Trey Casimir III's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Pennsylvania State Legislative 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) 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? | ||
| The state should stay out of beginning of life and end of life decisions, which should remain in the hands of families, their healthcare providers and their spiritual advisors. | |||
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 Pennsylvania's budget.
| Slightly Increase | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Slightly Increase | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Slightly Increase | c) Environment | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Health care | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Law enforcement | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Transportation and highway infrastructure | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Welfare | ||
| Greatly Increase | h) Other or expanded categories | ||
| Slightly Increase | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Gasoline taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Property taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | f) Sales taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Slightly Increase | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Greatly Increase | j) Other or expanded categories | ||
| Yes | a) Tapping into Pennsylvania's "rainy day" fund | ||
| Yes | b) Issuing the early release of certain non-violent offenders | ||
| No | c) Increasing tuition rates at public universities | ||
| Yes | d) Instituting mandatory furloughs and layoffs for state employees | ||
| No | e) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| No | f) Privatizing certain government services | ||
| Internet access for rural communities | |||
| Severance tax on natural gas | |||
| Institute severance tax on natural gas Reduce number of staff and district offices for legislators | |||
d) Do you support limits on the following types of contributions to candidates for state government?
| No | a) Do you support limits on the number of terms for Pennsylvania governors? | ||
| No | b) Do you support limits on the number of terms for Pennsylvania state legislators? | ||
| No | c) Do you support reducing the size of the General Assembly? | ||
| No | 1) Individual | ||
| Yes | 2) Political Action Committee | ||
| Yes | 3) Corporate | ||
| No | 4) Political Party | ||
| Yes | e) Should candidates for state office be encouraged to meet voluntary spending limits? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information? | ||
| All campaigns should be publicly funded to encourage all qualified candidates to seek office | |||
| Yes | 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 the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| In some cases minors may need to be prosecuted as adults, or may deserve to be criminally prosecuted for sending sexually explicit or nude cell phone photos. However, if "yes" or "no" are my only options, I must choose to protect children first. | |||
| No | a) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support increased spending on infrastructure projects for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support the taxation of cigars and smokeless tobacco? | ||
| Questions a., b. and d. are too simplistic. Some regulations should be loosened -- others should be tightened. Some job-training programs are useful -- others are boondoggles. Sometimes the government can usefully intervene in business, but more often unscrupulous businesses take advantage. Generally speaking, the simpler and more direct the government intervention, the more likely there will be a positive economic benefit. | |||
| No | a) Do you support national education standards? | ||
| No | b) Do you support requiring public schools to administer high school exit exams? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support using a merit pay system for teachers? | ||
| No | d) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| No | e) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| Yes | f) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Pennsylvania high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| Proper education for all Pennsylvanians is key to our continued progress, happiness and security. However. for some people this will mean vocational, artistic or technical education, for others this will mean law enforcement or first responder education, and for some others it will mean college. We should offer our kids the broadest possible range of excellent education opportunities, tailored as much as possible to each kid's needs. | |||
| 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 Pennsylvania's 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? | ||
| Again, questions b. and c. are too simplistic. Developing cutting edge technology to make coal cleaner to burn would be a worthwhile investment of government dollars, while acquisition grants for potential new coal fields would not. Biofuel is an interesting possibility, and our farms need state support, but much of current biofuel crop development is an expensive and inefficient dead-end. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Straw sales must be controlled to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, and any law-abiding, mentally competent citizen will have no problem passing a background check or acquiring a license. Otherwise, I am in favor of broad gun-ownership rights. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support legalizing physician-assisted suicide in Pennsylvania? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| Speaking as a healthcare provider, even our best-trained practitioners are very ignorant about how to preserve or renew health. Imagine how ignorant our politicians are. Protect patients from reckless or irresponsible behavior, but otherwise let healthcare practitioners practice. If universal healthcare is instituted, the state should pay for participating healthcare practitioners' malpractice insurance. | |||
| Yes | a) Should marriage only be between one man and one woman? | ||
| Yes | b) Should Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Pennsylvania's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| America has never done well when it has discriminated against any group, whether it is Italian Americans, Irish Americans, African Americans or gay Americans. | |||
| Finish the Susquehanna Valley Thruway by working with the federal government to reassign ARC money and creating public-private partnerships for the bridge or other major portions of the project. Institute a severance tax on natural gas and make sure that some portion of that money goes back to the county where the gas was extracted so that gas companies rather than local taxpayers pay to maintain local roads, environment and infrastructure damaged by gas drilling activity. Use some portion of the severance tax to provide high speed internet access to every Pennsylvanian who wants it. |
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