Lorna Phillipson's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Lorna Phillipson has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2016 Political Courage Test.
New Jersey Congressional Election 2016 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| American men and women should have access to affordable and effective birth control. Equally important is education about these choices and access to health centers provides better options for family planning. Colorado's teen birth rate dropped 40% between 2009 and 2013 in part due to a program that provided contraception to low-income women. Unrealistically, my opponent has written over 22 bills to ban contraception. This is not the 1950s. If we seriously want to reduce abortion rates, access to birth control is essential. I support a women's right to choose. It is a decision between a patient and her doctor. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Since the 1980s, our tax burden shifted from corporations to individuals; from the wealthy to middle income taxpayers; from the Federal government to States and, ultimately, to property taxes. We need comprehensive tax reform to end loopholes, end corporate welfare, and reverse the burden from failed trickle down policies. Reaganomics has had over 30 years to prove its value and it failed miserably. For my international banks, I traded in money, capital, and foreign exchange markets. I taught finance and economics at NYU. We should reinstate Glass-Steagall. Regarding defense: 15 years of war requires reconsideration of Guns vs. Butter economics. | |||
| Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| I will work to overturn Citizens United and promote campaign finance reform. The Citizens United decision has proven that unbridled spending by special interests (corporations, individuals, unions, and other PACs) is damaging our election process. We now have elections bought by those with access to unbelievable amounts of dollars. Incumbents are required by the DNC and RDC to Dial for Dollars, instead of performing their job in Congress. I know there are much better ways to spend these dollars, instead of an expensive political campaign. Money in campaigns isn?t free speech, nor a commodity to be bought and sold. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Each year, NJ arrests 21,000 citizens for possession of marijuana even if there was no harm to people or property. We also have a heroin epidemic in NJ. It consumes police and judicial resources. NJ spent $127 million dollars in 2010 enforcing failed marijuana criminalization. The cost of incarceration is greater financially and socially than rehabilitation. I support a system that encourages recovery, rather than punishment. I support Help Not Handcuffs and Re-entry programs similar to Martin?s Place in Jersey City. Although not a deterrent, I do support capital punishment for extremely heinous crimes and killing of peace officers. | |||
| Yes | Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | Do you support lowering taxes as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | Do you support providing tax incentives to businesses for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| It has been proven that federal spending can provide the relief needed and impetus to pull the economy out of a recession. Austerity fails and slows recovery. No evidence that tax cuts spur growth. In fact, comparing economic growth in periods with declining tax rates versus periods with high tax rates, there is evidence that tax cuts for the rich ("job creators") might hurt growth and, consequently, not lead to faster economic growth. Tax cuts do not spur economic growth, but do lead to greater economic inequality. Beyond the issues of fairness and stability, increasing inequality hurts the economy. | |||
| No | Do you generally support requiring states to adopt federal education standards? | ||
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| The American economy needs a workforce that is skilled, adaptable, creative, and equipped for success in the global marketplace. The entire school community should be involved and teachers must be given the resources needed to achieve their specific objectives. We need to encourage a culture of teaching excellence. Rather than lowering standards, we should raise them. Professional development should encompass a range of teacher-led, job-embedded, highly collaborative approaches with a focus on improving student performance. Mentoring programs are helpful for new teachers. Better access to pre-school, full-day kindergarten, and more parental involvement. Recognize that one size does not fit all. | |||
| No | Do you support building the Keystone XL pipeline? | ||
| Yes | Do you support government funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, thermal)? | ||
| Yes | Do you support increased regulations on the hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") industry? | ||
| KXL would have spilled gallons of dirty tar sands oil each year. Past spills have devastated local wildlife. The pipeline's route would cut across the Ogallala Aquifer, yet KXL would have "little impact" on domestic gas prices. Once built, very few jobs were required to maintain it. The idea that fracking is the key to American energy independence is a myth. We don't use natural gas to power cars. We don't use oil to generate electricity. We need to invest immediately and substantially in renewable energy to achieve savings, improve health, and reduce environmental impacts. Renewable energy does create jobs. | |||
