Don Raihala's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
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.
Don Raihala has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2016 Political Courage Test.
Wisconsin Congressional Election 2016 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| My campaign is offering those in my district a chance to have a congressional advisory referendum question on next spring's ballot so we no longer have to rely on biased survey results on whether people are for or against abortion. I do not seek to remove the right of abortion given by Roe v Wade and as a congressman there is little that can be done by the House of Representatives alone. My focus will be to protect those that do not want their tax dollars going to fund anything related to abortion by stopping all funding bills. | |||
| Yes | In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing defense spending? | ||
| Yes | In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| Perhaps not increase tax rates, but certainly not decrease rates at this time. By the time this election is over we will have surpasses the $20 trillion mark in our nation debt and that's just plain unacceptable. We need to cure our bad spending habit before there can be any talk of tax rate decreases. This is a massive problem that won't only collapse the monetary system and we know it, but also literally eliminate any accumulated wealth or savings that people rely on. I'm all for a Balanced Budget Amendment to be added to our Constitution. | |||
| Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| It is quite clear to me that a candidate for federal office needs at least $500,000 just to get his name out there. So candidates, like myself, that are not part of the establishment are at a severe disadvantage went it comes to just simply making it known that there may be another choice. One of the best ideas I heard on the campaign trail was that it should be mandatory for government to send each household a notice of candidates running for office. This could be nearly free by doubling up on state/county/city notices that they already send. | |||
| Yes | Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| Yes | Do you support alternatives to incarceration for certain non-violent offenders such as mandatory counseling or substance abuse treatment? | ||
| Yes | Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders? | ||
| If there is an infraction, then there needs to be a debt paid back to society. Mandatory education instead of simple incarnation would go a long way to helping those get back on track. I also prefer attaching a life time lien to any assets accumulated for fines that go unpaid and also payment for the court costs and incarnation costs. | |||
| No | Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | Do you support lowering taxes as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | Do you support providing tax incentives to businesses for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| Why is Exxon still getting incentives? What about the many more that pay nothing in federal taxes? We need to stop the hand outs to these giant companies and start weaning the give away to the smaller companies. It's just not fair to incentivize one company or industry and not the other. We are nearly $20 trillion in the hole so this give away likely cannot continue. | |||
| Yes | Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants? | ||
| Education is almost entirely funded at the local and state levels. Only 2-5% of most school budgets come from federal funds and that money is disproportionately given to massive failing school districts and educational experiments like the failing common core standards. I am in full support to eliminate the Department of Education and returning all authority to the state and local levels. | |||
| Yes | Do you support building the Keystone XL pipeline? | ||
| No | Do you support funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, thermal)? | ||
| Yes | Do you support increased regulations on the hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") industry? | ||
| There definitely needs to be more studies on what fracking is doing to our planet. I guess I don't trust this current administration to make a valid opinion, but I think we need to proceed cautiously with concern. Our environment must be protected and we must extract resources smartly. There are countless examples of billions of dollars given to startup companies that squander these funds and fail, this needs to end. Subsidized energy needs to end also. Maybe fossil fuels do have end date, but we need to smartly wean ourselves off it and not rush to decisions. | |||
| No | Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change? | ||
| No | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| Well certainly we need only look to the big cities of China to see that pollution is making a extremely damaging microenvironment. As populations continue to grow we must develop technologies smartly and efficiently to make for a safe environment. At the same time we can't afford to simply just stifle the fossil fuel sector. There are 10's of millions of jobs associated direct and indirect with it and pulling the plug only results in failure in this country while major polluters like China and India do nothing. Again, with this administration who can see the truth through the lies. | |||
| No | Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| I strongly support the 2nd amendment. Action needs to be taken to ensure that guns do not fall into the hands of those that are not allowed to have them. Those on the terrorist watch list shouldn't have access (they shouldn't even be allowed to stay in this county), but those wrongly on it need due process in getting off it. I also think that there needs to be common sense in laws on transfers of firearms (ie gun show loophole between individuals)...between family, friends and close acquaintances YES, but unknown untraceable strangers need a sheriff background check. | |||
