| Full Name: | Melvin 'Mel' Luther Watt |
|---|---|
| Office: | U.S. House (NC) - District 12, Democratic |
| First Elected: | 1992 |
| Last Elected: | 11/06/2012 |
| Next Election: | 2014 |
| Gender: | Male |
|---|---|
| Family: | Wife: Eulada; 2 Children: Brian, Jason |
| Birth Date: | 08/26/1945 |
| Birth Place: | Charlotte, North Carolina |
| Home City: | Charlotte, NC |
| Religion: | Presbyterian - Christian |
What is the Political Courage Test?
Other or Expanded Principles & Legislative Priorities are entered exactly as the candidate has submitted it. Project Vote Smart does not edit for misspelled words, punctuation or grammar.
| Pro-choice | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? |
| Other or expanded principles |
| No | Do you support United States' combat operations in Afghanistan? |
| Yes | Do you support a timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan? |
| Other or expanded principles |
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? |
| Yes | do you support reducing Medicare spending? |
| Yes | Is balancing the budget a legislative priority? |
| Other or expanded principles |
| Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? |
| Other or expanded principles |
| No | Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? |
| Other or expanded principles |
| 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? |
| Yes | Do you support the 2010 temporary extension of tax relief? |
| Other or expanded principles |
| Yes | Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants? |
| Other or expanded principles |
| No | Do you support reducing restrictions on offshore energy production? |
| Other or expanded principles |
| Yes | Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change? |
| Yes | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? |
| Other or expanded principles |
| Yes | Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? |
| Other or expanded principles |
| No | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act? |
| Yes | Should individuals be required to purchase health insurance, as mandated in the 2010 Affordable Care Act? |
| Other or expanded principles |
| 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? |
| Other or expanded principles |
| Yes | Do you support same-sex marriage? |
| Other or expanded principles |
| Yes | Do you support targeting suspected terrorists outside of official theaters of conflict? |
| Yes | Should the U.S use military force in order to prevent Iran from possessing a nuclear weapon? |
| Other or expanded principles | |
Military force should be used against Iran only as an absolute last resort. |
|
| No | Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts? |
| Other or expanded principles |
Spending | |
Indicate 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. | |
| Slightly Decrease | a) Agriculture |
| Maintain Status | b) Arts |
| Slightly Decrease | c) Defense |
| Greatly Increase | d) Education |
| Maintain Status | e) Environment |
| Maintain Status | f) Homeland Security |
| Maintain Status | g) International aid |
| Slightly Increase | h) Medical Research |
| Slightly Increase | i) Scientific Research |
| Slightly Decrease | j) Space exploration |
| Maintain Status | k) United Nations |
| Slightly Increase | l) Welfare |
| m) Other or expanded categories |
Taxes | |
Indicate 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. | |
| Greatly Increase | a) Capital gains taxes |
| Slightly Increase | b) Corporate taxes |
| Greatly Increase | c) Excise taxes (alcohol) |
| Greatly Increase | d) Excise taxes (cigarettes) |
| Slightly Increase | e) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) |
| Slightly Decrease | f) Income taxes (low-income families) |
| Maintain Status | g) Income taxes (middle-income families) |
| Greatly Increase | h) Income taxes (high-income families) |
| Greatly Increase | i) Inheritance taxes |
| Maintain Status | j) Payroll taxes |
| k) Other or expanded categories |
| Please explain in a total of 100 words or less, your top two or three priorities if elected. If they require additional funding for implementation, please explain how you would obtain this funding. | |
My two highest priorities are always 1) from a service perspective, to provide the best possible constituent services for the people I represent to make sure that they get everything they are entitled to receive in benefits and services from their federal government, and 2) from a substantive perspective, to make the most responsible decisions (whether financial or policy) I can make as the representative of my constituents based on available research and information, as I would if I was making these decisions solely for me and my family. |
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