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Jim Strohm's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)

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Other or Expanded Principles & Legislative Priorities are entered exactly as candidates submit them. Vote Smart does not edit for misspelled words, punctuation or grammar.

Due to a later filing deadline, a lack of contact information, or other circumstances delaying entry into our database, Jim Strohm was not directly invited to take the 2014 Political Courage Test. Jim Strohm is still welcome to submit the test at any time.

What is the Political Courage Test?
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.

Texas Congressional Election 2008 Political Courage Test

The Political Courage Test asks candidates which items they will support if elected. It does not ask them to indicate which items they will oppose. Through extensive research of public polling data, we discovered that voters are more concerned with what candidates would support when elected to office, not what they oppose. If a candidate does not select a response to any part or all of any question, it does not necessarily indicate that the candidate is opposed to that particular item.

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding abortion.

a) Abortions should always be illegal.
b) Abortions should always be legal.
c) Abortions should be legal only within the first trimester.
d) Abortions should be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape.
X e) Abortions should be legal when the life of the woman is endangered.
f) Dilation and extraction or "partial-birth" abortion procedures should be legal.
X g) Medicare, Medicaid, and federal subsidies should be prohibited from being used on abortion procedures.
�If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament.� -- Rose F. Kennedy As a male, I have no right to tell women whether they can have abortions. The Roe v. Wade decision provides a well-reasoned legal basis for states to make their own abortion laws. The Federal government should neither regulate abortion nor fund abortion procedures. These choices should be left to the individual states, and to the individual women. I'm confident that women will always follow their hearts, minds, and faith in making the correct choice, including the choice to bear a child. Let's not outlaw choice.

Indicate 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.1) Budget Priorities2) Defense Spending3) 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.Family Income TaxesOther TaxesDeductions/Credits

Slightly Decrease a) Agriculture
Slightly Decrease b) Arts
Greatly Decrease c) Defense
Eliminate d) Education
Maintain Status e) Environment
Eliminate f) FEMA
Eliminate g) Homeland security
Eliminate h) International aid
Greatly Decrease i) Law enforcement (Federal)
Greatly Decrease j) Law enforcement (State)
Slightly Decrease k) Medical research
Slightly Increase l) National parks
Maintain Status m) Public health services
Slightly Decrease n) Scientific research
Slightly Increase o) Space exploration programs
Slightly Increase p) Transportation and highway infrastructure
Eliminate q) United Nations
Greatly Decrease r) Welfare
Greatly Increase a) Armed forces personnel training
Slightly Decrease b) Intelligence operations
Greatly Decrease c) Military hardware
Greatly Decrease d) Modernization of weaponry and equipment
Greatly Decrease e) National missile defense
Greatly Increase f) Pay for active duty personnel
Slightly Increase g) Programs to improve troop retention rates
Greatly Decrease h) Research and development of new weapons
Greatly Increase i) Troop and equipment readiness
Eliminate a) Less than $12,000
Greatly Decrease b) $12,001-$40,000
Maintain Status c) $40,001-$100,000
Slightly Increase d) $100,001-$180,000
Greatly Increase e) $180,001-$350,000
Greatly Increase f) $350,001 and above
Maintain Status a) Alcohol taxes
Maintain Status b) Capital gains taxes
Maintain Status c) Cigarette taxes
Slightly Decrease d) Corporate taxes
Slightly Increase e) Gasoline taxes
Eliminate f) Inheritance taxes
Greatly Increase a) Charitable contribution deduction
Maintain Status b) Child tax credit
Maintain Status c) Earned income tax credit
Maintain Status d) Medical expense deduction
Maintain Status e) Mortgage deduction
Maintain Status f) Student loan credit
Yes 4) Do you support the permanent repeal of the federal estate tax?
Yes 5) Do you support requiring the federal budget to be balanced each year?
See answer under #3 -- Taxes, below. We face a fiscal crisis of global proportions. We need to dramatically reduce or eliminate failed Federal programs and bureaucracies. At the same time, we need to maintain infrastructure and preserve our treasured national resources. All the while, we need an extra $700 billion a year in new revenue, or in Federal spending cuts. We cannot spend our way out of this crisis, especially with folly like giving away $160 billion in "economic stimulus" programs that directly increase the Federal deficit and go directly to the soaring Federal debt, which approaches $9 trillion.
Our Department of Defense spends many times more than all the other nations of the world combined. Recall that overzealous defense spending led directly to the fall of the USSR. We need sufficient defense spending to ensure a strong, viable core of well-trained, well-equipped, and well-paid professional soldiers who can defend our borders. We don't need dozens of military bases scattered around the globe or tens of thousands of soldiers stationed there. Our military priorities should focus on our nation's defense, and not on being a global policeman. The United Nations should shoulder the task of being the global policeman.
Regrettably, the current administration has spent this nation into bankruptcy. The task of correcting this problem falls to future leaders. The only solution lies in greatly decreasing Federal spending while temporarily increasing taxes. An annual budget surplus of $700 billion per year for the next eight years would return us to where we were at the end of the Clinton administration. This equates to approximately a 30% spending cut per year. This magnitude of cut will result in a significant loss of employment and an ensuing recession. We can plan our recession now -- or suffer an uncontrolled depression later.
I support a $50,000 per year exemption on capital gains taken per year, with a two-year running window on allocating capital gains as income. After that, capital gains should be taxed at the marginal rate. The Alternative Minimum Tax must be abolished. Taxes on unemployment compensation and Social Security income must be eliminated. The revenues derived from taxes must be evaluated against the Federal and private-sector costs to collect those taxes, and unproductive taxes need to be eliminated. Inheritance taxes should be abolished and accumulated personal wealth allowed to be freely transferred, then taxed as capital gains when spent.
The Fair Tax might offer a substitute for the income tax, but would require a complete revamping of the IRS, the abolishment of the Sixteenth Amendment, and the passage of a new amendment to authorize the Fair Tax. As far as implementation of the Fair Tax -- have you received your Economic Stimulus check yet? The Pre-Bate of the Fair Tax would entail a monthly payment like this, to every wage-earner and every householder in the nation. So for the short term, we are stuck with the income tax. It needs to be adjusted to better favor low-income Americans.
I support a Constitutional amendment requiring the Federal budget to be balanced each year. I support limiting Federal budget increases to the percentage of GDP growth, and requiring a decrease in Federal spending if the GDP decreases. I support requiring all budgetary spending items that require a spending increase to be funded by a previous-year revenue enhancement that continues for the duration of the budget item's predicted life.

