Joe Siano's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Joe Siano has refused to provide voters with positions on key issues covered by the 2013 Political Courage Test, despite repeated requests. Joe Siano is still welcome to submit the test at any time.
This candidate has responded to a Political Courage Test in a previous election. As a continued effort to provide the American public with factual information on candidates running for public office, these archived responses are made available here.
New Jersey Congressional Election 2010 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | a) Do you consider yourself pro-choice or pro-life? | ||
| No | b) Should abortion be legal only within the first trimester of pregnancy? | ||
| No | 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) Should federal subsidies be prohibited from being used for abortion procedures? | ||
| Life begins at conception. Government's most important role is to protect our lives, liberty and freedom to pursue happiness. It is the role of private charity to aid distressed mothers and mothers-to-be in order to welcome, defend and nurture new life. Nonetheless, the state should not force a woman, whose life is endangered, to risk her life to bring a child to term. However, there should some sort of medical / legal due process in place to ensure that this exception is not abused. Constitutionally, the oversight of family and reproductive law belongs at the state level. | |||
1) SpendingIndicate what federal funding levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one number per category- you can use a number more than once.2) 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.
| Eliminate | a) Agriculture | ||
| Eliminate | b) Arts | ||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Defense | ||
| Maintain Status | 1) Intelligence operations | ||
| Slightly Decrease | 2) Military hardware | ||
| Slightly Decrease | 3) National missile defense | ||
| Slightly Increase | 4) Salary and benefits for active duty personnel | ||
| Maintain Status | 5) Programs to improve troop retention rates | ||
| Slightly Decrease | 6) Research and development of new weapons | ||
| Eliminate | d) Education | ||
| Greatly Decrease | e) Environment | ||
| Slightly Decrease | f) Homeland security | ||
| Eliminate | g) International aid | ||
| Eliminate | h) Medical research | ||
| Greatly Decrease | i) Scientific research | ||
| Greatly Decrease | j) Space exploration | ||
| Greatly Decrease | k) United Nations | ||
| Eliminate | l) Welfare | ||
| Eliminate | m) Other or expanded categories | ||
| Eliminate | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Eliminate | b) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Eliminate | c) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Eliminate | d) Corporate taxes | ||
| Eliminate | e) Gasoline taxes | ||
| Eliminate | f) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | g) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | h) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | i) Other or expanded categories | ||
| Yes | 3) Do you support the elimination of the federal estate tax? | ||
| Yes | 4) Do you support requiring the federal budget to be balanced each year? | ||
| No | 5) Do you support using government funds in an effort to stimulate and improve the economy? | ||
| Eliminate unconstitutional, unproductive and unnecessary agencies including the Departments of Energy, Education, HHS and Agriculture the EPA, IRS, DEA, HUD and the ATF. I would get government out of banking by closing the Federal Reserve and out of lending by liquidating Fannie and Freddy. Liquidate the capital and real estate assets of those agencies to pay down or pay off federal debt. | |||
| I support the Fair Tax at retail as the sole source of federal government income, other than specific user and service fees. This will simplify the lives of all taxpayers saving hours of effort and heartache and billions in tax prep fees. Unlike current taxes, the Fair Tax will not be a disincentive to investment and earning. It will also be more transparent than our current jumble and eliminate the political game of loopholes for favored groups and industries. | |||
| Even well meaning government intervention results in misinvestment and malinvestment. Keep government out of business. The best thing that government can do is to protect property rights so that businesses feel safe that their capital, technologies, trademarks and earnings will be protected. Also reestablish a reliable commodity based currency system. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support privatizing elements of Social Security? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| No | c) Do you support increasing the federal minimum wage? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support the ability of workers to unionize? | ||
| No | e) Do you support federal funding for job-training programs that retrain displaced workers? | ||
| Social Security is anything but secure. The current system is going broke and will leave future retirees high and dry. Our choices appear to be abandoning our elderly or bankrupting the next generation of workers, or both. I believe that we should grandfather in current retirees and workers of a certain age. Beyond that, we need to redirect younger workers to find private means of retirement savings. In terms of regulation, I recall George McGovern's lament after becoming a private businessman, that he would never have passed the regulations that he supported had he know their real world impact. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support increasing the amount individuals are permitted to contribute to federal campaigns? | ||
| No | b) Should Congress regulate indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support removing all contribution limits on federal campaigns? | ||
| No | d) Should candidates for federal office be encouraged to meet voluntary spending limits? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support giving the President the power of the line item veto for items concerning appropriations? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support limiting the President's ability to define how legislation is applied through the use of signing statements? | ||
| I have no problem with money in politics. Individuals and businesses should be able to spend their money as they please. If they spend it on political expression or advocacy, it is their First Amendment right to do so. The big problem is money in government. With a government that is as big and intrusive as ours and that collects and spends trillions of dollars on every conceivable project, it is no wonder that ambitious individuals will spend mega-bucks to buy influence. Reduce government to its rightful roles and the campaign spending issue will disappear. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support programs that provide prison inmates with vocational and job-related training and job-placement assistance when released? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support programs that provide prison inmates with substance abuse treatment? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support reduced prison sentences for non-violent offenders? | ||
| No | e) Do you support mandatory prison sentences for selling illegal drugs? | ||
