Mark Wichern's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
Official Position: Candidate addressed this issue directly by taking the Political Courage Test.
Inferred Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, but Vote Smart inferred this issue based on the candidate's public record, including statements, voting record, and special interest group endorsements.
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Mark Wichern has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2016 Political Courage Test.
Florida Congressional Election 2016 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| I am pro Choice but the choice falls under the 10th Amendment not the Federal Government. | |||
| In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing defense spending? | |||
| No | In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| Defense Spending needs to be separated from the industrial complex (Nation Building) then "National Defense" should be increased and the military industrial complex eliminated. The corporations that get a free pass such as GE need to pay their Constitutional Corporate Taxes, which is needed to pay for national defense. I do not support personal income taxes. People should be able to keep the fruits of their labor. We need to go back to the budget in the Constitution which would eliminate 80% of our wasteful spending leaving a 2 trillion dollar surplus. We pay the debt off in 10 years. | |||
| No | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| 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? | ||
| The Federal Government is not authorized by the States to write laws outside of their enumerated powers. Drugs fall under the 10th Amendment. | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| No | Do you support providing tax incentives to businesses for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| The government needs to stay out of the free market and stop picking winners and losers with tax incentives. Personal payroll taxes should be eliminated. | |||
| No | Do you generally support requiring states to adopt federal education standards? | ||
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| The federal government has no Constitutional authority to be involved in education at any level. | |||
| Yes | Do you support building the Keystone XL pipeline? | ||
| No | Do you support government funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, thermal)? | ||
| No | Do you support increased regulations on the hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") industry? | ||
| This should be left up to the Free Market. | |||
| Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change? | |||
| No | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| Outside of Federal Government enumerated powers. Falls under the 10th. | |||
| No | Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| Unless you are talking about controlling my gun with two hands, The Second Amendment is all we need. | |||
| Yes | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")? | ||
| The Government needs to stay out of the Free Market. | |||
| Yes | 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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| Should the U.S use military force in order to prevent governments hostile to the United States from possessing a nuclear weapon? | |||
| No | Do you support increased American intervention in Iraq and Syria beyond air support? | ||
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| If it is a direct threat to national security. Define hostile to the United States? | |||
| Yes | Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts? | ||
| Social security needs to be phased out. Let the people decide what they want to do for retirement. The Federal Government needs to pay back all of the Social Security paid in, then the office should be abolished. | |||
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.
| Eliminate | a) Agriculture | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Arts | ||
| Slightly Increase | c) Defense | ||
| Eliminate | d) Education | ||
| Eliminate | e) Environment | ||
| Eliminate | f) Homeland Security | ||
| Greatly Decrease | g) International aid | ||
| Eliminate | h) Medical Research | ||
| Eliminate | i) Scientific Research | ||
| Eliminate | j) Space exploration | ||
| Eliminate | k) United Nations | ||
| Greatly Decrease | l) Welfare | ||
| Greatly Decrease | a) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | b) Corporate taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Small business taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Excise taxes (alcohol) | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) | ||
| Eliminate | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | h) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | j) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Eliminate | k) Payroll taxes | ||
| l) Other or expanded categories | |||
| Both comments answered by greatly decreasing should be eliminated as quickly as possible. (g and i) | |||
| 1. Start a local job creation program funded with the Congressional Staff and Expense budget. 2. Increase the Benefits of our Veterans. a. Move the VA hospitals to the Free Market and out of government control. b. Provide our veterans with a free market health care planned funded by the National Defense Budget. c. Eliminate the VA in it's current form. 3. Abolish every department of the Federal Government that is not authorized by the US Constitution and return control back to the States and the people. (10th Amendment) |
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