Mike Assad's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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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.
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Issue Positions
For Presidential and Congressional candidates who refuse to provide voters with their positions, Vote Smart has researched their public records to determine their likely responses. These issue positions are from 2012.
- Despite exhaustive research, Vote Smart was unable to find information about this candidate's position.
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- Despite exhaustive research, Vote Smart was unable to find information about this candidate's position.
- Despite exhaustive research, Vote Smart was unable to find information about this candidate's position.
- Despite exhaustive research, Vote Smart was unable to find information about this candidate's position.
- Despite exhaustive research, Vote Smart was unable to find information about this candidate's position.
- Despite exhaustive research, Vote Smart was unable to find information about this candidate's position.
- Despite exhaustive research, Vote Smart was unable to find information about this candidate's position.
- Despite exhaustive research, Vote Smart was unable to find information about this candidate's position.
- Despite exhaustive research, Vote Smart was unable to find information about this candidate's position.
- Despite exhaustive research, Vote Smart was unable to find information about this candidate's position.
- Despite exhaustive research, Vote Smart was unable to find information about this candidate's position.
- Despite exhaustive research, Vote Smart was unable to find information about this candidate's position.
- Despite exhaustive research, Vote Smart was unable to find information about this candidate's position.
This candidate has responded to a Political Courage Test in a previous election. As a continued effort to provide the American public with factual information on candidates running for public office, these archived responses are made available here.
| Pro-life | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| I believe that life begins at conception. Abortion should be legal only in cases where medically necessary to save the life of the child's mother. | |||
| No | Do you support United States' combat operations in Afghanistan? | ||
| Yes | Do you support a timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan? | ||
| Operation Enduring Freedom was a necessary response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. However, it has become apparent that continuing combat operations in Afghanistan will not yield substantial results and cost indefinite American lives and resources. | |||
Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing the federal budget.In order to balance the budget,
| No | do you support reducing defense spending? | ||
| No | do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| Yes | do you support reducing Medicaid spending? | ||
| Yes | do you support reducing Medicare spending? | ||
| Yes | Is balancing the budget a legislative priority? | ||
| Reductions in defense spending should occur only if it is determined that such reductions will not have an adverse affect on the defense or security of the United States. I believe that entitlement reform is essential to balancing the federal budget, as such programs comprise a substantial amount of federal spending. | |||
| No | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| Unions members and corporate employees should not be required to contribute to political action committees as a condition of continued employment or membership, as the case may be. Dues money paid by members of unions should not be used for political purposes. | |||
| Yes | Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| I believe that capital punishment is just for the worst crimes. | |||
| No | Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | Do you support providing tax incentives to businesses for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| Yes | Do you support spending on infrastructure projects for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| No | Do you support the temporary extension of unemployment benefits? | ||
| No | Do you support the 2010 temporary extension of tax relief? | ||
| Tax incentives are too often used by the government in an attempt to influence the behavior of businesses, therefore manipulating what is supposed to be a free market. | |||
| Yes | Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants? | ||
| Education is an issue best left to state and local officials. Competitive grant awards allow each state to craft policies that they believe suit the unique circumstances affecting their public school systems. As a school board member, I have been a vocal supporter of Governor Chris Christie's unprecedented education reform agenda. | |||
| Yes | Do you support reducing restrictions on offshore energy production? | ||
| While I support reducing restrictions of offshore energy production, each state should ultimately decide whether or not they wish such an activity to occur off the coast of their respective state. | |||
| Yes | Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change? | ||
| No | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| I believe that terrestrial activity, both natural and artificial, has contributed to changes in the Earth's climate. While there are measures that can be taken to limit climate change, I do not believe that such measures should be at the expense of our economy. | |||
| No | Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| I do not believe that guns pose a risk to society when kept and used properly. | |||
| Yes | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act? | ||
| No | Should individuals be required to purchase health insurance, as mandated in the 2010 Affordable Care Act? | ||
| The individual mandate of the 2010 Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional, and sets a dangerous precedent of congressional power. | |||
| Yes | Do you support requiring illegal immigrants to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
| No | Do you support allowing illegal immigrants, who were brought to the United States as minors, to pursue citizenship without returning to their country of origin? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration law by state and local police? | ||
| As the son of an immigrant who came to this country legally, I believe that every person who wishes to live the American dream should pursue it by following the rules. | |||
| Do you support same-sex marriage? | |||
| Marriage is a state issue; the federal government should neither require nor prohibit recognition of same-sex unions by individual states. As a citizen of New Jersey, I personally believe that our state government should eliminate all civil marriage, and provide for civil unions of both same-sex and traditional couples just the same. Marriage would then be a matter left solely to the churches, as it was intended to be. | |||
| 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 Iran from possessing a nuclear weapon? | ||
| Possession of a nuclear weapon by Iran would be a vital threat to the security of the United States and our allies. | |||
| Yes | Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts? | ||
| Social Security is in need of comprehensive reform in order to insure its long-term sustainability. Most importantly, Social Security retirement benefit recipients should be mean-tested in order to make the program a true security system. | |||
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.
| a) Agriculture | |||
| b) Arts | |||
| c) Defense | |||
| d) Education | |||
| e) Environment | |||
| f) Homeland Security | |||
| g) International aid | |||
| h) Medical Research | |||
| i) Scientific Research | |||
| j) Space exploration | |||
| k) United Nations | |||
| l) Welfare | |||
| Eliminate | a) Capital gains taxes | ||
| b) Corporate taxes | |||
| c) Excise taxes (alcohol) | |||
| d) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | |||
| e) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) | |||
| f) Income taxes (low-income families) | |||
| g) Income taxes (middle-income families) | |||
| h) Income taxes (high-income families) | |||
| Eliminate | i) Inheritance taxes | ||
| j) Payroll taxes | |||
| Potential increases and reductions in spending should be addressed on a case-by-case basis, not hypothetically. | |||
| The tax burden should be fair and equitable among all Americans. Tax rates should be flat, not progressive, in order to provide that each American pays a proportionate amount of their income in taxes. The FairTax proposal is also an excellent alternative to our government's current antiquated revenue system. | |||
| As a member of Congress, my priority will be to restore fiscal sanity by reforming the revenue system and stabilizing the national debt. Additionally, I wish to institute reforms on our political process, including a constitutional amendment limiting members of Congress to twelve years of service. |
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