Eric Deaton's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Ohio Congressional Election 2010 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | a) Do you consider yourself pro-choice or pro-life? | ||
| No | b) Should abortion be legal only within the first trimester of pregnancy? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| I firmly believe life begins at conception when an embryo is embedded in the uterine wall and should be protected by the U.S. Constitution. At this point the embryo is genetically human and will grow into a human baby. Any other determination of when life begins is arbitrary and leads to infanticide. At a minimum, this issue should be reserved to the states to address as it was before Roe v. Wade. The life of the mother is typically endangered due to tubal / ectopic pregnancies, which are not true pregnancies to begin with. | |||
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.
| Greatly Decrease | a) Agriculture | ||
| Eliminate | b) Arts | ||
| Slightly Increase | c) Defense | ||
| Slightly Increase | 1) Intelligence operations | ||
| Slightly Increase | 2) Military hardware | ||
| Maintain Status | 3) National missile defense | ||
| Maintain Status | 4) Salary and benefits for active duty personnel | ||
| Maintain Status | 5) Programs to improve troop retention rates | ||
| Greatly Increase | 6) Research and development of new weapons | ||
| Greatly Decrease | d) Education | ||
| Slightly Decrease | e) Environment | ||
| Eliminate | f) Homeland security | ||
| Eliminate | g) International aid | ||
| Greatly Decrease | h) Medical research | ||
| Maintain Status | i) Scientific research | ||
| Greatly Increase | j) Space exploration | ||
| Greatly Decrease | k) United Nations | ||
| Greatly Decrease | l) Welfare | ||
| Slightly Increase | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Eliminate | b) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Eliminate | d) Corporate taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | e) Gasoline taxes | ||
| Eliminate | f) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | g) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | h) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Yes | 3) Do you support the elimination of the federal estate tax? | ||
| No | 4) Do you support requiring the federal budget to be balanced each year? | ||
| No | 5) Do you support using government funds in an effort to stimulate and improve the economy? | ||
| d) Get the federal government out of K to12 education and leave it to the states. They're better diversified, know their local job market and history and are better qualified at the more local levels to provide this education. The federal government should only maintain some higher education programs to help develop better skills amongst Americans as a whole. j) Space exploration / NASA gave our country a technological edge and millions of jobs for 40+ years. It also shed off many military applications to make our nation safer. It must continue to be funded to keep America on top! | |||
| I support the FairTax system, which will eliminate income tax, social security and Medicare payroll taxes, capitol gains and interest taxes as well as corporate taxes. It will replace these taxes with a national sales tax, which is offset to poverty level for all legal citizens and immigrants. This will let us all know how much tax we're paying, eliminate the invasive tax filing system, make American Companies more competitive, promote savings and investment and cause a lot of budget savings at the IRS and with compliance costs. It also promotes the use of used goods, which is ecologically sound. | |||
| 4) I believe in a balanced budget by a common sense government over a ten year period with good years in the black, bad years in a deficit and a few years that are balanced. I do not support an ever growing national debt and feel it is imperative to start paying it off now regardless of the pain it causes to U.S. citizens. The pain for our nation will be greater if we do nothing about it. A balanced budget bill for annual expenditures would hamstring our government in times of war, national disasters or medical epidemics. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support privatizing elements of Social Security? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| d) The workers should implement unions if they choose to. The union organizations themselves should not be the drivers for new or larger unionization. Unions once protected workers, but now seem to be more about protecting the union organization instead. I believe in right to work initiatives. e) Keeping Americans working in productive endeavors always is a good thing that drives economic growth and makes citizens less dependent upon government in the long run. | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | d) Should candidates for federal office be encouraged to meet voluntary spending limits? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| b) First amendment rights appear to protect all campaign contributions without limits, but limits must be in place to keep us from creating class warfare and to keep foreign influences out of our election system. f) Presidential signing statements should not change the intent of the very laws passed by congress and should only be used to clarify (after consultation with congress) or to protest the possible Constitutionality of the new legislation. | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| a) Being pro-life, I believe in very limited capital punishment, but when the rights and privileges of life are forfeited through heinous crimes where there is no doubt of guilt, let them die. Educating and rehabilitating prison inmates to stop the cycle of crime in their lives will make them better citizens and more productive to society in the long run. We should work to stop this endless battle against crime in the repeat offenders and give them other options in life. In the long run this is a cheaper option than just locking them up over and over again. | |||
