Thomas Wassa's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Thomas Wassa has demonstrated Political Courage by telling citizens where he stands on the issues he may face if elected.
Michigan Congressional Election 2012 Political Courage Test
| No | Do you support United States' combat operations in Afghanistan? | ||
| Yes | Do you support a timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan? | ||
Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing the federal budget.In order to balance the budget,
| Yes | do you support reducing defense spending? | ||
| No | do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| No | do you support reducing Medicaid spending? | ||
| No | do you support reducing Medicare spending? | ||
| Yes | Is balancing the budget a legislative priority? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| 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? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| No | Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants? | ||
| I do not support the idea of over taxing at the federal level to support local levels of government. The federal government uses this method of a means of establishing a centralized control over local and state governments. Much of the tax dollars is lost at the federal level, through administrative fees and never comes back into the communities that need the funds. | |||
| No | Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change? | ||
| No | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| I've enforced environmental laws. Air quality reports for the last decade have showed continued improvement in air quality; however, we have forgotten our history. In the 1960s pollution was so bad that rivers caught on fire, and businesses and homes openly burned trash. At one point in time every home burned coal for heat, without air scrubber technology. Now look at and compare pictures in the winter months during this time period, and pictures of today. We have cleaned up the quality of the air over the last century. | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | Do you support requiring illegal immigrants to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| Same sex marriages take place all the time. It's not up to the government to approve the union. I think it is allowed and should permitted same sex couple to get married. However, employers should be permitted, but not be required, to provide benefits to same sex spouses unless they chose to do so. I also believe that they should not be considered a family as defined in our tax codes. | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| Iran's leadership has continued to openly make threats that if they obtain nuclear weapons they would use them, especially against the United States. Iran has demonstrated aggressive behaviors toward the United States as far back as the late 1970s. I believe one thing, that the threat of a nuclear attack is the only thing the United States should address. Under no condition should we attempt to establish a regime change or democracy in Iran or the region. | |||
| Yes | Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts? | ||
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.
| Eliminate | a) Agriculture | ||
| Eliminate | b) Arts | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Defense | ||
| Eliminate | d) Education | ||
| Eliminate | e) Environment | ||
| Greatly Decrease | f) Homeland Security | ||
| Eliminate | g) International aid | ||
| Eliminate | h) Medical Research | ||
| Eliminate | i) Scientific Research | ||
| Eliminate | j) Space exploration | ||
| Eliminate | k) United Nations | ||
| Greatly Decrease | l) Welfare | ||
| Eliminate | m) Other or expanded categories | ||
| Eliminate | a) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Eliminate | b) Corporate taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | c) Excise taxes (alcohol) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | d) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | e) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | f) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Slightly Increase | g) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Slightly Increase | h) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | i) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | j) Payroll taxes | ||
| k) Other or expanded categories | |||
| I believe in a limited centralized federal government as it was conceived. The federal government was set up, not to negative the states, but to facilitate issues between the states. All federal agencies that duplicated state agencies should be considered a luxury we cannot afford. | |||
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