Butch Hughes' Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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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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Butch Hughes refused to tell citizens where he stands on any of the issues addressed in the 2012 Political Courage Test, despite repeated requests from Vote Smart, national media, and prominent political leaders.
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.
Nebraska 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.
| X | a) Abortions should always be illegal. | ||
| 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. | |||
| Our purpose on earth is to embrace life as a gift that only our creator can take away. The unborn, young, and elderly are all vulnerable to state powers and human greed. Those groups of vulnerable individuals need protections and love. | |||
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.
| Slightly Decrease | a) Education (Higher) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Emergency preparedness | ||
| Slightly Decrease | d) Environment | ||
| Slightly Decrease | e) Health care | ||
| Greatly Increase | f) Law enforcement | ||
| Greatly Increase | g) Transportation and highway infrastructure | ||
| Greatly Decrease | h) Welfare | ||
| Greatly Increase | i) Other or expanded categories | ||
| Eliminate | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Eliminate | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Eliminate | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | d) Gasoline taxes | ||
| Eliminate | e) Income taxes (incomes below $75,000) | ||
| Eliminate | f) Income taxes (incomes above $75,000) | ||
| Eliminate | g) Property taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | h) Sales taxes | ||
| Eliminate | i) Vehicle taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | j) Other or expanded categories | ||
| Yes | 1) Should state sales taxes be extended to Internet sales? | ||
| No | 2) Should accounts such as a "rainy day" fund be used to balance the state budget? | ||
| Yes | 3) Should fee increases be used to balance the state budget? | ||
| Yes | 4) Do you support a tax incentive program rewarding companies that create high paying jobs in Nebraska? | ||
| Militia (National Guard) | |||
| Use taxes for all services - if you use it, you pay for it. | |||
| Quit taxing production and processing. All revenue should be derived from a consumption (fair) tax | |||
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?
| Yes | a) Do you support the current limit of terms for Nebraska governors? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the current limit of terms for Nebraska state senators? | ||
| Yes | 1) Individual | ||
| Yes | 2) PAC | ||
| Yes | 3) Corporate | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | f) Should Nebraska participate in the federal REAL ID program? | ||
| All individuals using government services and education must prove citizenship and legalalty. | |||
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding crime.
| a) Increase state funds for construction of state prisons and hiring of additional prison staff. | |||
| X | b) Support the death penalty in Nebraska. | ||
| c) Support programs to provide prison inmates with vocational and job-related skills and job-placement assistance when released. | |||
| d) Implement penalties other than incarceration for certain non-violent offenders. | |||
| e) Decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana. | |||
| X | f) Minors accused of a violent crime should be prosecuted as adults. | ||
| X | g) Support state and local law enforcement officials enforcing federal immigration laws. | ||
| h) Support hate crime legislation. | |||
| Make prisons self supporting. Install business and enterprises that would employ inmates (whether local or state). The income derived by inmates would be used to pay for their incarceration. Any surplus would be put into that inmates savings account. | |||
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding education.
| a) Support state funding of universal pre-K programs. | |||
| X | 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. | ||
| X | d) Support requiring public schools to administer high school exit exams. | ||
| X | e) Allow parents to use vouchers to send their children to any public school. | ||
| X | 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. | ||
| 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 Nebraska to pay in-state tuition at public universities. | |||
| Education should be results driven versus our current system of effort driven. All students should have to pass comprehensive exams to promoted to the next grade level and/or graduation | |||
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding employment.
| a) Increase funding for state job-training programs that re-train displaced workers and teach skills needed in todays job market. | |||
| X | b) Reduce state government regulations on the private sector. | ||
| c) Provide low interest loans and tax credits for starting, expanding, or relocating businesses. | |||
| d) Provide tax credits for businesses that provide child care for children in low-income working families. | |||
| e) Increase state funds to provide child care for children in low-income working families. | |||
| f) Include sexual orientation in Nebraska's anti-discrimination laws. | |||
| g) Include gender identity in Nebraska's anti-discrimination laws. | |||
| h) Increase the state minimum wage. | |||
| i) Support laws that prevent employers from dismissing employees at will. | |||
| X | j) Support financial punishments for those who knowingly employ illegal immigrants. | ||
| X | k) Support increased work requirements for able-bodied welfare recipients. | ||
| l) Increase funding for employment and job training programs for welfare recipients. | |||
| Some time the only incentive for an individual to work is when they get hungry. People that want to work do work even if that means re-locating. | |||
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). | ||
| c) Support providing financial incentives to farms that produce biofuel crops. | |||
| d) Use state funds to clean up former industrial and commercial sites that are contaminated, unused, or abandoned. | |||
| e) Support funding for improvements to Nebraska's power generating and transmission facilities. | |||
| f) Support funding for open space preservation. | |||
| g) Limit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases linked to global warming. | |||
| h) Enact environmental regulations even if they are stricter than federal law. | |||
| 2 Nuclear power plants need to be built ASAP along the Missouri River. Also Nebraska energy policy needs to have a consistent statewide policy on wind generated power (both as a conservation issue and a National energy security issue. | |||
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding guns.
| No | a) Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows? | ||
| Yes | b) Should citizens be allowed to carry concealed guns? | ||
| No | c) Should a license be required for gun possession? | ||
| No | d) Do you support current levels of enforcement of existing state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| No | e) Do you support current state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| Gun laws have not prevented crimes. Bad people do Bad things, guns are not the villains. | |||
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding health.
| 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. | |||
| X | c) Limit the amount of damages that can be awarded in medical malpractice lawsuits. | ||
| d) Allow patients to sue their HMOs. | |||
| 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 Nebraska. | |||
| g) Support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes. | |||
| Support health thereby reducing needs for health care. Promote alternative forms of improving health like Naturepathic health clinics, wholistic health clinics/doctors. Take advantage of nutrition science data. Promote healthy savings accounts. | |||
['Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding social issues.', 'Legislative Priorities']
| No | a) Should Nebraska recognize civil unions between same-sex couples? | ||
| No | b) Should same-sex couples be allowed to marry? | ||
| No | c) Should Nebraska 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? | ||
| No | f) Do you support sexual education programs that include information on abstinence, contraceptives, and HIV/STD prevention methods? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support abstinence-only sexual education programs? | ||
| No | h) Should the state government consider race and gender in state government contracting and hiring decisions? | ||
| No | i) Do you support affirmative action in public college admissions? | ||
| No | j) Should Nebraska continue affirmative action programs? | ||
| No | k) Do you support state funding of stem cell research? | ||
| No | l) Do you support state funding of embryonic stem cell research? | ||
| Yes | m) Do you support allowing pharmacists who conscientiously object to emergency contraception to refuse to dispense it? | ||
| If more money spent would solve problems in the social arena, we would have no problems today. In spite of the $100s of millions of dollars spent, we have more problems. Responsibility coupled with reality helps guide peoples lifes much better than gov't programs | |||
| 1. Enforce Federal Immigration Laws - The money saved by less diseases, less use of hospitals/doctors from illegal aliens, no education dollars spent on children of illegal aliens, no health & human services dollars spent on illegal aliens; will more than pay for the removal of illegal aliens from our state. Also we won't have the criminal costs associated with illegal aliens. 2. Consistent sustainable water use policy. Quit trumping ground water use over that of surface water rights 3. State spending: Reduce spending by 10% in 2009 without increasing demands on local governments | |||
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