Peter Diamondstone's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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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.
Unknown Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, or we could not infer an answer for this candidate despite exhaustive research of their public record.
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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.
Peter Diamondstone has not completed the 2016 Political Courage Test.
Issue Positions
For Presidential and Congressional candidates who refuse to provide voters with their positions, Vote Smart has researched their public records to determine their likely responses. These issue positions are from 2016.
- "Abortion should be available upon demand and paid for by subsidized health care." (votesmart.org)
- Do you consider yourself pro-choiceor pro-life? "Pro-choice" (votesmart.org)
- "I favor 100% tax on all incomes over $350,000. I also favor Social Security tax on all income including capital gains, dividends, and interest, and I favor removing the cap on incomes subject to tax." (votesmart.org)
- Do you support mandatory prison sentences for selling illegal drugs? "No" (votesmart.org)
- Do you support reduced prison sentences for non-violent offenders? "Yes" (votesmart.org)
- Despite exhaustive research, Vote Smart was unable to find information about this candidate's position.
- Despite exhaustive research, Vote Smart was unable to find information about this candidate's position.
- Despite exhaustive research, Vote Smart was unable to find information about this candidate's position.
- Despite exhaustive research, Vote Smart was unable to find information about this candidate's position.
- Despite exhaustive research, Vote Smart was unable to find information about this candidate's position.
- Do you support enacting environmental regulations aimed at reducing the effects of climate change? "Yes" (votesmart.org)
- "My interpretation of the Second Amendment allows citizens to own whatever weapons the governments own except for nuclear weapons." (votesmart.org)
- Despite exhaustive research, Vote Smart was unable to find information about this candidate's position.
- "I support globalized, unlimited international immigration, and the elimination of passports and visas." (votesmart.org)
- Should marriage only be between one man and one woman? "No" (votesmart.org)
- "All high U.S. Government officials and military personnel for the past 30 years should be tried for war crimes and genocide." (votesmart.org)
- Do you support privatizing elements of Social Security? "No" (votesmart.org)
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.
| Pro-choice | a) Do you consider yourself pro-choice or pro-life? | ||
| No | b) Should abortion be legal only within 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) Should federal subsidies be prohibited from being used for abortion procedures? | ||
| Abortion should be available upon demand and paid for by subsidized health care. | |||
1) SpendingIndicate what federal funding levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one number per category- you can use a number more than once.2) 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.
| Eliminate | a) Agriculture | ||
| Greatly Increase | b) Arts | ||
| Eliminate | c) Defense | ||
| Eliminate | 1) Intelligence operations | ||
| Eliminate | 2) Military hardware | ||
| Eliminate | 3) National missile defense | ||
| Eliminate | 4) Salary and benefits for active duty personnel | ||
| Eliminate | 5) Programs to improve troop retention rates | ||
| Eliminate | 6) Research and development of new weapons | ||
| Greatly Increase | d) Education | ||
| Greatly Increase | e) Environment | ||
| Eliminate | f) Homeland security | ||
| Eliminate | g) International aid | ||
| Eliminate | h) Medical research | ||
| Greatly Increase | i) Scientific research | ||
| Eliminate | j) Space exploration | ||
| Greatly Increase | k) United Nations | ||
| Greatly Increase | l) Welfare | ||
| Greatly Increase | m) Other or expanded categories | ||
| Eliminate | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | b) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Eliminate | c) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | d) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Gasoline taxes | ||
| Eliminate | f) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Greatly Increase | h) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| No | 3) Do you support the elimination of the federal estate tax? | ||
| Yes | 4) Do you support requiring the federal budget to be balanced each year? | ||
| No | 5) Do you support using government funds in an effort to stimulate and improve the economy? | ||
| I support totally taxpayer funded child care and education from birth to death, and paying students minimum wage to go to school. | |||
| I favor 100% tax on all incomes over $350,000. I also favor Social Security tax on all income including capital gains, dividends, and interest, and I favor removing the cap on incomes subject to tax. | |||
| I want to use taxation to move the country toward a classless society; therefore, I favor a 10% asset tax on assets over One Million Dollars. | |||
| No | a) Do you support privatizing elements of Social Security? | ||
| No | b) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing the federal minimum wage? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support the ability of workers to unionize? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support federal funding for job-training programs that retrain displaced workers? | ||
| I support the elimination of corporate capitalism. I support production for use, not for profit. I support the means of production and distribution being publicly owned except where the worker is also the owner. | |||
| No | a) Do you support increasing the amount individuals are permitted to contribute to federal campaigns? | ||
| No | b) Should Congress regulate indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| No | c) Do you support removing all contribution limits on federal campaigns? | ||
| No | d) Should candidates for federal office be encouraged to meet voluntary spending limits? | ||
