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Jay Stern's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)

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Official Position: Candidate addressed this issue directly by taking the Political Courage Test.
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Jay Stern has demonstrated Political Courage by telling citizens where he stands on the issues he may face if elected.

What is the Political Courage Test?

California State Legislative Election 2012 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?
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?
No h) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions?
Abortion is a serious medical procedure. The decision to abort is between a woman and her physician. The public should not be involved unless public funds are requested for the procedure. Morally, abortion is not appropriate as a means of birth control nor should it be undertaken after the fetus is capable of life outside of the mother.

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 California's budget by marking Yes (Y) or No (N).4) Public Pensions:To mitigate California's public pension shortfall, do you support:

Maintain Status a) Education (higher)
Maintain Status b) Education (K-12)
Greatly Decrease c) Environment
Slightly Decrease d) Health care
Greatly Decrease e) Law enforcement/corrections
Maintain Status f) Transportation/infrastructure
Slightly Decrease g) Welfare
Maintain Status h) Other or expanded categories:
Maintain Status a) Alcohol taxes
Maintain Status b) Tobacco taxes
Greatly Decrease c) Corporate taxes
Greatly Decrease d) Gas/Oil taxes
Slightly Decrease e) Property taxes
Greatly Decrease f) Sales taxes
Slightly Decrease g) Income taxes (low-income families)
Slightly Decrease h) Income taxes (mid-income families)
Slightly Decrease i) Income taxes (high-income families)
No a) Tapping into California's "rainy day" fund
No b) Increasing tuition rates at public universities
Yes c) Reducing or eliminating public worker collective bargaining
No d) Reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions
Yes e) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees
No f) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients
Yes a) Increasing contributions by current and future employees?
Yes b) Hybrid retirement plans that combine guaranteed and privately-managed benefits?
No c) Raising the retirement age for new employees?
EDUCATION: California wastes $1 Billion/year reteaching high school students who DELIBERATELY fail courses. Eliminate this cost and funding is adequate to reduce classroom size, provide vocational training and teach electives. ENVIRONMENT: Under CEQA, responsible parties remediate their own pollution. Government only monitors remediation. Spending now supports bureaucracy that can be reduced without negatively impacting environment. LAW ENFORCEMENT/CORRECTIONS: Reduce prison spending, not police, by making inmates responsible for growing their own food, privatizing prisons, etc. WELFARE: Need better vocational training and revamping of state programs.
I pledge no new taxes. Corporate taxes encourage businesses to leave California. Gas/Oil taxes hurt people who drive for a living. Sales taxes hurt low-income people. Income taxes are too high and must be applied uniformly to all. Property taxes do not accurately reflect property value and the bureaucracy of revisiting property valuation is a property-owner's nightmare. Needs revision. Prop. 13 is inviolate! "Sin" taxes are probably about right.
Current public worker salaries and/or pensions were created under agreement. It would be cheating to change the agreement. New workers may be paid under a different system, at lower salary. Furloughs and/or layoffs occur in the private sector; no reason for public employees to be exempt. Collective bargaining is being used by union bosses to create a dead-lock; need changes to laws to protect public employees without forcing them to unions for protection. Reducing medical care for needy people is not an acceptable way of balancing the budget.
I am a public school teacher so i am a public employee. I have no age limit to retirement. If the sum of my years teaching plus age total 80, I could retire, but the amount would not be enough to live on. Beside, I love teaching. If other public employees have a mandatory retirement age, then it should be reviewed to determine if it can be raised for benefit of all, assuming this does not negatively impact employee health.

