John Studebaker's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Florida State Legislative 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) Do you support requiring parental notification before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| No | f) Do you support requiring parental consent before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support sexual education programs that include information on abstinence, contraceptives, and HIV/STD prevention methods? | ||
| No | h) Do you support abstinence-only sexual education programs? | ||
| I take issue with the terms "pro-life" and "pro-choice", because I am both. The real issue is "pro-choice" versus "no-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 Florida's budget.
| Greatly Decrease | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | c) Environment | ||
| Greatly Decrease | d) Health care | ||
| Slightly Increase | e) Law enforcement | ||
| Slightly Increase | f) Transportation and highway infrastructure | ||
| Greatly Decrease | g) Welfare | ||
| Greatly Decrease | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | d) Gasoline taxes | ||
| Eliminate | e) Property taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Sales taxes | ||
| No | a) Tapping into Florida's "rainy day" fund | ||
| Yes | b) Issuing the early release of certain non-violent offenders | ||
| Yes | c) Increasing tuition rates at public universities | ||
| Yes | d) Instituting mandatory furloughs and layoffs for state employees | ||
| Yes | e) Reducing pension benefits for state employees | ||
| No | f) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| Yes | g) Privatizing certain government services | ||
| Aside from basic education, law enforcement, and infrastructure, the state should merely provide assistance for the local counties to deal with the issues as they see fit. | |||
| As I always say, taxes should be based on what the State needs, not what it wants. | |||
| For those who dislike my Medicaid answer, please research the difference between Medicaid, Medicare, and Welfare. | |||
c) 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 Florida governors? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support limits on the number of terms for Florida state legislators? | ||
| No | 1) Individual | ||
| Yes | 2) Political Action Committee | ||
| Yes | 3) Corporate | ||
| Yes | 4) Political Party | ||
| Yes | d) Should candidates for state office be encouraged to meet voluntary spending limits? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information? | ||
| Sadly, no financing law will ever be passed by the government unless they know it can be circumvented. The reason I am so fervently supportive of term limits is because term limits are the only form of campaign finance reform that will ever work. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | 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 for a first offense? | ||
| Yes | f) Should red light cameras be used to detect traffic violations? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| I don't believe in mandatory counseling or substance abuse treatment (because they don't work), but since they were prefaced with "such as", I answered yes to the question. We would be much better off sentencing non-violent offenders to such punishments as "house arrest", "no cable tv", "no computer", etc.. | |||
| No | a) Should Florida repeal its ban on public funding of religious institutions? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| No | c) Do you support increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers? | ||
| No | d) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| No | f) Do you support increased spending on infrastructure projects for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| No | g) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| If you don't understand my position on any of these issues, I'll never be able to explain it to you in 100 words or less. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support national education standards? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support requiring public schools to administer high school exit exams? | ||
| Yes | c) Should students be permitted to lead prayers at noncompulsory public school events? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support ending the practice of tenure for Florida public school teachers? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support using a merit pay system for teachers? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| No | g) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| No | h) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Florida high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| i) Other or expanded principles | |||
| 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)? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support providing financial incentives to farms that produce biofuel crops? | ||
| No | d) Do you support state funding for improvements to Florida'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? | ||
| The key term is "state funding" (redistributing the wealth) vs "financial incentives" (tax breaks) | |||
| 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? | ||
| I would support requiring training for gun possession, but not a license. | |||
| No | a) Do you support a universally-accessible, publicly-administered health insurance option? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support legalizing physician-assisted suicide in Florida? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| Marijuana should not be illegal. Period. End of story. | |||
| No | a) Should marriage only be between one man and one woman? | ||
| Yes | b) Should Florida 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? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Florida's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | g) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Florida's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| "Marriage" is a religious term, and the state has no business being involved. A couple's priest/minister/clergy-person/whatever should determine what a "marriage" is. So far as the government is concerned, one citizen = one citizen, regardless of gender or location of residence. | |||
| I only have one priority. Calling for a Constitutional Convention to amend the Constitution to limit the Congressional House of Representatives to non-consecutive terms. It sounds complicated, but it isn't. Go to my website http://www.VoteStudebaker.com for the explanation. As I've stated before, term limits are the only type of campaign finance reform that has a chance of working. |
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