Bobby Green 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? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| 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? | ||
| I believe in every woman's Right to Privacy. | |||
1) Budget Stabilization:Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing South Carolina'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 South Carolina'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 | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Greatly Increase | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Slightly Increase | c) Environment | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Health care | ||
| Slightly Decrease | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Greatly Increase | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Welfare | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Small business taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | e) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Property taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Sales taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | i) Income taxes (mid-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | j) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Yes | k) Do you support applying sales taxes to all online purchases? | ||
| All sales tax exemptions should be permitted to expire(Sunset Provision). No more "Christmas Tree Ornaments" on unrelated legislation. The gas tax has not been increased, I believe since 1987. Using the Rule of 72 that means that the inflation adjusted revenue dollars in 2016 dollars are about 45 cents. Once we fact0or in better fuel economy for today's cars we can reasonably conclude we are spending between 25 and 30 cents/1987 dollar. No wonder our roads,bridges and storm drains are a mess. Spend dollars more wisely. If you are happy with your taxes don't vote for me! | |||
| I support criminal justice reform. We cannot lock folks up for decades and expect them to emerge from prison as productive citizens. We cannot spend more on prisons than schools. Criminal justice is both a deterrent and a matter of public safety. We must find the balance between the two and ask our wardens to identify those inmates they believe to be of no threat to society and let them go. Save the huge cost of incarceration and transfer to vocational and technical education. We should also decriminalize some offenses and/or greatly reduce the sentencing guidelines. | |||
| Property Taxes: Act 388 is not working, especially in coastal communities. We need to address this failing system for school funding and the general fund. Sales Taxes: We must "sunset" the myriad sales tax exemptions and require that they stand on their merits. Revenue would increase dramatically with no increase in sales taxes. The gas tax should be adjusted for inflation from 1987 to the present( 3% annually). | |||
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? | ||
| f) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Re: Seizure of assets; assets that cannot be removed or hidden should not be seized prior to conviction. | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| Yes | j) Should employers be able to ask about applicants' criminal history before interviewing them? | ||
| Government spending to promote job growth is very risky. Between 2010 and 2015 70% of the jobs created were in 50 of the country's 1,371 counties. Much of politicians spending for job creation is either a huge waste of taxpayer's money or very ineffective. Re: Lowering taxes to promote economic growth. S.C. must be competitive with other states. Raising taxes can slow growth and discourage investment. Minimum Wage: we are fortunate that other states have already gone the $15 route. We will soon know many jobs if any, are lost and how federal benefits are adjusted to reflect higher wages. | |||
| 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? | ||
| 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 South Carolina high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| I am not sure about common core. | |||
| 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 South Carolina's energy infrastructure? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | ||
| No | e) Do you support government regulations of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| Background checks are important to ID those who should not own a weapon. I oppose "open carry" and support CWP. I do not understand why assault weapons should not be reasonably restricted. | |||
| 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")? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Monetary limits for malpractice cases sounds tempting but I do not know how it will be done. The dangers are almosy as scary as the current system. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in South Carolina's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in South Carolina'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? | ||
| e) Other or expanded principles: | |||
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