Michael Horton's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Pennsylvania State Legislative Election 2010 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | a) Do you consider yourself pro-choice or pro-life? | ||
| 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? | ||
| No | d) Should abortion be legal when the life of the woman is endangered? | ||
| e) Do you support requiring parental notification before an abortion is performed on a minor? | |||
| f) Do you support requiring parental consent before an abortion is performed on a minor? | |||
| g) Do you support sexual education programs that include information on abstinence, contraceptives, and HIV/STD prevention methods? | |||
| h) Do you support abstinence-only sexual education programs? | |||
| A, B, C, D, E, F - No Abortion, No Exceptions. D- I DO NOT believe that the life of the baby is of more value than the life of the mother. What I DO believe is that there is a huge moral difference between the intention of saving the mother's life and the intention of attacking the baby - though the deeply sorrowful outcome may be the same in both cases. | |||
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 Pennsylvania's budget.
| Slightly Increase | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Slightly Increase | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Slightly Increase | c) Environment | ||
| Slightly Increase | d) Health care | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Law enforcement | ||
| Greatly Increase | f) Transportation and highway infrastructure | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Welfare | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Gasoline taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | e) Property taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | f) Sales taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| a) Tapping into Pennsylvania's "rainy day" fund | |||
| b) Issuing the early release of certain non-violent offenders | |||
| c) Increasing tuition rates at public universities | |||
| No | d) Instituting mandatory furloughs and layoffs for state employees | ||
| No | e) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| No | f) Privatizing certain government services | ||
| Overall spending should not be increased. Dependence on federal subsidies to balance the budget should be curtailed. We need to join several other states in providing a public, fully-searchable Internet database showing where every dollar is spent. This database should also include all vendors and the salaries, benefits, office expenses and perks of all public officials. The Governor and every member of the General Assembly should have to permanently forfeit a day's pay for every day a full and balanced budget has not been signed into law after June 30. | |||
| C-Decrease the over-all corporate rate and make sure all corporations are paying their fair share. F- I would consider supporting an expansion of sales tax to items that are currently not taxed. G, H, I- We cannot rely on our overburdened taxpayers and seniors to make up for a lack of fiscal responsibility in Harrisburg. At the same time, we need to ensure that everyone pays their fair share. | |||
| Eliminate the waste and abuse currently in the system starting with the Legislature. Eliminate the General Assembly slush fund estimate at over $100 million. Eliminate un-substantiated per diems of $163 per day paid to legislators for showing up for work with no requirement for receipts. Eliminate the ability for legislators to raise their own pay. Eliminate providing legislators with government vehicles except in those rare instances where it is cheaper than making reimbursements for mileage. | |||
d) Do you support limits on the following types of contributions to candidates for state government?
| Yes | a) Do you support limits on the number of terms for Pennsylvania governors? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support limits on the number of terms for Pennsylvania state legislators? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support reducing the size of the General Assembly? | ||
| Yes | 1) Individual | ||
| Yes | 2) Political Action Committee | ||
| Yes | 3) Corporate | ||
| Yes | 4) Political Party | ||
| Yes | e) Should candidates for state office be encouraged to meet voluntary spending limits? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information? | ||
| Pennsylvania is one of only 12 states that have no campaign contribution limits. We must return Harrisburg to the control of the people and out of the hands of special interests. Campaign finance reform is the place to start. Additionally, no legislator, staff member, or their family members should be receiving gifts, meals, travel, entertainment or any other perk from lobbyists or any individuals that have business before the legislature. I will immediately enforce this ban on everyone in my office and support any effort to extend that ban to the rest of the legislature. | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| d) Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | |||
| e) Should a minor who sends sexually-explicit or nude photos by cell phone face criminal charges? | |||
| f) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | |||
| As a law enforcement officer, I have immense compassion for those victims and families that are devastated by violent crime. They deserve to have their perpetrator swiftly and effectively punished. However, I do not feel that I can on one hand be against such violence and then at the same time offer the same violence as a solution to our social problems. In Pennsylvania, our non-lethal punishments are sufficient to defend and protect people's safety from these aggressors. Therefore, I think we are morally bound to limit ourselves to these non-lethal solutions. D,E,F need more than "yes" or "no" answers. | |||
| a) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | |||
| Yes | b) Do you support increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers? | ||
| c) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | |||
| d) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? | |||
| Yes | e) Do you support increased spending on infrastructure projects for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| f) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | |||
| Yes | g) Do you support the taxation of cigars and smokeless tobacco? | ||
| I have 19-years of business experience balancing budgets and making the hard decisions about what priorities take precedence and when. Along with that comes an understanding of how to effectively implement principle-centered process improvements and make prudent fiscal decisions in order to meet long-term goals. The specifics regarding whether or not I would support or oppose a particular spending or tax increase would depend on the actual facts and circumstances regarding the legislation and our economy at that time. It would also depend on how well we have done eliminating waste and abuse in the system. | |||
| a) Do you support national education standards? | |||
| b) Do you support requiring public schools to administer high school exit exams? | |||
| No | c) Do you support using a merit pay system for teachers? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| f) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Pennsylvania high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | |||
| D- State funding of charter and other non-public schools should be separate and apart from public school funding initiatives. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state funding for the development of alternative energy? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support state funding for the development of traditional domestic energy sources (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil)? | ||
| c) Do you support providing financial incentives to farms that produce biofuel crops? | |||
| Yes | d) Do you support state funding for improvements to Pennsylvania's energy infrastructure? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support enacting environmental regulations aimed at reducing the effects of climate change? | ||
| g) Other or expanded principles | |||
| No | a) Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| 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? | ||
| e) Other or expanded principles | |||
| a) Do you support a universally-accessible, publicly-administered health insurance option? | |||
| b) Do you support expanding access to health care through commercial health insurance reform? | |||
| c) Do you support interstate health insurance compacts? | |||
| No | d) Should individuals be required to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| 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 Pennsylvania? | ||
| No | g) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| A, B, C- Affordable, quality, accessible health care is a basic human right to be extended to every person regardless of income or origin of birth. The financial responsibility for providing health care should be shared by ALL stakeholders including government, health care providers, employers and charitable organizations. We must also take steps to control costs by reducing waste and unnecessary care and providing incentives for all to use our health care resources in an economical and effective manner. | |||
| Yes | a) Should marriage only be between one man and one woman? | ||
| No | b) Should Pennsylvania allow same-sex couples to form civil unions? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support state funding for stem cell research? | ||
| No | d) Do you support state funding for embryonic stem cell research? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support the state's use of affirmative action? | ||
| f) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Pennsylvania's anti-discrimination laws? | |||
| g) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Pennsylvania's anti-discrimination laws? | |||
| A/B- My belief is that marriage is the sacred union between one man and one woman. I oppose efforts to establish same sex civil unions that attempt to make a relationship between people of the same sex equal to that of marriage. However, I fully believe that the LGTB community must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. C-I support funding for ADULT stem cell research. I OPPOSE EMBRYONIC stem cell research. | |||
| Creating Jobs - Having been a vice president at two Fortune 500 companies, Mike knows firsthand how to create jobs. He'll fight to make sure that partisanship doesn't stand in the way of small businesses getting the help they need to grow. Reforming the State Legislature- Mike will lead by example. He will fight to limit legislative perks, reduce the activities of special interest groups and put people before politics. Finding a Smarter Approach to Property Taxes- Mike will work to protect education funding and cut property taxes so that seniors and working families aren't taxed out of their homes. |
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