George Yacus' Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
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George Yacus has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2020 Political Courage Test.
Virginia Congressional Election 2020 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| Life begins at conception. The Bible condemns the taking of innocent life. Men and women have choices prior to conceiving a new human being, but at the point of conception that individual should be constitutionally protected. | |||
| Yes | In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| No | Do you support expanding federal funding to support entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare? | ||
| The tax increase should be for those in the bracket who are paying nothing. Every citizen should pay some kind of tax to fund government, even if it is only a small amount. A flat percentage for all would be fairer than our current progressive system, and at some point we should transition to a flat percentage for all, perhaps based on consumption. Our nation has established Social Security and Medicare, so these programs should continue at the current level of effort with no further expansion because they are barely sustainable as is. | |||
| No | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| The Supreme Court has found these contributions to be a form of free speech. Both parties benefit from the current system, though probably not equally. | |||
| No | Do you support increasing defense spending? | ||
| Our federal budget is out of control. The Department of Defense has trouble achieving a clean audit and has inherent waste like all the other departments. We should find cost savings, like getting out of Afghanistan. We have a reasonably high level of readiness right now with no inherent conflict in sight. | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | Do you support providing financial relief to businesses AND/OR corporations negatively impacted by the state of national emergency for COVID-19? | ||
| If the federal spending is targeted R&D (for example, better fracking or new battery technology which have paid us national dividends), then it will yield national return on investment. Other spending should only be for corporate loans that get repaid with interest. Corporate taxes have come down and are good where they are now. There is no constitutional basis for corporate charity, so loan programs with eventual repayment should be the only relief. Bailouts result in the government choosing winners and losers. | |||
| No | Do you support requiring states to adopt federal education standards? | ||
| The idea is attractive, but in practice this has been corrupted and leads to a program of national indoctrination. Standards could be generic (e.g., hours of math or language instruction), but I believe that the states and localities are the appropriate level of government to set standards because they are the closest to the students. This is not a federal function. | |||
| Yes | Do you support government funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, geo-thermal)? | ||
| No | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| Having worked at DOE for the past 6 years, I have seen great advances in R&D that have improved America's energy system, especially in fossil fuels. As long as it is structured R&D in national labs and not handouts to companies, then we can benefit nationally from new technology. I do not want to see any regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, as it is not settled science at all and is unproven theory. | |||
| No | Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| Criminals don't obey laws, so they will have guns regardless. Forcing law abiding citizens to give up their constitutional rights to keep and bear arms is not productive. More gun control makes us less safe. We benefit from having armed citizens protecting each other, and when an active shooter or terrorist is shooting at me, I want armed citizens with guns available if the police are not there to respond. As a nation, we do not benefit from more gun control and it makes us less safe. We currently have adequate controls and laws, and more is not better. | |||
| Yes | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")? | ||
| No | Do you support requiring businesses to provide paid medical leave during public health crises, such as COVID-19? | ||
| Medical care is not an express or implied constitutional power. Government should not be involved in health care other than Medicare and Medicaid and FDA and VA functions. Government intervention requiring paid medical leave will just put more businesses out of business. Generally speaking, less government regulations on business is better. | |||
| Yes | Do you support the construction of a wall along the Mexican border? | ||
| Yes | Do you support requiring immigrants who are unlawfully present to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
| This is a majority view of our citizens. Build the wall. It yields a strong return on investment on both security, crime, social costs, and the war on drugs. Illegal immigrants are breaking the law and should not be rewarded for their bad behavior. Return them to their country of origin and let them formally apply for citizenship. | |||
| Yes | Should the United States use military force to prevent governments hostile to the U.S. from possessing a weapon of mass destruction (for example: nuclear, biological, chemical)? | ||
| Yes | Do you support reducing military intervention in Middle East conflicts? | ||
| If a rogue state attains WMD capability, it puts the United States population at risk and severely reduces our ability to defend against it. Non-proliferation is a powerful strategy, and we should use diplomacy and sanctions to the maximum extent before engaging military force. We should support and defend Israel, but should avoid military engagement in Middle East conflicts. | |||
| No | Do you generally support removing barriers to international trade (for example: tariffs, quotas, etc.)? | ||
| Several years ago I would have answered yes, but I now see that the United States is not playing on a level field and must engage in tools such as tariffs and quotas to create balance. Foreign countries use subsidies and quotas and currency devaluation and don't protect intellectual property, so the only way we can promote domestic production and ensure availability of products for our national security and also prevent large trade imbalances is to use these tools with carefully-tailored bilateral trade agreements. | |||
| Business, borders, and budget. A favorable BUSINESS climate in Hampton Roads is what my constituents expect, and a strong economy means jobs, better quality of life, low unemployment, and more tax revenue to run our government (instead of higher taxes). BORDERS implies reduced threat of crime, less terrorism, less of a drug problem, and more jobs for our own workers. We need to get our federal BUDGET under control, because our spending is driving us towards national bankruptcy and inflation is reducing the value of everyone's savings. Let's stop wasteful spending, balance the budget, and stop mortgaging our future. |
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