David Perry's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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North Carolina State Legislative Election 2018 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | a) Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| Yes | b) Should abortion be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions? | ||
| If Roe v. Wade is overturned, I will stand up tall to defend the lives of unborn children in North Carolina. | |||
1) Budget Stabilization:Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing North Carolina's budget.
| No | a) Reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions? | ||
| No | b) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees? | ||
| No | c) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients? | ||
| No | d) An income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| I am for eliminating the state income tax, while allowing counties to impose up to a 3% county income tax. This way needless state programs can be eliminated, and counties can concentrate taxpayer money at the services actually needed on the local level. | |||
| No | a) Do you support any limits on campaign contributions to state candidates? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the use of an independent AND/OR bipartisan commission for redistricting? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| I believe that individuals and corporations should be free to contribute to political campaigns as they wish, with no limitations. Indirect contributions should be eliminated. The voters need to have a clear picture of who is contributing to what candidates, so they can make an informed choice at the ballot box. In the interim I would like to see a nonpartisan redistricting commission. However, the ultimate solution is to use our counties as districts, and to elect multiple representatives in populous counties. Voter ID just makes sense. | |||
| No | a) Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes? | ||
| No | c) Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | ||
| No | d) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| Morally, I have no problem with capital punishment for intentional murder. However, juries sometimes make mistakes, and therefore capital punishment should be eliminated. In addition, I believe that sentences of life without parole are abhorrent. Rotting in prison for a crime you didn't commit is even worse than dying for such a false verdict. I am pushing for statewide legalization of medical marijuana for now. At the same time, I would allow counties to decriminalize or legalize recreational marijuana on the local level. Children are not adults. Our state taxes should only be used for state law enforcement. | |||
| No | a) Do you support state government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support lowering state taxes as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support reducing state government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | ||
| No | e) Do you support requiring welfare applicants to pass a drug test in order to receive benefits? | ||
| No | f) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage of North Carolina? | ||
| Crony capitalism is abhorrent and contrary to the principles of free market capitalism. I wish to eliminate the state income tax, and localize taxpayer money and the services it pays for. I am for reducing needless regulations. However, I am for strengthening regulations that protect our life, liberty, and property from corporations that would steal those from us. Unemployment insurance should be ultimately privatized. I am for gradually eliminating welfare, but in the mean time I would not impose arbitrary restrictions on people receiving it. Minimum wages kill entry level jobs, and are not fair to skilled employees. | |||
| No | a) Do you support adopting federal education standards in North Carolina? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | c) Should immigrants unlawfully present in the United States who graduate from North Carolina high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support increasing funding for the state education budget? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support North Carolina's "Innovative School District" program? | ||
| Ultimately I believe that education in this state needs to be privatized for best results. While each child has guaranteed right to a publicly funded education (per our State Constitution), this funding should follow the child into any school their parents see fit to enroll them at. In the meantime, I believe that funding for public school education should be decentralized. Individual counties can better budget and manage the public schools in their locality. | |||
| No | a) Do you support state funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, thermal)? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support state government regulations of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing state funding for clean drinking water initiatives? | ||
| The development of all energy sources should be left to the private sector. That said, nobody has the liberty to pollute our shared environment, and this includes altering our climate through the release of unnecessary greenhouse gases. We also need a strong DEQ, that acts like a powerful watchdog organization against corporate polluters. We need to get rid of NPDES permits (poison permits). We need a DEQ that force corporations to pay for environmental cleanup, instead of laying that burden upon the taxpayer. | |||
| No | a) Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| No | b) Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows? | ||
| Yes | c) Should teachers be allowed to bring guns into the classroom? | ||
| No | d) Should a license be required for gun ownership? | ||
| Certainly, our gun rights include a right to hunt. Certainly, our gun rights include a right to self-defense and the defense of our family and property. This necessitates a right to not only keep and bear arms on our own personal property, but also in the public domain. I believe that no weapon should be banned to the general public that is not also banned for use by our civilian government. We must always maintain a deterrent and solution to possible tyrannical government rule. | |||
| No | a) Should the state government increase funding for treatment facilities to combat opioid abuse? | ||
| No | b) Do you support Medicaid expansion through North Carolina's health care programs? | ||
| No | c) Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support legislation that grants citizens the right to choose to die through euthanasia? | ||
| No | e) Do you support eliminating religious exemptions for vaccinations? | ||
| The best thing we can do to combat the opioid crisis is to legalize medical cannabis. Giving doctors and patients another option for treating acute pain will reduce the number of new addiction cases, and also help with treatment of existing addicts. Health insurance should all be privatized and marketed to the individual. Each individual could have an expanded HSA they could use to purchase the insurance. Employers and Welfare providers could contribute to this HSA. Insurance shouldn't be required. I am ok with euthanasia, so long as someone is sane. Vaccinations should NEVER be required! | |||
| No | a) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in North Carolina's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | b) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in North Carolina's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | c) Do you support greater efforts by North Carolina state government in closing the pay gap between men and women? | ||
| No | d) Do you support the removal of Confederate monuments from public spaces? | ||
| Our government should never discriminate against anyone, period. We don't need a bunch of protected classes. Private discrimination should be legal, so that good people know who the bigots are, and can use the power of the purse and social media to close them down. Laws against private discrimination do not get rid of discrimination. They merely mask it by forcing it underground. As for the pay gap, there should be none when it comes to government jobs. However, the government has no business dictating how private businesses pay their employees. Slavery was awful, but we need to preserve history. | |||
| My first priority would be to legalize medical cannabis at the statewide level. Too many people are dying from the opioid crisis, and medical cannabis would significantly drop the opiate addiction rate. This should be an easy victory, sonce 80% of NC residents support the idea, but we will have to fight politicians who are beholden to the big pharmaceutical companies. Secondly, I would propose a NC constitutional amendment to eliminate the state income tax, and replace it with a lower 3% county income tax. We can reduce needless waste, and empower counties to only provide needed services. |
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