Mark Holbrook has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2016 Political Courage Test.
| Pro-choice | 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? | ||
| No | e) Do you support requiring parental notification before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| No | 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 could support the notion of parental notification before an abortion is performed on a minor, it very much depends on the situation the minor finds herself in. | |||
1) Budget Stabilization:Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing Wisconsin'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 Wisconsin'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) | ||
| Slightly Increase | c) Environment | ||
| Greatly Increase | d) Health care | ||
| Slightly Increase | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Slightly Increase | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Welfare | ||
| Slightly Increase | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Small business taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | f) Property taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Sales taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Slightly Increase | 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? | ||
| Rather than reducing benefits for public employees, we should be looking at ways to ensure that all of our citizens have the same or similar benefits through their employers. | |||
| In the case of welfare, I suggest no one should receive aid forever. Each individual should be afforded care while they are retraining and re-establishing employment whenever possible. Individuals with disabilities should receive aid to help them establish skills that are possible in spite of their disabilities. We should looks seriously into establishing a childcare network for children whose parents work at times when the child is not in school. The cost of this program should be a shared cost perhaps between families, employers and government. | |||
| Not much of a proponent for increases in gas/oil taxes, because these taxes fall most heavily on those with lower incomes who drive older vehicles that don't get very good mpg. I would favor increases in vehicle registration and licensing fees if they are based on the age and weight of the vehicle. Alcohol taxes in my state have certainly not kept pace with inflation and could easily be raised a bit. I feel property taxes are a terrible way to raise revenue, because they fall most heavily on those with fixed incomes. | |||
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? | ||
| In my estimation the only contributions to political candidate should be limited to individuals and only directly to the candidate. | |||
| 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? | ||
| g) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | k) Do you support the use of public funds for the construction of professional sports stadiums? | ||
| No | l) Do you support the enactment of right-to-work legislation? | ||
| b) Only to middle income and below. c) As long as they don't interfere with individual rights or protection of the environment. Reductions should focus on the reduction of complicating paper work and impediments to efficiency.d) Yes, but this should be shared responsibility with business. j) Not as long as the applicant has served their time as prescribed by the criminal justice system and paid any fines or forfeiture to the victims of their crime. | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Yes | 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 Wisconsin high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| e) if they are part of the public school system | |||
| 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)? | ||
| No | c) Do you support state funding for improvements to Wisconsin'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? | ||
| g) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | c) Should citizens be allowed to carry concealed guns? | ||
| No | d) Should a license be required for gun possession? | ||
| a) for the purpose of keeping guns out of the hands of those who have previously been convicted of violent crimes, minors, those suffering from certain psychological disorders, etc. I also think that certain precautions should be required for those who own weapons to ensure the safety of those who have access to those weapons. c) if properly licensed | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support interstate health insurance compacts? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| a) I believe a single payer system is the best possible method of providing for the health of the public. I believe the system could be administered by current health insurance providers, but that profit rates need to be set at reasonable levels. d and e) Under a single payer system this would be unnecessary since all would be covered. f) limits should insure that the monetary damage covers the cost of providing the care necessary of the individual given the extent of the injury. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Wisconsin's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Wisconsin's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| d) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| 1) Returning funding to public education, to include the University of Wisconsin system, and the curtailment of the voucher system. A well-educated workforce and an innovative, technologically driven university will create the growth necessary to support the quality of life citizens deserve. 2) The refurbishment of the state's infrastructure will not only improve our safety standards for transportation, but will put people back to work, and show the nation's business community that Wisconsin takes seriously its responsibility to create a good business climate and safe work environment. 3) Return local control to local communities: townships, cities and counties. |
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