Mark Palmer's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Mark Palmer has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2016 Political Courage Test.
South Carolina State Legislative Election 2016 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | a) Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| c.)This is a tough one. If it was proved that there was indeed a rape or incest (perpetrator identified), and the circumstances were such that the victim would be adversely affected /traumatized even more by keeping the baby, then I may support allowing such an exception by medical/psychological professional waiver. But she should be counseled by Pro-life counselors who would help her to see the innocence of the baby in all that had transpired. There should also be a prosecution for any criminal conduct that creates this predicament. | |||
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 | ||
| Yes | 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) | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Environment | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Health care | ||
| Slightly Increase | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Slightly Increase | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) Welfare | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | d) Small business taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | 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) | ||
| No | k) Do you support applying sales taxes to all online purchases? | ||
| Before any of the above options are exercised the state should evaluate tax exemptions that benefit some selected industries or businesses. (Government choosing winners and losers). We should evaluate all agencies and programs for their effectiveness and efficiency and evaluate them for retention, and to eliminate duplication of effort among programs. This would likely result in eliminating many government employees whose services are unnecessary. The budgeting process should be transparent and open so that the people may know how their government is working for them. There should be no votes hidden from the people. | |||
| b. Education is for teaching future generations, not a jobs program for adults. Too much of the money for education now goes to fund faceless administrators and bureaucrats in Departments of Education around the country - state and federal. f. I support increasing funding to Transportation and Infrastructure immediately because our current conditions will discourage business and industry from considering bringing their operations to South Carolina. Without that growth, we cannot improve our current standard of living. But in the long run, we need to eliminate the overhead in D.O.T. and improve efficiency. A comprehensive reorganization is necessary. | |||
| I am opposed to any tax increase that affects anyone until we have eliminated as much waste as possible using tools that are available. We might look at a Zero Based Budget analysis for some departments or agencies. Government already takes too much from the hard-working people to pay for programs that benefit special interests. There remains much work to be done restoring the government at all levels to where it should be. Government at every echelon must live within the boundaries established by the people it governs. | |||
a) Do you support limits on the following types of contributions for state candidates?
| Yes | 1) Individual | ||
| No | 2) Political Action Committee | ||
| No | 3) Corporate | ||
| No | 4) Political Party | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| Voters should always be required to present identification before being allowed to vote. Campaign funding should be transparent. Campaigns should be financed completely in the open. All donors and amounts should be known to the voters. | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| b.) Failure to comply with the counseling or treatment program should revert to original punishment/sentence. f.) Asset forfeiture (without due process) is clearly wrong and should cease immediately. Law enforcement jurisdictions should be clearly prohibited from the practice. | |||
| 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? | ||
| 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? | ||
| 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? | ||
| Point D: I support the notion of providing training/retraining for people displaced by vanishing industries, but it could be handled as a "student loan" to be forgiven upon 2 years of uninterrupted employment or repaid if the beneficiary fails to meet that requirement. Point G: I believe that if government got out of the way, job creation would come as a result of the entrepreneur spirit that lives within Americans. Free markets (as free as possible) are the best solution. Point H: Foreclosure is part of the free market. Government should protect people from criminal practices but not bad decisions. | |||
| 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 South Carolina high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| B. Merit pay that can go up or down might be a way to retain the best and remove the chaff. C. Tenure is not helpful towards removing the chaff. E. Those students should benefit from the taxes that their parents pay into the system. | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | 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: | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| b. I support such background checks provided they are fast, accurate and the record of a sale is not retained by any government agency and that no government agency can simply demand the retailer/seller to turn over records without a warrant. c. "...the right to keep and bear arms..." d. I support laws that prohibit felons from legally owning firearms. We need to enforce the laws on the books. | |||
| 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? | ||
| h) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| No | a) Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| No | b) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in South Carolina's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | c) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in South Carolina's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | 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: | |||
| Ethics reform - Legislators should have to report all sources of income and possible conflicts of interest...accusations of ethics violations should be investigated by committee or agency outside the legislature. Penalties for criminal violations should include criminal prosecution where malice and intent intersect. Rules reform in the Senate-Particularly eliminating the rule that permits stalling any legislation by a single opposing member. Department of Transportation Reform - Reorganize the leadership structure, eliminate the hurdles that require multiple committees to be involved before work can begin on projects. These priorities will not cost money, but rather save money. |
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