Jim O'Donnell's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Jim O'Donnell has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2014 Political Courage Test.
New York Congressional Election 2014 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| I am adamantly opposed to abortion, however, as a police officer I know first hand that simply enacting legislation against something is no guarantee that individuals will no longer partake in whatever is being banned. In some cases, making something illegal only makes the situation worse. I do not think taking away the choice to abort is the answer. Instead we should be pushing legislation and policies that promote smart family planning. | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| I support a complete overhaul of our taxing system that better balances consumption and production. In my system there would be 10% income, 10% sales, and 15% corporate tax rates. This is obviously a tax cut. The reason I answered yes to the question is because we cannot keep borrowing. I would much rather cut, but if I had no other choice other than raise taxes in order to stop charging in my children's names then that is what I would vote to do. | |||
| Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| 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? | ||
| While attaining my Master's in Economics, I never had a professor or fellow classmate even try to argue that welfare is in any way a spurring factor for an economy. Whether it is for an individual or for a business, welfare will not help the economy. It is a necessary aid for individuals at some points in their lives, but businesses are not individuals. | |||
| No | Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants? | ||
| I think that our children's education is too big of a job to be micromanaged by Washington. All slated for education should be returned to the states, and the states should return them to the municipalities. | |||
| Yes | Do you support building the Keystone XL pipeline? | ||
| No | Do you support reducing restrictions on offshore energy production? | ||
| Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change? | |||
| Yes | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| within reason. I didn't answer the above question because I don't know the answer. Could be yes, could be no - I am not a scientist. I will listen to scientists on both sides of the argument, but until I have done so, I cannot answer that honestly. I understand that I am supposed to answer all of these questions or I will get a bad grade, but I cannot answer what I do not know. | |||
| No | Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| "restrictions" and "guns" are very broad categories. I think that requiring a pistol permit for concealed carry is a legitimate restriction as long as those permits are not used as a de facto ban. And I think that telling someone they cannot own a grenade launcher is a pretty reasonable restriction on the type of gun they can purchase. Do I think guns should be banned just because they look scary, without any statistical evidence supporting the ban? Absolutely not. | |||
| No | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act? | ||
| I would change it. If we all just keep shouting "Repeal" while there is a president who will veto any repeal, we will just hurt our throats and continue to have a faulty law. We need to make common sense reforms that save Americans money, while still providing excellent healthcare for everyone, and we need to do so by reforming the existing law or it will simply never happen. | |||
| No | Do you support requiring illegal immigrants to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
| I think that deporting someone who we will eventually give citizenship to is a waste of taxpayer funds. If we are going to give someone citizenship we should just give it to them. If we do not plan on giving them citizenship we should deport them. Adding this extra step where we use US resources to remove an individual who will just be let back in is a ludicrous waste of money and an unnecessary danger to our men and women in uniform. | |||
| Yes | Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| Honestly, I don't support the federal government involving themselves in the marriages of any people - man/woman, man/man, woman/woman, or multiple people. I believe that marriage is a decision between the individuals involved and the faith they hold - government need not be involved. However, since the government insists on being a part of the process, the government should not be allowed to discriminate on any basis. | |||
| Yes | Do you support targeting suspected terrorists outside of official theaters of conflict? | ||
| Should the U.S use military force in order to prevent governments hostile to the United States from possessing a nuclear weapon? | |||
| I once again do not know the answer to this question. I do not think it is as cut and dry as yes or no. It could be a yes in some instances or a no in others. I would have to go on the advice of the intelligence community and the commanders in the field, and make every decision on a case by case basis. | |||
| No | Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts? | ||
| That is a very silly notion. It's silly because if we are going to give people control over how their social security taxes are spent, why are we taking it in the first place? If people want more control over their retirements then we should allow them to opt out of social security and then they would have unlimited control on how their money is spent. Of course, that would crash the system, so I do not support it. Instead we should make reforms that ensure solvency and stop pushing silly ideas that do nothing more than divide us. | |||
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.
| Maintain Status | a) Agriculture | ||
| Greatly Decrease | b) Arts | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Defense | ||
| Eliminate | d) Education | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Environment | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Homeland Security | ||
| Eliminate | g) International aid | ||
| Slightly Increase | h) Medical Research | ||
| Slightly Increase | i) Scientific Research | ||
| Slightly Decrease | j) Space exploration | ||
| Greatly Decrease | k) United Nations | ||
| Maintain Status | l) Welfare | ||
| Eliminate | a) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | b) Corporate taxes | ||
| Eliminate | c) Excise taxes (alcohol) | ||
| Eliminate | d) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | ||
| Eliminate | e) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | f) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | g) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | h) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | i) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Eliminate | j) Payroll taxes | ||
| These are all just guesses. I could be completely wrong on all of them. I need to see the books before I can give a good answer. I am absolutely positive that all of the categories likely have waste, fraud, and abuse and those parts should be cut immediately. However, just because we cut one aspect of a program doesn't mean we should necessarily cut funding to that program as a whole. As I said above, I need to actually look at all of the numbers before I can say what cuts would improve our economy. | |||
| None of those answers are really accurate. I support 10% income 10% sales 15% corporate tax rates. Income from whatever source derived would be taxed in the first category, meaning capital gains, dividends, etc. would be income. | |||
| 1- reforming tax code 2- ending involvement in foreign wars and focusing our attention on securing our homeland 3- campaign finance reform/term limits None of these cost the taxpayers anymore. The tax code reform would be done in a way that is mostly revenue neutral because it broadens the tax base. however, it would require some cuts and those would be made across the board with emphasis on areas that are found most deserving of cuts. |
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