Joseph Seeman's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Joseph Seeman did not provide voters with positions on key issues covered by the 2024 Political Courage Test, despite repeated requests from Vote Smart and voters like you.
This candidate has responded to a Political Courage Test in a previous election. As a continued effort to provide the American public with factual information on candidates running for public office, these archived responses are made available here.
New York State Legislative Election 2020 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | a) Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support legalizing abortion when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape? | ||
| No | c) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions? | ||
| Research has shown clearly that we can eliminate most abortions by providing no-cost contraception. Instead of trying to criminalize women controlling their own bodies, I call on those who find abortion objectionable to join in this common sense policy, and dramatically reduce the number of abortions. | |||
| No | a) In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions? | ||
| Yes | b) In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| We can have a just budget, that does not cut from schools or other needed services, and doesn't take $ from working people, by simply reversing the decades of corrupt tax giveaways to the ultra-wealthy & make the richest 1% pay their fair share. I strongly support a Budget Justice agenda, see https://www.nybudgetjustice.com/mission | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support a limit 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? | ||
| No | d) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support automatic voter registration? | ||
| I have been a long time activist fighting for comprehensive campaign finance reform, taking on the corruption of big money in politics. I support measures that empower voters, not wealthy donors. This problems is connected to every other issue. I will fight for Democracy, not corporate Plutocracy! | |||
| No | a) Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| No | b) Should an individual under 18 accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | ||
| No | c) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| No | d) Do you support the use of private prisons in New York? | ||
| No | e) Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support eliminating cash bail for all crimes? | ||
| Our criminal justice system is ironically very unjust. Mass incarceration is devastating for communities of color, and a massive rip-off for all of us, especially private prisons. We must legalize, regulate & tax cannabis. We must spend more on education and preventing crime and less on incarceration. We must follow the biblical commandment of Leviticus 19:33-34 and treat immigrants with dignity as we do our own citizens. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support lowering state income taxes as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | c) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| No | d) Do you support requiring welfare applicants to pass a drug test in order to receive benefits? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage of New York? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support requiring employers to provide paid family leave? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support providing financial relief to businesses AND/OR corporations negatively impacted by the state of national emergency for COVID-19? | ||
| No | h) Do you support the legalization of mobile sports betting and wagering? | ||
| Instead of austerity, we must make the billionaires pay their fair share, not overtax working & middle class NYers. We must invest in a Green New Deal to put people back to work and create the Clean Energy economy of the future. Let's drug test politicians & CEOs of companies that take tax money, rather than poor people. Let's tie the minimum wage to inflation, so working people don't get the shaft. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support adopting federal education standards in New York? | ||
| No | b) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing teacher salaries AND/OR benefits in New York? | ||
| Yes | d) Should immigrants unlawfully present in the United States who graduate from New York high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| Charter schools are part of an effort to bust teachers unions, and should not be funded unless their teachers are unionized. Teachers should be paid well, because their job is so important. Again we should not mistreat immigrants, and we should welcome them, for they are what America & NY is all about. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, geo-thermal)? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support government regulations of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing state funding for clean drinking water initiatives? | ||
| Climate change poses an existential crisis. It is already causing terrible fires & hurricanes. We must take action bold enough to match the crisis. I strongly support a Green New Deal, and transitioning to 100% clean renewable energy, which also will bring good paying jobs that can't be outsourced, as a foundation for economic recovery. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| Yes | b) Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows? | ||
| No | c) Should teachers be allowed to bring guns into the classroom after passing gun safety training? | ||
| Yes | d) Should a license be required for gun ownership? | ||
| Keeping guns out of the hands of criminals, and common sense regulation in no way abridges the rights of law abiding gun owners | |||
| Yes | a) Should the state government increase funding for treatment facilities to combat opioid abuse? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support Medicaid expansion through New York's health care programs? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support requiring businesses to provide paid medical leave during public health crises, such as COVID-19? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support suspending rent payments for at least 90 days during public health crises, such as COVID-19? | ||
| I support Health Care for All. The NY Health Act would see that all of us have the healthcare we need, 98% of us would save money, and we would stop wasteful unnecessary corporate welfare for billionaire insurance companies, which is destroying our health care system. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in New York's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in New York's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support greater efforts by New York state government in closing the pay gap between men and women? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support requiring all public female-designated restrooms to provide free feminine hygiene products? | ||
| I strongly support equality for all people, all genders, orientations, etc | |||
| Equitable funding of our schools. Strengthening workers ability to form unions. Tax large campaign contributions and professional lobbying. Funding community policing with social workers and mental health professionals, instead of wasteful hyper-militarized policing. No more fossil fuel infrastructure. | |||
| a Green New Deal, building the Clean Energy economy of the future. Because we will create tangible assets to produce home grown energy, we can fund it through bonds that can be paid back with the money from the energy we save by not paying multinational corporations for fossil fuels. Also the NY Health Act would create health care for all, funded by stopping the corporate welfare wastefully paid to billionaire insurance companies. |
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