Chuck Kuniewich, Jr.'s Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Chuck Kuniewich, Jr. has demonstrated Political Courage by telling citizens where he stands on the issues he may face if elected.
Massachusetts State Legislative Election 2012 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | a) Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| No | b) Should abortions be illegal after 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? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support requiring parental consent before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for abortion procedures? | ||
| Yes | h) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions? | ||
| a. I am personally pro life and if asked I would council for pro life, and offer ways to mitigate the reasons a woman has for taking this course of action. However this is so personal that the only peoples whose opinion that matters is the woman, the father, and her doctor. | |||
1) State Spending:Using the key, indicate 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 Taxes:Using the key,indicate 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 Stabilization:Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing Massachusetts's budget.
| Maintain Status | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Environment | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Health care | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Welfare | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | e) Property taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | f) Sales taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Income taxes (mid-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Yes | a) Tapping into Massachusetts's "rainy day" fund | ||
| No | b) Increasing tuition rates at public universities | ||
| No | c) Reducing or eliminating public worker collective bargaining | ||
| Yes | d) Reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions | ||
| Yes | e) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees | ||
| No | f) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| g) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| because I am not a sitting state rep I have not been privy to the details of the state funding of those categories so I would exercise prudence before passing judgement on them. However, I certainly would have lots of questions for them. | |||
| In order for government to be able to provide benefits that serve everyone, the collection of taxes must be done logically equally and fairly. Anger about taxes happens when people see that they are contributing more while seeing less benefits accrue for doing so. Income taxes can be the fairest approach because it takes some of what was exchanged. Property taxes are the least fair because as property values or tax rates rise, there isn't more money on the table to take from. Sales taxes hurt the purchasing power of low income people disproportionately. | |||
a) Do you support limits on the following types of contributions for state candidates?
| No | 1) Individual | ||
| Yes | 2) Political Action Committee | ||
| Yes | 3) Corporate | ||
| Yes | 4) Political Party | ||
| Yes | b) Should candidates for state office be encouraged to meet voluntary spending limits? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support the use of an independent AND/OR bipartisan commission for redistricting? | ||
| No | e) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| e. I do think some kind of ID to vote is in order, it can be an electric bill or something with a name and address on it . | |||
| 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) Do you support decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana? | ||
| Yes | d) Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | ||
| No | e) Should a minor who sends sexually-explicit or nude photos by cell phone face criminal charges? | ||
| No | f) Do you support allowing for more judicial discretion in Massachusetts's "three strikes" law? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| a. While i am pro life there are those rare circumstances when the death sentence is called for f. i would say no until someone clarifies what more discretion actually means | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers? | ||
| No | c) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | ||
| No | d) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| No | e) Do you support increased spending on infrastructure projects for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support allowing bars and restaurants to offer daily or hourly discounts on alcoholic beverages? | ||
| No | h) Do you support extending the state's 5-cent deposit law to plastic water bottles and other non-carbonated beverages? | ||
| a. Regulations must undergo a cost benefit analysis, which also takes into account environmental and safety concerns . b. I support state funding for job training, but there has to an acknowledgment that once trained in a new vocation, something is owed towards their education. e. i support increased spending on infrastructure because infrastructure is crumbling | |||
| No | a) Do you support the national Common Core State Standards initiative? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support a merit pay system for teachers? | ||
| No | c) Is the tenure process for public school teachers producing effective teachers? | ||
| Yes | d) Should parents be allowed to use vouchers to send their children to any school? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| Yes | g) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Massachusetts high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| a. I support having educational standards, the issue here is that the Natl standards are lower than the ones that Mass. created and then jettisoned just to get federal money. f-g I support state funding for any students who are academically qualified and will graduate with a degree that positions them to be able to pay it back. | |||
| Yes | 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 state funding for improvements to Massachusetts's energy infrastructure? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support enacting environmental regulations aimed at reducing the effects of climate change? | ||
| there is nothing so powerful as an idea whose time has come. The free market, when it is actually free to compete delivers the most choices at price points that sustain the marketplace, whether its energy or electronics. | |||
| No | a) Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| No | b) Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows? | ||
| Yes | c) Should citizens be allowed to carry concealed guns? | ||
| No | d) Should a license be required for gun possession? | ||
| I support the 2nd amendment. In order to cut down gun violence and other social ills, I would advocate for large increases in funding for mental health. | |||
| 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) Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| No | e) Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support the legalization of physician-assisted suicide for those with a terminal diagnosis and less than six months to live? | ||
| h) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| No | a) Should marriage only be between one man and one woman? | ||
| Yes | b) Should Massachusetts continue to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples? | ||
| No | c) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Massachusetts's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | d) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Massachusetts's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| a. if government controls and issues licenses for marriage and doles out perks for marriage then yes, but if government were to get out of the marriage business and returned it to the church then no. | |||
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