William Scarborough's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Other or Expanded Principles & Legislative Priorities are entered exactly as candidates submit them. Vote Smart does not edit for misspelled words, punctuation or grammar.
William Scarborough 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.
New York State Legislative Election 2008 Political Courage Test
The Political Courage Test asks candidates which items they will support if elected. It does not ask them to indicate which items they will oppose. Through extensive research of public polling data, we discovered that voters are more concerned with what candidates would support when elected to office, not what they oppose. If a candidate does not select a response to any part or all of any question, it does not necessarily indicate that the candidate is opposed to that particular item.
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding abortion.
| a) Abortions should always be illegal. | |||
| X | b) Abortions should always be legal. | ||
| c) Abortions should be legal only within the first trimester of pregnancy. | |||
| d) Abortions should be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape. | |||
| e) Abortions should be legal when the life of the woman is endangered. | |||
| f) Abortions should be subject to a mandatory waiting period. | |||
| g) Require clinics to give parental notification before performing abortions on minors. | |||
| I believe abortions should be "safe,legal,and rare".Appropriate education and contraception should be made available to reduce the need for abortions as much as possible. | |||
State Budget: Indicate what state funding levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one level per category, you can use a number more than once.State Taxes: Indicate what state tax levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one level per category, you can use a number more than once.
| Maintain Status | a) Education (Higher) | ||
| Slightly Increase | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Emergency preparedness | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Environment | ||
| Slightly Increase | e) Health care | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Law enforcement | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Transportation and highway infrastructure | ||
| Slightly Increase | h) Welfare | ||
| Slightly Increase | i) Other or expanded categories | ||
| Slightly Increase | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Gasoline taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | e) Income taxes (incomes below $75,000) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | f) Income taxes (incomes above $75,000) | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Sales taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Vehicle taxes | ||
| Yes | 1) Should there be a cap on school district property taxes? | ||
| Yes | 2) Should state sales taxes be extended to Internet sales? | ||
| Undecided | 3) Should accounts such as a "rainy day" fund be used to balance the state budget? | ||
| Undecided | 4) Should fee increases be used to balance the state budget? | ||
| Yes | 5) Do you support raising the income tax for those making $1,000,000 or more? | ||
| I would increase the "sin taxes"because the state needs the money and a public policy can be advanced. I would lower taxes on some corporations and all small businesses to stimulate job creation. I would increase taxes on higher incomes-$250,000-$500,000-because they have benefited the most from two decades of federal and state income tax cuts, and in difficult times, all segments should share in the sacrifices needed to recover. | |||
| I support a "circuit breaker"tied to income rather than a hard property tax cap. "Rainy day " funds and fees should not be the first choice to balance a budget. Rainy day funds, in particular,should be a last resort and used for really difficult situations. | |||
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding campaign finance and government reform.c) Do you support limiting the following types of contributions to state legislative candidates?
| No | a) Do you support limiting the number of terms for New York governors? | ||
| No | b) Do you support limiting the number of terms for New York state senators and assemblymembers? | ||
| 1) Individual | |||
| Yes | 2) PAC | ||
| Yes | 3) Corporate | ||
| 4) Political Parties | |||
| Yes | d) Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support imposing spending limits on state-level political campaigns? | ||
| Undecided | f) Should New York participate in the federal REAL ID program? | ||
| I do not support term limits. I consider them, at bottom, an insult to the electorate in that some entity decides that the electorate is too stupid to decide who represents their interests and must be forced to vote for someone else via term limits. Secondly, I don't know many people who would prefer an inexperienced doctor or lawyer over an experienced one.Politics has been characterized as the ONLY profession where experience, learning how your field of endeavor works to the benefit of those you represent is somehow a bad thing. | |||
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding crime.
| a) Increase state funds for construction of state prisons and hiring of additional prison staff. | |||
| b) Establish the death penalty in New York. | |||
| X | c) Support programs to provide prison inmates with vocational and job-related skills and job-placement assistance when released. | ||
| X | d) Implement penalties other than incarceration for certain non-violent offenders. | ||
| e) Minors accused of a violent crime should be prosecuted as adults. | |||
| f) Support state and local law enforcement officials enforcing federal immigration laws. | |||
| X | g) Support hate crime legislation. | ||
| h) Other or expanded principles | |||
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding education.
| X | a) Support state funding of universal pre-K programs. | ||
| b) Support federal education standards and testing requirements for K-12 students (No Child Left Behind). | |||
| X | c) Support state education standards and testing requirements for K-12 students. | ||
| d) Support requiring public schools to administer high school exit exams. | |||
| e) Allow parents to use vouchers to send their children to any public school. | |||
| f) Allow parents to use vouchers to send their children to any private or religious school. | |||
| X | g) Provide state funding to increase teacher salaries. | ||
| X | h) Support using a merit pay system for teachers. | ||
| X | i) Provide state funding for tax incentives and financial aid to help make college more affordable. | ||
| j) Support allowing illegal immigrant high school graduates of New York to pay in-state tuition at public universities. | |||
| k) Other or expanded principles | |||
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding employment.
