Jeffrey Leef's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Jeffrey Leef has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2018 Political Courage Test.
Illinois Congressional Election 2018 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| While I would not support overturning Rowe v. Wade, these political times more than ever require advocacy of the unborn (and born!) child. What starts out as policy created with the best of intentions, quickly degenerates into actions well beyond the pale. For example, abortion to save the mother's life has become abortions for women with gestational diabetes or depression. Do I agree that women are in charge of their own bodies? Of course. Should a woman be entitled to a late-term abortion for any reason other than an immediate life-saving measure? Absolutely not. | |||
| No | In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| No | In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing defense spending? | ||
| The current tax reform plan is a great head start. Also, I fully support increasing our military budget. However, I add 2 important caveats: 1. The Pentagon is still the government, i.e. wasteful and inefficient. before spending is increased, accurate accounting must be provided and ways sought to trim waste. 2. Tax cuts alone are insufficient. Eliminating redundant entitlements is mandatory. | |||
| No | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| Corporations and unions are organizations that are entitled to petition the governmental authorities and whose stockholders or members , through the corporation or union, can speak out on issues each support or oppose. That said, the Democratic narrative that corporations are evil or are any different than unions ( in regards to campaign donations ) is ludicrous. What is important is transparency. It is important , for example , for voters to know that while Danny Davis sits on the House Ways and Means Committee, he accepts donation from the very groups of which his legislature directly affects. | |||
| No | Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | Do you support lowering corporate taxes as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| During the entire Obama presidency, there was no consecutive quarters of 3% growth. In fact the average was less than 2%. This was a historic change compared to all other recoveries following a recession. Much of this was due to the heavy hand of our government and the highest corporate tax rates of any of the OECD countries. We are well on the way to seeing the positive effects of lowering the corporate tax rate. This will lead to jobs, increase pay and investment. Again, this is historical fact. | |||
| No | Do you support requiring states to adopt federal education standards? | ||
| Common Core is a failure. Period. Among its most ardent philosophical and financial supporters, Bill Gates, agrees: "The Gates Foundation has spent more than $400 million itself and influenced $4 trillion in U.S. taxpayer funds towards this goal. Eight years later, however, Bill Gates is admitting failure on that project, and a ?pivot? to another that is not likely to go any better." "?Based on everything we have learned in the past 17 years, we are evolving our education strategy,? Gates wrote on his blog . | |||
| No | Do you support government funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, thermal)? | ||
| No | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| Gradually increasing carbon tax on carbon dioxide emissions with the goal being to send a strong message to businesses and consumers regarding the need to address the scientifically proven aspects of climate change. Carbon dividends with all proceeds paid out on an equal and monthly basis to American taxpayers. Border carbon adjustments for imports and exports to protect American competitiveness and penalize countries who are neglectful of their global responsibilities. Significant rollback of the stifling number of regulations , diminishing the regulatory control of the EPA over carbon dioxide, as well as an outright appeal of the Clean Power Act. | |||
| Yes | Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| I strongly support a unified, federal background check for gun sales. I support this just as strongly as I support the Second Amendment. While it is true that our society is vastly different from when our founders first wrote the Constitution, what has not changed is the unique and precious right we as Americans have to maintain our personal freedoms. The goal is to reach an acceptable balance between the federal and state government?s role to protect its citizens while not infringing upon our constitutional rights. To achieve this, our founders established the three equal branches of government. | |||
| Yes | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")? | ||
| 1. Convert Medicare into an insurance program, covering catastrophic illness. 2. Create and expand low cost private insurance plans. 3. Establish and make readily available Universal Healthcare accounts, allowing individuals to save tax-free money for uncovered expenses. 4. Reform the Independent Advisory Board whose goal is to reduce payments to doctors and hospitals. 5. Give Medicaid patients the ability to drop their substandard coverage and obtain affordable private plans. 6. Create a voucher system in which the neediest can purchase a wide variety of plans | |||
| Yes | Do you support the construction of a wall along the Mexican border? | ||
| No | Do you support requiring immigrants who are unlawfully present to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
| This is not a simple yes or no answer. Immigration reform is complicated and must include border security, implementing E-verify, a pathway to citizenship with strict guidelines, eliminating the Visa lottery, and possibly a point system. It does not include amnesty without consequence. | |||
| No | Do you support the legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes? | ||
| True medicinal marijuana is an important tool in treatment of a variety of diseases and symptoms. While I am not morally against legalizing recreational marijuana, I am against putting the proverbial cart before the horse. Currently there is no cheap, reliable manner to test for marijuana levels for people driving a car (no breathalyzer). It is a known fact that it decreases reaction time. Secondly, the vast majority of current data regarding marijuana in the medical literature is with "old weed" The drug of today is far different and there are no large randomized trials testing their safety. | |||
| Yes | Should the United States use military force in order to prevent governments hostile to the U.S. from possessing a nuclear weapon? | ||
| Yes | Do you support increased American intervention in Middle Eastern conflicts beyond air support? | ||
| I answer "Yes" because these options should never be taken off the table. We are waging a war against global terrorism. It will never end because twisted Islamic jihadist ideology will always exist and rear its ugly head under a different name when its predecessor is destroyed. We can no longer allow the creation of vacuums in which evil will fill. This was the case, most recently, in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and Yemen. The failure of the Obama administration to renegotiate/demand a new SOFA agreement led to the expansion of ISIS. We always must be the world?s policeman. | |||
| Education - This is the foundation upon which all necessary change will be built. I will actively support School Choice, Charter Schools, and School Vouchers. Healthcare -Eliminating the individual mandate, is only the first of countless changes which need to be made to phase out Obamacare and phase in plans which , again, allow as much individual choice as possible while more effectively protecting those most in need. Term limits - I fully support current efforts to implement term limits. It is the most effective way to limit the adverse effects of Congressmen beholden to lobbyists. |
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