Adam Stillman's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Adam Stillman has demonstrated Political Courage by telling citizens where he stands on the issues he may face if elected.
Connecticut State Legislative Election 2012 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | a) Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| No | e) Do you support requiring parental notification before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| No | f) Do you support requiring parental consent before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| i) Other or expanded principles: | |||
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 Connecticut's budget.
| Slightly Increase | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Slightly Increase | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Slightly Increase | c) Environment | ||
| Slightly Increase | d) Health care | ||
| Slightly Increase | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Slightly Increase | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Welfare | ||
| Greatly Increase | h) Other or expanded categories: | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | 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) | ||
| Eliminate | j) Other or expanded categories: | ||
| Yes | a) Tapping into Connecticut's "rainy day" fund | ||
| No | b) Increasing tuition rates at public universities | ||
| No | c) Reducing or eliminating public worker collective bargaining | ||
| No | 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 | ||
| Debt Service/ Deficit- This area of the budget needs substantial funding. 10% of all tax dollars goes to debt service- which is like throwing money away. A substantial portion of any NEW spending should be reallocated to resolving and paying off debt service. Once resolved, that extra 10% can be used to pay off new projects in all other areas of government (without additional tax increases,) OR provide a tax cut for the public and businesses. | |||
| Reduce pensions/ benefits for future state workers. As the State employee position is in high demand, there is less economic incentive required. The State should reduce future salaries/ benefits to meet economic budgeting issues. Current workers have existing agreements, and to modify or reneg on exisiting agreements is illegal and unethical. | |||
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 greater public disclosure of donors for all organizations that seek to influence elections? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support the use of an independent AND/OR bipartisan commission for redistricting? | ||
| No | f) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| I support expanded voting and early voting for all members of the general public. I support ID at polls, but if photo ID is too problematic, then any form of government issued ID, including non-photo should be acceptable (as long as its verifiable.) | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | d) Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| As for minors sending nude photos, it depends on the situation. Also, what is the age of the minor? was the photo taken voluntarily? Did they take it themselves, or did someone else? Police are required to uphold the law, Federal, State or Municipal. If they have knowledge a law is being broken, they are required to uphold the laws. | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| We need jobs! If the State has to intervene to increase them- that's OK on a short term basis. The State needs to invest in the future to identify new industries and technologies to bring to CT. Simply cutting taxes and hoping for the best hasn't worked in the past. | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | d) Should parents be allowed to use vouchers to send their children to any school? | ||
| No | 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 Connecticut high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| A merit system is fine, but we need to TEACH students, not just prepare them for testing, which is the only way to fairly judge student performance. Any such system needs to be created, ascertained and administered fairly. Teacher tenure is fine. There are many fine teachers whose reliance on tenure has given them security and peace of mind to focus on the job and teaching students. | |||
| 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 state funding for improvements to Connecticut's energy infrastructure? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support enacting environmental regulations aimed at reducing the effects of climate change? | ||
| Environmental issues are very important. We need to develop alt energy sources (Wind, Solar, geothermal, etc.) and reduce reliance on fossil fuels, especially oil. Natural Gas is the fuel for the next 50 years, and we need to develop infrastructure to deliver more of it from midwest, where there are enormous supplies. We need to assist in pipeline building from midwest to drive price of natl gas down. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | d) Should a license be required for gun possession? | ||
| CT has very good rules, and I am not in favor of expanding further, except to limit magazine size to 10 rounds. Some rules need to be revised as they are useless and make little sense. Licenses should be required, and owner needs to demonstrate aptitude with weapon. It does the public no good if we arm citizens who cannot accurately use them and injure bystanders and innocent parties, even family members. | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| I am in support of healthcare, as it is required or will be at some point by everyone. Healthcare also includes preventative care, which reduces the overall cost of insurance and medical costs to the general public. Affordable Care Act is not perfect, but it is a starting point. Without it, the healthcare system would remain broken. If there are components that need to be repaired or replced, then let's fix them, but leaving it alone and doing nothing has been useless and damaging. | |||
| No | a) Should marriage only be between one man and one woman? | ||
| Yes | b) Should Connecticut continue to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Connecticut's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Connecticut's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Discrimination has no place in any government. Some people may find same-sex marriage disheartening, but certain people also feel the same way about race or national origin issues. Discrimination is for small-minded persons, who fail to look at the person involved and merely stereotype the situation. | |||
| My three priorities are the economy, individual rights and environmental issues. Although I personally believe the strongest in personal privacy and individual rights, if we can't fix the economy here in CT, we will not be able to address anything. There are many important issues and places to increase spending however, we need to secure jobs, ensure the money is being spent here at home and invest wisely to secure Connecticut's future. We must pay down debt service first and invest the money to pay new ideas instead of raising taxes. |
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