Daria Novak's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Official Position: Candidate addressed this issue directly by taking the Political Courage Test.
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Daria Novak has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2016 Political Courage Test.
Connecticut Congressional Election 2016 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| I will support legislation to ensure that when a baby feels pain it has just and equitable human rights. I do not support tax payer-funded abortions. | |||
| No | In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing defense spending? | ||
| No | In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| We already have cut defense spending. Our men and women in uniform don't have what they need to do their jobs at a time of increased threat. We are in a 2nd Cold War period facing off with the largest alliance of nations in human history. We have terrorist groups and rogue nations arming themselves. The Iran Nuclear deal may be the worst agreement ever. Iran gets to inspect itself and is arming its nuclear sites with military missiles. To raise revenue I support across-the-board tax cuts and returning to the original gold standard to increase economic growth above 4%. | |||
| Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| If we can find a way to effectively close the loopholes allowing unions and others to fund campaigns then I would consider campaign finance legislation. I would not support legislation with unintended consequences that nullified the intent of the law just so Congress could say it did something. Too many in Congress on both sides of the aisle look to ensure their own re-election, power, and self-interests before the needs of the country. That must change! too often it is an incesuous relationship with Congress voting itself power and money. | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| No | Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders? | ||
| I don't believe we have a right to take lives. I do believe strongly and support life without parole for heinous crimes. We spent too many taxpayer dollars on death row appeals. Drug addiction is taking over and killing our citizens, including the children. We need to create better and more effective treatment programs. Filling prisons with addicts doesn't solve the problem. I do support mandatory treatment. | |||
| No | Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | Do you support lowering taxes as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | Do you support providing tax incentives to businesses for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| We must incent, not penalize the private sector. Across-the-board tax rate cuts have worked in the past and will expand our economy, including the workforce participation rate. We over-tax businesses and are forcing them to move overseas. We need good jobs for Americans. That means reducing onerous regulations that hurt American entrepreneurs. American farmers and other small businesses should be able to leave their the farms and businesses to their children rather than have the government take half! Bureaucrats don't expand the economy or produce anything. Only the free enterprise system has ever taken a country out of poverty. | |||
| No | Do you generally support requiring states to adopt federal education standards? | ||
| I support state and local control of education. I'm strongly against Common Core. It is dumbing down and destroying American schools. Teachers are penalized unfairly in the evaluation process. The standards were not established by education curriculum specialists using accepted methods. Material often is incorrect or inappropriate. "Common Core-trained engineers" don't have the skills coming out of school to obtain good 21st century jobs. Even the University of GA won't admit automatically GA HS graduates who take common core math classes! Since the establish of the federal Dept of Education we've gone downhill compared to other nations. | |||
| Yes | Do you support building the Keystone XL pipeline? | ||
| No | Do you support government funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, thermal)? | ||
| No | Do you support increased regulations on the hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") industry? | ||
| The Clean Power Plan has destroyed the coal industry and jobs. We need innovative energy including solar, wind, and battery technology delivering cheap, emission-free energy. The price of that energy is plummeting. It�s win-win for consumers and business. We can help make that happen faster by developing free market solutions for renewable energy. Government should not be picking the winners and losers. Keystone is safer than moving oil by train/truck, etc. Energy independence is a national security issue. Department of Energy and EPA have admitted there's not 1 case of water pollution due to fracking in 1 million well drilled. | |||
| Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change? | |||
| No | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
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| The science is not settled... at least the politics of the science isn't settled! Before man the earth's climate was changing and that will continue. I support being good stewards of the environment. I raised my children this way and we practice it in our home. I do not support destroying our economy through federal regulations that have no impact on what other nations do. Perhaps we can find ways to encourage all nations to work together to improve life. Hurting ours alone is not the answer. | |||
