Rich Cowan's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
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Rich Cowan has refused to provide voters with positions on key issues covered by the 2014 Political Courage Test, despite repeated requests.
This candidate has responded to a Political Courage Test in a previous election. As a continued effort to provide the American public with factual information on candidates running for public office, these archived responses are made available here.
Washington Congressional Election 2012 Political Courage Test
| Yes | Do you support United States' combat operations in Afghanistan? | ||
| Yes | Do you support a timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan? | ||
Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing the federal budget.In order to balance the budget,
| No | do you support reducing defense spending? | ||
| Yes | do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| No | do you support reducing Medicaid spending? | ||
| No | do you support reducing Medicare spending? | ||
| Yes | Is balancing the budget a legislative priority? | ||
| Balancing the budget is a long-term goal that must be met through the creation of jobs and investment in our natural and human infrastructure. | |||
| Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| Yes | Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | Do you support providing tax incentives to businesses for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| Yes | Do you support spending on infrastructure projects for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| No | Do you support the temporary extension of unemployment benefits? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the 2010 temporary extension of tax relief? | ||
| Currently we are giving tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas. This has to stop - we should be giving tax incentives to companies who keep American jobs here. I also support the plan to end tax breaks for those making over $200,000 and to extend them for low and middle income Americans. | |||
| Yes | Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants? | ||
| Our education is in need of reform. However, these reforms must create true, positive change in our educational system. Our assessments of school performance must extend beyond the use of standardized tests. | |||
| Yes | Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| Yes | Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| I support the second amendment. I believe that we currently maintain a good balance and no new restrictions are needed. | |||
| No | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act? | ||
| Yes | Should individuals be required to purchase health insurance, as mandated in the 2010 Affordable Care Act? | ||
| While the Affordable Care Act does not fully solve the problems of our national health care system, it takes a step in the right direction. It ends discrimination against women and those with pre-existing conditions, keeps children on their parents' insurance until age 26, and closes the Medicare donut hole for seniors. | |||
| No | Do you support requiring illegal immigrants to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
| Yes | Do you support allowing illegal immigrants, who were brought to the United States as minors, to pursue citizenship without returning to their country of origin? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration law by state and local police? | ||
| Yes | Do you support targeting suspected terrorists outside of official theaters of conflict? | ||
| Yes | Should the U.S use military force in order to prevent Iran from possessing a nuclear weapon? | ||
| No | Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts? | ||
SpendingIndicate what federal spending levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one number per category; you can use a number more than once.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 | ||
| Slightly Increase | b) Arts | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Defense | ||
| Slightly Increase | d) Education | ||
| Slightly Increase | e) Environment | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Homeland Security | ||
| Maintain Status | g) International aid | ||
| Slightly Increase | h) Medical Research | ||
| Slightly Increase | i) Scientific Research | ||
| Maintain Status | j) Space exploration | ||
| Maintain Status | k) United Nations | ||
| Maintain Status | l) Welfare | ||
| m) Other or expanded categories | |||
| Slightly Increase | a) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | b) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Excise taxes (alcohol) | ||
| Slightly Increase | d) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Slightly Increase | h) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | i) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | j) Payroll taxes | ||
| Eliminate | k) Other or expanded categories | ||
| We should end tax breaks for companies that export American jobs and for oil and gas companies. | |||
| Simply put, my top three priorities are jobs, jobs, and jobs. We have to restore the economic strength of Eastern Washington by boosting employment in the region. This needs to be done in three ways. First, we need to create a business environment that encourages the private sector to begin hiring again. Second, we need to focus on educating our workforce for future jobs that pay family wages. Finally, we need to keep jobs in America - and end the tax breaks that reward companies for shipping jobs overseas. |
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