Lainey Melnick's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Texas Congressional Election 2010 Political Courage Test
| 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? | ||
| Yes | e) Should federal subsidies be prohibited from being used for abortion procedures? | ||
| As a mother and grandmother, I feel strongly that there should be privacy when dealing with health-care decisions, especially in this emotional arena. I've lost two babies to miscarriage. I understand the emptiness that follows such a loss and the pain that goes with it. We all want to protect the life, health and well-being of all women and children. We all want to reduce abortions and unwanted pregnancies. We may disagree on how to achieve these goals, but I promise to listen with an open heart and an open mind. I absolutely cherish life. | |||
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.
| Maintain Status | a) Agriculture | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Arts | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Defense | ||
| Maintain Status | 1) Intelligence operations | ||
| Maintain Status | 2) Military hardware | ||
| Maintain Status | 3) National missile defense | ||
| Maintain Status | 4) Salary and benefits for active duty personnel | ||
| Maintain Status | 5) Programs to improve troop retention rates | ||
| Maintain Status | 6) Research and development of new weapons | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Education | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Environment | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Homeland security | ||
| Maintain Status | g) International aid | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Medical research | ||
| Maintain Status | i) Scientific research | ||
| Maintain Status | j) Space exploration | ||
| Maintain Status | k) United Nations | ||
| Maintain Status | l) Welfare | ||
| Slightly Increase | m) Other or expanded categories | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Gasoline taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | f) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Slightly Increase | h) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | i) Other or expanded categories | ||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | 5) Do you support using government funds in an effort to stimulate and improve the economy? | ||
| According to economic theory, during a recession the government needs to increase spending to grow jobs and stabilize the economy. The government needs to focus spending programs on those that will increase consumer spending, promote investment, and support business production and exports, while maintaining a strong defense. A focus on education and research will put America back on top as a leader in innovation and will set our course for long-term stability. | |||
| The government needs to minimize the tax burden while we're in a recession to increase consumer spending and investment. Creating a thriving environment where business can expand, grow jobs, and take risks will increase jobs and competition. While I support extending the Obama tax cuts intended for job creation and middle class families, I support allowing the Bush tax cuts for oil companies, investment fund managers, and those making over $250,000 a year to expire. | |||
| The USA must retake our international reputation as the leader in technological innovation, and return to fiscally responsible policies. We need to strengthen small business to create a climate of job growth, end big business bailouts, minimize the business tax burden, reduce healthcare costs, and look to local resources to grow opportunities. Most importantly, we need a reinvented education system that prepares a creative workforce to take us back to the top of the global arena. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Americans historically have been some of the most inventive and creative people in the world, and we need to reawaken that spirit. We need an education system that graduates a creative workforce that will take us back to the top of the global arena. We must reward innovation and put in place the inventive think-tank environment necessary to stay on top. The goal is to build a foundation that supports the excellence necessary to maintain a strong economy. | |||
| No | a) Do you support increasing the amount individuals are permitted to contribute to federal campaigns? | ||
| Yes | b) Should Congress regulate indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| No | c) Do you support removing all contribution limits on federal campaigns? | ||
| Yes | d) Should candidates for federal office be encouraged to meet voluntary spending limits? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| The goals of campaign finance reform should be to prevent corruption and promote political equality without undermining the First Amendment. Without addressing the inequity of corporate influence and incumbency advantage, the goals of reform are only partly met. Campaign-finance reform including Constitutional limits on Corporations and Unions, in addition to an introduction of Congressional term limits has a better chance of reducing the influence of special interests, and may result in more responsive and representative politicians. | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Although I do not believe capital punishment deters murder, and I believe that injustice has led to the execution of innocent people and discrimination against minorities and the poor, I do support offering a jury the option of capital punishment only for the most heinous crimes in society such as terrorism, mass murder and violent crimes against children, and only when they can be proven at the highest standard, well beyond a shadow of a doubt. For the majority of violent crimes, I support the option of Life Imprisonment without Parole which is an effective and less expensive substitute. | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| With an investment in public charter schools that specifically meet the needs of students with different learning styles, we can staff with disability-specific trained educators, therapists, use specific multi-sensory curriculum, and offer a learning environment that produces a creative, successful workforce to take us back to the top of the global arena. To be successful, they must have accountability, proper safeguards, and protect the students and teachers to deliver on the excellent education potential. As part of the public education system with its protections, separation of church and state, and non-discrimination, our public schools could bring excellence back to education. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support the development of nuclear reactors? | ||
