Samuel Edwards' Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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North Carolina State Legislative Election 2010 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | a) Do you consider yourself pro-choice or pro-life? | ||
| No | b) Should abortion be legal only within the first trimester of pregnancy? | ||
| No | 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) Do you support requiring parental notification before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support requiring parental consent before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| No | g) Do you support sexual education programs that include information on abstinence, contraceptives, and HIV/STD prevention methods? | ||
| Yes | h) Do you support abstinence-only sexual education programs? | ||
| As to question c), I find it unconscionable that a society that will no longer execute the guilty for the crime of rape will countenance the making of two victims by allowing the killing of the innocent product of the crime. As to question g), "comprehensive" sex education programs such as that described are statistically less effective than abstinence-only programs at reducing the rate of teenage pregnancy, making them, fiscally as well as morally, the better choice. | |||
1) State SpendingIndicate what state funding levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one level per category; you may use a number more than once.2) State TaxesIndicate what state tax levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one level per category; you may use a number more than once.3) Budget StabilizationIndicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing North Carolina's budget.
| Maintain Status | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Environment | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Health care | ||
| Slightly Increase | e) Law enforcement | ||
| Slightly Increase | f) Transportation and highway infrastructure | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) Welfare | ||
| Eliminate | h) Other or expanded categories | ||
| Slightly Decrease | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Eliminate | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | d) Gasoline taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | e) Property taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | f) Sales taxes | ||
| Eliminate | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | h) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Yes | a) Tapping into North Carolina's "rainy day" fund | ||
| Yes | b) Issuing the early release of certain non-violent offenders | ||
| Yes | c) Increasing tuition rates at public universities | ||
| No | d) Instituting mandatory furloughs and layoffs for state employees | ||
| No | e) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| Yes | f) Privatizing certain government services | ||
| Targeted economic incentives | |||
| I favor the decrease of income tax rates in all categories, leading to the elimination - sooner rather than later - of the current system of taxation and its replacement by a system that taxes consumption rather than earnings. What I have in mind is modeled on the proposed federal "Fair Tax" (HR25), including its provision for a monthly anticipatory rebate (or "prebate") to cover the tax on essential expenditures, which is keyed to the official poverty level. | |||
| As to item f), I support the responsible privatization of any service not required by law to be provided by the state government in accordance with the principles enunciated in the Heartland Institute's monograph, "Ten Principles for Privatization." | |||
e) Do you support limits on the following types of contributions to candidates for state government?
| No | a) Should eminent domain be used to seize property for the purpose of economic development? | ||
| Yes | b) Should a city be required to gain the approval of a majority of affected voters before it is allowed to annex their land? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support limits on the number of terms for North Carolina governors? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support limits on the number of terms for North Carolina state legislators? | ||
| No | 1) Individual | ||
| No | 2) Political Action Committee | ||
| No | 3) Corporate | ||
| No | 4) Political Party | ||
| No | f) Should candidates for state office be encouraged to meet voluntary spending limits? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information? | ||
| All donations, with information on the identity of the donor (at least above a certain level, which I would suggest be $50-$100 per election cycle), and in all cases identifying the individual donor's employer, or the company, party or PAC making the donation, should be posted in an searchable public forum within a week of their acceptance for deposit. The way to remove special interest money from politics is to shine the light on it and, above all, to refocus our budgeting process on the provision of necessary public services instead of rewarding supporters with tax breaks, etc. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support alternatives to incarceration for certain non-violent offenders, such as mandatory counseling or substance abuse treatment? | ||
| No | c) Should the possession of small amounts of marijuana be decriminalized? | ||
| Yes | d) Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | ||
| Yes | e) Should a minor who sends sexually-explicit or nude photos by cell phone face criminal charges? | ||
| No | f) Do you support increased inspection and oversight of dog breeding facilities? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| Re: c) Unless medical use is permitted and the substance is prescribed by a licensed professional. Re: d) and e), provided that there is adequate discretion provided to prosecutors and judges, including alternative indictment and sentencing options, so that special circumstances may be taken into account. Re: g) This should not even be an issue for officers sworn to uphold the constitution and laws of the United States. If an Arizona-style bill is introduced in the North Carolina legislature, I will support it. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| No | b) Do you support increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers? | ||
