Michael Arth's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
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.
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Michael Arth has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2020 Political Courage Test.
Presidential Election 2020 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| I support a woman's right to choose what to do with her body. | |||
| Yes | In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| Yes | Do you support expanding federal funding to support entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare? | ||
| I support a progressive income tax, eliminating the difference between capital gains and ordinary income, a wealth tax on the top 0.1%. Eventually we should probably have a Universal Basic Income that would address inequality, reparations, poverty, education and other issues. | |||
| Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| I propose that all private campaign financing be replaced with publicly financed elections that use standardized websites where candidates would have to address all important issues in detail. I support ending the Electoral College and replacing the winner-take-all, pay-to-play, two-party system with ranked choice voting for single member elections, and proportional representation for the House (thus getting rid of gerrymandering). The Supreme Court judges should be appointed to staggered 18 year terms. | |||
| No | Do you support increasing defense spending? | ||
| I support diplomacy above military options. I oppose endless wars--especially those based on US dominance strategies. I favor reducing the power and influence of the Military Industrial Complex. No first strike. Nuclear disarmament must remain a workable goal. Smedley Butler's 1935 book, War is a Racket, still applies. | |||
| Yes | Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | Do you support lowering corporate taxes as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Supply-side economics does not work. I'm a Keynesian. I favor the move toward "benefit corporations" that are organized to benefit all the stakeholders and not just the shareholders. We should consider a move to a full-reserve banking system or at least a hybrid system where money can be spent into existence by the government instead of being primarily lent into existence by private banks. I favor the IMF increasing their use of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), a supranational currency which would eliminate trade deficits and surpluses. Keynes originally proposed an International Clearing Union like this at Bretton Woods in 1944. | |||
| Yes | Do you support requiring states to adopt federal education standards? | ||
| I support Common Core and oppose attempts by religious groups to indoctrinate students with anti-scientific and non-evidence based curriculums. This educational initiative establishes consistent educational standards, so that high school graduates can speak and write English, do math, use a computer, and be prepared for college or employment. I would like to see critical thinking added to the writing Core to improve our democracy by helping students to avoid fake news. I also support property taxes or other methods to finance schools equally instead of rich neighborhoods having good schools and poor neighborhoods having poor schools. | |||
| Yes | Do you support government funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, geo-thermal)? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| I support carbon credits with support for sustainable energy. We must not exceed 1.5 C degrees over pre-industrial levels. I propose an Eco-Initiative that would solve multiple problems related to climate change, overpopulation, inequality, and corruption. Read more at www.michaelearth.org. | |||
| Yes | Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| Gun control legislation should be evidence-based and reflect the will of the people without interference from gun manufacturers or the NRA. | |||
| Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")? | |||
| I support universal health care like that of the largest such system in the world--the National Health Service (NHS)--which covers everyone in the UK for 40% of what pay. We in the US leave out 33 million people and have a much lower life expectancy than the UK. I should point out that private insurance is still available in the UK and about 9% of the population uses it as a supplement or in full. This forces private companies to compete with the NHS resulting in much lower costs. Also in the NHS there is no co-pay or deductible. | |||
| No | Do you support the construction of a wall along the Mexican border? | ||
| No | Do you support requiring immigrants who are unlawfully present to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
| That should be a soft "no" because I don't believe in open borders among highly unequal countries. The border should be secure and we should return to the Obama era policies. We should address undeveloped and developing world poverty, inequality, authoritarianism, and overpopulation, which is why 1 billion people on the planet want to live somewhere else. Someday, after we help bring the rest of the world up to standard, open borders will be possible as they are among European states. | |||
| No | Should the United States use military force to prevent governments hostile to the U.S. from possessing a weapon of mass destruction (for example: nuclear, biological, chemical)? | ||
| Yes | Do you support reducing military intervention in Middle East conflicts? | ||
| I support diplomacy first. Most military conflicts that the US has gotten into over the last few decades have increased terrorism and made us less safe. | |||
| Yes | Do you generally support removing barriers to international trade (for example: tariffs, quotas, etc.)? | ||
| Mercantilist, zero-sum, beggar-thy-neighbor policies are bad for everyone, but trade agreements should be made with the democratic input of all the stakeholders. | |||
| 1. Electoral Reform: Constitutional amendment to take private money out of elections. Ranked choice voting in single member elections. Proportional representation for the House (thus eliminating gerrymanders). Senate should be more proportional (eg. CA, TX, NY = 4 Senators, VT, NH, WY = 1 Senator). 18 year staggered terms for Supreme Court justices. 2. Universal Health Care like the NHS in the UK. 3. Progressive tax reform, wealth tax, inheritance taxes, VAT, Universal Basic Income. |
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