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding campaign finance and government reform.

X a) Support increasing the amount individuals are permitted to contribute to federal campaigns.
b) Prohibit Political Action Committee (PAC) contributions to candidates for federal office.
X c) Allow unregulated soft money campaign contributions to political parties or committees.
X d) Remove all contribution limits on federal campaigns and parties.
e) Support prohibiting ads containing candidates' name that are paid for by third parties from airing 60 days before a primary and 30 days before a general federal election.
f) Support instant run-off voting (IRV).
g) Support designating Election Day as a national holiday.
h) Support giving the President the power of the line item veto for items concerning appropriations.
X i) Support limiting the President's use of signing statements in order to prevent an alternative interpretation of the bill.
X j) Support a federal shield law to protect reporter-source privilege.
Political donors should be free to express themselves by contributing as much as they want, wherever they want. Existing Federal election reporting requirements should remain in place. All government funding of political campaigns should be abolished. Paperless electronic voting machines should be outlawed, and all ballots must provide both an auditable paper trail and a physical ballot that can be verified at any time. If my ATM and my gas pump can give me a receipt, my voting machine should be able to do the same.

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding crime.

a) Support the use of the death penalty for federal crimes.
b) Eliminate the use of the death penalty for federal crimes.
X c) Support programs to provide prison inmates with vocational and job-related skills and job-placement assistance when released.
X d) Support programs to provide prison inmates with drug and alcohol addiction treatment.
X e) Reduce prison sentences for those who commit non-violent crimes.
f) Support mandatory jail sentences for selling illegal drugs.
g) Support strict penalties for internet crime (e.g. hacking, identity theft, worms/viruses).
h) Require that crimes based on sexual orientation be prosecuted as federal hate crimes.
Law enforcement should focus on crimes of violence and crimes against property. "Victimless" crimes should be decriminalized, and only the states should have the authority to tax or regulate them. Non-violent drug offenders should be paroled or have their sentences commuted, based on a case-by-case review. Penalties and enforcement for smuggling drugs into the united States should be maintained or increased, but domestic possession and production of marijuana should be decriminalized, regulated, and taxed in a fashion similar to tobacco or alcohol. Convicted felons free on parole should be able to petition to have their right to vote returned .

