Rich Whitney's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Illinois Gubernatorial Election 2010 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | a) Do you consider yourself pro-choice or pro-life? | ||
| No | b) Should abortion be legal only within 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? | ||
| No | e) Do you support requiring parental notification before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| No | f) Do you support requiring parental consent before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support sexual education programs that include information on abstinence, contraceptives, and HIV/STD prevention methods? | ||
| No | h) Do you support abstinence-only sexual education programs? | ||
| We must find common ground with pro-life advocates by promoting measures to prevent unwanted pregnancies and providing genuine social support for women of limited means who become pregnant and choose to bear their child. Better education, including parental education, and creating a full employment economy with living wage jobs or better would be far more effective and reducing the incidence of abortion than making it illegal. | |||
1) State SpendingIndicate 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 TaxesIndicate 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 StabilizationIndicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing Illinois' budget.
| Greatly Increase | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Greatly Increase | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Greatly Increase | c) Environment | ||
| Greatly Increase | d) Health care | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Law enforcement | ||
| Greatly Increase | f) Transportation and highway infrastructure | ||
| Slightly Increase | g) Welfare | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | d) Gasoline taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | e) Property taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Sales taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Greatly Increase | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Yes | a) Tapping into Illinois' "rainy day" fund | ||
| Yes | b) Issuing the early release of certain non-violent offenders | ||
| No | c) Increasing tuition rates at public universities | ||
| No | d) Instituting mandatory furloughs and layoffs for state employees | ||
| No | e) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| No | f) Privatizing certain government services | ||
| I support expanding the public sector in those areas that can help the private sector flourish. I object to your coupling of "transportation and highway infrastructure." I support an expansion of sustainable transportation, primarily rail, smart urban planning and reconstruction, bike pathways, clean buses, etc. But I would not support great expansion of highways, designed to cater to an environmentally and economically unsustainable mode of transportation, the gas-driven automobile. | |||
| I support a Financial Transactions Tax on financial speculation in Illinois -- on futures, options and derivatives. I also support a fee-and-dividend system to require emitters of greenhouse gases to begin paying for the social costs, with dividends paid to individual taxpayers, creating incentives to embrace closed-loop practices, eliminate greenhouse gas emissions and promote renewable energy. | |||
| The rainy day fund is too depleted to be of much use. We cannot balance the budget on spending cuts, which would be an even greater disaster than the status quo. We have to increase revenues as suggested above. However, there are some spending cuts to be made, not accross the board on whole agencies, but by convening a citizens review commission to conduct a forensic audit of the entire Illinois state budget and identify all expenditures that do not serve a legitimate public purpose. | |||
e) Do you support limits on the following types of contributions to candidates for state government?
| No | a) Do you support eliminating the position of lieutenant governor? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support limits on the number of terms for Illinois governors? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support limits on the number of terms for Illinois state legislators? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support limits on the number of terms for the four top legislative leadership positions? | ||
| Yes | 1) Individual | ||
| Yes | 2) Political Action Committee | ||
| Yes | 3) Corporate | ||
| Yes | 4) Political Party | ||
| Yes | 5) Legislative Leader | ||
| Yes | f) Should candidates for state office be encouraged to meet voluntary spending limits? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information? | ||
| I am actually somewhat agnostic on term limits but I especially agree that it would be appropriate for legislative leadership positions. I support an effective ban on corporate campaign contributions, which can get around the Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United case by using our corporate chartering laws to require all corporations doing business in the State of Illinois to consent to no engagement in political speech or political contributions. We also need to end pay-to-play in Illinois with more effective bars on contractor contributions, among other steps. | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| Yes | c) Should the possession of small amounts of marijuana be decriminalized? | ||
| No | d) Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | ||
| No | e) Should a minor who sends sexually-explicit or nude photos by cell phone face criminal charges? | ||
| No | f) Do you support requiring all motorcyclists to wear helmets? | ||
| No | g) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| I support LEGALIZATION of marijuana, decriminalization of many other substances (but not others, such as methamphetamines) and generally treating most substance abuse as a health issue not a criminal issue. As to a minor -- or adult -- who sends sexually explicit photos, the question is unfair because it doesn't specify if the recipient consents or does not consent. If the recipient does not consent, I would charge it as a petty offense for the first offense, then a misdemeanor for subsequent offenses, leading to mandatory jail time eventually. | |||