| No | e) Do you support giving the President the power of the line item veto for items concerning appropriations? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support limiting the President's ability to define how legislation is applied through the use of signing statements? | ||
| Elections are hiring of public servants. No private money should be allowed to finance any candidacies. All candidacies should have only equal public financing. | |||
| No | a) Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support programs that provide prison inmates with vocational and job-related training and job-placement assistance when released? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support programs that provide prison inmates with substance abuse treatment? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support reduced prison sentences for non-violent offenders? | ||
| No | e) Do you support mandatory prison sentences for selling illegal drugs? | ||
| I support nationalizing the entire drug industry--prescription and street drugs alike with government preempting the field so there will be no private sales. Private sales will remain serious crimes. I favor legalizing all use and production not for sale, but for personal use. | |||
| No | a) Do you support federal education standards and testing requirements for K-12 students? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support federal funding for universal pre-K programs? | ||
| No | c) Do you support federal funding for charter schools? | ||
| No | d) Do you support federal funding for K-12 school vouchers? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support the federal government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| All students from Kindergarten on should be paid minimum wage for going to school. All schools should be public schools and totally taxpayer funded. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support enacting environmental regulations aimed at reducing the effects of climate change? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support international emissions targets aimed at reducing the effects of climate change? | ||
| No | c) Do you support allowing energy producers to trade carbon credits under a "cap and trade" system? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support strengthening fuel efficiency standards on all gasoline and diesel-powered engines, including cars, trucks, and sport utility vehicles? | ||
| No | e) Do you support domestic oil exploration in federally-protected areas? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support federal funding for the development of alternative energy? | ||
| No | g) Do you support the development of nuclear reactors? | ||
| All nuclear power plants should be shut down as incurably unsafe at the expense of the investors. All energy production and distribution should be done by publicly owned institutions eliminating private ownership. | |||
| No | b) Do you support expanding access to health care through commercial health insurance reform? | ||
| No | c) Should the federal government expand eligibility for tax-free medical savings accounts? | ||
| No | d) Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support relaxing regulations on the importation of prescription drugs? | ||
| Yes | a) Do you support a publicly-administered health insurance option? | ||
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| All medical and hospital care for treatment of trauma and disease should be totally taxpayer funded. Private hospitals and medical practices would be banned. All health care providers would be on community payrolls. The focus of health care would be on prevention, not on treatment and cures. The latter requires the elimination of private enterprise in health care and pharmaceuticals. | |||
| No | a) Do you support United States military action in Afghanistan? | ||
| No | b) Do you support increasing military assistance for Afghanistan? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing economic development assistance for Afghanistan? | ||
| No | d) Should the United States continue to strike suspected terrorist targets in Pakistan? | ||
| No | e) Do you support granting aid to countries when it is in the security interests of the United States? | ||
| Yes | f) Should the United States support the creation of a Palestinian state? | ||
| No | g) Do you support increasing sanctions on Iran if it continues to defy United Nations mandates? | ||
| Yes | h) Do you support the withdrawal of United States troops from Iraq? | ||
| No | i) Do you support the United States' involvement in free trade agreements? | ||
| The entire 1947 State of Palestine should be restored to the Palestinians as a Palestinian State as it was before the war criminal invasion by Zionists and Zionist acts of genocide. The International Community should pay reparations to Palestine for allowing Zionist war crimes and genocide. U.S. should pay reparations to Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, and Pakistan. All high U.S. Government officials and military personnel for the past 30 years should be tried for war crimes and genocide. | |||
| No | a) Should marriage only be between one man and one woman? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support allowing openly-gay men and women to serve in the United States military? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support federal funding for embryonic stem cell research? | ||
| No | d) Should the federal government end affirmative action programs? | ||
| e) Other or expanded principles | |||
| 1. Open new investigations into 9/11. I support the 9/11 Truth Movement. 9/11 was an inside job. 2. I would co-sponsor the Alan Grayson Bill, providing that all troops and mercinaries (contractors) come out of Iraq and Afghanistan now. Financial benefits would be passed on to single taxpayers (1st $35,000 is tax exempt) and to othertaxpayers, first $70,000 income tax exempt. 3. Abolish the private bankers' Federal Reserve System. Substitute one central U.S. bank, congressionally controlled. All other banks must be credit unions. |
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