Jim McDermott's 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.
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Jim McDermott has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2016 Political Courage Test.
Alaska Congressional Election 2016 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| Yes, I'm pro life but I'm not for throwing men & women in jail who disagree with my moral belief system but I want fairness on presenting the pros and cons on this sensitive topic. Yes I have a bias towards protecting our unborn children, and I want to ensure that people are truly educated on the rough treatment of destroying an unborn life. Yes, I believe this is a personal moral decision where government ought to keep their noses out of this personal decision. If we disagree with my assessment then we will need to respectfully agree to disagree. | |||
| Yes | In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing defense spending? | ||
| No | In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| Our military is great but if we would station them here at home and end our nation building doctrine we would save billions, better guard our borders, and positively impact the economics domestically. We have the technology to respond anywhere in the world quickly from home due to our highly trained & prepared military. I also prefer releasing the innovative & creative powers of small businesses to stimulate economics nationwide. I believe taxing yourself to prosperity is pseudo logic. Small businesses represent 97% of all businesses and I would work to reduce government regulations that are slowing small business growth. | |||
| Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| The allowing of artificial entities to back the status quo candidates with their billions of dollars has made it almost impossible to have a grassroots challenger with a chance of winning. | |||
| No | Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| Yes | Do you support alternatives to incarceration for certain non-violent offenders such as mandatory counseling or substance abuse treatment? | ||
| No | Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders? | ||
| The Clinton doctrine of �Three Strikes You�re Out� has led the U.S. to lead the world in per capita lock-up of our brothers and sisters. The Bush era Patriot Act & NDAA has usurped the U.S. Constitution. The Obama era of prosecuting �Whistle Blowers� has chased heroes of liberty like Mr. Snowden to hide for his life. Damn, we need Libertarians, Independents, and Green Party quality candidates in Washington DC. | |||
| No | Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | Do you support lowering taxes as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | Do you support providing tax incentives to businesses for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| Well, of course I am okay with federal spending to care for our infrastructure, but not to be the catalyst for prosperity because that strategy won�t work. Yet, freeing up the free thinkers, the innovative thinkers, the creative thinkers, and reducing the burden of numerous federal regulations that stall progress, we would have economic growth that will push our national GDP to incredibly high levels. So, no we cannot tax our brothers & sisters into prosperity but we can trust our people if we get government out of their way. | |||
| No | Do you generally support requiring states to adopt federal education standards? | ||
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| Yes | Do you support building the Keystone XL pipeline? | ||
| Yes | Do you support government funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, thermal)? | ||
| Yes | Do you support increased regulations on the hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") industry? | ||
| I have always stood for safe harvesting of our natural resources. Yes I support government university grants that allow them to research the development of renewable energy. Fracturing alarms me, and the industry must ensure they are applying safe harvesting techniques. When I think on how government let the good people of Michigan drink, bath, and clean with poison water we can also see that government can be a very bad actor themselves. | |||
| Yes | Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change? | ||
| No | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| Yes people do have an impact but to what extent is the real argument. I support common sense regulations that ensure the safety of our people but I fear giving government the power to regulate the weather. If "We the People" discover a business being less than a good stewards we can stop buying their products because within a true free market system there will be numerous consumer choices. | |||
| No | Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| I support the U.S. Constitutions and that includes the second amendment. Yet, if a person is on the �no Fly� list or under investigation for being a possible terrorist sympathizer, etc� then they ought to be on the �No Buy� list until the person has been vetted. | |||
| No | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")? | ||
| It has created a bigger government with so much increased costs and I believe many Americans feel they were duped. Still, I can think of a couple of my young college students who got medical care due to the ACA. So, I would be willing to sit down with free thinkers from the two major parties and see how we can expand medical aid for our brothers and sisters to ensure that not only the elitist get taken care of. | |||
| No | Do you support requiring immigrants who are unlawfully present to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
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| We cannot and ought to not want to spend billions of dollars trying find 12 million people not here as US citizens. I suggest a liberal work visa program and a system allowing our southern border brothers and sisters a chance to fully recognize the wonders of being an American. I believe that so many of these beautiful people are fleeing economic depression, abusive government leaders, and cultural racism to come to the USA. Now, with a liberal work visa and a strong border security in the future we can have better tracking of people coming here to work. | |||
| Yes | Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| Why in the world do we need government to allow those who love each other to have a relationship? I have no problem with people loving each other being married and having spouse benefits that include the workplace. | |||
| No | Should the U.S use military force in order to prevent governments hostile to the United States from possessing a nuclear weapon? | ||
| No | Do you support increased American intervention in Iraq and Syria beyond air support? | ||
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| Drone attacks allow our Big Government to be the Judge-Jury-Executioner all the while ignoring the rights of these US citizens as outlined in the US Constitution. Additionally, why is the US government not respecting the sovereignty of other countries when violating their air space and killing people on these foreign lands? Since we lack respect for other nations concerning drone attacks is the day near when the USA pays the price for these attacks? | |||
| Yes | Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts? | ||
| Okay, image this, paying nothing into Social Security. Is it possible? Yes, because below I'm describing my choice where I have as an employee with the University of Alaska (UA) retirement planning "Choice". So, why can't all Alaskans have this choice? What we need for all Alaskans/Americans (in my opinion) is a paradigm of the UA retirement system allowing the option of a personal & private pension planning, and the option to opting out of the social security all together. | |||
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.
| Slightly Decrease | a) Agriculture | ||
| Slightly Decrease | b) Arts | ||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Defense | ||
| Slightly Decrease | d) Education | ||
| Slightly Decrease | e) Environment | ||
| Slightly Decrease | f) Homeland Security | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) International aid | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Medical Research | ||
| Maintain Status | i) Scientific Research | ||
| Maintain Status | j) Space exploration | ||
| Greatly Decrease | k) United Nations | ||
| Slightly Decrease | l) Welfare | ||
| m) Other or expanded categories | |||
| Slightly Decrease | a) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Corporate taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | c) Small business taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | d) Excise taxes (alcohol) | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | f) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) | ||
| Eliminate | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | h) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Slightly Increase | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | j) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | k) Payroll taxes | ||
| l) Other or expanded categories | |||
| I was recently asked by an Anchorage news outlet to name only three issues that are at the top of my to-do list once in the U.S. Congress. Well, I provided the following three: 1. End Perpetual Wars 2. Supports leaner & more effective government 3. Be a Champion for Small Businesses Live free. Peace ~ Jim McDermott, M.S., |
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