Scott George's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
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Scott George has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2016 Political Courage Test.
Ohio Congressional Election 2016 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| I believe life begins at conception and we must protect the lives of the unborn. | |||
| 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? | ||
| I support reduced defense spending because there are many projects that currently waste money. We should stop producing aircraft we never intend to fly. I believe in a strong military but believe we must cut out the waste before we consider increasing spending. I do not support an income tax increase. The Federal Government must first do it's part in cutting out waste which includes many entitlement programs and unconstitutional agencies. I would also propose we replace our tax code with a consumption / flat tax instead of income tax. | |||
| Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| Campaign financing is out of control. Nothing is free, contributions from corporations, unions and so on come with expectations. Campaign contributions from corporations, unions and PACs are having way too much influence on the outcome of elections. The common man/woman can no longer compete for elected office. Money is buying elections. I believe all campaigns should be funded by the voters! I would argue they should be funded only by voters in the district of the office. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders? | ||
| Life is all about choices and each decision has a consequence. I believe in personal accountability! I would support alternatives to long-term incarceration for certain non-violent crimes. Purposefully committing a crime must have consequences. I support the alternatives so we can break the cycle but there must still be a consequence for your action. I do support minimum sentences but we must review the length of these sentences. In many cases they seem to be stronger than some violent crimes. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | Do you support providing tax incentives to businesses for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| All of my answers are predicated on the continued existence of the current tax code. I would propose we repeal the current tax code and replace it with the FairTax. This would remove individual Federal Income tax and the corporate tax. Eliminating the need for lowering taxes for economic growth and the government picking winners and losers by providing tax incentives for certain companies. All U.S companies who have moved off-shore or completed tax inversions to avoid the highest corporate tax rate in the world would come home and invest in our economy and jobs. | |||
| No | Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants? | ||
| Education should be managed at the state and local level. The U.S. government should not be involved in education and should not be forcing states to comply with an arbitrary standard. | |||
| Yes | Do you support building the Keystone XL pipeline? | ||
| No | Do you support funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, thermal)? | ||
| No | Do you support increased regulations on the hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") industry? | ||
| The Keystone XL Pipeline is an extension of an already existing network. The oil is flowing through the region today on rail. Rail is a much less efficient and costly approach. The delay of this project is purely to payback big campaign donors. I believe renewable energy should be self-sustaining. Necessity is the mother of all invention. We do not have an immediate need. If private industry finds a renewable solution that is affordable, we will transition naturally to this energy source. I do believe there needs to be continued studies on fracking to understand the environmental impact. | |||
| No | Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change? | ||
| No | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| This issue has moved beyond science to being purely political. Statistics are being thrown about with little scientific support. The data used to initially support this cause was admitted to be false by the very people who conducted the studies. They admitted to changing the data to support their hypothesis. Climate change and greenhouse gas regulations are another means for punishing certain industries and collecting taxes. I do not support these efforts. | |||
| No | Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| I will defend the 2nd amendment. I believe gun control legislation only impacts law abiding citizens. These are the people who legally own guns and do not commit crimes with them. Further legislation will only embolden those who have no respect for the law. | |||
| Yes | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")? | ||
| Nowhere in our Constitution does it say the Federal government has a responsibility to provide healthcare to citizens. The ACA did nothing to make healthcare more affordable. It has eliminated nearly all competition in the marketplace driving up costs. We must repeal this law and return healthcare back to the private sector. I would support retaining one element of the ACA and that is "no pre-existing conditions". This could be accomplished by opening the markets to a national market allowing companies to provide national healthcare plans with the condition of no pre-existing conditions. | |||
| Yes | Do you support requiring illegal immigrants to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
| There is little reason to start this debate until we secure our borders and stop the free-flow of illegals coming into the country. Once that is accomplished we can start the debate on what to do with those who are currently here. With that said, we cannot reward people for disobeying our laws and our sovereignty as a Nation with citizenship. There must be a consequence for breaking our laws. They must reconcile with our laws before being granted the opportunity to become a citizen. | |||
| No | Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| I believe marriage is a religious institution; one that goes back centuries. My religion defines marriage as the religious union of one man and one woman and I agree with that. My vows were to my wife and my God, not the government. The government felt the need to involve itself in marriage to create a legal union. I believe all couples deserve equality in the eyes of the law. Where the law provides protection as a legal union I believe that should apply equally to all couples regardless of sexual orientation. | |||
| Yes | Do you support targeting suspected terrorists outside of official theaters of conflict? | ||
| Yes | Should the U.S use military force in order to prevent governments hostile to the United States from possessing a nuclear weapon? | ||
| This restricts our action to that of National security. I do not believe our government should use military force to overthrow governments unless there is a declaration of war. | |||
| Yes | Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts? | ||
| We must honor the promise made to those who are retired or near retirement. With that said, I believe the Federal government should get out of the retirement business. Private business has shown us how to transition from costly company funded pensions to employee funded 401k's. I propose we freeze Social Security payments for everyone 50 and younger at the level they have currently achieved. The 6.2% of pay employees contribute and the 6.2% of employer contribution to Social Security should be deposited in a Personal IRA account. That is 12.4% saved and invested every year, adequately funding personal retirement. | |||
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.
| Maintain Status | a) Agriculture | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Arts | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Defense | ||
| Greatly Decrease | d) Education | ||
| Greatly Decrease | e) Environment | ||
| Slightly Increase | f) Homeland Security | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) International aid | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Medical Research | ||
| Slightly Decrease | i) Scientific Research | ||
| Maintain Status | j) Space exploration | ||
| Greatly Decrease | k) United Nations | ||
| Greatly Decrease | l) Welfare | ||
| Eliminate | a) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Eliminate | b) Corporate taxes | ||
| Eliminate | c) Small business taxes | ||
| Eliminate | d) Excise taxes (alcohol) | ||
| Eliminate | e) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | ||
| Eliminate | 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 | ||
| We have to be willing to find and cut out waste. Removing this waste and diverting funds saved to worthwhile efforts or higher priority projects will eliminate the need for spending increases. We must first balance the budget then we must find additional savings to begin paying down our debt and increasing the value of the U.S dollar. | |||
| The American public has no idea how much they really pay in taxes. It is near 60% of our income. Our government uses deceptive tactics to hide taxes, embedding them in the cost of goods and services. I propose we implement the FairTax or a flat tax system, eliminating all hidden and embedded taxes. The amount of tax we pay will be clear. Congress retains the right to raise the tax rate but must answer to voters when doing so. Studies have shown a revenue neutral tax rate would be 23% sales tax on all NEW goods and services. | |||
| 1.)Secure our borders stopping the free flow of drugs, illegal immigrants and terrorists into our country. 2.)Ignite the U.S. economy by repealing job killing regulations like Dodd-Frank and EPA, OSHA and IRS regulations. Repeal Obamacare, cut spending and balance the budget. 3.)Restore the power of the Constitution and the separation of powers by removing the power of executive committees and agencies. Return the House to the people by retrieving the power of the purse and funding our government through individual appropriation bills instead of continuing resolutions. |
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