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding education.

a) Support the federal government funding universal pre-K programs.
X b) Allow parents to use vouchers to send their children to any public school.
c) Allow parents to use vouchers to send their children to any private or religious school.
d) Allow teachers and professionals to receive federal funding to establish charter or magnet schools.
e) Increase funding for the Pell Grant program.
f) Decrease interest rates of Stafford Loans.
g) Support federal tax incentives to help families save for college.
X h) Ban university financial aid officers from owning stock in or accepting gifts from student loan lenders.
X i) Require universities to disclose financial relationships with lenders.
j) Support federal education standards and testing requirements for K-12 students (No Child Left Behind).
X k) Eliminate all federal education standards and testing requirements for K-12 students (No Child Left Behind).
Abolish "No Child Left Behind." It's not working and it never did. Those funds would have been better spent on increased teacher pay. The Department of Education should be abolished or reduced to an advisory committee that recommends and provides curricula for the optional use of home-schooling. Instead of increasing Federal funding for college students, the colleges should look to their endowments and private donors to increase available funds for needy students. This already works for Stanford and Harvard. The private sector needs to dramatically increase its funding of internships and work-study programs.

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding employment.

a) Increase funding for national job-training programs that retrain displaced workers or teach skills needed in today’s job market.
X b) Reduce government regulation of the private sector.
X c) Encourage employers to offer child care services, flex-time scheduling, comp-time, and unpaid leave for family emergencies.
d) Increase the federal minimum wage.
X e) Support the right of workers to unionize.
f) Eliminate all federal programs designed to reduce unemployment.
g) Include sexual orientation in federal anti-discrimination laws.
h) Include gender identity in federal anti-discrimination laws.
Government regulation of private industry needs to be reduced at all levels. Decreased regulation should result in increased private-sector efficiency and profitability, which should eventually benefit everybody. Government policies should encourage but not mandate increased pay across the board for wage-earners at or below median income. For example, tipped employees should have their tips exempted from Federal reporting or taxation. Workers earning at or below the Federal minimum wage should have the ability to opt out of any or all Federal income-withholding tax programs.

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding the environment and energy.

X a) Strengthen the regulation and enforcement of the Clean Water Act.
X b) Strengthen the regulation and enforcement of the Clean Air Act.
c) Support increased development of traditional energy resources (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil).
d) Strengthen emission controls on all gasoline and diesel-powered engines, including cars, trucks, and sport utility vehicles.
e) Strengthen fuel efficiency standards on all gasoline and diesel-powered engines, including cars, trucks, and sport utility vehicles.
f) Support domestic oil exploration in areas that are currently restricted.
X g) Encourage further development and use of alternative fuels.
h) Support the use of ethanol as an alternative fuel.
i) Support research and development of nuclear reactors as an alternative energy source.
j) Allow energy producers to trade pollution credits under "cap and trade" laws.
k) Support international mandatory emission targets to limit global warming.
l) Support international voluntary emission targets to limit global warming.
Corporations must not be given free rein to pollute our air and water. Existing laws need to be enforced. Trading of carbon or other pollution credits must be halted. Corporate tax credits for fossil-fuel electrical production should be eliminated. Development of passive alternative energy sources such as wind, solar, and geothermal power should be greatly increased. Federal tax policies should encourage passive energy development at all levels, including homeowner tax credits for conservation and weatherization. The estimated $17 billion annual corporate welfare for ethanol production must be halted immediately, and free-market economic policies be used to set the pump price.

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding guns.On (c) and (d), indicate what levels (#1-6) you support for the following categories.

X a) Allow individuals to carry concealed guns.
b) Ban the sale, ownership or possession of handguns except by law enforcement and other government officials.
Slightly Decrease c) Enforcement of existing restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns.
Greatly Decrease d) Restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns.
Until existing gun laws are fully and effectively enforced against actual gun criminals, passing new gun laws is a frivolous waste of lawmakers' time and taxpayers' money. In addition, many state and local laws violate the Second Amendment. There should be no misunderstanding of the plain language of "the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." These bad laws should be repealed at the state level. Concealed-carry laws should be uniformly enacted through the 50 states. I support continued bans on firearm ownership by felons and the mentally ill.

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding health.

a) Implement a universal healthcare program to guarantee coverage to all Americans, regardless of income.
b) Expand eligibility for tax-free medical savings accounts.
X c) Allow the importation of prescription drugs into the United States.
d) Support expanding prescription drug coverage under Medicare.
e) Offer tax credits to individuals and small businesses to offset the cost of insurance coverage.
f) Support expanding child healthcare programs.
X g) Providing healthcare is not a responsibility of the federal government.
The existing health care system encompasses a totally unfair system of "haves" and "have-nots," based on whether patients have adequate private insurance. At the same time, promised Medicare and medical benefits (TRICARE) for military retirees are being reduced. We face a multi-faceted crisis of guaranteeing entitled benefits already promised, managing costs for these programs, and restoring fiscal sanity to the nation. Add to this -- unfairness at all levels in both the public and the private medical insurance system. While I do not want the Federal government managing health care, we need a payment system that is equitable to all.

