David Reed's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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David Reed has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2022 Political Courage Test.
Maine State Legislative Election 2022 Political Courage Test
| 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? | ||
| I do not support government funds going to abortions, unless the health of the mother is in danger. An organization may serve functions outside of abortion that may help with health and family planning. I will support Maines current limit on abortion (viability at about 19 weeks being the practical limit, as almost no abortions are performed after 20 weeks, 92% are done first trimester) as there can be little to no debate that after viability abortion is little more than murder. Protect pregnancy centers that help find other paths for mothers who may not want to have an abortion. | |||
| a) In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions? | |||
| No | b) Do you support raising taxes on any income or on any entity, to promote economic growth? | ||
| I would rather have fewer, higher quality, employees who are well paid and trained then a massive underpaid bureaucracy that would produce mediocre outcomes. So, I would not want to lower the salaries of state employees, but I would certainly not hesitate to fire the lowest performing employees if there was a budget deficit. Taxes do the opposite of creating economic growth. They generally slow it. There may be exceptions with certain multinational corporations with a stranglehold on their markets. There are also some areas within trade where tariffs are appropriate for building domestic industry and production. | |||
| a) Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | |||
| b) Should an individual under 18 accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | |||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| No | e) Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders? | ||
| ?Better that 10 guilty men escape than one innocent man suffer?- Blackstone If there is any reasonable hope of reform, a juvenile should not be put in an adult prison. Though capital punishment is certainly justifiable in certain circumstances, it is also irreversible. I have deep reservations about it. It should only be used in the clearest of circumstances. Private prisons tend to be extremely flawed. Imprisonment by the state is state business, not a private endeavor. Sentencing should be at the discretion of the judge. | |||
| a) Do you support state government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | |||
| Yes | b) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| No | c) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage of Maine? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support providing financial relief to businesses AND/OR corporations negatively impacted by the state of national emergency for COVID-19? | ||
| e) Do you support ending the sale of flavored tobacco products in Maine? | |||
| There may be some areas where government investment may be appropriate to develop or sustain important industries. This may also be used to attract large employers to the state. The minimum wage is unnecessary. Market forces have already caused massive increases in practical minimum wage, with many places now starting workers at $15 or more. Soon leftists will be asking for $25/hr minimum wage. If the state locked down businesses, the state is responsible for the losses. States should not lock down businesses. | |||
| No | a) Do you support adopting federal education standards in Maine? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| c) Do you support increasing teacher salaries AND/OR benefits in Maine? | |||
| No | d) Should immigrants unlawfully present in the United States who graduate from Maine's high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| Opposes critical race theory and anti racism as an educational framework, as it is just racism with a different spin. No students should be judged, given favor or detrimental treatment based on the color of their skin. CRT as an educational framework attacks a color blind society, and advocates for overt racial discrimination. Two wrongs don?t make a right. The answer to the racial discrimination of the past is not more racial descrimination in the present. Promote the trades as a viable option for advancement. Home economy, life skills, civics, basic computer science, and financial literacy should be required courses. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, geo-thermal)? | ||
| No | b) Do you support government regulations of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing state funding for clean drinking water initiatives? | ||
| Better nuclear tech would be a good investment. It?s cleaner (carbon wise) when compared to even some renewables. Wind an solar can be good in certain use cases, but have their own flaws. It would be nice to see the development of a wide range of alternatives to fossil fuel. We also need a state level plan to deal with PFAS. Preserving our wilderness is another important priority. It must be there for many future generations to enjoy. | |||
| a) Do you support the regulation of campaign contributions from corporations, unions, and individuals? | |||
| Yes | b) Do you support the use of an independent AND/OR bipartisan commission for redistricting? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| d) Do you support automatic voter registration? | |||
| Any form of automatic voter registration must have a way to prevent people who are unlawfully in the country from getting on the voter rolls. I am more concerned about campaign contributions from lobbyists and out of state entities. It would be good to lessen external influence on our state electoral process. | |||
| No | a) Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| b) Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows? | |||
| No | c) Should a license be required for gun ownership? | ||
| The current gun laws in Maine are working. We have the lowest violent crime in the nation. Voters rejected a similar measure to that proposed in b, such a measure should only be imposed by a state wide referendum. Our national gun issues are cultural, especially with young men feeling like they do not belong and turning to extremism or gang violence. We must take steps to culturally restore our nation, give us a greater sense of community, bring back competition, and not write people off because of their immutable characteristics. | |||
| Yes | a) Should the state government increase funding for treatment facilities to combat opioid abuse? | ||
| No | b) Do you support a government-run (single-payer) healthcare program such as Medicare-for All? | ||
| c) Should an individual have the right to choose to die through euthanasia? | |||
| No | d) Do you support eliminating religious exemptions for vaccinations? | ||
| e) Do you support expanding paid family AND/OR medical leave opportunities? | |||
| Yes | f) Do you support lowering the cost of prescription drugs? | ||
| C) Would have said yes several months ago, but after I have heard what has been happening in Canada I can no longer say I support this. If abused, it becomes a way for the state to murder its citizens. Unacceptable. I believe, in philosophical terms, that people have a right to control their bodies, and that they have the right to die if they desire. I cannot trust government not to abuse this. Maines family leave law is sufficient. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Maine's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Maine's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | c) Do you support greater efforts by Maine's state government in closing gender, racial and other wage gaps? | ||
| B. It?s already law. C. ?Wage gap? statistics have been one of the most flawed areas of research that I have ever seen. Most studies fail to even account for hours worked, the types of jobs, the effects of paid/unpaid leave, and so on. They are literally the total earnings of men and the total earnings of women who work full time. When other variables are controlled for (as any competent scientist would do) the wage gap ceases to exist. There are likely similar flaws with racial wage gap claims. | |||
| 1) Protecting Civil Liberties. Like free speech. 2) Keeping the government out of peoples personal lives. 3) Not wasting taxpayer dollars. 4) Giving school choice and backing parental rights in education. 5) LOWER TAXES FOR WORKING MAINERS AND SMALL BUSINESSES! | |||
| Getting spending under control and trying to reduce the size of the bureaucracy. With all the inflation and the fact that a massive portion of our spending is federal stimulus we really should do this sooner rather than later. Some of the more expensive items would be investment in clean energy research and development. I?d like to get the funding to do this by taking money away from climate consultants and bureaucrats and getting it to engineers and scientists. |
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