Jack Rooney's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Indiana Congressional Election 2010 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | a) Do you consider yourself pro-choice or pro-life? | ||
| Yes | 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) Should federal subsidies be prohibited from being used for abortion procedures? | ||
| e)...unless c) and d) are true. | |||
1) SpendingIndicate what federal funding levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one number per category- you can use a number more than once.2) 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.
| Maintain Status | a) Agriculture | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Arts | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Defense | ||
| Slightly Increase | 1) Intelligence operations | ||
| Maintain Status | 2) Military hardware | ||
| Slightly Decrease | 3) National missile defense | ||
| Slightly Increase | 4) Salary and benefits for active duty personnel | ||
| Slightly Increase | 5) Programs to improve troop retention rates | ||
| Slightly Increase | 6) Research and development of new weapons | ||
| Greatly Increase | d) Education | ||
| Slightly Increase | e) Environment | ||
| Slightly Decrease | f) Homeland security | ||
| Greatly Decrease | g) International aid | ||
| Greatly Increase | h) Medical research | ||
| Greatly Increase | i) Scientific research | ||
| Slightly Increase | j) Space exploration | ||
| Maintain Status | k) United Nations | ||
| Slightly Decrease | l) Welfare | ||
| m) Other or expanded categories | |||
| Greatly Increase | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | b) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | c) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Corporate taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | e) Gasoline taxes | ||
| Eliminate | f) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | g) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | h) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Slightly Increase | i) Other or expanded categories | ||
| Yes | 3) Do you support the elimination of the federal estate tax? | ||
| Yes | 4) Do you support requiring the federal budget to be balanced each year? | ||
| No | 5) Do you support using government funds in an effort to stimulate and improve the economy? | ||
| f), g), h) Eliminate progressive income taxes and install a moderate flat tax or national sales tax | |||
| 3) Eliminate on estates under 2 million. 4) Except in times of National emergency or clear and present danger to the security and safety of the Country. 5) Except for infrastructure spending like roads, bridges, dams, waterways, and defense/security/boarder security. | |||
| No | a) Do you support privatizing elements of Social Security? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| No | c) Do you support increasing the federal minimum wage? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support the ability of workers to unionize? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support federal funding for job-training programs that retrain displaced workers? | ||
| a) Most low to middle income workers will not save enough for retirement, and that is why SS was started, to curb the tendency of human nature to spend everything earned, to make sure people have something available when they retire or are unable to work. Allowing everyone to manage their own SS retirement fund will never work. Investing a portion of the SS trust fund in the stock or bond market, not to exceed 25% of the total SS fund might be okay as long as it is administered by the SS trust. | |||
| No | a) Do you support increasing the amount individuals are permitted to contribute to federal campaigns? | ||
| Yes | b) Should Congress regulate indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| No | c) Do you support removing all contribution limits on federal campaigns? | ||
| Yes | d) Should candidates for federal office be encouraged to meet voluntary spending limits? | ||
| No | e) Do you support giving the President the power of the line item veto for items concerning appropriations? | ||
| No | f) Do you support limiting the President's ability to define how legislation is applied through the use of signing statements? | ||
| e) The Constitutional power of the purse rests with Congress. f) Just because the President believes an Act of Congress is unconstitutional and unenforceable does not mean that it is; the courts ultimately decide Constitutionality and can ignore Presidential signing statements. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support programs that provide prison inmates with vocational and job-related training and job-placement assistance when released? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support programs that provide prison inmates with substance abuse treatment? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support reduced prison sentences for non-violent offenders? | ||
| No | e) Do you support mandatory prison sentences for selling illegal drugs? | ||
| d) Except for white-collar corporate crime and fraud, crime and fraud in banking and finance, and racketeering. e) Mandatory sentencing may violate the separation of powers between the Congressional and Judicial branches; the courts may ignore it. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support federal education standards and testing requirements for K-12 students? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support federal funding for universal pre-K programs? | ||
| No | c) Do you support federal funding for charter schools? | ||
| No | d) Do you support federal funding for K-12 school vouchers? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support the federal government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| c), d)...unless local public schools are overcrowded or not performing. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support enacting environmental regulations aimed at reducing the effects of climate change? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support international emissions targets aimed at reducing the effects of climate change? | ||
