Peter Richter's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
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.
Additional Information: Click on this icon to reveal more information about this candidate's position, from their answers or Vote Smart's research.
Other or Expanded Principles & Legislative Priorities are entered exactly as candidates submit them. Vote Smart does not edit for misspelled words, punctuation or grammar.
Peter Richter has demonstrated Political Courage by telling citizens where he stands on the issues he may face if elected.
Florida State Legislative Election 2012 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | 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? | ||
| 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? | ||
| I don't completely agree with either pro-life or pro-choice. I consider myself anti-abortion and I would suggest that everyone should be anti-abortion, even those that are pro-choice. I support a woman's choice up until the viability of the baby. If there is a case of rape, the mother should have made up her mind before the baby becomes viable. As a Libertarian, I simply cannot support the theft of money (taxes) to be used for abortion, or much else for that matter. | |||
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 Florida's budget.
| Eliminate | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Eliminate | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Eliminate | c) Environment | ||
| Eliminate | d) Health care | ||
| Greatly Decrease | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Eliminate | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Eliminate | g) Welfare | ||
| Eliminate | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Eliminate | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Eliminate | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Eliminate | d) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Eliminate | e) Property taxes | ||
| Eliminate | f) Sales taxes | ||
| Eliminate | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | h) Income taxes (mid-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| No | a) Tapping into Florida's "rainy day" fund | ||
| No | b) Increasing tuition rates at public universities | ||
| Yes | c) Reducing or eliminating public worker collective bargaining | ||
| Yes | 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 | ||
| Without exception, everything that government currently does, they do poorly and inefficiently. Private businesses can perform these services much more efficiently and with far better customer service. Government is the ultimate monopoly. | |||
| Taxation, is quite simply theft of the fruits of our labor. I do support the FairTax (which is essentially a national sales tax on retail purchases only) as an interim of completely eliminating all taxes. Once people see how much big government costs, they will demand that it be reduced. | |||
| The best way to reduce the budget is to simply reduce the scope of government. The state government has no business being involved in education. Each county can handle their own educational system. The state should get out of the way and let the free market do what it's good at - supplying people with the goods and services that they most desire. | |||
a) Do you support limits on the following types of contributions for state candidates?
| No | 1) Individual | ||
| No | 2) Political Action Committee | ||
| No | 3) Corporate | ||
| No | 4) Political Party | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| No | f) Do you support mandatory drug testing for welfare recipients? | ||
| No | g) Do you support mandatory drug testing for state employees? | ||
| I vehemently disagree with the entire principle of allowing government to place limitations on what people spend their money on. First they tax it when we earn it, they tax it when we spend it, and now they're going to tell us what to do with it and how we can't spend it? When will it ever stop? | |||
| 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 decriminalizing 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? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support Florida's current "Stand Your Ground" law? | ||
| h) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| No | f) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support expanded gambling in Florida? | ||
| h) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | f) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| No | g) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Florida high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| There should be no public schools, all schools should be private, and should accept the poorest children at a discount or for free. As long as we are still funding public education however, we should encourage any type of competition among schools, including charter schools, vouchers, and most importantly, tax credits which would dramatically help struggling home schooling families. I want schools to be as de-centralized as possible. Our schools suffer from conflicting regulations from Federal and State Dept. of Ed. We desperately need a free market for teachers, so the best teachers would be rewarded like rock stars. | |||
| No | 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 Florida's energy infrastructure? | ||
| No | d) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | ||
| No | e) Do you support enacting environmental regulations aimed at reducing the effects of climate change? | ||
| The best way to protect the planet is to return to respecting private property rights. If someone pollutes you, sue them. Get rid of the EPA which in reality, PROTECTS big corporations by specifying maximum levels of pollutants. The free market is the very BEST way to provide all of the energy needs for the people of Florida. Eliminate the FPL monopoly. Eliminate all of the special interests that waste our tax payer money on boondoggles. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | e) Should doctors be prohibited from asking patients about gun ownership? | ||
| f) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| No | d) Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| No | e) Do you support expanding Medicaid eligibility in Florida with federal funds as provided through the Affordable Care Act? | ||
| 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? | ||
| A pure free market is the only way to fix healthcare. We have to get government completely out of it. When we do that, the price of healthcare will drop dramatically - it will be extremely affordable, just like it was in the past. We also need "Loser Pays" lawsuit reform, where the loser in any court case must pay the legal fees for the winner. This will dramatically reduce the number of frivolous lawsuits. | |||
| No | a) Should marriage only be between one man and one woman? | ||
| Yes | b) Should same-sex couples be allowed to form civil unions? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Florida's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Florida's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Get government out of marriage. Marriage is our most sacred of ceremonies and government should have never been granted any power to decide with whom we may love. | |||
| Florida is far too regulated, far too difficult to do business in, and I plan to fight burdensome government intrusion. This will allow more people to start and grow their businesses which will create jobs and restore our economy. We need MORE choice in education. School vouchers, tax credits, merit based pay and retention. A free market for teachers would pay the best teachers what they�re really worth. I want to decentralize school control and take it back from the federal government and the state government � we can make decisions about our schools right here at the local level. |
Vote Smart does not permit the use of its name or programs in any campaign activity, including advertising, debates, and speeches.