikel Weisser has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2016 Political Courage Test.
Arizona Congressional Election 2016 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| I believe life starts at viability; prior to that we respect a woman's choice. Supporters of "pro-life" tend not to help children after they're born so seem hypocritical to me. Access to birth control reduces abortion. | |||
| Yes | In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing defense spending? | ||
| Yes | In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| The corrupt elite have shifted the tax burden onto the middle class over the past 40 years and government services are crippled as a result. They get much better government and should pay for it. Panama papers reveal the extent of the corruption. If they have enough money to hide, they can pay more taxes. | |||
| Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| I believe if corporations should enjoy the same political rights as individuals, they should face the same contribution limits as individuals: $2600 per season. I accept donations within that limit. | |||
| No | Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| Yes | Do you support alternatives to incarceration for certain non-violent offenders such as mandatory counseling or substance abuse treatment? | ||
| No | Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders? | ||
| As the director of a state chapter of NORML, I work constantly to battle the "incarceration nation" mentality. Mandatory minimums and our cancerously expanding private prison industry that has grown out of it are a stain on our nation. | |||
| Yes | Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | Do you support lowering taxes as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | Do you support providing tax incentives to businesses for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| Tax cuts have only shown to hurt the mixed economy. Government spending creates real jobs for real people and historically some of our nation's greatest accomplishments. We need updated infrastructure and that means jobs. | |||
| No | Do you generally support requiring states to adopt federal education standards? | ||
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| The "race to the top" boondoggle is an extension of the NCLB boondoggle and makes schools compete instead of educate. The federal government should provide leveling funds to all schools. | |||
| No | Do you support building the Keystone XL pipeline? | ||
| Yes | Do you support government funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, thermal)? | ||
| Yes | Do you support increased regulations on the hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") industry? | ||
| Climate change is real and can be mitigated. Our national focus should be preparing for it through replacing our hydrocarbon addiction with cleaner, less devastating energy sources. Keystone and fracking create their own environmental issues and only forestall solving the problem. | |||
| Yes | Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| Reckless negligent behavior on the part of energy exec who knew better back in the 70s have brought our world over into growing disaster. But no I feel far too much attention is focused on this issue. | |||
| No | Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| I agree with reasonable regulation like ATF "weapon type limits" background checks, no fly list - terrorist - criminal background limits yes. But no I feel far too much attention is focused on this issue. | |||
| No | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")? | ||
| National public health care is one of my campaign goals. My opponent, Paul Gosat, has made challenging the ACA a political cause. It is one of the ugliest aspects of his record. | |||
| No | Do you support requiring immigrants who are unlawfully present to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
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| Deporting millions is a NAZI move, suitable only for dictatorships like Trump. People who are already here need to be processed into the system like Reagan did. New immigrants need to be processed in not made to be undocumented. | |||
| No | Should the U.S use military force in order to prevent governments hostile to the United States from possessing a nuclear weapon? | ||
| No | Do you support increased American intervention in Iraq and Syria beyond air support? | ||
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| Orwell predicted the War on Terror in 1984. It serves the same 2 purposes in reality. It keeps the citizens fearful and makes the government do evil. No more endless war. | |||
| No | Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts? | ||
| That plan was cooked up by crooks looking for suckers. Any public figure who promotes such an idea is suspect. | |||
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.
| Slightly Increase | a) Agriculture | ||
| Greatly Increase | b) Arts | ||
| Greatly Decrease | c) Defense | ||
| Greatly Increase | d) Education | ||
| Slightly Increase | e) Environment | ||
| Slightly Decrease | f) Homeland Security | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) International aid | ||
| Slightly Increase | h) Medical Research | ||
| Greatly Increase | i) Scientific Research | ||
| Slightly Increase | j) Space exploration | ||
| Maintain Status | k) United Nations | ||
| Slightly Increase | l) Welfare | ||
| Greatly Increase | a) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | b) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Small business taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Excise taxes (alcohol) | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | ||
| Slightly Increase | f) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | h) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Greatly Increase | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Greatly Increase | j) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | k) Payroll taxes | ||
| GREATLY increase education funding. | |||
| GREATLY increase inheritance tax | |||
| 1. Increase education funding and additional federal level education federal proposals. 2. Ending the war on drugs (cannabis legalization and additional criminal justice reforms). 3. Reforming immigration to legally process undocumented resident immigrants and streamline immigration process for immigrants in the live to become citizens. A 4th consideration is improving water distribution and water quality in the US southwest. |
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