| America needs a comprehensive energy program that will work now, be cost-effective, and protect our environment while we research and develop innovations in clean, renewable energy sources. We can make the transition from oil dependence today by turning to local resources like natural gas and nuclear energy. It is especially important as we proceed with these new resources to safeguard our air, water and noise, whether in urban or rural settings. Research should continue into techniques that would conserve water and reduce pollution. We should reward innovation, efficiency, and early action while providing strict environmental accountability without inhibiting economic growth. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you believe that the Second Amendment guarantees the right of individual citizens to own guns? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support allowing individuals to carry concealed guns? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support a ban on assault rifles? | ||
| The Supreme Court has ruled that the Constitution provides an individual right to bear arms, but also that certain state laws controlling possession and use of firearms are appropriate and constitutional. The Court's rulings that these laws are appropriate and constitutional is evidence that there is a middle ground between those who demand uncontrolled possession of all types of weapons and those who prefer absolute prohibition of possession of any type of firearm. Allowing states to determine regulations that are appropriate for their own citizens protects the constitutional right to bear arms while keeping our communities and our children safe. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support a publicly-administered health insurance option? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support expanding access to health care through commercial health insurance reform? | ||
| Yes | c) Should the federal government expand eligibility for tax-free medical savings accounts? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| The current health care reform law, has begun the process to restructure our nation's $2.3 trillion health care system. We need to continue to refine the legislation to provide affordable, accessible, high-quality, portable health care to all Americans in order to reduce costs, improve quality, offer portable choices, increase access for the uninsured, reduce the waste and bureaucracy, all while lowering the deficit. It is important for our success to offer all Americans higher quality care for less money with support from a bi-partisan partnership to create a foundation to build the best health care system in the world. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants? | ||
| No | b) Do you support decreasing the number of legal immigrants allowed into the country? | ||
| No | c) Do you support establishing English as the official national language? | ||
| No | d) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| Congress has failed America on immigration. Structural failures of our current policy combined with the inadequate or misguided responses to these failures have led to the largest unauthorized population in our history. Instead of learning the lessons from policy that has worked and the policy that has not been effective, we continue to go down the same path of failed policies. Instead of comprehensive immigration reform, we spend millions on enforcement-only policy that has resulted in skyrocketing unauthorized entries, an increase of deaths on the border, and a more dangerous situation for all of us. | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Yes | d) Should the United States continue to strike suspected terrorist targets in Pakistan? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Yes | i) Do you support the United States' involvement in free trade agreements? | ||
| History is full of lessons. Conflicts often arise in the same places over and over again. If you ignore the history, if you fail to understand why a particular conflict recurs, then you cannot bring peace because you will repeat the efforts that failed before. Nonetheless, times do change. Conflicts endure for generations because the participants are stuck in an ancient mindset that limits progress toward peace. A tactic that was tried and failed 100 years ago may work under modern conditions. We must be open to new options, to understanding changing circumstances and to thinking creatively. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | d) Should the federal government end affirmative action programs? | ||
| We must all fight for the basic principles that make this country great. Equality is the bedrock that holds America above so many countries that continue to discriminate, that lay a foundation for genocide, and stay in power by taking power away from others. All people of all races, religions, national origins, and regardless of disability, sexual orientation or gender identity deserve the freedoms and equality that make America great. Our actions send a beacon to the rest of the world that discrimination and genocide will not be tolerated. | |||
| We cannot allow any company to gain an unsustainable monopoly of power in our market that could cripple our economy. Fair competition is what breeds excellence. A pressing need for our impoverished, aging and disabled Veterans is for locally accessible, high quality medical and mental health care, and services for the homeless. Several global studies have found a direct link between educating children in unstable parts of the world and security here at home. Educating girls significantly decreases infant and maternal mortality rates, helps stabilize population growth, and improves the quality of health and life for everyone in the community. |
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