Dennis McCarthy's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Dennis McCarthy has demonstrated Political Courage by telling citizens where he/she stands on the issues he/she may face if elected.
Massachusetts State Legislative Election 2012 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | 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? | ||
| 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? | ||
| "...the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; those who are in the shadows of life; the sick, the needy and the handicapped. " ~ Last Speech of Hubert H. Humphrey "A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members." ~ Mahatma Ghandi | |||
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 Massachusetts's budget.
| Maintain Status | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Environment | ||
| Greatly Decrease | d) Health care | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Slightly Decrease | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Greatly Decrease | g) Welfare | ||
| Greatly Decrease | h) Other or expanded categories: | ||
| Slightly Decrease | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Slightly 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) | ||
| j) Other or expanded categories: | |||
| No | a) Tapping into Massachusetts's "rainy day" fund | ||
| Yes | 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 | ||
| Yes | e) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees | ||
| Yes | f) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| There are many places in cut funds in this state because to many people are being paid to much money to offer services that we don't need. | |||
| We need to eliminate some of the unfunded mandates that we have for retired employees going forward. | |||
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? | ||
| f) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| No | f) Do you support allowing for more judicial discretion in Massachusetts's "three strikes" law? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| I am pro life so can't support capital punishment, but I do support true life sentences with no possibility of parole. I would like to see alternatives to incarceration like force community services. A minor shouldn't be put in jail with adults, but must be incarcerated for violent crimes. Since the Federal Government won't enforce immigration laws we must. | |||
| 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 providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support allowing bars and restaurants to offer daily or hourly discounts on alcoholic beverages? | ||
| No | h) Do you support extending the state's 5-cent deposit law to plastic water bottles and other non-carbonated beverages? | ||
| i) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | 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 Massachusetts high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| Charter schools are great for some students, but they may skim the best and brightest from the public schools. Vouchers are a better alternative so parents could go to voucher funded charter and private schools. They could even use them to go to community college instead of high school in junior and senior years. When military members serving in Massachusetts can't get in state tuition why should illegals? | |||
| 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 Massachusetts'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? | ||
| Private industry will develop alternative energy when it is profitable to do so. The state is spending to much money now and we don't need to spend more on projects that don't work. We don't need the government taking private property for open space. I do support putting farm land into land trusts that pay the farmer for development rights, but the land must be used as a farm or orchard. Of course we need some environmental regulations, but not to draconian measures that would be required to reverse so called climate change. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | d) Should a license be required for gun possession? | ||
| Since we require a license for gun possession there is no need for a background check at gun shows. We already require a license for a hand gun or a rifle that can use a large capacity magazine. No need to have a license for hunting rifles and shot guns. | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | f) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| No | g) Do you support the legalization of physician-assisted suicide for those with a terminal diagnosis and less than six months to live? | ||
| Public assisted suicide is the logical progression for a society that permits and encourages abortion. What is next in the progression? Logically it is euthanasia. Why pay for the mentally handicapped, the terminally ill, the old, the infirm? This is part of the agenda of the "progressive movement" at the beginning of the 20th century that believed in the eugenics movement and was actually practiced in Nazi Germany. Is that what we want in America? | |||
| Yes | a) Should marriage only be between one man and one woman? | ||
| No | b) Should Massachusetts continue to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples? | ||
| No | c) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Massachusetts's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | d) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Massachusetts's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Marriage is a sacrament not a right. There are civil solutions for single sex couples to protect certain rights without calling it marriage. We already have to many discrimination laws. Every single sub group has some kind of law. We need to eliminate most of them and come up with a more equitable solution that prevents discrimination of human beings. | |||
| We have to create an environment that will encourage businesses to start, grow, and stay in Massachusetts. That means reducing needless regulations, making us a right to work state so we can compete with states like South Carolina or even other countries, reducing taxes and fees to start a business. We are rated number one in education in the US, but we need to compete on a world stage as Gov Romney once said. We need to do more to reduce our drop out rate by offering alternative education opportunities that will keep kids in school. |
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