John Karlin's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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John Karlin has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2016 Political Courage Test.
Oklahoma 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? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | g) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for abortion procedures? | ||
| No | h) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions? | ||
| While I am pro-life in general, I am also pro-individual freedom and rights. When it comes to our own physical body, nothing could be more individual or personal. While pro-life in general, I believe the decision must be left to the immediate parties involved i.e. the mother, her doctor, the father. Never in history has the attempt to legislate morality had positive outcomes. The problem is, instead of being deeply personal, that what ever "morality" is comes to depend on who or what group is currently in power. | |||
1) Budget Stabilization:Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing Oklahoma'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 Oklahoma's "rainy day" fund | ||
| No | b) Decreasing funding for public universities | ||
| No | 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 | ||
| Greatly Increase | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Greatly Increase | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Greatly Increase | c) Environment | ||
| Greatly Increase | d) Health care | ||
| Greatly Increase | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Greatly Increase | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Greatly Increase | g) Welfare | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Small business taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | e) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Property taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) Sales taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | h) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | i) Income taxes (mid-income families) | ||
| Greatly Increase | j) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Yes | k) Do you support applying sales taxes to all online purchases? | ||
| Tax breaks, incentives, credits etc. for corporations are legalized extortion. There is not one shred of objective evidence that they produce jobs. Oklahoma is giving away to corporations and the well to do welfare to the tune of $1.7 Billion a year. The budget deficit was $1.3 Billion. All they had to do is suspend that $1.7 Billion in corporate welfare for one year. They could have balanced the budget and put $400 million back into the rainy day fund. Trickle down economics has never worked anywhere, it is a proven failure, over and over again. Trash it. | |||
| Moderately increase was not given as an option. My response was determined by not having this choice. The responses to these questions can not be taken as valid as limited response tends to bias response one way or another. All in all we need to increase funding across the board as all of these areas are essential to a strong, healthy, safe State with a decent and livable standard of life. | |||
| Taxes should be minimal for food and medicine. The elderly 65 years old or older should be exempt from paying taxes on food and medicine. | |||
a) Do you support limits on the following types of contributions for state candidates?
| Yes | 1) Individual | ||
| Yes | 2) Political Action Committee | ||
| Yes | 3) Corporate | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | e) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| The very foundation of a free society is free and open election of representatives in government. Any measure what so ever that would prevent, discourage or make difficult any citizen from being able to easily vote is completely contrary to what America is all about. It is flatly, Not American. | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| Crime and Public Safety in Oklahoma is costly, corrupt and a failure. The U.S. imprisons more people per capita than any other country in the world. Oklahoma is second in the States in incarceration. This stark fact demonstrates severe failure. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | b) Do you support lowering taxes as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | ||
| No | f) Do you support requiring welfare applicants to pass a drug test in order to receive benefits? | ||
| No | g) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| No | h) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| Yes | i) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage? | ||
| No | j) Should employers be able to ask about applicants' criminal history before interviewing them? | ||
| Trickle Down Economics the idea that you can increase revenue by cutting taxes mostly to corporations and the well to do is a failure. The notion that they will take this money and invest it in creating jobs which in turn would stimulate the economy and thus increase revenue, has proven time and again false. What they did with this welfare hand out was one of two things: 1. They hoarded it or 2. They invested it in job killing technologies. Mostly, they just hoarded it. Research has proven this over and over again. | |||
| No | a) Do you support the national Common Core State Standards initiative? | ||
| No | b) Do you support a merit pay system for teachers? | ||
| Yes | c) Is the tenure process for public school teachers producing effective teachers? | ||
| No | d) Should parents be allowed to use vouchers to send their children to any school? | ||
| No | e) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| Yes | g) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Oklahoma high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| Public education is a necessity for all aspects of a healthy, strong, stable and vibrant State. | |||
| Yes | 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 Oklahoma's energy infrastructure? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support government regulations of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support increased regulations of the hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") industry? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support implementing additional regulations on the oil-and-gas industry in an effort to reduce the number of earthquakes occurring in Oklahoma? | ||
| As declared by the Board of Directors of Duke Energy-the largest energy holding company in the U.S. in 2015: "Oil is an obsolete technology". China's demand for oil from OPEC has been cut almost in half in the last five years- they are converting to alternative energy. All Rockefeller family foundations have dumped their stock in EXXONMOBIL. The new Minister of Oil for OPEC says that they are going to maximum production even if they have to sell at $5 a barrel. Why? He said: "Oil is an obsolete technology." Writing on the wall! | |||
| Yes | a) Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| Yes | b) Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows? | ||
| No | c) Should citizens be allowed to carry concealed guns? | ||
| Yes | d) Should a license be required for gun possession? | ||
| I grew up hunting and was a member of NRA from the 5th grade through High School. I am a gun owner and a Veteran. I also, however am a reasonable, rational person. I also am not so selfish to think that I should be able to own any gun I want with no restrictions what so ever when, the cost is the lives of over 30,000 fellow Americans 3,000 of which are children and teenagers every year along with Billions of dollars in cost to our country. | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | c) Do you support interstate health insurance compacts? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| The U.S. is the only industrial country in the world that does not have free or near free universal health care for all of it's citizens. Also, the U.S. spends more money on health care than any of these countries and in many cases for less quality of health care. This is an unacceptable second class citizen status for our country. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Oklahoma's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Oklahoma's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | d) Based on the religious beliefs of the owners, should businesses be allowed to refuse services to their employees and/or customers? | ||
| "Religion and government will both exist in greater purity the less they are mixed together." James Madison. "Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law." "In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty." Thomas Jefferson. "The government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion." John Adams. "We establish no religion in this country. We command no worship. We mandate no belief, nor will we ever. Church and State are and must remain separate." Ronald Reagan. | |||
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