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Mark DeVol's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)

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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.
Unknown Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, or we could not infer an answer for this candidate despite exhaustive research of their public record.
Additional Information: Click on this icon to reveal more information about this candidate's position, from their answers or Vote Smart's research.
Other or Expanded Principles & Legislative Priorities are entered exactly as candidates submit them. Vote Smart does not edit for misspelled words, punctuation or grammar.

Mark DeVol refused to tell citizens where he stands on any of the issues addressed in the 2010 Political Courage Test, despite repeated requests from Vote Smart, national media, and prominent political leaders.

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Issue Positions

For Presidential and Congressional candidates who refuse to provide voters with their positions, Vote Smart has researched their public records to determine their likely responses. These issue positions are from 2010.

  • Mark DeVol. 2010. The Abigail Adams Project: Tennessee Candidate Questionnaire. Selected OPPOSE for: "Partial birth abortions." (216.197.120.179)
  • Mark DeVol. 2010. The Abigail Adams Project: Tennessee Candidate Questionnaire. Selected SUPPORT for: "Requiring parental consent for abortions performed on girls under the age of 18." (216.197.120.179)
  • Mark DeVol. Meet the Third District Congressional Candidates. 23 September 2010. "Yes--I am Pro-Life. Abortion is an atrocity, and it is absolutely a states rights issue." (blip.tv)
  • Mark DeVol. 2010. The Abigail Adams Project: Tennessee Candidate Questionnaire. Selected OPPOSE for: "Abortions funded by taxpayers." (216.197.120.179)
  • Mark DeVol. 2010. The Abigail Adams Project: Tennessee Candidate Questionnaire. Selected SUPPORT for: "Repealing the 16th Amendment, eliminating the federal income tax." (216.197.120.179)
  • Mark DeVol signed American Family Business Institute: Death Tax Repeal Pledge. (www.nodeathtax.org)
  • Mark DeVol. 2010. The Abigail Adams Project: Tennessee Candidate Questionnaire. Selected SUPPORT for: "Enacting the Fair Tax (H.R. 25)." (216.197.120.179)
  • Mark DeVol. Issue Position: Fair Tax. "The Fair Tax is a consumption-based tax that if passed would replace all current taxes at the Federal level. The key components are: All Federal taxes would be eliminated: personal income, capital gains, alternative minimum, self-employment, and Social Security, Medicare, and payroll taxes. The Fair Tax is a consumption-based tax rather than an income-based tax. The tax is only applied to new (not used) items at the time of sale. The Fair Tax is "progressive". A "prebate" of $2,348 per year for a single person or $6,297 per year for a family of four will offset the cost of the taxes on essential goods. The Fair Tax is "revenue neutral", meaning that all current government services will be fully funded. Programs such as Social Security and Medicare would not be affected." (votesmart.org)
  • Mark DeVol. 2010. The Abigail Adams Project: Tennessee Candidate Questionnaire. Selected OPPOSE for: "Passing the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) or the stimulus bill." (216.197.120.179)
  • Mark DeVol. Meet the Third District Congressional Candidates. 23 September 2010. "Does everybody know who John Maynard Keynes is? Keynesian theories of economics, that's what we're using today folks. Let's print money, monitize our economic system, flood the market...do you know why? Do you know what the central theme behind Keynesian economics is? It's that when we devalue the dollar, it's cheaper to pay the debt back. That's an actual plan, people. That's an actual thought, isn't that amazing? And that's exactly what this government is doing today." (blip.tv)
  • Mark DeVol. Meet the Third District Congressional Candidates. 23 September 2010. "Free market capitalism starts with something very simple, it starts with small business people. Right now what we have is corporate America in bed with the United States government. Right now they are privatizing profits, and they are socializing losses. If I create a loss in my business, I own that loss and it belongs to me, but in corporate America, if they create a loss, somehow you and I end up paying for it. That's one of the problems we have with an expansive federal government. The key to the success of our country has always been, and always will be, small business. Right now, typically, six out of ten jobs start with small business--right now it's up to almost eight. Eight out of ten jobs are being created by people like me. We need to make sure that we get government off the backs of small business people. Ladies and gentlemen, the federal government is breaking our back." (blip.tv)
  • Flessner, Dave. 2010. Chattanooga Times Free Press: DeVol campaigns to limit federal spending. 8 October 2010. "The federal government needs to meet its promises for Social Security, veterans benefits and Medicare, he (DeVol) said, but in the future such programs should be abolished and replaced with health savings and individual retirement accounts. DeVol said he favors a consumption-based tax to replace the federal income tax and other federal taxes." (www.tfponline.com)
  • Mark DeVol. Issue Position: Social Security. "Protect United States citizens who have paid into and rely on Social Security ~ Future generations of Americans must be educated and encouraged to develop the financial skills and discipline to fund their own retirements, including Health Savings Accounts, HSAs, and Individual Retirement Accounts, IRAs." (votesmart.org)
  • Despite exhaustive research, Vote Smart was unable to find information about this candidate's position.
  • Flessner, Dave. 2010. AllBusiness.com: DeVol campaigns to limit spending. 8 October 2010. 'DeVol, owner of DeVol Millwork in Oak Ridge, Tenn., and a candidate in Tennessee's 3rd Congressional District, calls himself a constitutional conservative who "is one of us." He said he wants to limit the size of the federal government by getting it out of education, energy and health care, which he said it has no constitutional authority to take over from the states.' (www.allbusiness.com)
