Robert Merritt's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Robert Merritt has demonstrated Political Courage by telling citizens where he stands on the issues he may face if elected.
South Carolina State Legislative Election 2012 Political Courage Test
| 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? | ||
| g) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for abortion procedures? | |||
| h) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions? | |||
| I am the father of three children. I have friends who have had to make the difficult decision of terminating a pregnancy for various reasons. Others continued the pregnancy through to a successful delivery or an unfortunate miscarriage. These are extremely personal decisions that need to be made with much reflection and compassion, both for the unborn child and the mother. There is also the element of doctor patient relationship that needs to be considered in these matters. I do not support abortion as another method of birth control. I do believe the health of the mother should be considered. | |||
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 South Carolina's budget.4) Public Pensions:To mitigate South Carolina's public pension shortfall, do you support:
| Maintain Status | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Slightly Increase | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Slightly Increase | c) Environment | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Health care | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Slightly Increase | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Welfare | ||
| h) Other or expanded categories: | |||
| Slightly Increase | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Property taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Sales taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Income taxes (mid-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| j) Other or expanded categories: | |||
| Yes | a) Tapping into South Carolina's "rainy day" fund | ||
| b) Increasing tuition rates at public universities | |||
| c) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees | |||
| d) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | |||
| No | a) Reducing benefits of current state employees? | ||
| b) Ending the Teacher and Employee Retention Incentive (TERI) program for future employees? | |||
| No | c) Reducing cost-of-living adjustments for current and future employees? | ||
| d) Requiring state employees to work longer before retiring? | |||
| No | e) Increasing employee contributions by current and future employees? | ||
| No | f) Preventing employees from factoring unused sick and vacation days into benefit calculations? | ||
| We simply must budget better and treat a government budget as if it was our own family budget. We need to examine all programs and determine what works and what does not, including medicaid. We must give local governments and school districts greater flexibility in meeting their needs and priorities. SC has excellent public universities and it costs to maintain that excellence. Increasing tuition at public universities should be an option, but one used sparingly and in a manner that does not make it a further financial burden for our families. Furloughs would be more acceptable than losing a job. | |||
| TERI is being phased out already. We must have an actuarially sound retirement system and I would want to hear from the experts before taking a position on changes to the Retirement System. I do believe that active and retired state employees need to sit at the table when these issues are being discussed and their views should be heard and considered. | |||
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? | ||
| No | e) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| Gerrymandering is a tool used by both parties to create so called safe districts for incumbents and future candidates. This is shameful and it should be stopped. I support any proposal to make it easier to vote. I oppose any proposal that places an additional burden on voters.There is a perception that money buys elections, and it appears to have a lot of truth to it. Transparency must extend to campaign financing and not become a sound bite for politicians who are saying what they think people want to hear. | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| c) Do you support decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana? | |||
| d) Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | |||
| 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? | ||
| I have not educated myself enough on the decriminalization of marijuana and its societal effects. Marijuana users now face criminal charges if arrested. This takes money and resources for law enforcement, corrections, and our courts. It potentially has long range negative impacts on young people when applying for jobs and colleges who commit a youthful indiscretion. Prosecuting a minor as an adult should be an option to be used with much discretion by the system. Use of cell phones should be scrutinized for evil intent by the sender and/or receiver of such transmissions or is it again youthful indiscretions. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| b) Do you support efforts to increase limits on unions in South Carolina? | |||
| Yes | c) Do you support increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers? | ||
| d) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | |||
| Yes | e) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support increased spending on infrastructure projects for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| g) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | |||
| As to unions, South Carolina is a right to work state, and I support our laws relating to unions. When workers are treated fairly, unions are not as attractive. Burdensome and unnecessary governmental regulations need to go. Free enterprise needs to be re-energized and allowed to work as it was designed. These are the toughest economic times of many years. There are so many needs, but very limited financial resources to meet them. Again, we must scrutinize every expenditure of the tax payer's dollar to assure we are addressing their needs. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support the national Common Core State Standards initiative? | ||
| No | b) Do you support a merit pay system for teachers? | ||
| Yes | c) Is the tenure process for public school teachers producing effective teachers? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| Yes | g) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from South Carolina high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| The inequities of school funding across our State makes these questions more difficult to answer a simple yes or no. Positive family involvement with their children's education is necessary to academic success and should be strongly encouraged. I support any measure to recruit and retain quality teachers especially in those school districts where the need is the greatest. Charter schools can play an important part in our children's education. I support public funding of Charter schools within limits and with close communication and cooperation with the public school district. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state funding for the development of alternative energy? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support state funding for the development of traditional domestic energy sources (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil)? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support opening South Carolina's waters to offshore drilling? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support state funding for improvements to South Carolina's energy infrastructure? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support enacting environmental regulations aimed at reducing the effects of climate change? | ||
| The private and public sectors would do well to work together in these areas. The problem is what roles do they play. Encouragement by incentives and/or regulations is one issue, direct investment in what should be left to the free market is another thing. I support environmental regulations that do not encumber the private sector to the point that investment and research is discouraged. With budgets being very limited, we must do all we can with limited financial resources in these areas. Ideally, the public and private sectors can work together for the betterment of our environment and natural resources. | |||
| 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? | ||
| I believe the Second Amendment means exactly what it says. I believe we have adequate laws in place now to address this issue. | |||
| a) Do you support a universally-accessible, publicly-administered health insurance option? | |||
| 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 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? | ||
| As to a) and b), I have to become a lot more familiar with both issues to say yes or no. Perhaps there is a way for the public and private sectors to address health care needs, but I am wary of too much government involvement. | |||
| Yes | 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 South Carolina's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in South Carolina's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| These issues divide us emotionally and socially. These must be addressed now or they will fester and have to be addressed later. I was brought up believing, and I still do, that marriage is between a man and a woman. Sexual orientation and gender identity are issues that must be addressed. Everyone has value as a human being and a child of God. I believe that men and women of good will can debate these issues and arrive at an acceptable resolution. I do believe that opponents and proponents of these issues too often use them to divide us further. | |||
| We must examine present programs that are not working and look to the local levels to help us identify their priorities and needs for funding. Education is the foundation for any society. Poorer school districts is where we need the biggest investment to allow our children to succeed and at present that is not happening. We need to enable teachers to teach and listen to them. Veterans are returning home and in many cases need jobs, education, training, and special medical attention to allow their successful transition. We must begin to address our crumbling infrastructure needs and federal budget deficits. |
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