Brian Willhite's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
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Brian Willhite has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2014 Political Courage Test.
Arkansas Congressional Election 2014 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| As a Libertarian I follow the non-aggression principle which states force should only be used in the case of defense. I see abortion as a use of force. | |||
| Yes | In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing defense spending? | ||
| No | In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| I think that we should cut back on defense spending to some degree. Not so much that it would damage the livelihood of our men and women in uniform and their families. I would also like to see the cut of unconstitutional bureaucracies such as the Department of Education, Department of Interior, and the Department of HUD. I would also cut entitlements such as food stamps and corporate welfare. | |||
| No | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| I believe that there are better ways to solving corruption in Washington. Term Limits would ensure that our politicians had no reason to make alliances with lobbyists and union leaders and would force them to serve the American People. Also, reducing the size of government would reduce the power of government and would remove the incentives for large contributions. | |||
| No | Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| In the past there has been proof that innocent people have been executed. I cannot, in good conscience, agree to executions if these types of outcomes are possible. | |||
| No | Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | Do you support lowering taxes as a way of promoting growth in the economy? | ||
| No | Do you support providing tax incentives to businesses for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| I believe that by lowering taxes and cutting regulations corporations will began opening their companies in the US again instead of sending those jobs overseas. | |||
| No | Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants? | ||
| As a teacher I have seen the failure of big government blanket fixes in our classrooms. Education should be controlled on the local level by people who know what students need. | |||
| Yes | Do you support building the Keystone XL pipeline? | ||
| Yes | Do you support reducing restrictions on offshore energy production? | ||
| No | Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change? | ||
| No | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| No | Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| Protection of one's self, family and property is a natural God given right. The Second Amendment protects this right. No other laws should exist to limit this right and if elected, I would work to repeal all restrictions on gun ownership. | |||
| Yes | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act? | ||
| Obama Care is unconstitutional and a huge burden on taxpayers in the US. Health care was affordable for all American up until the 1960's. It wasn't until government got involved in health care that prices skyrocketed. A free market answer would fix health care and make it affordable to all. | |||
| No | Do you support requiring illegal immigrants to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
| Returning millions of people to their countries of origin would cost the taxpayer millions of dollars and really isn't very realistic. The majority of these immigrants are hard workers and our economy needs them. Some may worry that a few immigrants are taking advantage of our social systems at taxpayers expense. There are two solutions to that: Reduce the size of government and the welfare system and replace the income tax with a fair tax(consumer tax) so that everyone pays their way including immigrants and tourists. | |||
| Yes | Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| As a Christian myself I find it very dangerous for our government to make laws on religious principles. Though Christianity is the largest religion in the US right now that is changing rapidly. If we set a precedent now that our laws can be made based on our religious values we run the risk of allowing other religions to make laws that we may not agree with at a future date. In order to protect our way of life we must protect the way of life of others. | |||
| No | Do you support targeting suspected terrorists outside of official theaters of conflict? | ||
| No | Should the U.S use military force in order to prevent governments hostile to the United States from possessing a nuclear weapon? | ||
| I believe it is the duty of our military to defend our country no be the policemen of the world. We should only use force as self defense. | |||
| Yes | Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts? | ||
| I would like for us to allow people of a certain age (born in or after 2000) to begin opting out of social security so that we can begin phasing it out. We must protect those who have paid into the system already and keep our promises even though we realize it is a broken system. | |||
SpendingIndicate what federal spending levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one number per category; you can use a number more than once.TaxesIndicate what federal tax levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one number per category; you can use a number more than once.
| Eliminate | a) Agriculture | ||
| Eliminate | b) Arts | ||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Defense | ||
| Greatly Decrease | d) Education | ||
| Greatly Decrease | e) Environment | ||
| Eliminate | f) Homeland Security | ||
| Eliminate | g) International aid | ||
| Eliminate | h) Medical Research | ||
| Eliminate | i) Scientific Research | ||
| Maintain Status | j) Space exploration | ||
| Slightly Decrease | k) United Nations | ||
| Eliminate | l) Welfare | ||
| Eliminate | a) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Eliminate | b) Corporate taxes | ||
| Eliminate | c) Excise taxes (alcohol) | ||
| Eliminate | d) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | ||
| Eliminate | e) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) | ||
| Eliminate | f) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | g) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | h) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | i) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Eliminate | j) Payroll taxes | ||
| The majority of funds from the current farm bill go to food stamp benefits( approximately 79%) The remainder of the funds that do go to agriculture go to only the richest corporate farmers and not small farmers in my district. I would rather see something done to help farmers like legalizing industrial hemp so that they can grow that as a cash crop. Medical and Scientific research should be privatized to remove bias from those studies. | |||
| The majority of these taxes are unfair and kill our economy. I would remove our current tax system and replace it with the Fair Tax. | |||
| Balance the Budget by reducing spending and reducing taxes on everyone. I support a Balanced Budget amendment if that balance comes from reduction of government spending. Term Limits on members of US congress. Replace the income tax with a Fair Tax System. Ensure the Bill of Rights is followed and that individual rights are not infringed upon. |
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