John Reitter's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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John Reitter has demonstrated Political Courage by telling citizens where he stands on the issues he may face if elected.
New Jersey Congressional Election 2012 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| There is a middle ground: work together to reduce the # of unwanted and untenable pregnancies, rapes and beatings of women, AND reduce the poverty, lack of education and hopelessness that leads to situations where abortion is an likely option. Through counseling, training, contraception and other methods of birth control, the # of abortions can be greatly reduced while totally respecting womens' privacy and rights. And isn't that what we all want? | |||
| No | Do you support United States' combat operations in Afghanistan? | ||
| Yes | Do you support a timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan? | ||
| The timetable for withdrawl from Afghanistan should be immediate and swift. The sooner we stop destroying their culture and villages and families, the better. Read the book "The Places In Between" by Rory Stewart. The Afghan people need goats not guns! Instead of paved roads they need safe water and schools. Even the Generals say that there is no military solution. The Taliban can never be defeated except by the people themselves. We are driving them into the hands of the Taliban. | |||
Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing the federal budget.In order to balance the budget,
| 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? | ||
| Yes | Is balancing the budget a legislative priority? | ||
| Tax the rich like in the prosperous '50s. Tax luxuries more, and tax financial transactions. We are the richest country in the world; we can afford to educate our kids and provide health CARE, not health INSURANCE, to all Americans. (Like other developed countries do). Close tax loopholes and offshoring. Stop subsidizing corporate welfare, especially for polluters. | |||
| Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| Corporations are not people; money is not speach! Move to Amend the constitution! Occupy the courts! | |||
| No | Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| End the death penalty AND L-WOP which is just as punitive. Free non-violent offenders into rehab, education and training. Legalize most drugs. End for-profit private prisons. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the temporary extension of unemployment benefits? | ||
| No | Do you support the 2010 temporary extension of tax relief? | ||
| These are loaded questions. They are all conditional on green principles: Green growth, Green Jobs and Green infrastructure. The 2010 tax relief needs to be shouldered by the unpatriotic rich, not the deeply patriotic 99%. | |||
| No | Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants? | ||
| You can't require poor areas and rich areas to pass the same tests unless they have the same advantages in every way. We need to tripple our support of poor areas that have inadequate housing, jobs and schools. | |||
| No | Do you support reducing restrictions on offshore energy production? | ||
| Dirty energy is not sustainable. Clean, renewable energy is the only real future. | |||
| Yes | Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| Of course! Climate change is already here and we are paying the price of delayed action. | |||
| Yes | Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| Purchase of a gun should be like purchase of a car. You need a license, training and insurance and a key and a permit or ID...(and a background check and a mental health checkup.) | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Improved Medicare for all is coming, so get ready for it. State by state. Single payer is the only way to really reduce costs and improve care. You want to make a profit on my car...fine. You want to make a profit on my refridgerator...fine. Make a profit on my illness? I don't think so! | |||
| 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? | ||
| We need more immigrants to renew the American can-do spirit which we have lost. And we need them to pay taxes and create new jobs for everyone. The American birth rate is declining and maybe that is a good thing. But we still need "new blood" and new ideas. , Green ideas for a brighter future. | |||
| Yes | Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| I support non-discrimination for gays and atheists and non-conformists. Equal rights for all. But let us remember that marriage as an institurion is a general failure...so we have to ask why? Half off all marriages fail, and half of the rest are unhappy. There must be a better way! Let's start asking the right questions here. Gay marriage is not the problem folks! | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| Why risk WWlll when there is really no immediate threat. Let's concentrate on reducing and eliminating nuclear weapons. | |||
| No | Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts? | ||
| The rich should pay more into SS...and we should stop borrowing from the SS trust fund. | |||
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 | ||
| Slightly Increase | b) Arts | ||
| Greatly Decrease | c) Defense | ||
| Greatly Increase | d) Education | ||
| Greatly Increase | e) Environment | ||
| Greatly Decrease | f) Homeland Security | ||
| Greatly Increase | g) International aid | ||
| Greatly Increase | h) Medical Research | ||
| Greatly Increase | i) Scientific Research | ||
| Slightly Decrease | j) Space exploration | ||
| Greatly Increase | 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 | ||
| Greatly Increase | c) Excise taxes (alcohol) | ||
| Greatly Increase | d) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | ||
| Greatly Increase | e) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | f) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Greatly Increase | h) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Greatly Increase | i) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | j) Payroll taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | k) Other or expanded categories | ||
| Green, renewable energy. Public mass Transportation. Community banks. Health care. All the above answers (agriculture, etc) are dependent on how they help the poor and the environment and peace on earth...not for the benefit of Wall Street and the big corporations and CEOs! | |||
| Financial transaction tax! Carbon tax! | |||
| We are the most prosporous nation in the world. We can afford to educate our kids and provide better health CARE (not health "insurance") for everyone, the way other civilized countries do. We can greatly reduce our bloated military and stop corporate welfare and tax loopholes and offshoring of profits. Green projects, well managed, can actually save money and save the earth. End wars of occupation and most of the 1,000 military bases. End the wasteful and ineffective drug war. There would be plenty of funds for domestic green programs and $ left to help others! |
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