Chris Mayo's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Due to a later filing deadline, a lack of contact information, or other circumstances delaying entry into our database, Chris Mayo was not directly invited to take the 2014 Political Courage Test. Chris Mayo is still welcome to submit the test at any time.
Indiana Congressional Election 2014 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| Personally, I am pro-life, but I understand that the federal government has a terrible record of legislating on this issue, and therefore, the decision is best left to a lower level of government (such as the individual states), where the population has more control over the issue and can make the decisions that work best for them. | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Our problem is not revenue, it's spending. I witnessed firsthand the waste inside our own Department of Defense, and there's much more waste to be eliminated inside other bureaucratic agencies and departments. Raising taxes on ANY group or entity would be counterproductive in our feeble economy, and if a lack of revenue was truly the issue, we would be better served cutting taxes or (better yet) eliminating income and corporate taxes and shifting to a consumption tax to grow our economy (and thus grow federal revenue). | |||
| No | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| This is a difficult one to answer, as I'm currently running against an incumbent that has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from giant corporations and labor organizations, while my campaign is entirely funded by a few hundred dollars from caring, working individuals. But, alas, I have to stand by my principles and protect the right of any person or entity to donate or loan their own money however they choose. The best way to get money out of politics? Stop voting for candidates that hand out favors to big business. | |||
| No | Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| Unless it is an immediate act of self-defense or a threat to person, family, or property is imminent, no human (or group of humans) has the legitimate authority to take an individual's life long after a crime has been committed. As a side note, a multitude of studies has proven that capital punishment is more expensive than life imprisonment, as well. | |||
| 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? | ||
| A tax system's only legitimate purpose is to garner revenue for the government to perform its basic, essential functions, and nothing more. I support lowering taxes simply because they're a burden to working individuals, small businesses, and our economy. Ultimately, our immoral, broken system of income and corporate taxes should be replaced by a voluntary system, like a consumption tax (a system that cannot be gamed or manipulated for favors or political reasons). | |||
| No | Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants? | ||
| I support abolishing the Department of Education and letting each state, community, and household decide what reforms they want to make. We've proven for over 30 years now that bureaucrats thousands of miles from you (and which you have ever met) are terrible at managing the education of your children. | |||
| Yes | Do you support building the Keystone XL pipeline? | ||
| Yes | Do you support reducing restrictions on offshore energy production? | ||
| Yes | Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change? | ||
| No | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| Yes | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act? | ||
| I support repealing the ACA, and about 5 decades worth of other terrible legislation that has done nothing but drive up the costs associated with medical care, and has served the lobbyists that have pushed for such legislation well. | |||
| No | Do you support requiring illegal immigrants to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
| Our immigration system is a convoluted mess, and creating even more legislation and regulation is only going to worsen things. The best way to resolve our illegal immigration issues is to 1) streamline the bureaucratic nightmare that is our current path to citizenship, and 2) resort to a consumption tax-fueled revenue system so that EVERYONE is contributing to the treasury, legal or illegal. Remove the incentives to do things the illegal way. | |||
| Yes | Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| The government is not only an entity that has zero authority to stop two consenting adults from performing a religious ceremony or entering into a contract, but it has zero business being in the institution of marriage anyways. | |||
| Yes | Do you support targeting suspected terrorists outside of official theaters of conflict? | ||
| No | Should the U.S use military force in order to prevent governments hostile to the United States from possessing a nuclear weapon? | ||
| 1) I support targeting suspected terrorists, so long as a moral legal system for doing so is established first. Simply allowing a member of the Executive Branch to approve a drone strike based on hearsay or the testimony of some villager that was tortured is unacceptable. 2) Who is the U.S. to tell another sovereign country that they cannot do what we can do? | |||
| Yes | Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts? | ||
| Because millions of Americans have already contributed to their Social Security accounts, we have a moral obligation to protect those accounts and ensure the system they have been forced to rely on is there for them. Over the long haul, though, we have to make the progressive transition away from our broken system, while preserving the investments by those that have paid into it. Ultimately, a transition to a consumption tax would negate this entire question, anyways. | |||
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.
| Greatly Decrease | a) Agriculture | ||
| Eliminate | b) Arts | ||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Defense | ||
| Eliminate | d) Education | ||
| Greatly Decrease | e) Environment | ||
| Eliminate | f) Homeland Security | ||
| Greatly Decrease | g) International aid | ||
| Eliminate | h) Medical Research | ||
| Eliminate | i) Scientific Research | ||
| Greatly Decrease | j) Space exploration | ||
| Eliminate | k) United Nations | ||
| Slightly Decrease | l) Welfare | ||
| m) Other or expanded categories | |||
| Eliminate | a) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Eliminate | b) Corporate taxes | ||
| Eliminate | c) Excise taxes (alcohol) | ||
| Eliminate | d) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | ||
| Eliminate | e) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) | ||
| Eliminate | f) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | g) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | h) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | i) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Eliminate | j) Payroll taxes | ||
| k) Other or expanded categories | |||
| 1) Eliminate the IRS, abolish the 16th Amendment, and end corporate and income taxes by reverting to a consumption tax. The Fair Tax is an option I would consider. 2) Audit the Federal Reserve that is wrecking our economy, the determine whether our federal banking system requires an overhaul or whether the Fed needs abolished completely. 3) Audit the wasteful Department of Defense, close multiple, unnecessary military installations around the globe, and stop playing policeman for the world. |
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