| Yes | Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| Greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare through temperature effects, air quality, climate-sensitive diseases, and extreme weather events. I acknowledge that the challenges before us are complex and interconnected. It demands an ever-developing approach to sustainability. We must contain and then reduce our greenhouse gas emissions so that our farmers, ranchers, and fishermen have the best chance to feed the world. Our industries should have the best opportunities for sustainable growth and new green markets, so that we can flourish in good health and have the best opportunity for hope. Time is short and the clock is ticking - loudly. | |||
| Yes | Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| Opponents of any kind of gun restrictions argue that they are meaningless, since criminals by definition don't follow the law. That's true, but gun violence isn't only committed by classic criminals. Toddlers and children kill. Abusive partners kill. A man in Florida shot a fellow movie-goer after he refused to stop texting. We have landlords, insurers, and employers all performing background checks, but not all gun owners. We have licensing of cars, teachers, realtors, but not all gun owners. Our Founding Fathers wrote the 2nd Amendment for defense of the state ? not defense against the state. | |||
| Yes | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")? | ||
| I believe healthcare is essential to life and prosperity. When it comes to meeting one of its most important goals, providing coverage to the uninsured, Obamacare is working extremely well. The success of the ACA strikes at the heart of the dysfunction strategy employed extremely effectively by anti-government conservatives. The newly insured have seen a sharp drop in health-related financial distress, and report a high degree of satisfaction with their coverage. ACA is achieving its goals, costing less than expected, and making the lives of millions of Americans better and more secure. Sometimes government action can improve ordinary Americans? lives. | |||
| No | 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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| We are a nation of immigrants. I support the DREAM Act which would provide a pathway to legal status for the thousands of undocumented students who graduate from high school each year. I support a path to citizenship for undocumented workers, much like Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush did. They extended amnesty to family members who were not covered by the last major overhaul of immigration law in 1986. Reagan gave a pathway to citizenship to 2.7 million undocumented people with the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act. Blanket deportation is not the answer. | |||
| Yes | Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| I have been a supporter of the LGBTQ community and their rights for decades. Gay rights are human rights and human rights are gay rights. We are all individuals and sexual identity is a characteristic of that individuality. It is about more than just marriage. It is about adoptions, safe schools, access to bathrooms, getting and keeping jobs, respect in the military, adequate and appropriate healthcare, protection and enforcement against hate crimes. I will fight for anti-discrimination laws. Every American deserves the opportunity to live, marry, pray, learn, and raise a family free from discrimination and prejudice. | |||
| No | Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts? | ||
| I am against privatization of Social Security. Seniors cannot afford the volatility swings in the stock and capital markets. Many lost homes and savings in the last recession and will be relying upon SS for their future. Alternatively, like a managed pension fund, the SS Trust Fund (which currently holds about $2.8 trillion in government bonds) could invest a portion of these assets in stocks. Social Security could expect to earn a higher annual return, over the long term, on those assets. I prefer to raise or eliminate the income cap to bring our current SS system back to solvency. | |||
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 | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Arts | ||
| Greatly Decrease | c) Defense | ||
| Slightly Increase | d) Education | ||
| Slightly Increase | e) Environment | ||
| Slightly Increase | f) Homeland Security | ||
| Maintain Status | g) International aid | ||
| Slightly Increase | h) Medical Research | ||
| Slightly Increase | i) Scientific Research | ||
| Slightly Increase | j) Space exploration | ||
| Slightly Decrease | k) United Nations | ||
| Maintain Status | l) Welfare | ||
| Slightly Increase | a) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | b) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Small business taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Excise taxes (alcohol) | ||
| Slightly Increase | e) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | ||
| Slightly Increase | f) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | h) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Greatly Increase | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | j) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | k) Payroll taxes | ||
| l) Other or expanded categories | |||
| After 15 years of war, we require a better reallocation of our tax dollars. We cannot continue to send men and women to war and not provide for their health and well-being when they return. American taxpayers already pay enough tax dollars, but tax fairness eludes us. Ending corporate welfare and agricultural subsidies will free dollars to reallocate for human necessities and bring back common sense to our tax revenues and expenses. Classic Guns vs. Butter economics 101. | |||
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