Simon Ribeiro's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Simon Ribeiro refused to tell citizens where he stands on any of the issues addressed in the 2012 Political Courage Test, despite repeated requests from Vote Smart, national media, and prominent political leaders.
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.
Illinois Congressional 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? | ||
| Yes | e) Should federal subsidies be prohibited from being used for abortion procedures? | ||
| We can reduce abortions by providing a better society. Lowering Crime (especially Rape and Incest) will lower the abortion rate. Lowering Drug and Alcohol Abuse will lower the rate of unwanted pregnancies, the rate of birth defects and the rate of abortions. Providing Free Universal healthcare, daycare, and pre-school will give perspective moms more incentives to keep their babies. We should also encourage and improve on Adoption Centers and Foster Homes. | |||
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.
| Maintain Status | a) Agriculture | ||
| Greatly Increase | b) Arts | ||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Defense | ||
| Maintain Status | 1) Intelligence operations | ||
| Slightly Decrease | 2) Military hardware | ||
| Slightly Decrease | 3) National missile defense | ||
| Greatly Increase | 4) Salary and benefits for active duty personnel | ||
| Greatly Increase | 5) Programs to improve troop retention rates | ||
| Maintain Status | 6) Research and development of new weapons | ||
| Greatly Increase | d) Education | ||
| Greatly Increase | e) Environment | ||
| Greatly Increase | f) Homeland security | ||
| Greatly Increase | g) International aid | ||
| Greatly Increase | h) Medical research | ||
| Greatly Increase | i) Scientific research | ||
| Maintain Status | j) Space exploration | ||
| Greatly Increase | k) United Nations | ||
| Greatly Increase | l) Welfare | ||
| Eliminate | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Eliminate | b) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Eliminate | c) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | d) Corporate taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | e) Gasoline taxes | ||
| Eliminate | f) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | g) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Slightly Increase | h) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | 5) Do you support using government funds in an effort to stimulate and improve the economy? | ||
| By fundamentally changing the fiat monetary system structure, the US can create as much funding as necessary without selling bonds, accumulating debt, and relying on taxes. However, until this change is done, a simple, no-exempt, graduated progressive income tax (on both individuals and corporations on all net worth gains including investment and inheritance money) and a 30% gasoline sales tax will be sufficient to fund all government budgets in the US. Also, By ending the US Wars and waste, many lives and resources will be saved. And By settling the Arab-Israeli Conflict, the US will save through a peace dividend. | |||
| Income (including Capital Gains) Tax & a 30% Gas Sales Tax should replace all taxes and fund communities proportionally. 0% tax rate on the $0 to $150-thousand income bracket. 10% tax rate on the $150-thousand to $200-thousand income bracket. 20% tax rate on the $200-thousand to $400-thousand income bracket. 25% tax rate on the $400-thousand to $600-thousand income bracket. 30% tax rate on the $600-thousand to $1-million income bracket. 35% tax rate on the $1-million to $10-million income bracket. 40% tax rate on the $10-million to $100-million income bracket. 50% tax rate on the $ 100-million to $infinity income bracket. | |||
| Again, in a reformed fiat monetary system, the US Treasury's Bureau of Printing and Engraving can create as much money is necessary to fund Congress' budget within parameters regarding resource availability and project priority. Congress can maintain its Constitutional authority as both creator and value-setter of the currency. This will negate the use of selling bonds for increased money supply, thus negating the need for taxes. This will create a stronger stable dollar and eliminate deficit-spending and the national debt all together. | |||
| No | a) Do you support privatizing elements of Social Security? | ||
| No | b) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing the federal minimum wage? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support the ability of workers to unionize? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support federal funding for job-training programs that retrain displaced workers? | ||
| Regulations on small business should be reduced and simplified for the most part. One Simplified Income tax on corporations with exemptions on business expenses can help make it easier for the business to operate. Safety Regulations must remain high always, and must be enforced to prevent disasters like the Gulf oil spill, poisonous emissions, and gross medical malpractices. The work-place must be safe. The US must investigate why the US Navy sailors on the U.S.S. Liberty were killed, injured, and attacked upon by Israel while on board, and why the US government was not proactive in seeking justice since 1967. | |||
| No | a) Do you support increasing the amount individuals are permitted to contribute to federal campaigns? | ||
| Yes | b) Should Congress regulate indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| No | c) Do you support removing all contribution limits on federal campaigns? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Federal Campaigns should be funded publicly, not privately. Corporate "personhood" should be abolished and corporations should not be able to fund campaigns. The mainstream media "news" segments should be mandated to cover equally and sufficiently ALL candidates on the ballot for Federal offices as a public service announcement. It's the duty of the media to inform the public on All who run for office. These TV and Radio channels must be mandated to allocate free and equal market air time to candidates on the ballot for state-wide and federal offices (similar to the way Britain mandates it on their media). | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| Marijuana should be legalized. Drug abuse should be dealt with as a social/mental health problem through free required rehab centers rather than through a punitive and counter-productive criminal-justice prison way. Terrorism outbreaks can be protected much better on the homeland rather than abroad. The alleged 9-11 terrorists may have had monkey bars and guns abroad, but they got all their flight training and coordination in the US. The alleged terrorists over-stayed their expired US visas, and Immigration Services, the FBI, the FAA, NORAD, and other agencies didn't do their jobs. That is why we must enforce laws regarding immigration. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support federal education standards and testing requirements for K-12 students? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support the federal government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| Fixing traditional public schools through structural reform, innovative ways, funding, and community development is the best strategy rather than diverting otherwise funds and resources to other kinds of schools. The great government negligence, the building insurance policy put in just weeks before, the zero-gravity fall of the towers, bombs, and the lack of video surveillance and airplane debris at the Pentagon have made many question the 9-11 official story. Many believe 9-11 was an "inside-job," meant to further the interests of Corporate and Government elitists to promote their War-profiteering and conquest agendas that have resulted in these otherwise irrational wars. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support enacting environmental regulations aimed at reducing the effects of climate change? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support international emissions targets aimed at reducing the effects of climate change? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support allowing energy producers to trade carbon credits under a "cap and trade" system? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support strengthening fuel efficiency standards on all gasoline and diesel-powered engines, including cars, trucks, and sport utility vehicles? | ||
| No | e) Do you support domestic oil exploration in federally-protected areas? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support federal funding for the development of alternative energy? | ||
| No | g) Do you support the development of nuclear reactors? | ||
| Solar, Wind, Hydro, Tidal, Geo-thermal, and other clean renewable energy source generators can provide a way out of the high dependence of the traditional polluting carbon energies of coal, oil, and natural gas, as well as nuclear energy which presents serious radioactive waste-management problems. In the mean time, greatly increasing fuel efficiency, creating more hybrid vehicles, and vehicles that run on non-gasoline fuels like vegetable oil, alcohol, and other substances will be much cleaner. Cap and Trade may just outsource our emission problems to other countries and that is why we need a global policy that gets all on board. | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Owning a gun is an important right and an important responsibility. A police officer has this right, a military person has this right, and a responsible civilian has this right. Therefore if an adult civilian citizen is not responsible to own and carry a gun, he should not be allowed to do so. If there is any record of violence, mental-illness, or poor character, the community must not allow him to have access to a weapon. In some places, people have to arm themselves for protection, and so they have a right to carry a concealed gun like the police. | |||
| Yes | 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 should be non-profit, and government-operated like it's in Taiwan to ensure the best in fair pricing, better services, and most efficient overhead and administration. No premiums, deductibles, fees, and doughnut holes should be allowed. Specialists can be seen without referrals, electronic streamlining ensures faster and safer service, and abuses can be tracked and addressed earlier and easier. A free society and free market must allow Prescription drugs importation freely. Malpractice should be limited to serious damages (some of which should remain very high) and frivolous claims should be harder to go through court. Preventative, Holistic medicine: nutrition, exercise, habits. | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | d) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| We need a simple and compassionate immigration system. We need to protect our borders. We need a "War on Drug Abuse", not a "War on Drugs." We need a simple guest-worker program, and perhaps a special partnership with Mexico regarding a free economic zone for human capital due to the Mexican-American War, pollution, and the conquest of the indigenous people of present-day Mexico and the US. An amnesty on good undocumented people, and prison or deportation on undocumented peoples engaged in serious crime should be the standard. Many sectors of the economy depend on the current undocumented work force level. | |||
| No | a) Do you support United States military action in Afghanistan? | ||
| No | b) Do you support increasing military assistance for Afghanistan? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing economic development assistance for Afghanistan? | ||
| No | d) Should the United States continue to strike suspected terrorist targets in Pakistan? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support granting aid to countries when it is in the security interests of the United States? | ||
| Yes | 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 US must declare independence from radical militant Zionism and imperialism. Afghanistan and Iraq don't want to be occupied by foreign powers. Collateral Damage only antagonizes those against us more and increases the extremists' influence. Palestine by right of self-determinisation should be given its land back as a fully independent nation-state that allows Christians, Jews, and Muslims equal rights. Palestinian refugees should have the right to return to Palestine. European settlers and their descendants that migrated to Palestine since British Rule should leave for the US if requested to evacuate by a majority of Palestine's pre-British-Rule inhabitants and their descendants. | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support federal funding for embryonic stem cell research? | ||
| No | d) Should the federal government end affirmative action programs? | ||
| Universal programs like free healthcare to all, free pensions to all, and free college or trade school to all, will make marital status, gender, and race/ethnicity a non-variable to access, transfer, or share benefits. A simple hospital-visitation form can get anyone in the room. Until we get to these universal services and simplified rules, in the interest of equality and leveling the playing field, the government should allow legal recognition of untraditional marriages, and should continue giving a helping hand to minorities. Affirmative Action should be based on income, disabilities, and other characteristics so no one is excluded from help. | |||
| Nationalizing the Central Bank and the fiat monetary system will allow the government alone to create and value the money and can therefore fund the budgets, be debt-free, and be tax-free. Free Universal Services: Healthcare, Pre-School, College, Trade School, Pension. End the Wars and militant Zionism to create a more peaceful and harmonious world and investigate the conspiracies behind 9-11, the U.S.S. Liberty Attack, and other attacks that cause war. |
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