Jim Gettens' Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Massachusetts 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? | ||
| 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? | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Yes | h) Do you support abstinence-only sexual education programs? | ||
| Abortion should only be legal in the instance of ectopic pregnancy. d) Give me an example! NOTE: Your questions are framed in a terrible manner. | |||
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 Massachusetts' budget.
| Maintain Status | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Environment | ||
| Greatly Decrease | d) Health care | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Law enforcement | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Transportation and highway infrastructure | ||
| Greatly Decrease | g) Welfare | ||
| Greatly Decrease | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | d) Gasoline taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | e) Property taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | f) Sales taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | h) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| No | a) Tapping into Massachusetts' "rainy day" fund | ||
| No | b) Issuing the early release of certain non-violent offenders | ||
| No | c) Increasing tuition rates at public universities | ||
| Yes | d) Instituting mandatory furloughs and layoffs for state employees | ||
| No | e) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| Yes | f) Privatizing certain government services | ||
| It's time to gut layers of bureaucrats so money is directed to where it will do the most good. | |||
| State spending increased 56% in 10 years. It's time to eliminate the fraud, waste, graft, patronage, and abuse. | |||
| It's time to gut the state payroll, which now has about 98,000 "on budget" employees; eliminate wasteful "independent state authorities", and eliminate defined-benefit pensions for all new hires. | |||
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 Massachusetts governors? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support limits on the number of terms for Massachusetts state legislators? | ||
| No | 1) Individual | ||
| No | 2) Political Action Committee | ||
| No | 3) Corporate | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| Current finance disclosure provisions are burdensome enough. The present system favors incumbents getting labor union contributions. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| Mandatory counseling and substance abuse treatment should be added as sentencing provisions in cases of those incarcerated who would benefit from them. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| No | b) Do you support the expansion of state-regulated gaming? | ||
| 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? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| Taxes, fees, and asinine anti-business regulations should be rolled back/repealed to encourage private sector job creation. | |||
| No | a) Do you support national education standards? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| No | e) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| No | f) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Massachusetts high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| Illegal immigrants should never benefit from any government programs or services. | |||
| 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 Massachusetts' energy infrastructure? | ||
| No | e) Should municipalities be allowed to take control of their electric infrastructure through the use of eminent domain? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | ||
| No | g) Do you support enacting environmental regulations aimed at reducing the effects of climate change? | ||
| Municipalities should only be able to acquire electric infrastructure in cases where the private owner, such as Unitil, is demonstrated to be grossly incompetent and a danger to the general public. | |||
| 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 support "Constitutional Concealed Carry" as is the case in both Vermont and Arizona. | |||
| 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 Massachusetts? | ||
| No | g) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| h) Other or expanded principles | |||
| Yes | a) Should marriage only be between one man and one woman? | ||
| No | b) Should Massachusetts continue to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples? | ||
| No | c) Do you support state funding for stem cell research? | ||
| No | d) Do you support state funding for embryonic stem cell research? | ||
| e) Do you support the state's use of affirmative action? | |||
| No | f) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Massachusetts' anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | g) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Massachusetts' anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| e) I do not know what the "state's use of affirmative action" means. | |||
| CUTTING THE SIZE OF STATE GOVERNMENT: The Massachusetts 'on-budget' state payroll for 98,000 state employees is now $4.5-$5 billion each year. Thousands of these employees are make-work administrators. There are an additional 15,000 employees in so-called 'independent state authorities'. We must cut thousands of these unnecessary patronage hires to alleviate the burden on taxpayers. These payrolls, perks, and pensions drove state budget increases of 56% over the past 10 years. That's an outrage. CUTTING TAXES The Massachusetts state income tax should be rolled back to 5% as called for by the 2000 successful ballot initiative ignored by incumbent Legislators. I... |
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