Duf Sundheim's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Duf Sundheim submitted the 2016 Political Courage Test after the official deadline.
California Congressional Election 2016 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| My wife and I are pro-life. I had a brother with a disability and can't imagine a world without him just because he had a few numbers off in his DNA. However, when my father was dieing of Alzheimer's, my mom, sisters and I had to decide whether to terminate his life. I found myself thinking, I don't want some government official deciding this issue; we should be deciding it. So whether it's at the end of life or the beginning of life, I believe we must have confidence in the people involved. | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| We have a cumbersome, complex, and hence, onerous tax code. It is over 70,000 pages and filing taxes takes, on average, each taxpayer roughly 8 hours costing $120. This adds up to 1.4 billion hours and $20 billion. I will work to streamline and simplify our tax code, while still maintaining its progressivity. By removing the loopholes and gimmicks, we can lower tax rates. Some will view eliminating tax expenditures as possibly raising rates. I see it as an opportunity reduce overall tax rates on Americans rather than give tax give-aways to special interests. | |||
| Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| To a degree, we should work harder on rehabilitation. For many non-violent, non-serious criminals, simply providing skills to allow them to compete in the job market is sufficient for full rehabilitation. Others would be more difficult. The state should evaluate offenders and assess whether rehabilitation is possible. While supportive in theory of mandatory minimums, I've seen how they can be a detriment to rehabilitation. This is an issue I will continue to seek balanced reform. | |||
| 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? | ||
| We must stop using our tax code as a way to incentive issues we like and disincentive issues we don't. This is crony capitalism and ripe for abuse by the special interests who are the most connected to the political system. Also, once a subsidy is in place it is so easy to increase and almost impossible to reduce or eliminate. It also cannot be done quickly, which is so necessary in such an ever changing economy. | |||
| Yes | Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants? | ||
| I believe wholeheartedly that the states are the engines of innovation when it comes to education reform, but am open to federal funding of education as long as states are making efforts to improve the quality of their schools and teachers. | |||
| Yes | Do you support building the Keystone XL pipeline? | ||
| Yes | Do you support funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, thermal)? | ||
| No | Do you support increased regulations on the hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") industry? | ||
| XL would reduce pollution, reduce spills and reduce the cost of energy - a three-for. I support basic renewable research. Hydraulic fracturing has helped the United States reduce its reliance on foreign oil, helped our nation reduce our carbon footprint, and helped lower electricity and energy bills across the nation, particularly for our most economically disadvantaged communities. Scientific studies, including those by the EPA, have found little to limited risk with hydraulic fracturing. I am pro-science and the science is clear on this issue. If the science were to change, I would be willing to revisit this issue. | |||
| Yes | Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| Climate change is real and humans are contributing to it. But any actions to address climate change must also be cognizant of America?s middle and lower classes. We can't address climate change on the backs of these households. Policies that address climate change shouldn't reduce economic growth, but rather must truly promote an "all-of-the-above" non-carbon energy portfolio; not pick and choose. Our environmental policy should be outcome-focused setting clear and measurable benchmarks and ensuring the policy meets those benchmarks. There are market-based, property rights-focused policies that will efficiently and effectively improve our environment without the heavy-handed regulations. | |||
| No | Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| I believe strongly in the 2nd Amendment. I will consider limiting this right only if there's a substantial, demonstrable threat to public safety, it must be implemented in the least invasive manner possible and it must be as geographically limited as possible. In California, let's enforce the laws we have. | |||
| Yes | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")? | ||
| I will not vote to repeal until there is an alternative. But we badly need an alternative. The ACA was a huge missed opportunity. It focused on health insurance instead of health care. For example, in California there has been a substantial increase in the people on Medical, but the health of those patients has not improved. My focus: increase access to health care and make it more affordable. Let's expand the use of HSAs, allow interstate insurance purchases, permit catastrophic coverage, make prices more transparent and other disruptive reforms. | |||
| No | Do you support requiring illegal immigrants to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
| I support a rigorous, but fair pathway to legal status for those in the country illegally. This should be coupled with securing our border. Current law and our constitution is very clear about what rights and privileges citizens have. | |||
| Yes | Do you support targeting suspected terrorists outside of official theaters of conflict? | ||
| Should the U.S use military force in order to prevent governments hostile to the United States from possessing a nuclear weapon? | |||
| The world is safest when the U.S. projects strength and resolve. America cannot lead from behind and expect results. We need a multi-faceted approach, which includes accurate intelligence, public diplomacy, strong alliances, cutting edge technology and a prepared military. I do not believe in taking options off the table. Whether I would use force to prevent governments hostile to the United States from possessing a nuclear weapon would depend on the immediacy and seriousness of the threat and what alternative are available. | |||
| Yes | 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.
| Slightly Decrease | a) Agriculture | ||
| Slightly Decrease | b) Arts | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Defense | ||
| Greatly Increase | d) Education | ||
| Slightly Decrease | e) Environment | ||
| Maintain Status | 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 | ||
| Maintain Status | l) Welfare | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | b) Corporate taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | c) Small business taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Excise taxes (alcohol) | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | h) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | j) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | k) Payroll taxes | ||
| a) Agriculture subsidies are a form of crony capitalism. b) The Arts are important, but better left to the state and local level to fund. c, f, g, h, i, j, l) are important, but efficiencies can be found within their current budgets. d) Education is extremely important. However, except for special ed funding, I would be working to gradually shift funding to the state and local levesl. e) We rely to much on environmental regulation and do too little to encourage innovation. k) The UN has become a platform for anti-American forces. Our taxpayers shouldn't be supporting it. | |||
| Get rid of the goodies that only apply to certain companies or industries so we can lower the marginal corp. tax rate. This will help small companies and encourage big ones to bring their money home from overseas. The decrease to low-income families would actually be in the form of increases to the earned income tax credit. I will be out front on entitlements. I will start with Simpson-Bowles but there are numerous changes I would make to that good first step. | |||
| Our country is facing serious challenges. Nowhere are those challenges greater than in California. Silicon Valley has seen one of the greatest accumulations of wealth in history, but 8.9 million Californians live in poverty. Despite this plight, government is getting in the way of Californians achieving success and recently, a Superior Court judge ruled that California's education system "shocks the conscience" and violates our children's constitutional rights. Around the world, the United States once was respected by our friends and feared by our enemies. Neither is the case today. I will fight to revive the American Dream everyday for everybody. |
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