Jim Crail's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Jim Crail has demonstrated Political Courage by telling citizens where he stands on the issues he may face if elected.
Wisconsin State Legislative Election 2012 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | a) Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| No | b) Should abortions be illegal after the first trimester of pregnancy? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | e) Do you support requiring parental notification before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| No | f) Do you support requiring parental consent before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| No | g) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for abortion procedures? | ||
| No | h) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions? | ||
| The government has no business inserting itself into women's health care decisions. Decisions on women's health need to be made by her, her health care provider, and any other person *she invites* into that decision process. | |||
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 Wisconsin's budget.
| Slightly Increase | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Greatly Increase | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Slightly Increase | c) Environment | ||
| Slightly Increase | d) Health care | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Greatly Increase | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Slightly Increase | g) Welfare | ||
| Slightly Increase | h) Other or expanded categories: | ||
| Slightly Increase | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | d) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Property taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Sales taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Income taxes (mid-income families) | ||
| Greatly Increase | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Slightly Increase | j) Other or expanded categories: | ||
| Yes | a) Tapping into Wisconsin's Budget Stabilization Fund | ||
| No | b) Increasing tuition rates at public universities | ||
| No | c) Reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions | ||
| No | d) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees | ||
| No | e) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| Government spending on things like education and infrastructure creates an attractive environment for employers to come to Wisconsin and create jobs. Instead of cutting spending on our vital job creation mechanisms, we should be increasing spending them. | |||
| We should create an education and infrastructure surtax on business to business transactions in Wisconsin which would fund the attractive to business education and infrastructure improvements Wisconsin needs. | |||
| Cutting taxes on the rich to take away jobs or benefits from state workers, or to raise tuition on our students doesn't make economic sense. We need to be putting more of our tax revenues into the economy, not cutting jobs and making schooling more expensive. | |||
a) Do you support limits on the following types of contributions for state candidates?
| Yes | 1) Individual | ||
| Yes | 2) Political Action Committee | ||
| Yes | 3) Corporate | ||
| Yes | 4) Political Party | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | e) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| No | f) Do you support limiting recall elections in Wisconsin? | ||
| g) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| 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) Do you support decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana? | ||
| Yes | d) Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | ||
| No | e) Should a minor who sends sexually-explicit or nude photos by cell phone face criminal charges? | ||
| No | f) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| g) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| No | a) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support increased spending on infrastructure projects for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support using public funds to construct a high speed rail line in Wisconsin? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| No | h) Do you support the elimination of public worker collective bargaining? | ||
| We need to put our tax revenues back into the hands of people who spend it in Wisconsin's economy. Everything we can do to encourage job creation, to give struggling families a few more dollars to spend, and to encourage the growth of the middle class in Wisconsin, we should be doing as soon as possible! | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support the national Common Core State Standards initiative? | ||
| No | b) Do you support a merit pay system for teachers? | ||
| Yes | c) Is the tenure process for public school teachers producing effective teachers? | ||
| No | d) Should parents be allowed to use vouchers to send their children to any school? | ||
| No | e) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| Yes | g) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Wisconsin high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| Wisconsin is blessed with many professional teachers who want to truly educate our children and who do not need to be forced to "teach the test" in order to meet a false or arbitrary "merit" standard. Struggling schools need to be given the funding to motivate children and teachers to preform at their highest level. Taking the money that poorly performing schools need to provide top-notch teachers and educations to our children and giving it to voucher and charter schools only hurts our children who need the most help in getting a great education. | |||
| Yes | 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 Wisconsin's energy infrastructure? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support enacting environmental regulations aimed at reducing the effects of climate change? | ||
| No | f) Do you support eliminating some regulations on mining in northern Wisconsin in order to stimulate local economic development? | ||
| Mining, if done in a well-regulated, and environmentally responsible manner, actually creates more jobs than does irresponsible mining which damages the environment. We can have our jobs and our environment too, but it will take enforcement of laws to protect our environment to create those extra jobs. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Yes | d) Should a license be required for gun possession? | ||
| I am all for Second Amendment rights, just not the NRA's "free-for-all" version of the Second Amendment. We must ensure that gun ownership and concealed carry are done in a responsible manner. As a veteran I was trained to use weapons, and I believe that proper training and licensing of all persons who wish to use a weapon must be a requirement. We must screen applicants for weapons purchase and carry for mental illness and criminal backgrounds to help prevent weapons being used in massacres and crimes. | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| I support malpractice limits only in that the awards must be reasonable based on projected losses due to malpractice. In addition, "pain and suffering" awards need to be capped. Pain and suffering is extremely subjective and not really measurable. A cap at a reasonable level, based on expected life span with the pain and suffering, adjusted for inflation, is a common sense way to go on this issue to prevent runaway awards that sometimes don't reflect the true nature of the pain and suffering. | |||
| No | a) Should marriage only be between one man and one woman? | ||
| Yes | b) Should same-sex couples be allowed to form civil unions? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Wisconsin's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Wisconsin's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| I am for equal and fair treatment for all persons, regardless of identification of race, sex, sexual orientation, or any other status which invites discrimination. | |||
| My top three priorities are jobs, education, and equal rights. The first two go hand in hand in that we must use a business to business transaction surtax to fund education and infrastructure spending to attract business to Wisconsin which leads to more jobs, both directly and indirectly. For equal rights, my priority will be to seek the repeal of SB 202 and also to ensure that no woman in Wisconsin has to fear the government standing in the way of her and her health care decisions. |
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