Charles Bailey's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Charles Bailey has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2014 Political Courage Test.
Maryland State Legislative Election 2014 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | a) Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | e) Do you support requiring parental notification before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| No | f) Do you support requiring parental consent before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| No | g) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for abortion procedures? | ||
| No | h) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions? | ||
| While my personal opinions that would regulate my own conduct on this issue may differ, I believe it is important to distinguish personal feelings from public policy. As Americans, we support a way of life that embraces diversity, tolerance and privacy. These nice sounding words are hard to hold sacred when facing difficult choices, but they must be held sacred. Abortion within the first trimester is one of these difficult choices. We should focus on making it easier for women to choose life, not on forcing women to choose life. | |||
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 Maryland's budget.
| Slightly Increase | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Slightly Increase | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Environment | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Health care | ||
| Slightly Decrease | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Greatly Increase | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Welfare | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Property taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Sales taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Income taxes (mid-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| No | a) Tapping into Maryland's "rainy day" fund | ||
| No | b) Increasing tuition rates at public universities | ||
| No | c) Reducing or eliminating public worker collective bargaining | ||
| No | d) Reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions | ||
| No | e) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees | ||
| No | f) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| Our state-wide neglect in oversight of assisted living facilities and those for the developmentally disabled is a shame. While knocking door-to-door this season I have heard horror stories of the treatment of loved ones while in the care of state supervised facilities. Yet, we learned this year that 50% of assisted living facilities and 75% of facilities for the developmentally disabled were inspected by Maryland this year--a problem going back to 2004. In addition, Maryland cannot verify consumers are receiving the "critical" services promised. I will beef up and strengthen state oversight to restore this critical public trust. | |||
| With corporate tax perceived to be prohibitive, I believe the atmosphere is ripe for discourse on rewarding "good" corporations that classify their workers as "employees" (giving them good paying, benefits providing, full time jobs) with a healthy tax break. I am not a tax expert, but I believe our tax revenues are mostly got from income tax with corporate tax a distant second. If we greatly can increase the former by a smaller decrease in the latter, then it becomes a win-win-win situation. | |||
| Your Budget Stabilization question reminds me of the paradigm of playing musical chairs on the Titanic. You offer a false choice. None of these selections would be offered if Maryland's economy were booming. Instead of reducing items, I will focus on an all out effort to bring new good paying, full time, benefits providing jobs to my district and to Maryland. New technologies for the new century offer us a niche market in which to grow a new middle class, especially in Washington County which has a culture of pride in manufacturing and excellence in production stretching back generations. | |||
a) Do you support limits on the following types of contributions for state candidates?
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Our willingness to allow money to dictate which political ideas rise to public prominence, I believe, is a remnant of our earlier political process of "bowing to the king." To keep this process is to accept that those with the greatest financial interests are the best gatekeepers. If a political idea is not vetted and accepted by the wealthy interests among us, then it dies. I am suspicious of this process, although not completely convinced it prohibits good ideas. However, I am supportive of allowing a wider pool of ideas than those accepted only by the wealthy among us. | |||
| No | 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 legalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana? | ||
| No | 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 the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| Minors accused of acts that would be crimes if committed by adults are persons at crises for public policy. Incarceration and other reactive punitive measures time and time again serve to harden children into criminal adults. Public policy ought to cultivate wrap around services for these children, showing them they have a stake in our community. A job would go a long way in fostering this sense of community. While there are exceptions, minors should not be charged as adults and cast into the prison system, which would serve as a graduate school for criminals for these children. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| f) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | |||
| Yes | g) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage? | ||
| h) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support the national Common Core State Standards initiative? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support a merit pay system for teachers? | ||
| c) Is the tenure process for public school teachers producing effective teachers? | |||
| No | d) Should parents be allowed to use vouchers to send their children to any school? | ||
| No | 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 Maryland high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| Maryland provides universal public primary education for its children. Maryland should focus its investments on improving the delivery of that education, and not on supporting private schools that detract from this mission. While I am unsure if the tenure process itself produces effective teachers, I support a merit pay system for effective teachers. | |||
| 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)? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support state funding for improvements to Maryland's energy infrastructure? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support government regulations of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| The new century provides Maryland with opportunities for new ways of producing energy. A strong pursuit of new technologies would afford Maryland with developing good paying, full time, benefits providing jobs--giving rise to a new middle class. This will not happen over night. Dependence on fossil fuels have provided us reliable energy for over a century. However, blind devotion to past practices must not keep us from embracing new, clean and renewable technologies that promise to bring jobs. I believe we must rely on a mix of energy sources to best find a seamless transition over time to sustainable policy. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Yes | d) Should a license be required for gun possession? | ||
| The Firearm Safety Act of 2013 is Maryland's response to horrible recent events. It is laudable in that it purports to limit access to firearms by the mentally infirm. However, I believe it goes beyond its intended effects in that it overly burdens responsible gun owners, who are the first to insist on gun safety. Background checks should include not only the applicant gun owner but also all of those who live in the same home. The privacy concerns for mental health records forces us to restrict even responsible owners. Applicants should waive privacy in applying for gun ownership. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support a universally-accessible, publicly-administered health insurance option? | ||
| No | b) Do you support expanding access to health care through commercial health insurance reform? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support interstate health insurance compacts? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| No | f) Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| I believe that if we cannot get a handle on the provision of required insurance through the processes we have, then we may have to resort to a single provider system. Health insurance is too important an issue to derail in favor of corporate profits. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Maryland's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Maryland's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| There is nothing about the anti-gender discrimination law that challenges our personal morality. And shaking our fists at this new law does nothing to bring jobs to Maryland. America is about diversity, tolerance and privacy. This expansion of that doctrine to persons of differing sexual orientation/gender identity follows an American tenet. When I served in the Armed Forces of the United States, I swore an oath to uphold the American Constitution, the American way of life. To challenge this law on the grounds of my personal morality would be to ignore that American tradition. | |||
| Encourage state spending on alternative energy sources. A solar hot water heater atop every school would pay for itself and therefore would not need additional funding. Corporate tax breaks to reward good companies that classify workers as employees would increase tax revenue, and thus would not need additional funding. Working family friendly policies such as increasing the daycare tax deduction would make it easier for families to work and earn income and thus pay income taxes, therefore it would increase revenue and not need additional funding. I am a candidate focused on good jobs and working families. Its your choice. |
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