| Yes | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")? | ||
| Obamacare was based on a mountain of lies and deceit. The Congressional Budget Office says it will cost $2-3 trillion over the next ten years and for that reason alone it needs to go. | |||
| Yes | Do you support requiring illegal immigrants to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
| Yes. Even though the common claim is that the immigration system is broken and needs to be fixed, we do still have laws and a current process that needs to be adhered to in order for immigrants to become citizens. That process does not include breaking the law and illegally crossing our borders in order to jump over others that take the legal route to become a legal citizen. Any immigrant, including the 10's of thousands of children that have crossed our southern border alone and illegally need to be returned to their country of origin. | |||
| No | Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| I don't necessarily support it, but I do accept the Supreme Courts decision. That being said, if there is any movement to force religious institutions to preform matrimony ceremonies for gay couples, I will fight tooth and nail to stop it. Our 1st amendment rights shall not be infringed by any court decision or law. | |||
| Yes | Do you support targeting suspected terrorists outside of official theaters of conflict? | ||
| Yes | Should the U.S use military force in order to prevent governments hostile to the United States from possessing a nuclear weapon? | ||
| The US needs to start with the 1000 that are currently on the terrorist watch list in our country. These individuals and their cohorts and possible families need to be aggressively pursued and shipped out if there is any reasonable proof of conspiracy against this country or allies. I also back the increase of drone use instead of boots on the ground. This is proven to be extremely effective and needs to be used much more in the Middle East to eliminate known threats to the entire world. Nuclear arsenals need to be kept modernized as a deterrent to invasion. | |||
| No | Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts? | ||
|
|||
| Because there have been numerous studies and polls taken that a majority of Americans have 'nothing' saved for retirement I do believe this program needs to upheld as a priority. That will take great sacrifice, but if changes to privatize are made and much of the population does not go along then we are setting ourselves up for a major default in the future. | |||
SpendingIndicate what federal spending levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one number per category; you can use a number more than once.TaxesIndicate what federal tax levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one number per category; you can use a number more than once.
| Slightly Decrease | a) Agriculture | ||
| Slightly Decrease | b) Arts | ||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Defense | ||
| Eliminate | d) Education | ||
| Slightly Decrease | e) Environment | ||
| Slightly Decrease | f) Homeland Security | ||
| Greatly Decrease | g) International aid | ||
| Slightly Decrease | h) Medical Research | ||
| Slightly Decrease | i) Scientific Research | ||
| Maintain Status | j) Space exploration | ||
| Eliminate | k) United Nations | ||
| Slightly Decrease | l) Welfare | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Small business taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | d) Excise taxes (alcohol) | ||
| Slightly Increase | e) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Slightly Increase | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | j) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | k) Payroll taxes | ||
| Because the vast majority of schools are funded at the local and state levels, I am for the elimination any federal interference in the authority of state and local decisions. Especially the elimination of the common core standard. If we do nothing about our out of control spending we will face massive monetary collapse that will do great harm to every individual and family and will leave our nation in ruin, therefore I am for a slight reduction in all expenditures. | |||
| I've always thought that the highest tax rates should not be the same rate for corporations and individuals/family. While taxes paid by corporations become part of their cost of goods sold and are ultimately passed on to the consumer in the price they pay, I am not for increasing that burden. However I am not for reducing that burden until our spending is under control. I do believe that smokers and drinkers that eventually become a burden to our healthcare system should be more responsible in paying more for a product that ultimately kills them and should go to programs. | |||
| My top priorities are fixing this countries growing security issues and its burdensome spending problem because both involve the survival of this great nation as we know it. We need to cease all immigration for a period of time to fix our own domestic problems with unemployment, homelessness, and the poor. We are spending way too much and giving too much priority to unscreened foreigners and illegal border crossers while our problems at home go unsolved. This is not only a great security issue, but greatly harmful to those Americans that go without help. Pass a balanced budget amendment now! |
Vote Smart does not permit the use of its name or programs in any campaign activity, including advertising, debates, and speeches.