Chris Batsche has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2016 Political Courage Test.
| Pro-life | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| Abortion should only be allowed in circumstances where the mother's life is in danger, in cases of reported/verified rape, and incest. | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| We need to implement a Zero Based Budget format. Then there needs to be accountability in government spending. | |||
| No | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| How a company chooses to spend its money is none of our business! We need to spend less time worrying about others and more about ourselves. | |||
| 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? | ||
| We have a drug problem! But rather than help these people get better, the idea is that we should administer controlled amounts of whatever drug. We need to make counseling free. What addict has the money to spend on a rehab, or a sponsor. We need to HELP people not enable them! | |||
| 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? | ||
| We need to be creating programs that actually help the economy and small business owners, not just the big corporations. I am currently working on a program that will do just that. | |||
| No | Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants? | ||
| The federal government needs to get out of education and turn it back over to the states and local districts. The only role they should play is to assist in the needs of the districts, not dictate them. | |||
| Yes | Do you support building the Keystone XL pipeline? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| We need to be encouraging job growth, and sustainable energy options. More red tape and obstruction helps no one! | |||
| No | Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change? | ||
| No | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| The Global Warm..., no Climate Disrupt..., uh I mean Climate Chan..., heck whatever they call it now is a BILLION dollar a year industry. Scientist can't even agree on it! Climate changes, end of story!! | |||
| No | Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| 'SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED'!!!!! No need to say anything else! | |||
| Yes | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")? | ||
| The ACA has done more to hurt people and businesses! We've seen how well government run programs work. Why should we be letting them be in charge of our healthcare?! | |||
| Yes | Do you support requiring illegal immigrants to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
| I support returning ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS to their country and not being eligible for citizenship. They have show they have no regard for our laws. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. | |||
| No | Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| Personally, I do not. However, it should be left up to the individual states. Let the voters decide. | |||
| 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? | ||
| We need to protect our sovereignty! Allowing an enemy to obtain the weapons to destroy us is careless and irresponsible. | |||
| Yes | Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts? | ||
| Social Security was meant to be an option, not a mandate. Again, how well have the other government programs worked? They have already changed to using Social Security Funds in the General Funds. It's not the governments money! | |||
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 Increase | a) Agriculture | ||
| Greatly Decrease | b) Arts | ||
| Greatly Increase | c) Defense | ||
| Greatly Decrease | d) Education | ||
| Greatly Decrease | e) Environment | ||
| Greatly Decrease | f) Homeland Security | ||
| Greatly Decrease | g) International aid | ||
| Greatly Increase | h) Medical Research | ||
| Greatly Increase | i) Scientific Research | ||
| Slightly Increase | j) Space exploration | ||
| Eliminate | k) United Nations | ||
| Greatly Decrease | l) Welfare | ||
| m) Other or expanded categories | |||
| Eliminate | a) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | b) Corporate taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | c) Small business taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | d) Excise taxes (alcohol) | ||
| Slightly Increase | e) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | f) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | h) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | j) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Eliminate | k) Payroll taxes | ||
| l) Other or expanded categories | |||
| 1. Getting the power back to the States as the Constitution was written. 2. Term Limits. I have a bill ready to go on day one for term limits. This wasn't meant to be a career! 3. Accountability in government. We are held to laws, our federal government should be as well. I have another bill (still in the works) regarding officials who violate laws or the Constitution. |
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