| No | a) Do you support federal education standards and testing requirements for K-12 students? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| a, b, c) I want all primary school education funds, standards and decisions returned to the states. d) I do favor school vouchers at a state level. e) I think all citizens wishing to attend college should qualify for some student and financial aid such as grants and federally backed loans. | |||
| No | a) Do you support enacting environmental regulations aimed at reducing the effects of climate change? | ||
| No | b) Do you support international emissions targets aimed at reducing the effects of climate change? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support domestic oil exploration in federally-protected areas? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support federal funding for the development of alternative energy? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support the development of nuclear reactors? | ||
| e) We should be producing oil from the easy locations so that we are not pushing technology so far that we have accidents we can't recover from like the recent Gulf spill at 5000 feet deep. f) When federal funding helps promote the development of alternative energy technology it should be required to be produced state-side. Only majority owned U.S. Corporations should be able to receive federal research funding and the new technology should be protected from export very stringently. | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| b) The second amendment is the linchpin of our individual rights and ensures that we can protect our other God-given rights from oppressive governments and foreign invasion. I will always protect our second amendment rights as an individual citizen and as an elected official. c) I support a federal government concealed carry reciprocity law. d) The previous ban was ineffective and addressed a problem that didn't exist. Arms of modern technology should be protected by the second amendment without limits or this right will be severely diminished. | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| b) Deregulate the business, which will allow for more insurers, competition nationwide and forced efficiency to remain competitive. The first solution to all of our nation's problems should always be the American way of capitalism, private entrepreneurial spirit, competition and innovation. The government should never be the first solution or a permanent solution to national issues other than those it has Constitutional authority over. I believe in quality and affordable healthcare, but realize that new state-of-the-art drugs and procedures can only be afforded by those with the money to pay for them. | |||
| No | a) Do you support a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| a) Don't reward the lawbreakers b) We need to close up our borders, create ports of entry, cut off or limit H1B and L1 visas and have common sense immigration reform. We currently are facing an invasion from Mexico, not simply an illegal immigration problem. We need to authorize who is here, know where they are and have the ability to send them back if needed. c) A common language promotes the assimilation of new immigrants into the American system and helps them learn about this great nation's history, culture and laws. | |||
| No | a) Do you support United States military action in Afghanistan? | ||
| No | b) Do you support increasing military assistance for Afghanistan? | ||
| No | c) Do you support increasing economic development assistance for Afghanistan? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | f) Should the United States support the creation of a Palestinian state? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | i) Do you support the United States' involvement in free trade agreements? | ||
| a, b, c) Afghanistan doesn't have a viable economy and for that reason will never have a viable and self sufficient government. d) Only with the permission of the Pakistan government unless we are under direct threat. e) With very limited applications i) These free trade agreements have destroyed our jobs and economy. They have allowed for the export of our innovation and technology and will continue to destroy our nation. We need fair trade agreements, not free trade agreements. We must start protecting our native jobs, intellectual property and our manufacturing jobs. | |||
| Yes | a) Should marriage only be between one man and one woman? | ||
| No | b) Do you support allowing openly-gay men and women to serve in the United States military? | ||
| No | c) Do you support federal funding for embryonic stem cell research? | ||
| Yes | d) Should the federal government end affirmative action programs? | ||
| a) Naturally only a man and a woman can procreate b) Don't ask, don't tell has worked and forces nobody to lie or risk being discriminated against. It should be left in place and any plans to eliminate it should be based on surveys of our military personnel themselves. d) Affirmative action has fixed what it set out to do and has outlived its usefulness. It now causes more discrimination than it reduces. | |||
| If I'm elected, I will start the process of bringing accountability back to Congress and influence Washington to exercise fiscal restraint. I will work hard to bring our federal government back to it's foundation as a Constitutional Republic and make Americans proud and trustful of their government again. I will stick to my principles, fight for term limits, the FairTax and returning power to the citizens at the state level that has been usurped by our federal congress. Many fixes required to save the very fiber of the American way do not require funding, they only need political willpower. |
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