  • Mark DeVol. Issue Position: Education. "Education is a 10th Amendment issue, the federal government has no constitutional authority to interfere with or regulate the public and private sector educational system in our country ~ The control of the system must be kept at the local level ~ The fundamentals of Personal Finance, Basic Economics, Personal Responsibility, and Self Governance must be taught ~ Tort Reform - educators and administrators will be exempt from all civil litigation ~ Eliminate the Department of Education" (votesmart.org)
  • Mark DeVol. 2010. The Abigail Adams Project: Tennessee Candidate Questionnaire. Selected OPPOSE for: "Imposing federal government regulations and restrictions upon states and American citizens in an effort to protect the environment." (216.197.120.179)
  • Gun Owners of America. 2010. Project Vote Smart: Interest Group Ratings. In 2010 Gun Owners of America gave Mark DeVol a grade of A. (www.goapvf.org)
  • Mark DeVol. Meet the Independent Candidates. 16 September 2010. "The answer, sir, is 'yes'. I have my carry permit, and I am absolutely, one hundred percent for the second amendment." (blip.tv)
  • Mark DeVol. 2010. The Abigail Adams Project: Tennessee Candidate Questionnaire. Selected OPPOSE for: "Imposing government restrictions on an individual's right to keep and bear arms." (216.197.120.179)
  • Mark DeVol. Issue Position: Second Amendment. "The Declaration of Independence states clearly; the power belongs to the people. The right to keep and bear arms is the determining factor in protecting our liberty against the inevitable desires of government to control our lives under the pretense of taking care of us." (votesmart.org)
  • Mark DeVol signed The Club for Growth: Repeal It! (www.repealit.org)
  • Mark DeVol. Mark DeVol for Congress 2010's Facebook Wall. 2 September 2010. "I believe the most significant problem we face today is the federal government's intervention into the private sector. And until "We the People" place restrictive measures on Congress, nothing is going to change." (www.facebook.com)
  • Mark DeVol. 2010. The Abigail Adams Project: Tennessee Candidate Questionnaire. Selected OPPOSE for: "Taxpayer-funded health care that is mandated and run by the government." (216.197.120.179)
  • Mark DeVol. Issue Position: Health Care. "Tort reform and putting consumers in charge of their health-care decisions are the key components in lowering medical and insurance costs ~ Consumers must have a financial stake in their health-care decisions. Make tax exempt all medical related expenses and allow purchasing of insurance policies in the free market ~ Eliminate state mandates and allow purchasing of catastrophic insurance ~ Health Savings Accounts and optional coverage for Medicare patients." (votesmart.org)
  • Mark DeVol. 2010. The Abigail Adams Project: Tennessee Candidate Questionnaire. Selected SUPPORT for: "Enforcing federal immigration laws by sheriffs and other authorized law enforcement officers." (216.197.120.179)
  • Mark DeVol. Meet the Third District Congressional Candidates. 23 September 2010. "Number one: No Amnesty, period, end of sentence. Number two: We will control the border, using the laws we currently have to control the border. Number three: We need to work together, folks. Article one, section eight, clause four states very specifically that congress shall write the rules of naturalization, it does not state that congress and the federal government shall create a bureaucracy, hiring thousands of people to prevent the states from protecting their own people." (blip.tv)
  • Mark DeVol. Meet the Third District Congressional Candidates. 23 September 2010. "As far as those (illegal immigrants) that are here? They need to go. The best way to do this--right now, our federal government, what they want to do, since they let them in, and the states gave them their drivers license, and the federal government gave them the entitlement that you are talking about, they want to put all the burden on the employer. Well, why? Why is it my responsibility as an employer to assume that liability? They literally want to say, 'You, Mark, don't cross all the i's and the t's on the I-9 that we can come back and fine you a million dollars and put you in jail for two years. Folks, I'm telling you, you want to kill jobs? That's the way to do it. Government let these people in, government should take responsibility for it. The best way to get these people to get these people to go back to where they came from: cut off the entitlement. That is going to be the simplest way. Government created the entitlement, they gave it to 'em, government is best suited to take that away." (blip.tv)
  • Mark DeVol. Issue Position: Immigration. "The federal government must secure the borders by enforcing the laws we currently have. This includes, no amnesty for illegal immigrants and the encouraging of legal immigration that proves to be in best interests of the United States. Congress is charged with these responsibilities." (votesmart.org)
  • Mark DeVol. Meet the Third District Congressional Candidates. 23 September 2010. "Let's be clear on exactly what a congressman's job is: you either vote to fund a war, or you vote to de-fund a war?bottom line folks, if we are not prepared to go in and unleash our military, take care of business, and get them back home, then do not send them. Our military is not to be used as a police force around the world. If there are problems that require us to take care of our vital interests, then yes, by all means get in, get out, get these guys home." (blip.tv)
  • Mark DeVol. 2010. The Abigail Adams Project: Tennessee Candidate Questionnaire. Selected OPPOSE for: "Allowing or promoting gay straight alliance clubs or lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) programs in taxpayer-funded schools." (216.197.120.179)
  • Mark DeVol. 2010. The Abigail Adams Project: Tennessee Candidate Questionnaire. Selected SUPPORT for: "State marriage amendments that define marriage to be only between one man and one woman." (216.197.120.179)

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