Brandon Dickey's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Brandon Dickey has refused to provide voters with positions on key issues covered by the 2016 Political Courage Test, despite repeated requests from Vote Smart and voters like you.
This candidate has responded to a Political Courage Test in a previous election. As a continued effort to provide the American public with factual information on candidates running for public office, these archived responses are made available here.
Maine State Legislative Election 2014 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | 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? | ||
| Yes | h) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions? | ||
| I support access to all types of Birth Control, but access does not mean government funded. I do believe that abortion should be at the bottom of that list. I believe personal repeatability & education should be at the top, along with an understanding of the sanctity & miracle of life. This would, I believe, have the effect of educating couples about their many options before abortion even comes into the picture. Because minor children are the responsibility of their parent, the parents should always be involved in the choice to abort a pregnancy. | |||
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 Maine's budget.
| Maintain Status | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Environment | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Health care | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Welfare | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | d) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | e) Property taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Sales taxes | ||
| Eliminate | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | h) Income taxes (mid-income families) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| No | a) Tapping into Maine's "rainy day" fund | ||
| No | 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 | ||
| No | e) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees | ||
| No | f) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| I would maintain the current status of funding for these areas, temporarily. By working to remove inefficiency & wastefulness, I would make the funding stretch further. After everything is streamlined, I would work to increase where needed & decrease where appropriate. The goal is to reduce government waste & spending overall while still providing the services people expect. | |||
| Taxes for Maine based business & corporations should be lowered to encourage growth. Taxes for multinational corporations should be increased to appropriate levels. Taxes on necessary things such as heating oil & gasoline should be dropped to the lowest possible amount necessary to maintain services & no more. Taxes on the poor & those supporting disabled family members should be dropped completely. Taxes on middle class families should be greatly lowered to encourage the family unit. Taxes on wealthy families should be lowered enough to keep them in the state & contributing to the economy. | |||
| I believe Maine's "rainy day" fund should be saved for emergencies only. Tuition rates should not be raised, we must look at alternative ideas to solve the problem of rising tuition rates. Collective bargaining both public & private should be left up to the individual employee to choose. State employee salaries & pensions should be held at current levels. Salaries for new incoming state employees should be lowered to help balance the budget, removing the need for furloughs or layoffs. We must combat fraud in the current Maine-care/Medicare System to free up additional resources, without reducing current benefits. | |||
a) Do you support limits on the following types of contributions for state candidates?
| No | 1) Individual | ||
| Yes | 2) Political Action Committee | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Funding from Individuals & Political Parties should not be limited. Funding from Political Action Committees & Corporate "persons" should be limited. I believe that for something as important as Voting, you should need a photo ID. I would like to see a free photo ID to each person, similar to how Social Security cards are issued. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support legalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| I support capital punishment for murder & heinous crimes against children. Non-violent offenders shouldn't be treated as people willing to commit violence to further their crimes. Minors willing to commit violent crimes should be treated as an adult, though I believe their parents should have a share in the verdict if it can be proven that they were negligent in the raising of their child. Minors sending sexually-explicit photos of themselves should be counseled at first, after that they should face charges if they continue. Immigration Laws should be enforced by local authorities if the federal government chooses not to. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| No | 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 government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | f) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| No | g) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage? | ||
| I support common sense regulation on potentially dangerous things such as Genetically Modified Organisms, and BPA plastics. Other then that I support deregulation on traditional businesses to increase productivity. I support the government promoting Maine based business with tax incentives. The ability to take a wage below the "minimum" wage is a valuable tool in any job seekers toolbox. An increase in the minimum wage would adversely effect all of Maine's small businesses in a negative way. | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| No | f) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| No | g) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Maine high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| I do not support Common Core, local control is what is needed to ensure our kids meet the challenges of the new millennium. I feel merit pay would keep good teachers & encourage mediocre teachers to improve, though the merits should not be based solely on test grades, but in child participation. I believe state & federal government interference has only raised the price of higher education. Young illegal immigrants should be worked into a system that grants them citizenship before they are allowed to receive in-state tuition. | |||
| 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 Maine's energy infrastructure? | ||
| No | d) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | ||
| No | e) Do you support government regulations of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| I believe that the free market can do all of these things cheaper then the government can, though they should be encouraged with tax incentives. I firmly believe in alternative energy & what it can do for Maine. Open space preservation & pollution should be solved with the current legal methods that we already have. | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| I support the current, simple background check system already in place for gun purchases. I am a firm supporter of the 2nd amendment. I believe in a system of national reciprocity. More guns = less crime. | |||
| 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 Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act? | ||
| No | e) Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| No | f) Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| I believe we must expand education of alternative medicine availability. I feel that would help reduce the strain on our current medical system. Reform of welfare would encourage better eating habits, increasing general health also. I support use of alternative medicines that have been used successfully for hundreds of years, but were pushed to the side by allopathic medicine. These could be used to help reduce medical costs. This is a complex problem requiring a creative solution. | |||
| No | a) Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Maine's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | c) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Maine's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| I support getting the government out of couples lives. No "marriage" licenses should be needed. I believe if two people love & care for each other, heterosexual or homosexual, they should have equal protection under law. "Marriage" has been traditionally defined the union of man and woman for the purpose of creating children, so that is how I use it. I believe civil union is a better term to describe the coming together of same sex couples. I feel most people do no understand the mysteries of "masculine" and "feminine", as such I believe "gender identity" is currently misunderstood. | |||
| The top 3 things I hope to accomplish are this 1 - Create a stable working environment that encourages local innovation & business to stay in the state. Welfare for those who need it, a job for everyone else. 2 - Return education to local control & remove common core from Maine. Only a child's parents can correctly direct their education. 3 - Reform state welfare & healthcare. By eliminating abuse while maintaining levels necessary to the health of children, the disabled & the elderly. Education of alternative medicine & preemptive medicine would help ease stress on our hospitals. |
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