James Rittenour's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
Official Position: Candidate addressed this issue directly by taking the Political Courage Test.
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James Rittenour has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2014 Political Courage Test.
Minnesota State Legislative Election 2014 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | 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? | ||
| No | f) Do you support requiring parental consent before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| No | g) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for abortion procedures? | ||
| No | h) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions? | ||
| I can't be convinced that I have a legitimate bearing on decisions of this magnitude that a person must make for themselves. | |||
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 Minnesota's budget.
| a) Education (higher) | |||
| b) Education (K-12) | |||
| c) Environment | |||
| d) Health care | |||
| e) Law enforcement/corrections | |||
| f) Transportation/infrastructure | |||
| g) Welfare | |||
| Slightly Increase | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| c) Corporate taxes | |||
| Slightly Increase | d) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Property taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Sales taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Income taxes (mid-income families) | ||
| Slightly Increase | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| No | a) Tapping into Minnesota's "rainy day" fund | ||
| b) Increasing tuition rates at public universities | |||
| c) Reducing or eliminating public worker collective bargaining | |||
| d) Reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions | |||
| e) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees | |||
| No | f) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| There's too big a gap between maintain, slight and great for me to honestly answer. | |||
| Any radical change in a short period of time becomes a long time of disruption. Make deliberate yet steady progress to allow shorter lags of adjustment. | |||
| I believe in Unions. They produce more positive effects on the lives of wage earners (in the big picture) than negatives and believe that my duty would be to protect legislation ensuring the right to organize openly and without retribution. As a representative, I hope not to be force into a position of legislating into law that which is attainable through the power of collective bargaining. If push comes to shove, however, I'm a union man. | |||
a) Do you support limits on the following types of contributions for state candidates?
| Yes | 1) Individual | ||
| Yes | 2) Political Action Committee | ||
| Yes | 3) Corporate | ||
| 4) Political Party | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | e) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| I'm unsure whether limiting a political party's funds would be productive. Limiting contributions to it accomplishes the objective here. Corporations are not people. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support legalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana? | ||
| d) Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | |||
| e) Should a minor who sends sexually-explicit or nude photos by cell phone face criminal charges? | |||
| f) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | |||
| Law enforcement is obliged to enforce existing law. I support modifying the law. But if you want housing construction, fruits, vegetables, and generally crappy employment costs to jump significantly - and immediately - then go ahead and ship immigrants off forthwith. Frankly, I and any other good parent would cross any international border if it meant feeding our families If Big Ag - I'm not referring to farmers explicitly - were required to pay the social costs of cheap labor, we will see great progress; for example: medical, public subsidies of any sort including education and housing. | |||
| a) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | |||
| b) Do you support increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers? | |||
| c) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | |||
| d) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? | |||
| Yes | e) Do you support government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| f) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | |||
| Yes | g) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage? | ||
| Any homeowner facing foreclosure as a result of predatory lending, this mortgagee (lender) should suspend payments, refinance accordance to the home owner's current income and then be required to hold the mortgage until the loan is satisfied. | |||
| a) Do you support the national Common Core State Standards initiative? | |||
| b) Do you support a merit pay system for teachers? | |||
| c) Is the tenure process for public school teachers producing effective teachers? | |||
| 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? | ||
| f) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | |||
| Yes | g) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Minnesota high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| Common Core Standards need time and opportunity to prove its effectiveness. Competition among teachers for cash is loaded with caveats. Furthermore how do you quantify merit between subjects or specialties; special ed. and trigonometry for example. I'm wary of it. Tenure provides incentives for good talent. Unfortunately, it protects the salaries of ineffective teachers. If efficient procedures to fire unproductive educators exist I have no inclination to mess with it. Vouchers: no voucher (public subsidy) should go to any private school. State subsidies to our colleges and tech schools should be tied to tuition cost - maintaining or lowering it. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state funding for the development of alternative energy? | ||
| b) Do you support state funding for the development of traditional domestic energy sources (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil)? | |||
| Yes | c) Do you support state funding for improvements to Minnesota's energy infrastructure? | ||
| d) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | |||
| Yes | e) Do you support government regulations of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| f) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| a) Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | |||
| 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? | ||
| d) Should a license be required for gun possession? | |||
| e) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| c) Do you support interstate health insurance compacts? | |||
| d) Do you support Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act? | |||
| Yes | e) Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| 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 support Medicaid to individuals who need it. If it means expansion, so be it. Regarding damage limits for malpractice, juries are in themselves are a great means of regulating any corporate misdeed. But an exploration of un-restricted-damage-awards effect on health care costs would be enlightening. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Minnesota's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Minnesota's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| d) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| 1. Action. This district withers under 14 years of representation by an incumbent undergoing a progressive atrophy of freedom and independence of thought; who, by signing the obscene "No New Tax" pledge (devised by Grover Norquist, encouraged by President Bush, supported enthusiastically by the Koch Brothers, enforced under threat of political destruction,) has rendered herself ineffectual, perched on a platform of obstructionism. Action: continuing the Grand Advancement accomplished in the 2013-2014 session. Action: fighting for deserved economic development, increasing tourism, Native American cooperation, school systems at the vanguard of 21st Century education. Increased funding not assumed, but a fair-share is. |
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