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding immigration.

a) Decrease the number of legal immigrants allowed into the country.
b) Establish English as the official national language.
c) Support a temporary worker program.
X d) Support harsher financial punishments for those who knowingly employ illegal immigrants.
e) Support amnesty for illegal immigrants already working in the United States.
X f) Illegal immigrants should have to return to their countries of origin before being considered for citizenship.
g) Illegal immigrants should be given a pathway to citizenship.
X h) Support merit-based visas over family-based visas.
We need a revised, streamlined immigration law to allow people who want to come here that privilege. We need an immediate solution to the existing illegal-immigrant crisis that allows these people safe passage home, provides an incentive to go home, requires their return to their home country, and allows lawful immigrants to return to the United States. For the long term, I support a modified open-border policy that gives reciprocal rights of passage across national borders as freely as we cross state borders today. This depends entirely on foreign nations allowing United States citizens to freely live and work overseas.

International AidIndicate which principles you support (if any) regarding international aid.International PolicyIndicate which principles you support (if any) regarding international policy.International TradeIndicate which principles you support (if any) regarding international trade.

a) Support the United States granting aid to countries when extraordinary circumstances cause disaster and threaten civilian lives.
b) Support the United States granting aid to countries when it is in the security interests of the United States.
X c) Eliminate United States aid for any nation with documented human rights abuses.
X d) Aid granted by the United States should be scaled back and eventually eliminated.
No a) Should the United States continue to provide leadership in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process?
Yes b) Should the United States support the creation of a Palestinian state?
No c) Should the United States impose greater international sanctions on Iran if it continues to defy United Nations mandates?
No d) Should the United States support the Lebanese government against insurgent forces?
No e) Should the United States maintain its troop levels in Iraq?
Yes f) Should the United States withdraw its troops from Iraq?
No h) Should the United States apply greater economic and diplomatic sanctions against North Korea if it fails to abide by its agreement to suspend its nuclear program?
No i) Should the United States increase financial support for Afghanistan?
No j) Should the United States increase military support for Afghanistan?
No k) Should the United States trade nuclear fuel to India for civilian purposes?
Yes l) Should the United States decrease financial support for Pakistan?
No m) Should the United States decrease military support for Pakistan?
No n) Should the United States be involved in bringing an end to the violence in Darfur, Sudan?
No o) Should the United States be involved in bringing an end to the violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo?
No p) Should the United States provide economic and military support to the Transitional Government of Somalia?
No q) Should the United States use sanctions to encourage the government of Zimbabwe to end its human rights abuses?
Undecided r) Should the United States support the creation of an independent nation of Kosovo?
Undecided a) Do you support the United States imposing economic sanctions on China?
No b) Do you support the United States imposing trade sanctions on Venezuela?
Undecided c) Do you support the United States involvement in free trade agreements?
Yes d) Do you support the United States involvement in intergovernmental organizations dedicated to trade?
"Charity begins at home." Until we've eliminated poverty, homelessness, hunger, and health care issues in the United States, we should not send our tax dollars overseas. The only exceptions are to provide immediate humanitarian aid in the case of significant natural disasters such as the Sumatra tsunami on Dec. 26, 2004 or in cases of epidemics when large-scale aid mobilizations could bring significant benefit. All foreign military aid, especially loans for foreign defense spending, must be halted immediately. All economic foreign aid must be re-evaluated as to its effectiveness and whether it helps nations or merely enriches their corrupt leaders.
Our occupation of Iraq was an unconstitutional and unlawful usurpation national sovereignty, and is to be condemned. Occupying Iraq was the biggest strategic error in this nation's history. We need to withdraw all troops from Iraq and Afghanistan immediately. There will be an immediate "blowback, but this blowback started two weeks after we "liberated" Baghdad, and continues at a cost of almost $12 billion a month and more than 1,000 American lives a year. As long as we occupy Iraq, we fuel the fires of global Islamic terrorism. If Iraq invaded the U.S., what would YOU do to the invaders?
Our foreign policy should be based on non-intervention and on promoting the self-determination of each nation's destiny through diplomatic means. We should set good examples of strong self-defense and strong policies of self-determination instead of trying to force our policies and political dogma onto unwilling foreign soil. If foreign intervention is necessary, leave it to the ineffective United Nations, and let other UN members bear their full share of the expense. I would support moving the UN to The Hague and the US taking a much-reduced role in the UN. Kosovo recently declared its independence, so item (r) is irrelevant.
The concept of "free trade agreements" is almost universally misused in United States foreign policy, as it almost never provides for a level economic playing field. In most cases, the United States winds up at a significant disadvantage, either in terms of cross-border tariffs or in terms of cross-border dumping of goods or surplus labor. NAFTA needs to be immediately overturned and re-negotiated. As long as we truly have free trade based either on unfettered commerce or on equal cross-border tariffs, I support trade agreements. Trade sanctions should not be used in place of diplomacy.