| No | c) Do you support allowing energy producers to trade carbon credits under a "cap and trade" system? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support strengthening fuel efficiency standards on all gasoline and diesel-powered engines, including cars, trucks, and sport utility vehicles? | ||
| No | e) Do you support domestic oil exploration in federally-protected areas? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support federal funding for the development of alternative energy? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support the development of nuclear reactors? | ||
| c) The economics of "cap and trade" needs more study. e) Exploration, yes; drilling in federally-protected areas at this time, no. | |||
| No | a) Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you believe that the Second Amendment guarantees the right of individual citizens to own guns? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support allowing individuals to carry concealed guns? | ||
| No | d) Do you support a ban on assault rifles? | ||
| a), b), c), and d)... The right to bear arms is an individual right of every adult American citizen of good character to carry arms for personal protection on their person at home or in public or in their car without restriction. Some reasonable restrictions, like carrying on an aircraft, might apply, but otherwise not. | |||
| No | a) Do you support a publicly-administered health insurance option? | ||
| No | b) Do you support expanding access to health care through commercial health insurance reform? | ||
| Yes | c) Should the federal government expand eligibility for tax-free medical savings accounts? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support relaxing regulations on the importation of prescription drugs? | ||
| a), b) It's not a regulatory or control issue, its and education issue. The cost of medical services can be reduced by graduating more doctors and nurses from the medical schools. More doctors would mean more competition in the medical profession which would increase the quality of service and lower cost. We need more doctors and nurses and medical professionals, not more regulation. It's an education spending issue, not an insurance regulatory issue. e) Only if consumer protections are in place to ensure the quality and purity of imported drugs. | |||
| No | a) Do you support a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support decreasing the number of legal immigrants allowed into the country? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support establishing English as the official national language? | ||
| No | d) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| a)... I do not support "illegal" anything. d)... unless the Federal Government has clearly abdicated its responsibility. The border States can defend their borders against foreign invasion regardless of Federal action or inaction. | |||
| No | a) Do you support United States military action in Afghanistan? | ||
| No | b) Do you support increasing military assistance for Afghanistan? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing economic development assistance for Afghanistan? | ||
| Yes | d) Should the United States continue to strike suspected terrorist targets in Pakistan? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support granting aid to countries when it is in the security interests of the United States? | ||
| Yes | f) Should the United States support the creation of a Palestinian state? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support increasing sanctions on Iran if it continues to defy United Nations mandates? | ||
| Yes | h) Do you support the withdrawal of United States troops from Iraq? | ||
| Yes | i) Do you support the United States' involvement in free trade agreements? | ||
| a) I support the United States military, but not the political decisions that sent our soldiers to Afghanistan in the first place. i) It depends on how you define "free trade" - I do not support unregulated trade; Trade rules and standards are necessary and should be clearly specified and enforced to ensure all parties to the trade agreement are working on the same page. | |||
| Yes | a) Should marriage only be between one man and one woman? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support allowing openly-gay men and women to serve in the United States military? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support federal funding for embryonic stem cell research? | ||
| Yes | d) Should the federal government end affirmative action programs? | ||
| a) This issue confuses the terms "marriage" and "partnership." I support gay partnerships as a matter of constitutionally protected personal choice, but gay marriage is impossible. d) When affirmative action has achieved its goal to end discrimination it should be gradually phased out, but the situation should be carefully monitored to ensure discrimination does not reemerge. | |||
| My top priorities are fixing the economy and putting Americans back to work by reducing wasteful and excessive government spending and increasing education spending to retrain workers for the 21st century, which will spur innovation and business investment and increase commerce and trade. I would save money by streamlining or eliminating many of the redundant layers of government bureaucracy in Washington that clog up the system and stifle progress. The business of the people needs balanced between the interest of workers and the profits of industry. The old ways of doing business in Washington are due for an upgrade. |
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