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?
Yes e) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls?
Voter fraud is a concern. Especially with absentee ballots, there is a high potential for unscrupulous people to vote ballots belonging to deceased voters. Money plays such a large role in elections that controls are needed. In my case, the other candidates sources of money came largely from outside Assembly District 46.
Yes a) Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes?
No b) Do you support the California prison realignment program?
Yes c) Do you support alternatives to incarceration for certain non-violent offenders, such as mandatory counseling or substance abuse treatment?
Yes d) Do you support decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana?
Yes e) Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult?
No f) Should a minor who sends sexually-explicit or nude photos by cell phone face criminal charges?
Yes g) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police?
The prison realignment program sends low-risk offenders to county jails. Their ranks include trained wildfire responders. Regardless of incarceration facility, these persons need to be available in the event of wildfire. Presently, 50% may not be able to be used to fight wildfires which seems pretty foolish. Concept needs careful thought.
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?
No e) Do you support increased spending on infrastructure projects for the purpose of job creation?
No f) Do you support the high speed rail project between San Francisco and Los Angeles?
No g) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure?
Retraining displaced workers at state expense is only fair! Government made regulations that often caused the jobs to vanish in the first place. Access to unemployment is not a "yes" or "no" issue. Question needs to be more specific. Spending on infrastructure is definitely needed, but benefits accruing to workers is questionable. I need more information. We cannot afford nor do we need high speed rail. I am happy with Amtrak. Homeownership and foreclosure is another issue where one size does NOT fit all. Where people caused their own problems, they should help themselves.
Yes a) Do you support the national Common Core State Standards initiative?
Yes b) Do you support a merit pay system for teachers?
Yes 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?
Yes f) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid?
No g) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from California high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities?
Students can graduate high school with a "D" average. It is wrong to offer any state-supported tuition to them. Illegal students with "A" averages or who are valedictorians should be eligible for scholarships, student visas and, when they graduate, H1-B visas with a path to residency and citizenship. "Common Core" is a way of focusing on specific topic areas regardless of course. It MIGHT work. Merit pay should have been implemented long ago. Charter schools are only funded at 85% of an equivalent public school. Some are effective; others not.
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 California's energy infrastructure?
Yes 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?
Funding of energy sources should be free-market. BUT THE STATE MUST FACILITATE INVESTMENT BY STOPPING THE ERECTION OF ARTIFICIAL, BUREAUCRATIC BARRIERS THAT INHIBITS ENERGY SOURCE INVESTMENT. The area of California is 0.0818% of the surface of planet Earth. Does anybody really think that imposing restrictive environmental regulations on our state will do ANYTHING to reduce the effects of climate change? Pure idiocy. As for open space, as the population grows, so does the need for open space where people can "get away from it all."
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?
No d) Should a license be required for gun possession?
Second Amendment rights are taken very seriously by me. Some restrictions are required to reduce the number of crazy people who have access to lethal weapons. When citizens are allowed to carry concealed, criminals are less likely to engage in violent acts since they themselves can be killed.
No a) Do you support a universally-accessible, publicly-administered health insurance option?
Yes 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?
Yes e) Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits?
Yes f) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes?
Access to health care is not a "right." Nevertheless, in our society, all legal residents should have access to health care. They also need to pay for the care received and not default on the bill when they have means.
Yes a) Should marriage only be between one man and one woman?
Yes b) Should same-sex couples be allowed to form civil unions?
No c) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in California's anti-discrimination laws?
No d) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in California's anti-discrimination laws?
Marriage is a civil contract. Religious authorities have had the power vested in them by the state to join a man and woman in this contract. A civil contract to join two people of like gender could be termed "eromenos" which is an Ancient Greek term meaning the recognized union between two men. I do not support laws which allow social choice to be a basis for discrimination complaints.
California's Democratic Leadership is one or two Assembly seats from a "Supermajority." If they get it, the Democratic Party will have a dictatorship in our state. It is imperative that this NOT occur or Prop. 13 will be assaulted and possibly destroyed, more taxes will be imposed and more business will flee the state. To prevent this is my main reason for candidacy to the Assembly. When elected, my goal is to introduce "Pass-or-Pay," which allows students who DELIBERATELY fail their courses to be required to pay the cost to reteach them, thereby saving California $1 Billion per year.

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