Richard Pohle's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Richard Pohle has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2014 Political Courage Test.
Hawaii State Legislative Election 2014 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | 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? | ||
| 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? | ||
| Parents need to know about their children until 18. No third trimester abortions unless the life of mother is threatened. Use hospitals. Two doctors to approve procedure. Planned Parenthood takes advantage of their position to promote abortion. I favor adoption. | |||
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 Hawaii's budget.
| Greatly Decrease | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | c) Environment | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Health care | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Slightly Decrease | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Greatly Decrease | g) Welfare | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Eliminate | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Eliminate | d) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | e) Property taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | f) Sales taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | h) Income taxes (mid-income families) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| No | a) Tapping into Hawaii's "rainy day" fund | ||
| Yes | 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 | ||
| Yes | e) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees | ||
| No | f) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| I am an austerity candidate and believe government is far too big and too intrusive. Where is the question about reducing regulations or bureaucracy? | |||
| I would reduce government by limiting its revenue. | |||
| Medicaid has already taken a big hit. With furloughs, employees have time to do what they want to according to Pelosi. We need to relax the government restrictions and taxes on free enterprise to unleash the power of people to work for their own and their familie's improvement. | |||
a) Do you support limits on the following types of contributions for state candidates?
| No | 1) Individual | ||
| No | 2) Political Action Committee | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| I found that the campaign finance laws are an impediment to new candidates who have to learn the details. Now we have to worry about being sued by partisan lawyers and prosecutors. See Tom DeLay and Ted Stevens. | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | g) Do you support requiring labels on foods that have been genetically engineered or contain genetically modified ingredients? | ||
| GMO Golden Rice has improved our human condition. GMO hatred is a false fear. We need to control our borders. Children should not thing they have a free pass. If they commit a serious crime, they are already a menace and will remain so. If part of a gang, the more so. MJ should not be a schedule 1 drug. I would be hard on the other, more addictive drugs. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Many of these feel good solutions have actually made the problems worse. We already have a safety net that encourages people not to work. Especially true in Hawaii. | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| No | g) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Hawaii high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| Common Core has been hijacked by the teachers unions with other agendas. The concept of a single test to rate all students on a common scale is a good one. I don't know how to do it. We need to discourage illegal immigration but help those with education get in the country. | |||
| 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)? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support state funding for improvements to Hawaii'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? | ||
| The environmental lobby has far too much power politically and use it for a no growth agenda. They have killed the Super Ferry, and excessive regulations have greatly hampered pro growth assets. I brought the first program related to the Kihei Research and Technology Park to Maui and my company was sued by Peace Moves and the Sierra Club because they were anti-war and anti development. Had they succeeded, there would be no R&T Park. The trend continues Upcountry to stifle reasonable growth. It has become a religion. | |||
| No | a) Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| These are loaded questions - not fit for yes or no answers. For example, if a license is required, the police chief can and sometimes does refuse all requests. My actual vote would depend on the arguments at the time. I do think an armed citizen best protects his family and his community and would lessen runaway killings and I oppose gun control in general. No automatic weapons should be allowed in civilian hands; semi auto is OK. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | 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 am against ObamaCare and believe other, less intrusive, more free enterprise oriented approaches would be better. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| No | b) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Hawaii's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | c) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Hawaii's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Same Sex Marriage and Traditional Marriage should be separate in the law and license. The tow marriage types are different since TM must deal with incest. This legal separation would allow same sex couples to say they were married and obtain all secular benefits due them while protecting the rights of those believing SSM is wrong from being sued for acting according to their religious beliefs. The days where SSM could not be done anywhere are over. Now the SSM people are trying to drive traditional religion underground. Enough of attacks on religions and especially Christianity. | |||
| I ran to help Hawaii have a two party political system. My opponent was unopposed. I am a common sense scientist. Two party are need for checks and balances. I ran because the way the Same Sex Marriage constitutional law was rewritten was an attack on religious freedom, freedom of association, and our constitution. I ran to improve the Water system infrastructure of my Upcountry District. I would fund it by changing rules and cutting government costs. Hawaii does have a constitutional responsibility to allow owners of properly zoned parcels to build on their own land. |
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