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding national security.

No a) Do you support using military tribunals to try suspected terrorists when ordinary civilian courts are deemed inappropriate or impractical?
No b) Should law enforcement agencies have greater discretion to monitor domestic communications, to prevent future terrorist attacks?
Yes c) Should the United States hold foreign states accountable for terrorists who operate in their country?
No d) Should the federal government increase funding to states and cities for homeland security?
No e) Do you support pre-emptive military strikes against countries deemed to be a threat to United States national security?
No f) Do you support the creation of a federal identification card system?
No g) Do you support long-term use of National Guard troops to supplement the armed forces in assignments overseas?
No h) Should the United States expand its missile defense shield?
The PATRIOT Act represents the greatest destruction of personal liberties in our nation's history, and must be abolished. While it contains a few good ideas for sharing internal information between domestic law-enforcement agencies, recall that these ideas were first promoted in the 1930s with the establishment of the FBI but have never been fully realized. We should use FISA as our primary guidepost in all security issues, and immediately cease all warrantless searches. We need to re-join the Geneva Convention. We need to release all prisoners held in contravention of the Geneva Convention or Federal law. Torture is a crime.

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding social issues.

Undecided a) Should same-sex couples be allowed to marry?
No b) Do you support a federal constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman?
Undecided c) Do you support federal funding for research on existing embryonic stem cell lines?
Undecided d) Do you support federal funding to create lines of stem cells from new embryos?
No e) Should the federal government consider race and gender in government contracting decisions?
No f) Should the federal government continue affirmative action programs?
No g) Should the federal government regulate internet gambling?
The definition of marriage was never a part of the Constitution and never should be. Any Federal definition of marriage usurps existing state Constitutional definitions of marriage, as well as all traditional religious definitions of marriage. I support the rights of individual states to define civil marriage in any fashion, and I support any state's decision to define same-sex civil partnerships. Neither the Federal government nor state government should enact laws that limit any faith-based declaration of personal unions. It's the 21st century. Issues of gender or ethnicity should not factor into social policies.

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding Social Security.

a) Allow workers to invest a portion of their payroll tax in private accounts that they manage themselves.
b) Ensure the viability of Social Security by increasing the payroll tax.
c) Decrease benefits paid to retirees.
d) Support proportional increases of Social Security benefits based on the cost of living index.
e) Raise the retirement age for individual eligibility to receive full Social Security benefits.
Social Security and military benefits represent sacred promises made to our citizens for participation in our systems, and we must not violate promises made or responsibilities undertaken. Halting Federal mismanagement of the Social Security Trust Fund is our first duty. Our second duty is to make immediate minor adjustments to ensure viability of the program for the long term. While I abhor increasing taxation, the most palatable short-term solution appears to be raising the income cap on Social Security taxes. Going forward, we should allow younger wage-earners to partially opt out of the Social Security system, at their own risk.

Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding welfare and poverty.

a) Require welfare recipients to spend at least 40 hours a week in a combination of work and training programs.
b) Continue to give states and local governments flexibility in and responsibility for welfare programs through federal block grants.
c) Support housing assistance for welfare recipients.
d) Abolish all federal welfare programs.
Federal answers to poverty should not consist of throwing money down a bottomless welfare pit. The private sector needs to enhance its efforts to remedy the underlying causes of poverty. Individuals and small businesses should receive significantly increased tax credits for charitable donations that fight poverty. While we cannot eliminate social welfare programs, we need innovative solutions and effective implementations to reduce the reliance on these failing programs. At the risk of overstepping traditional lines respecting the separation of church and state, I'd like to see a few pilot programs sponsored by faith-based non-profit organizations that replace traditional welfare services.
If elected, my top priority will be to seek withdrawal of all troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, and to reduce the United States military footprint overseas. My second priority will be to work for long-term immigration reform that gives us a streamlined, simplified immigration policy; maintains safe and secure borders without resorting to permanent walls at the border; eliminates the current crisis of illegal immigration; and provides a controlled and regulated guest worker program if one is needed. Funding will come from military reductions and reductions in Medicaid costs due to indigent care of illegal immigrants.

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