Tim Rusk's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Tim Rusk has demonstrated Political Courage by telling citizens where he stands on the issues he may face if elected.
Texas 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? | ||
| I want to see a withdrawal as soon as possible | |||
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? | ||
| Yes | do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| No | do you support reducing Medicaid spending? | ||
| Yes | do you support reducing Medicare spending? | ||
| Yes | Is balancing the budget a legislative priority? | ||
| [In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing Medicare spending?]: Need to research this. Texas has 1,000,000 uninsured children, so I do not support reducing Medicaid. I do believe we can reduce spending in Medicare by eliminating fraud. | |||
| Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| Yes | Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the temporary extension of unemployment benefits? | ||
| Do you support the 2010 temporary extension of tax relief? | |||
| [Do you support the 2010 temporary extension of tax relief?]: I onLy support an extension of tax relief for the middle class and below. | |||
| Yes | Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants? | ||
| Yes | Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| No | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| 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? | ||
| No | 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.
| a) Agriculture | |||
| Greatly Decrease | b) Arts | ||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Defense | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Education | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Environment | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Homeland Security | ||
| g) International aid | |||
| h) Medical Research | |||
| i) Scientific Research | |||
| Greatly Decrease | j) Space exploration | ||
| k) United Nations | |||
| l) Welfare | |||
| Greatly Increase | a) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | b) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Excise taxes (alcohol) | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Greatly Increase | h) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | i) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | j) Payroll taxes | ||
| k) Other or expanded categories | |||
| If I did not assign a number, that means I believe the category is too broad to just assign one number. I may support an increase for one program and a decrease or elimination of a second program in a broad category. | |||
| The Economy: To fix our economy, we need to cut some spending and correct our tax system. The wealthy earn most of their income from capital gains. Those rates are 15%, and they need to be raised. The average middle class American pays the ordinary income tax rate, which is much higher than the 15% rate. Education: We cannot compete in a global economy without a highly skilled and educated population. This means that we need policies designed to lower the drop out rate at our high schools. We also need policies designed to make a college education affordable [...] |
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