Merrilee Wineinger's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
Official Position: Candidate addressed this issue directly by taking the Political Courage Test.
Inferred Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, but Vote Smart inferred this issue based on the candidate's public record, including statements, voting record, and special interest group endorsements.
Unknown Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, or we could not infer an answer for this candidate despite exhaustive research of their public record.
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Merrilee Wineinger has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2018 Political Courage Test.
Tennessee Congressional Election 2018 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| No one is in favor of abortion, and as a reverend with the United Methodist Church, I have walked with women as they wrestled with the difficult decision of whether or not to have an abortion. My role is to walk with her without bias or judgment, and I want to carry those same principles to Washington DC. I believe women have a right to control their own bodies, and as a Congresswoman, I would support legislation that ensures that a decision involving abortion is made only between a woman, her doctor, and her God. | |||
| Yes | In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| Yes | In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing defense spending? | ||
| With the most recent Republican tax bill, the middle class received a much needed tax cut. What Republicans failed to mention was the tax cut for the middle class expires in 10 years while corporations, big banks, and the 1% enjoy their tax break indefinitely. I believe the middle class should not subsidize tax relief for those who least need it. Thus, I am in favor of solidifying the middle class's tax break, extending it indefinitely while also reverting the tax rate for corporations, big banks, and the 1% back to the rate they paid in 2016. | |||
| Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| Yes | Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | Do you support lowering corporate taxes as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| The recent Republican tax bill has proven that cutting corporate taxes will not stimulate economic growth. Instead of prompting the wage growth and increased investment that Republicans promised, the GOP tax bill has instead made corporations, big banks, and the 1% even wealthier. Instead of investing money in their workers, corporations have been recording record high profits and have been buying back stock; these moves only make the rich richer. Americans have seen, once again, that corporate tax breaks do not yield economic growth. Therefore, I do not support them. | |||
| Yes | Do you support government funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, thermal)? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| The Trump administration has bulldozed environmental protections in the name of economic growth. Our economy simply cannot function without clean air and water. Since pollution does not respect borders, the federal government must play a role in ensuring our water is clean and our air is pure. Economic growth is important. However, it should not be prioritized over our environment. As the proverb goes, "Hold your breath and count your money: Then tell me which is important." I support federal regulation of greenhouse emissions and investment in renewable resources. This will preserve our environment and support a new energy economy. | |||
| Yes | Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| I am a believer in the Second Amendment. I am not anti-gun; I am pro-gun safety. I believe everyone has the right to own a gun for hunting and self-protection. However, I believe that assault weapons should be banned because they have one purpose and one purpose alone, to kill as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time. | |||
| No | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")? | ||
| One of the main reasons I am running for office is to protect your access to affordable, high-quality healthcare. Since its inception, I have fought to pass and keep the Affordable Care Act as the law of the land. As a Congresswoman, I will protect and fix the ACA with its 10 essential benefits. I will oppose "sham" plans that will not cover pre-existing conditions or could suddenly deny you completely. | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| I do not support requiring immigrants to return to their home nation before they are eligible for citizenship. With over 11 million undocumented individuals in the US currently, requiring each to return to their country of origin would be a logistical nightmare and would be one of the largest mass migrations in human history. We have seen how inefficient immigration bureaucracy can be with the Trump administration's family separation policy. I do not want to use Americans' tax dollars to fund a herculean task that has little chance of actually succeeding. | |||
| Unknown Position | Do you support the legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes? | ||
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| As a Congresswoman, I will support a return to the policy of President Obama's Department of Justice. Under the Obama administration, each state was allowed to experiment with marijuana legalization through their own means. While states like Colorado and Washington legalized recreation marijuana, other states legalized medical marijuana, and the rest have not changed course. In America, states are the laboratories of democracy, and I believe the issue of marijuana legalization is a choice best left to the states and their citizens. | |||
| Yes | Should the United States use military force in order to prevent governments hostile to the U.S. from possessing a nuclear weapon? | ||
| No | Do you support increased American intervention in Middle Eastern conflicts beyond air support? | ||
| As a Congresswoman, I know that the most difficult decision I would ever be forced to make is deciding whether to declare war on a foreign nation. For the past 17 years, countless mothers, fathers, spouses, and children have seen their loved ones shipped abroad to support military missions in the Middle East. My grandson's dad served three combat tours in Afghanistan, so I understand the sacrifice that military families make as well as the anxiety. Only if our mission is just and priorities clear will I ask military families to give up their loved ones to serve in war. | |||
| I am running to protect Americans' access to affordable, high-quality healthcare and to protect American' hard earned Medicare and Social Security, to increase gun safety, so our children and grandchildren do not have to be afraid to go to school, and to open up economic opportunities for hard-working families. These issues are more about our federal government's priorities than increasing spending. By ensuring our executive spends appropriated money to stabilize healthcare markets, increase wages, and cut expensive pharmaceutical costs, these programs will not force the federal government to ask its constituents for more of their hard-earned dollars. |
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