| X | a) Increase funding for state job-training programs that re-train displaced workers and teach skills needed in today's job market. | ||
| b) Reduce state government regulations on the private sector. | |||
| X | c) Provide low interest loans and tax credits for starting, expanding, or relocating businesses. | ||
| X | d) Provide tax credits for businesses that provide child care for children in low-income working families. | ||
| X | e) Increase state funds to provide child care for children in low-income working families. | ||
| X | f) Include gender identity in New York's anti-discrimination laws. | ||
| X | g) Increase the state minimum wage. | ||
| X | h) Support laws that prevent employers from dismissing employees at will. | ||
| i) Support financial punishments for those who knowingly employ illegal immigrants. | |||
| j) Support increased work requirements for able-bodied welfare recipients. | |||
| X | k) Increase funding for employment and job training programs for welfare recipients. | ||
| I would support common-sense reductions in onerous regulations on the private sector. Recent events have shown the folly of rampant deregulation without monitoring. | |||
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding the environment and energy.
| X | a) Promote increased use of alternative fuel technology. | ||
| X | b) Support increased production of traditional domestic energy sources (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil, etc). | ||
| X | c) Support providing financial incentives to farms that produce biofuel crops. | ||
| X | d) Use state funds to clean up former industrial and commercial sites that are contaminated, unused, or abandoned. | ||
| X | e) Support funding for improvements to New York's power generating and transmission facilities. | ||
| X | f) Support funding for open space preservation. | ||
| X | g) Limit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases linked to global warming. | ||
| X | h) Enact environmental regulations even if they are stricter than federal law. | ||
| Domestic energy sources may need to be increased as a temporary measure. Ultimately we will need to wean off of our dependence on fossil fuels and develop alternative sources of energy. | |||
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding guns.
| Yes | a) Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows? | ||
| No | b) Should citizens be allowed to carry concealed guns? | ||
| Yes | c) Should a license be required for gun possession? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support current levels of enforcement of existing state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support current state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| f) Other or expanded principles | |||
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding health.
| X | a) Ensure that citizens have access to basic health care through managed care, insurance reforms, or state-funded care where necessary. | ||
| b) Guaranteed medical care to all citizens is not a responsibility of state government. | |||
| c) Limit the amount of damages that can be awarded in medical malpractice lawsuits. | |||
| X | d) Allow patients to sue their HMOs. | ||
| X | e) Require hospitals and labs to release reports on infections that are a risk to public health, while not compromising patient confidentiality. | ||
| f) Legalize physician assisted suicide in New York. | |||
| X | g) Support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes. | ||
| h) Other or expanded principles | |||
['Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding social issues.', 'Legislative Priorities']
| Yes | a) Should New York recognize civil unions between same-sex couples? | ||
| Undecided | b) Should same-sex couples be allowed to marry? | ||
| Yes | c) Should New York provide state-level spousal rights to same-sex couples? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support a moment of silence in public schools? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support voluntary prayer in public schools? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support sexual education programs that include information on abstinence, contraceptives, and HIV/STD prevention methods? | ||
| No | g) Do you support abstinence-only sexual education programs? | ||
| Yes | h) Should the state government consider race and gender in state government contracting and hiring decisions? | ||
| Yes | i) Do you support affirmative action in public college admissions? | ||
| Yes | j) Should New York continue affirmative action programs? | ||
| Yes | k) Do you support state funding of stem cell research? | ||
| Yes | l) Do you support state funding of embryonic stem cell research? | ||
| No | m) Do you support allowing pharmacists who conscientiously object to emergency contraception to refuse to dispense it? | ||
| In our debate on same-sex marriage, I asked the proponents to use the next year prior to future votes to go out to the public and make their case so that average citizens understand the issue and have a stake in the outcome.This has not been done, and I am troubled that the general public is denied a role in this discussion.When affirmative goals were dropped from NYC and NYS contract decisions,minority participation dropped precipitously. Unequal school funding and inadequate resources still prevent a "level playing field "in education. Modifications may be needed to these programs, but the need remains. | |||
| My top prioritities are education, health care and child care. I have indicated in previous answers what I would do to "right-size"taxes which I believe would increase state revenues and also spur job creation and middle-class disposable income. Additionally, I would move forward with efforts to close down/merge unneeded adult prisons and juvenile facilities which are underutilized and costly but are protected politically as economic development for their respective locales. Retraining and future technology attraction efforts should be directed at these locations similar to efforts now underway in NY's former manufacturing centers | |||
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