| No | Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| I am strong 2A. If we lose the right to bear arms all the other amendments will follow. No criminal was ever stopped by a "gun free zone" sign. It will only stop law-abiding citizens and they are not the problem! Guns also save lives. When we lose the second amendment we move from being citizens to subjects -- something our founding Fathers fought against long ago. Gun safety classes are a better use of taxpayer money. If a teacher or school administrator was legally armed and trained many lives could have been saved in the mass shootings of late. | |||
| Yes | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")? | ||
| We need good healthcare reform - people with pre-existing conditions should be able to buy insurance, let's increase competitiveness across state lines, create high risk groups to ensure coverage for those citizens, and support tort reform, among other things. Obamacare is a failure. In some state there is 1 provider only. Premiums are skyrocketing and coverage is reduced. We were promised we could keep our plans and it was a lie. Doctors are leaving the field. Paperwork has increased dramatically. And, doctors receive monetary incentives not to provide some types of care. Start again. Read the bill before passing it. | |||
| Yes | Do you support requiring immigrants who are unlawfully present to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
| People who come here illegally deserve to have consequences for their actions. Many waited and followed the rules. We cannot punish those new American citizens who did it the correct way. We are a nation of laws, not rule by man. We don't get to pick and choose which laws we follow. If we don't like a law we can vote to change it. I support immigration reform. Let's make sure businesses check the ID of those they employ. If we need a special guest worker program to fill jobs Americans can't fill, then we need to legislate it. | |||
| No | Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
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| This issue has been settled and we face more important challenges in our country. Government doesn't belong in our bedrooms or private lives - period. | |||
| No | Do you support increased American intervention in Iraq and Syria beyond air support? | ||
| Yes | Should the U.S use military force in order to prevent governments hostile to the United States from possessing a nuclear weapon? | ||
| Our government is incapable of winning a "war" in Iraq and Syria given the policy of the current Administration. If we have to fight terrorists I want to do it off US soil, not in our cities and towns. Conditions for going to war - Congress and the American people approve it, it is on our national interest, the generals not politicians run it, we have a clear plan to get out and we don't announce it. We must stop nuclear proliferation. Iran inspects its own nuclear sites. That is not sane! | |||
| Yes | Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts? | ||
| We must protect all Social Security! I would not reduce benefits. As the population ages we may need to find ways to encourage savings among the younger generation entering the work force now. Bold ideas should be discussed with care. | |||
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.
| Greatly Decrease | a) Agriculture | ||
| Slightly Decrease | b) Arts | ||
| Slightly Increase | c) Defense | ||
| Eliminate | d) Education | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Environment | ||
| Greatly Increase | f) Homeland Security | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) International aid | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Medical Research | ||
| Maintain Status | i) Scientific Research | ||
| Slightly Increase | j) Space exploration | ||
| Eliminate | k) United Nations | ||
| Slightly Decrease | l) Welfare | ||
| Eliminate | a) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | b) Corporate taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | c) Small business taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Excise taxes (alcohol) | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | f) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | h) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | j) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | k) Payroll taxes | ||
| These categories don't reflect the idea that I support moving some of the funding to the state level. Reduce federal taxes to allow state to take over again. We pay for most of the UN's expenses and they trash us. Let's have the UN move to Europe and let other nations pay for it. | |||
| Again, these categories need explaining. I support across-the-board tax rate cuts to increase federal revenue, decrease unemployment, and to expand the economy. Small businesses and farmers are hurt by the inheritance tax, among others. This is a 2nd tax on their labor and should be eliminated. We pay the highest corporate income tax in the developed world. It is driving companies overseas. Working poor ought to be incented to stay in the workforce rather than stay home because benefits out weight what they can earn at a starting level salary. | |||
| We need to be freer, stronger and more prosperous. How? 1) Return to the gold standard to reduce unemployment and increase the growth rate to 4%-5% annually. It will take away control for the big banks, too. 2) Across-the-board tax rate cuts. It will provide more money to buy homes, hire new workers, etc. 3) Support free enterprise. This is the source of the economic engine that brings nation out of poverty. 4) Deregulate where possible. The federal government is hurting our businesses and costing them hundreds of millions. in paperwork, etc. |
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