Stephen Tryon's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
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Stephen Tryon has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2016 Political Courage Test.
Utah Congressional Election 2016 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| The capacity for moral choice makes human life sacred. I do not know when the capacity for moral choice begins. People who say human life begins at conception rely on their specific religious conviction. Other reasonable views are that human life begins at some later point. Since I do not know when the baby's capacity for moral choice begins, I believe the mother's right to make moral choices for herself and her baby should be the legal basis for the law. I believe religions should educate people about alternatives to abortion instead of trying to change law. | |||
| No | In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing defense spending? | ||
| Yes | In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| According to information published by the Wall Street Journal, since 1989 we have reduced the wealth of the poorest 90 percent of our population by 27 percent. We have shifted that wealth to the richest 3 percent of Americans. We have done this through a combination of social, economic and tax policies. Leading indicators of social mobility from the bottom tiers of our economy to the top show we are destroying the American Dream. We must increase taxes on the richest Americans in order to restore the economic opportunity and the American Dream. | |||
| Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| We have enabled an aristocracy of wealth with erroneous Supreme Court decisions in Citizens United v. FEC and McCutcheon v. FEC. These cases are not about "free speech" in the sense that free speech is protected by the Constitution. These cases are essentially an unconstitutional "shadow tax" on the American people passed by the Supreme Court. Corporations know they must make political contributions at an increased level, and they raise prices to cover this extra layer of costs. Senator McCain himself has stated these decisions completely overthrow the actions of Congress to regulate campaign finance with laws such as McCain-Feingold. | |||
| Yes | Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| Yes | Do you support alternatives to incarceration for certain non-violent offenders such as mandatory counseling or substance abuse treatment? | ||
| No | Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders? | ||
| I believe there must be room for discretion in our systems. In many cases involving drug abuse, I believe it is appropriate to shift the focus to treatment rather than incarceration. | |||
| Yes | Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | Do you support lowering taxes as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | Do you support providing tax incentives to businesses for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| Yes | Do you generally support requiring states to adopt federal education standards? | ||
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| Education must prepare our citizens to be effective citizens and life-long learners who can compete in a global economy. Government has a role in establishing appropriate standards for education to prevent regressive policies that effectively handicap children by failing to teach the accepted science regarding evolution and climate change. There is nothing about teaching the science of evolution or climate change that is necessarily inconsistent with any religious practice. Beyond ensuring that regressive policies don't handicap children, teachers should be given the broadest possible leeway to teach students to think without having to "teach the test" in order to survive. | |||
| Yes | Do you support building the Keystone XL pipeline? | ||
| Yes | Do you support government funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, thermal)? | ||
| Yes | Do you support increased regulations on the hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") industry? | ||
| We need to decrease our reliance on fossil fuels and increase our use of sustainable energy. We need to take positive steps to make this economical now. The more we use wind, water and solar energy, the less we will need hydraulic fracturing. | |||
| Yes | Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| We should decrease reliance on fossil fuels and increase use of sustainable energy. We need a 21st century "Manhattan Project" to address climate change and energy. The headquarters to unify the many projects related to climate and energy should be in Price, Utah. We need to make sustainable energy economical. We can't turn off carbon overnight, but we can change the "price" of fossil fuels with a carbon tax to speed the shift to sustainable energy. Acting now allows us to take better care of energy workers than if we wait until we have to react to a crisis. | |||
| No | Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| I own guns, and I have a license to carry concealed. I think gun ownership is a right, but people convicted of felonies should lose the right to own guns. | |||
| No | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")? | ||
| The Affordable Care Act is a necessary law. Like all laws of such magnitude, it isn't perfect and will require continual tweaking. Americans have spent more on health care as a percentage of GDP than citizens of any other industrial country since around 1982. The loud resistance to the Affordable Care Act is the work of a health care industry that is trying to protect its bloated profit margins. I read of one company that was exiting the exchanges because of financial losses, then I read that same company had earnings per share of $6.45. That is an obscene profit. | |||
| No | Do you support requiring immigrants who are unlawfully present to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
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| Yes | Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| I believe in equality before the law for all Americans in accordance with our laws. The Constitution requires equality regardless of ethnicity, race, religion, gender, sexual preference or identity. | |||
| Yes | Should the U.S use military force in order to prevent governments hostile to the United States from possessing a nuclear weapon? | ||
| Yes | Do you support increased American intervention in Iraq and Syria beyond air support? | ||
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| The option to use military force is one to be weighed carefully, and should be a last resort. But every nation has the right to use force when it feels that force is necessary to protect its citizens. | |||
| No | Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts? | ||
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.
| Slightly Decrease | a) Agriculture | ||
| Slightly Decrease | b) Arts | ||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Defense | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Education | ||
| Slightly Increase | e) Environment | ||
| Slightly Increase | f) Homeland Security | ||
| Maintain Status | g) International aid | ||
| Greatly Decrease | h) Medical Research | ||
| Slightly Increase | i) Scientific Research | ||
| Slightly Decrease | j) Space exploration | ||
| Maintain Status | k) United Nations | ||
| Slightly Decrease | l) Welfare | ||
| Slightly Increase | a) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | b) Corporate taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Small business taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | d) Excise taxes (alcohol) | ||
| Slightly Increase | e) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | ||
| Slightly Increase | f) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | h) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Slightly Increase | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Greatly Increase | j) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | k) Payroll taxes | ||
| l) Other or expanded categories | |||
| In most areas of the budget, I believe we can achieve the same impact with reduced levels of spending if Congress provides effective oversight to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse. Instead of this key function, we have allowed our Congress to become a theater for ineffective partisan antics and activities. We have tolerated a Congress that does nothing substantive except protect the tenure of career politicians. | |||
| My top three priorities are Education, Economy, and Environment. Any additional funding required would primarily come from two sources: (1) enhanced oversight to eliminate fraud, waste and abuse; and (2) increased taxes on the wealthiest Americans. In the area of education, we must make K thru 16 accessible to all Americans and we must leverage businesses to help pay for this. As a business executive, I implemented a tuition assistance program and a corporate university that enabled employees to earn college credit. Eliminating waste helps grow a green economy. We must link economic health and the health of our environment. |
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