Larry West's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Larry West has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2016 Political Courage Test.
Kentucky State Legislative Election 2016 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? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| Allowing minors to confidentially abort just makes it easier for paedophiles to get away with statutory rape. Those scum should be jailed so that no other children are attacked. I believe that life begins at conception, and that once a DNA different from the woman exists, it is no longer her body, but a brand new human being. | |||
1) Budget Stabilization:Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing Kentucky's budget.2) State Spending: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.3) State Taxes: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.
| No | a) Tapping into Kentucky's "rainy day" fund | ||
| Yes | b) Decreasing funding for public universities | ||
| Yes | c) Reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions | ||
| No | d) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees | ||
| No | e) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| Slightly Decrease | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Environment | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Health care | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Welfare | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | d) Small business taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | f) Property taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | g) Sales taxes | ||
| Eliminate | h) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | i) Income taxes (mid-income families) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | j) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| No | k) Do you support applying sales taxes to all online purchases? | ||
| The rules for pensions need to be made actuarially sound -- they aren't now. The way to solve the university problems is to temporarily remove "prevailing wage" legislation that causes construction costs to skyrocket and to require more examination regarding whether such new construction is really needed. I support Senator Seum's moratorium on tuition increases. | |||
| What we really need to do is look at the budget of the other 49 states. If less than half of the other states are not funding something we are funding, we ought to consider not funding it also. | |||
| In regards to the gas tax, we need to figure out exactly what maintenance is needed and what new construction is needed to compensate for population shift, and set the gas tax to the amount necessary, and not tag it to the sales price of gasoline, which may fluctuate so that occasionally the transportation cabinet has too much money, and occasionally not enough. Corporate taxes should be in such a way that employment in Kentucky will increase -- don't punish companies that put people to work. Kentucky ranks second in taxes for poor people. That needs to be changed. | |||
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 | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| There should be campaign spending limits, not donation limits -- one dollar per registered voter in a given district. If you cannot run your campaign frugally, how can you run the state frugally if elected? | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support delaying the seizure of assets by law enforcement officials until after a conviction? | ||
| Yes | g Do you support additional funding for programs intended to reduce drug addiction in Kentucky? | ||
| Medical marijuana should be legalized immediately -- you shouldn't have to tell a glaucoma patient that they have to go blind because someone misused a product that could help them see. Recreational marijuana should be local option, just as alcohol currently is. Growing marijuana needs to be heavily regulated so that there is no cross-pollination with industrial hemp. In regards to incarceration, the profit motive needs to be taken out of it so that judges are not encouraged to incarcerate people who could be helped by alternative methods. | |||
| No | a) Do you support government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support lowering taxes as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers? | ||
| No | e) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support requiring welfare applicants to pass a drug test in order to receive benefits? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| Yes | h) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| No | i) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage? | ||
| Yes | j) Should employers be able to ask about applicants' criminal history before interviewing them? | ||
| Yes | j) Would you support the enactment of statewide 'Right to Work' legislation? | ||
| Depends on the type of spending -- I generally think that LESS government spending and LESS government bureaucracy will encourage economic growth than more bureaucracy. Drug testing of welfare recipients should be random to lower costs. I favor a tax elimination on those making minimum wage to increase their take-home page rather than a wage increase which might force some employers to reduce employment. No one should be forced to join a union, but if one doesn't they should not get union benefits such as collective bargaining. | |||
| No | 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 Kentucky high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| Education is NOT mentioned in Article 1, Section 8, so the federal government should NOT be involved in setting standards for states. The state constitution states that no one "should be forced to send their child to any school to which they are conscientiously opposed." Anything the state can do to increase competition would work towards meeting this constitutional mandate. We need to find a way to help fund college students without giving a green light to raise college tuition, as it seems to happen now. | |||
| No | a) Do you support state funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, thermal)? | ||
| 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 Kentucky'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? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support increased regulations of the hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") industry? | ||
| The government should not play favorites and should let market forces drive energy development. If the federal government bans coal and/or other energy developed within Kentucky, I will push towards allowing such energy produced and consumed within Kentucky, bypassing the interstate commerce clause. | |||
| No | a) Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| 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? | ||
| What part of "shall not be infringed" do people not understand? | |||
| 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 ("Obamacare")? | ||
| 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? | ||
| Again, let the free market forces drive healthcare, without the government picking winners and losers. Insurance sales should be allowed across state lines. There needs to be some sort of malpractice insurance reforms, which is a glaring omission in ObamaCare. (Of course, it was written by lawyers, not medical professionals, so that is not surprising.) | |||
| No | a) Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| No | b) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Kentucky's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | c) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Kentucky's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| I do support civil unions, but "marriage" is a religious term, and government is supposed to be neutral regarding religion, not trampling on any religious beliefs. There should be NO special rights for any individuals. Since we live in an "at-will" state regarding employment, by banning any firing, we are granting those people special privileges others do not have. My main problem with the transgendered bathroom issue is not with the transgendered people, but the male heterosexual perverts pretending to be transgendered in order to get their jollies from women who would choose not to participate. | |||
| My top priorities: #1 Transparency in Government -- it�s really your money the government spends, we should have the same access to knowing what is spent as our own checking account. #2 Frugality in Government - reduce bureaucracy so that the state spends as little of the taxpayer's money as required. #3 Less Burdens by Government, More Freedom and Liberty. Eliminate outdated legislations. #4 Term limits in order to reduce the power of the state government officials No additional funding should be required -- the government takes too much of your money already. |
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