Dale Ogden's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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California Gubernatorial Election 2010 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | a) Do you consider yourself pro-choice or pro-life? | ||
| Yes | b) Should abortion be legal only within the first trimester of pregnancy? | ||
| Yes | c) Should abortion be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape? | ||
| Yes | d) Should abortion be legal when the life of the woman is endangered? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support requiring parental notification before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support requiring parental consent before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support sexual education programs that include information on abstinence, contraceptives, and HIV/STD prevention methods? | ||
| Yes | h) Do you support abstinence-only sexual education programs? | ||
| Although this issue is important to many people, I support the concept of keeping government OUT of personal moral decisions, including abortion, marriage, etc. | |||
1) State SpendingIndicate what state funding levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one level per category; you may use a number more than once.2) State TaxesIndicate what state tax levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one level per category; you may use a number more than once.3) Budget StabilizationIndicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing California's budget.
| Greatly Decrease | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | c) