Mary Ruth Edwards' Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Mary Ruth Edwards has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2014 Political Courage Test.
Washington State Legislative Election 2014 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | a) Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| Yes | b) Should abortions be illegal after the first trimester of pregnancy? | ||
| No | c) Should abortion be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support requiring parental consent before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for abortion procedures? | ||
| Yes | h) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions? | ||
| With the medical technology available today, the life of the baby and the life of the mother can both be saved in most instances. IF such a situation were to occur, where a choice had to be made, then that choice is rightly left to the baby's parents and their doctor. | |||
1) State Spending:Using the key, indicate 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 Taxes:Using the key, indicate 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 Stabilization:Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing Washington's budget.
| Eliminate | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Greatly Increase | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Eliminate | c) Environment | ||
| Greatly Decrease | d) Health care | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Greatly Decrease | g) Welfare | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Eliminate | d) Property taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Sales taxes | ||
| No | a) Tapping into Washington's "rainy day" fund | ||
| No | b) Increasing tuition rates at public universities | ||
| Yes | c) Reducing or eliminating public worker collective bargaining | ||
| No | d) Reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions | ||
| No | e) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees | ||
| No | f) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| Funding for K-12 education is constitutionally authorized. Higher education rightly should be market-driven and not funded by the state. Performance audits should be done on a regular basis to make sure that government departments are being run efficiently,and budgets are being properly administered. Where possible, replace government with private enterprise. Each agency should have a sunset clause applied, and periodically reviewed to ensure that it is functioning as originally intended. If not, the agency should be eliminated. | |||
| I have signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. I will not vote for any new taxes or tax increases. Utilize performance audits; the government should function within its budget. | |||
| We must "bite the bullet"when it comes to balancing the state budget. When it comes down to it, we must fund essential functions/services and take a hard look at all others. | |||
a) Do you support limits on the following types of contributions for state candidates?
| No | 1) Individual | ||
| Yes | 2) Political Action Committee | ||
| Yes | 3) Corporate | ||
| Yes | 4) Political Party | ||
| No | b) Should candidates for state office be encouraged to meet voluntary spending limits? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support the use of an independent AND/OR bipartisan commission for redistricting? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| I believe that proof of citizenship should be required when registering to vote. | |||
| 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 a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | ||
| Yes | d) Should a minor who sends sexually-explicit or nude photos by cell phone face criminal charges? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| f) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| No | b) Do you support increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers? | ||
| No | c) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | ||
| No | d) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| No | e) Do you support government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | f) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| No | g) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage? | ||
| I believe there should be a training wage (for instance, 85% of minimum wage for 6 months). This would give our younger workers an incentive to stay on the job, and it would also make it easier for our small business owners to train and retain workers. The incentive for a pay increase at the end of six months can be a powerful motivator for young people. And small business owners will benefit from smaller turnover. | |||
| No | a) Do you support the national Common Core State Standards initiative? | ||
| No | b) Do you support a merit pay system for teachers? | ||
| No | c) Is the tenure process for public school teachers producing effective teachers? | ||
| Yes | d) Should parents be allowed to use vouchers to send their children to any school? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| No | f) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| No | g) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Washington high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| I believe citizen students should be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities if they've graduated from Washington high schools. Once an illegal immigrant student completes his/her naturalization process and becomes a U.S. citizen, they should be eligible for in-state tuition, but only after receiving their U.S. citizenship. | |||
| No | 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)? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support state funding for improvements to Washington's energy infrastructure? | ||
| No | d) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | ||
| No | e) Do you support government regulations of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| All of these can be privatized. An exception might be improvements to the energy infrastructure. It is not outside the purview of the state's responsibility to provide infrastructure, however, it might be more efficiently done if it were privatized as well. | |||
| No | a) Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| No | b) Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows? | ||
| Yes | c) Should citizens be allowed to carry concealed guns? | ||
| No | d) Should a license be required for gun possession? | ||
| e) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| No | a) Do you support a universally-accessible, publicly-administered health insurance option? | ||
| Yes | 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) Do you support Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act? | ||
| No | e) Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| h) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| No | a) Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| No | b) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Washington's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | c) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Washington's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| I believe sexual orientation and gender identity are already broadly covered under our existing anti-discrimination laws. | |||
| 1. Education: I believe it is in our best interests to get out from under the Common Core State Standards. CCSS does not allow for any local control - which has been the hallmark of American education since before our founding. Who knows what's best for our children to be learning - those closest to home, or strangers in Washington, DC? 2. Jobs: We need to stop regulating our small businesses into the ground. Let's loosen up the regulations and let our small businesses flourish and create jobs! That is how we will grow the economy. |
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