Bob Ries' Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
Official Position: Candidate addressed this issue directly by taking the Political Courage Test.
Inferred Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, but Vote Smart inferred this issue based on the candidate's public record, including statements, voting record, and special interest group endorsements.
Unknown Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, or we could not infer an answer for this candidate despite exhaustive research of their public record.
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Bob Ries has refused to provide voters with positions on key issues covered by the 2014 Political Courage Test, despite repeated requests.
Issue Positions
For Presidential and Congressional candidates who refuse to provide voters with their positions, Vote Smart has researched their public records to determine their likely responses. These issue positions are from 2014.
- "In the 1973 Roe versus Wade decision, The Supreme Court with no Constitutional au0hority, made abortion the law of the land. Innocent unborn babies have been dieing for the past 38 years, and with the current Congress it would take years for a Constitutional Amendment to be passed by ¾ of the States. During this time an uncountable number of unborn babies will die.Until an Amendment is passed, we need to try to save as many lives as we can. I have three ideas that I believe will save many lives. One is to encourage States to pass a law stating that killing a baby while it is being born, the "so called" partial birth abortion, is murder and prosecute the abortionist.The second concerns those young and single girls considering abortion, because of the medical expenses of bringing the baby to term, and the financial burdens of caring for a child. They may also be concerned about the restrictions of developing a successful future with the responsibilities of raising a child without an education, or a husband to share their burden.Many married couples would love to become parents of her baby, if she would give birth to the child. They have an abundance of love and finances to provide a wonderful home for a new baby, but because of our adoption laws and shortage of available babies for adoption in this country, they adopt babies from other countries and even on the Black Market.For those who are young and economically deprived, one position to consider would be to encourage States to change their adoption laws to allow parents to adopt a baby while it is still in the mother's womb. This would make the baby a child of the new parents, and allow the birth of the baby to be covered by the family insurance policy of the new parents. Such a program would eliminate the cost to the natural mother to deliver the baby, and cover medical expenses of the baby in the event of complications.The third is to encourage States to make it clear that an abortion is a surgery and must be performed in a licensed hospital. That would take two positive steps to saving lives. It would eliminate the influence of "abortion clinics", and show the expectant mother an ultrasound of the baby, which has shown to diminish abortions significantly." (votesmart.org)
- "I want to eliminate the IRS, and not only the graduated income tax, but as many of the following as possible and replace them with a "Flat Tax" that can be calculated on one page." (votesmart.org)
- "State and Municipal Governments have extended tax incentives to private businesses for years, in order to entice those businesses to locate in their respective States or Cities to improve that State or City's economies. I propose the Federal Government do the same thing to jump-start our national economy.[...]A study at the University of Arizona concluded that every dollar injected into our economy provides a yield of ten dollars." (votesmart.org)
- "Modern decisions are placing the Federal Government in control of schools, energy production, the environment, health care and the wealth of every US Citizen. None of these are mentioned in Section 8, and are therefore unconstitutional. This needs to stop." (votesmart.org)
- Despite exhaustive research, Vote Smart was unable to find information about this candidate's position.
- "Modern decisions are placing the Federal Government in control of schools, energy production, the environment, health care and the wealth of every US Citizen. None of these are mentioned in Section 8, and are therefore unconstitutional. This needs to stop." (votesmart.org)
- "The Second Amendment to the Constitution states: A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.The only reason there is any argument on this Amendment is because it is another example of people wishing the Constitution were written according to their preference, rather than the way it was written, according to the wishes of our Founding Fathers.Opponents to people owning their own guns hang their hats on the word militia, but "militia" is not the main idea of the sentence. It appears in a qualifying phrase of the sentence, while the main idea of the sentence is that the people have the right to keep and bear arms.Our Founders wrote the Constitution based upon situations of their lives at the time, and at the time our Country was founded an organized militia was part of their lives. For whatever reason, they clearly intended for people to own their own guns. Even though a militia, as they understood the militia, may not be necessary today, if we want to change their intent and wording, then we must amend the Constitution. Otherwise the wording, and intent of the wording, is clear.Honest law abiding citizens owning gun for sport or self defense are not a problem, and pose no threat of harm to any other law abiding citizen. The problem with guns becoming a threat to do harm only occurs when an individual uses a gun for unlawful means. That is where we need to concentrate our efforts.I suggest we punish criminals using guns very harshly, because they should be removed from society. If someone uses a gun in the commission of a crime, the penalty should be a five-year prison term with no parole, or time off for good behavior. If they fire the weapon during the commission of a crime, the sentence should be ten years. If someone is wounded during the commission of a crime, the sentence should be fifteen years. If the wounded individual is a law enforcement officer, the sentence should be twenty years.Any judge that does not follow the penalties established by this law should be treated as any other lawbreaker, with appropriate penalties. I would suggest a minimum of removal from office, with possible jail time." (votesmart.org)
- "We need to have a Governor of any State challenge the Constitutionality of Obama Care for the above reasons. This challenge must be made directly to the Supreme Court, under Article III, Section 2, of the US Constitution which states that the Supreme Court is the Court of Original Jurisdiction, and not an Appellate Court, for any Case involving a State." (votesmart.org)
- " We must accept the fact that we are not going to round up millions of people and return them to their Country of origin." (votesmart.org)
- Despite exhaustive research, Vote Smart was unable to find information about this candidate's position.
- Despite exhaustive research, Vote Smart was unable to find information about this candidate's position.
- "Everyone 40 years old and younger will enter a new "Social Security" Program. 6.2% will be withheld from the employee's check, with employer matching 6.2%. This money will be deposited into a bank account of the employee's choosing" (votesmart.org)
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