| No | a) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| No | b) Should video gambling be legal in Illinois? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support increased spending on infrastructure projects for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| No | g) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| I answered no on financial assistance to homeowners because I would rather require banks to accept reasonable terms of refinancing than have taxpayers indirectly pay the banks. Financial incentives to the private sector for job creation has to be done carefully; it can create many ways of gaming the system. Better methods of job creation include a massive investment in higher education (including vocational) to make it free for Illinois residents; a Green Capital Bill to promote sustainable energy and transportation and using the power of eminent domain to reclaim, retool and empower communities to operate closed factories and facilities. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support national education standards? | ||
| No | b) Do you support requiring public schools to administer high school exit exams? | ||
| No | c) Do you support using a merit pay system for teachers? | ||
| No | d) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| Yes | f) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Illinois high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| Most of these questions demand more than yes or no. I support national education standards but not the testing regimen of NCLB or Race to the Top. I might be willing to reconsider high school exit exams but would want to know the scope of what is proposed. Basic literacy, for example, would be reasonable. I would support some funding for charter schools but only under limited circumstances where the charter school is not being used to the detriment of other public schools or for union-busting. I support tuition-free higher education, which would eliminate the need for much financial aid. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state funding for the development of alternative energy? | ||
| No | b) Do you support state funding for the development of traditional domestic energy sources (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil)? | ||
| No | c) Do you support providing financial incentives to farms that produce biofuel crops? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support state funding for improvements to Illinois' energy infrastructure? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support enacting environmental regulations aimed at reducing the effects of climate change? | ||
| "Alternative energy" does not include nuclear power in my book. Regarding biofuels, I think the evidence shows that they are largely a delusion or a boondoggle more than a serious clean energy alternative but I do support continued research in the area. Wind, solar and geothermal energy deserve the most emphasis in terms of state support. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support requiring background checks on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support allowing individuals to carry concealed guns? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support requiring a license for gun possession? | ||
| Here again the devil is in the details. We already have restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns; the question is in the nature of the restrictions. I support conceal and carry but at a high threshold; the person must have a clean record and pass a fairly rigorous test to demonstrate safe gun use. I would also allow individual counties to opt out of the conceal and carry default position. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support a universally-accessible, publicly-administered health insurance option? | ||
| No | 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) Should individuals be required to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| No | e) Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits? | ||
| No | f) Do you support legalizing physician-assisted suicide in Illinois? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| Your first two questions are misleading, because limiting. I support a universally accessible publicly funded SINGLE PAYER health care system, which you do not include as an option. Thus I do support "expanding access to health care," but not "through commercial health insurance reform." | |||
| No | a) Should marriage only be between one man and one woman? | ||
| Yes | b) Should Illinois allow same-sex couples to form civil unions? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support state funding for stem cell research? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support state funding for embryonic stem cell research? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support the state's use of affirmative action? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Illinois' anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Illinois' anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| I should clarify that I support ALLOWING state funding for stem cell research, including embryonic; whether it makes sense for our state to fund it depends on the particulars of the proposed grant or program. Also, sexual orientation and gender identity is currently included in the Illinois Human Right Act; your question seems outdated. | |||
| My top two priorities are to fix our budget crisis and fix our economic crisis. The two are related since we need the public sector to function better if we are to create a full employment economy. To fix the budget crisis: Pass a tax restructuring like HB 174 or SB 750, conduct a forensic audit, tax the speculators, create a state bank in which to hold deposits and extend credit. To fix the economy: free higher education, single-payer health care, Green Capital Bill, living wage law, use eminent domain to reclaim and retool closed factories. More info at whitneyforgov.org |
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