William Rood's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
Official Position: Candidate addressed this issue directly by taking the Political Courage Test.
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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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William Rood did not provide voters with positions on key issues covered by the 2022 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.
Minnesota Congressional Election 2020 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| I oppose efforts to reverse Roe v. Wade. I don't think government should interfere or put any restrictions on the doctor-patient relationship during the first trimester. I oppose state efforts to place onerous or unnecessary requirements that impede a woman's choice or effectively limit that relationship. | |||
| Yes | In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| Yes | Do you support expanding federal funding to support entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare? | ||
| Yes. Current benefits must be maintained. They are mostly pre-paid by past FICA revenue which has been placed in the Social Security Trust Fund. That fund is invested in special-issue treasury bonds or certificates of indebtedness, both interest bearing. Any failure by the US Treasury to redeem those bonds when funds are needed or to default on interest would be theft from American citizens who pay FICA. | |||
| Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| I support a 28th Amendment to overturn Citizens United and allow strict regulation of political contributions by all artificial entities. | |||
| No | Do you support the protection of government officials, including law enforcement officers, from personal liability in civil lawsuits concerning alleged misconduct? | ||
| Eliminating liability for any person or entity creates "moral hazard," an incentive for that person to cut corners and damage others. | |||
| No | Do you support increasing defense spending? | ||
| I believe the Green Party proposes a 75% cut in defense spending, but I'd settle for just cutting it back to 1998 levels. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | Do you support providing financial relief to businesses AND/OR corporations negatively impacted by the state of national emergency for COVID-19? | ||
| Many large corporations have actually benefited from the emergency because their small business competition has been eliminated, plus the Fed is already authorized to bail our large corporations to the tune of several trillion dollars. I support relief for individuals and small business who have lost income as a result of lock downs etc. | |||
| No | Do you support requiring states to adopt federal education standards? | ||
| The federal government should only guarantee integration of publicly funded schools and non-discrimination in private schools. I support total repeal of NCLB. | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| Any subsidies of fossil fuels should be ended along with subsidies for renewable. | |||
| No | Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| I support background checks with no loopholes for gun shows or private sales. | |||
| No | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")? | ||
| Yes | Do you support requiring businesses to provide paid medical leave during public health crises, such as COVID-19? | ||
| All employees should provide paid sick days, but it's OK if they require a doctor's recommendation. Paid sick leave should be available at any time, not just during an epidemic. | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| While I said I oppose a wall, a fence with strict enforcement is fine. In general, undocumented immigrants should have to return home to apply for admission, though exception should be made for hardship or to avoid the breakup of families where spouse or children are US citizens. Valid asylum requests should be granted. They should be applied for within a week or two of entry. | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| US out of the Middle East. | |||
| No | Do you generally support removing barriers to international trade (for example: tariffs, quotas, etc.)? | ||
| Barriers should be removed only for countries with spotless human rights records. We should not be importing goods at all from countries who run death squads to kill union organizers. | |||
| 1) End foreign interventions including wars, proxy wars, color revolutions and unilateral sanctions (sanctions not imposed by the UNSC). 2) Pass a 28th Amendment clarifying that artificial entities created by governments are not people and do not have rights, and that money is not speech. Then implement campaign finance laws based on that. 3) End the war on drugs by legalizing natural substances and treating addiction medically. Note that 1) and 3) will save money and 2) won't cost anything either. |
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