| I would repeal the Federal Controlled Substances Act and return drug control policy to the states where it belongs. There is no Constitutional justification for the federal government to dictate what a free person can and cannot put into his body. On a practical level, the War on Drugs is a failure. We spend billions, jail millions and trample on civil rights daily. Still drug use persists. As in the days of alcohol prohibition, drug prohibition has given rise to a ruthless and powerful class of organized criminals looking for a slice of the $40 billion drug market. | |||
| No | a) Do you support federal education standards and testing requirements for K-12 students? | ||
| No | b) Do you support federal funding for universal pre-K programs? | ||
| No | c) Do you support federal funding for charter schools? | ||
| No | d) Do you support federal funding for K-12 school vouchers? | ||
| No | e) Do you support the federal government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| Education is a local issue. There is no Constitutional role for the federal government. At the local level I support school choice. States can issue vouchers or scholarships that can empower parents and children to shop for those schools that best serve their needs. This stimulates competition and innovation in education, leading to excellence. The only place that the federal government should be involved is in D.C. where it is a disgrace that they cancelled the voucher program thereby depriving underprivileged kids from getting a quality education. This is strictly political to appease the teachers' union. | |||
| No | a) Do you support enacting environmental regulations aimed at reducing the effects of climate change? | ||
| No | b) Do you support international emissions targets aimed at reducing the effects of climate change? | ||
| No | c) Do you support allowing energy producers to trade carbon credits under a "cap and trade" system? | ||
| No | d) Do you support strengthening fuel efficiency standards on all gasoline and diesel-powered engines, including cars, trucks, and sport utility vehicles? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support domestic oil exploration in federally-protected areas? | ||
| No | f) Do you support federal funding for the development of alternative energy? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support the development of nuclear reactors? | ||
| Climate change hysteria is fueled by bogus science. Cap and Trade will be very damaging to our economy and our ability to compete internationally. Likewise transferring carbon credits to developing nations gives them a competitive leg up in international trade. Free market factors should determine what cars consumers buy and what fuels they use. The nuclear industry should be free to develop and market its products but held responsible for any damage that they cause. | |||
| No | a) Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you believe that the Second Amendment guarantees the right of individual citizens to own guns? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support allowing individuals to carry concealed guns? | ||
| No | d) Do you support a ban on assault rifles? | ||
| The right to bear arms is fundamental to free citizenship. An armed people are prepared to stand up to tyranny. We are sovereign individuals who delegate a portion of our rights to the government for the common defense and welfare. However, free citizens always need to be ready to reclaim those rights if and when government tyranny becomes untenable. | |||
| No | a) Do you support a publicly-administered health insurance option? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support expanding access to health care through commercial health insurance reform? | ||
| Yes | c) Should the federal government expand eligibility for tax-free medical savings accounts? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support relaxing regulations on the importation of prescription drugs? | ||
| Healthcare needs to be reformed by unchaining it from burdensome overregulation. Free market forces must be unleashed to multiply consumer choices that will drive down the cost of treatments, therapies and health insurance. Lowered prices will ultimately allow more people to afford coverage and treatment. Health insurance must also be unhitched from employment to ensure portability. To ensure bargaining power, consumers should be able to combine into voluntary associations to purchase insurance. Socialized universal coverage will eventually lead to rationing and diminished quality of care. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants? | ||
| No | b) Do you support decreasing the number of legal immigrants allowed into the country? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support establishing English as the official national language? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| I subscribe to Milton Friedman's maxim that a nation cannot simultaneously maintain both a welfare state and open borders. Our federal government has an obligation to protect its citizens by securing the borders and intercepting criminals and terrorists. It must also protect taxpayers by not allowing the social welfare system to be overburdened by foreign citizens. However, we are also a compassionate nation and understand that people come here for a better life. Peaceful and self-supporting aliens should be registered and put on a road to citizenship that includes reparations for the illegal time that they have spent in America. | |||
| No | a) Do you support United States military action in Afghanistan? | ||
| No | b) Do you support increasing military assistance for Afghanistan? | ||
| No | c) Do you support increasing economic development assistance for Afghanistan? | ||
| Yes | d) Should the United States continue to strike suspected terrorist targets in Pakistan? | ||
| No | e) Do you support granting aid to countries when it is in the security interests of the United States? | ||
| No | f) Should the United States support the creation of a Palestinian state? | ||
| No | g) Do you support increasing sanctions on Iran if it continues to defy United Nations mandates? | ||
| Yes | h) Do you support the withdrawal of United States troops from Iraq? | ||
| Yes | i) Do you support the United States' involvement in free trade agreements? | ||
| The U.S. has the right to defend itself and should hunt down, apprehend and punish those who attack us. However, it is neither our right nor responsibility to meddle in the internal affairs of another nation. Many intelligence experts maintain that U.S. intervention in the affairs of foreign governments has generated terrorist ?blow back?. We should never allow ourselves to be cowed by terrorist threats or to allow them to go unpunished. However, we should understand the root cause of terrorism and address it. | |||
| Yes | a) Should marriage only be between one man and one woman? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support allowing openly-gay men and women to serve in the United States military? | ||
| No | c) Do you support federal funding for embryonic stem cell research? | ||
| Yes | d) Should the federal government end affirmative action programs? | ||
| I don not support the redefinition of the word marriage. It has cultural connotations in all societies that go back to primitive times. I do support strong domestic partnership / civil union statutes that protect the rights of same-sex couples. It has been demonstrated that harvesting embryonic stem cells is unnecessary. Superior outcomes have been achieved using adult stem cells. | |||
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