| No | c) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | ||
| No | d) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| No | e) Do you support increased spending on infrastructure projects for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| No | f) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| Re: b)-f) - in each of these cases, the action of individuals and of the free market system is far more efficient and effective than any government program. The current economic woes of our state and nation are Exhibit A for the truth of this axiom: When acting outside its narrow area of responsibility, there is no problem, however bad, that government involvement cannot make worse. | |||
| No | a) Do you support national education standards? | ||
| No | b) Do you support requiring public schools to administer high school exit exams? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support using a merit pay system for teachers? | ||
| No | d) Do you support a statewide ban on corporal punishment in public schools? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| No | f) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| No | g) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from North Carolina high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| Government involvement in education should be limited and for the most part decisions concerning it should be made on the local level, at all times remembering that the principal responsibility for the education of the young resides with their parents, and that no government policy that does not recognize this is ever acceptable. North Carolina's current 100-school cap on public charter schools should be completely repealed, and the current number of vocational high schools (where drop-out rates are significantly lower than the average) should be greatly increased. | |||
| No | a) Do you support state funding for the development of alternative energy? | ||
| No | b) Do you support state funding for the development of traditional domestic energy sources (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil)? | ||
| No | c) Do you support providing financial incentives to farms that produce biofuel crops? | ||
| No | d) Do you support state funding for improvements to North Carolina's energy infrastructure? | ||
| No | e) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | ||
| No | f) Do you support enacting environmental regulations aimed at reducing the effects of climate change? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support the development of wind farms in coastal areas? | ||
| Yes | h) Do you support the development of wind farms along mountain ridges? | ||
| Re: a) - f) - all of these items are best decided in the free market. Re: g) and h) - I support these with the proviso that no public money be used to foster these developments. | |||
| No | a) Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| No | b) Do you support requiring background checks on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support allowing individuals to carry concealed guns? | ||
| No | d) Do you support requiring a license for gun possession? | ||
| Re: a) This is intended to apply only to citizens in good standing who are not disqualified by due and proper legal process. The provisions of both the United States Constitution (Amendment 2) and the North Carolina Constitution (Article I, Section 30) are quite clear and sufficient guides for evaluating any legislation in this area. Anything that goes beyond them constitutes prior restraint on the exercise of a natural right. | |||
| No | a) Do you support a universally-accessible, publicly-administered health insurance option? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support expanding access to health care through commercial health insurance reform? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support interstate health insurance compacts? | ||
| No | d) Should individuals be required to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits? | ||
| No | f) Do you support legalizing physician-assisted suicide in North Carolina? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| Government involvement in this area is particularly pernicious and counterproductive. The market should decide, and government's role is to ensure the removal of artificial impediments (such as the prohibitions against cross-border health insurance purchases) to market activities, which unduly benefit only a few large insurance companies. | |||
| Yes | a) Should marriage only be between one man and one woman? | ||
| No | b) Should North Carolina allow same-sex couples to form civil unions? | ||
| No | c) Do you support state funding for stem cell research? | ||
| No | d) Do you support state funding for embryonic stem cell research? | ||
| No | e) Do you support the state's use of affirmative action? | ||
| No | f) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in North Carolina's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | g) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in North Carolina's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| I support permitting the people to vote on a Defense of Marriage Amendment (DOMA) to the state constitution, which the current leadership in Raleigh has persistently refused to do. Any actions on marriage at the legislative level should be focused on fostering healthy marriages instead of attempting to redefine the institution in a way that, however much it comports with current fashion, is contrary to the natural law and human historical experience. This institution - which not only antedates, but creates civil society - is so foundational that anything that weakens or adulterates it weakens the whole society. | |||
| A fundamental principle of my philosophy of government is that no level of government should do what a more local level of government can do at least as well (technically called "subsidiarity"). Therefore, I support reduction of spending to levels adequate for the support of those functions only the state can provide and reduction of taxes to the level necessary to support these functions. I support a general reorientation of the way the state generates revenue. I also support limitations on the terms of office of all elected officials in all branches of government. |
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