Gene Waldorf's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Minnesota 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? | ||
| b) My position is that abortion be illegal throughout the entire pregnancy d) Physical danger of death only. | |||
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 | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Arts | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Defense | ||
| Maintain Status | 1) Intelligence operations | ||
| Slightly Decrease | 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 | ||
| Maintain Status | 6) Research and development of new weapons | ||
| Slightly Decrease | d) Education | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Environment | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Homeland security | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) International aid | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Medical research | ||
| Maintain Status | i) Scientific research | ||
| Slightly Decrease | j) Space exploration | ||
| Greatly Decrease | k) United Nations | ||
| Maintain Status | l) Welfare | ||
| Eliminate | m) Other or expanded categories | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Gasoline taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | i) Other or expanded categories | ||
| 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? | ||
| 6) Other or expanded principles | |||
| a) through l) and c) 1) through 6), my response is a short-term solution to return federal spending to the pre - bailout and stimulus fund levels to encourage small business expansion, and so further cuts can be considered for a long-term, lean government. d) See Education Issues, where I propose eliminating K-12 federal programs. m) Non-essential federal data collection | |||
| Extend Bush tax cuts. Simplify tax system to reduce tax reporting requirements. | |||
| No | 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) For private, non-governmental employees. e) I support funding at current levels. | |||
| No | a) Do you support increasing the amount individuals are permitted to contribute to federal campaigns? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| g) Other or expanded principles | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | d) Do you support reduced prison sentences for non-violent offenders? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support mandatory prison sentences for selling illegal drugs? | ||
| b) Limit to current funding levels and not permit training activity production prior to release to compete with private enterprise. c) Only those programs with proven success. d) Exception: Allowing Judge to deviate from established guidelines with written justification. | |||
| 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),d) I do not consider K-12 education the business of the federal government. e) Grants must be need-based, funded at or less than current levels. Low interest loans open to all, provided funding doesn't exceed current levels. | |||
| 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) With assurances provided to prevent environmental damage. f) With assurance that the method will be economically viable within a specific time frame. | |||
| 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? | ||
| d) Definition of assault rifle is too broad. | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | e) Do you support relaxing regulations on the importation of prescription drugs? | ||
| f) Other or expanded principles | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| c) I do not believe establishing English as our official language is necessary, nor should the federal government be engaged in providing information to immigrants in other than English. Providing information to visiting travelors in other languages should be allowed. d) My answer is conditioned on evidence that federal enforcement is adequate. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support United States military action in Afghanistan? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support increasing military assistance for Afghanistan? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing economic development assistance for Afghanistan? | ||
| d) Should the United States continue to strike suspected terrorist targets in Pakistan? | |||
| 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? | ||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | i) Do you support the United States' involvement in free trade agreements? | ||
| b) and c) Without increasing overall defense budget i) Providing there is evidence that the agreement provides an economic benefit to the U.S. | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | c) Do you support federal funding for embryonic stem cell research? | ||
| Yes | d) Should the federal government end affirmative action programs? | ||
| e) Other or expanded principles | |||
| 1. Encourage private job creation by extending Bush tax cuts, temporarily suspending new federal spending proposals, temporarily limit federal employment, entitlement benefits, federal wages and benefits to no more than existing levels and use revenue increases to reduce the federal debt. Reduce or eliminate excess regulation. Remove spending limits when outside expert economists agree that financial future is sustainable. 2. Reform Health Care law by allowing pooling across state lines, adding tort reform and expanding Health Savings Accounts. |
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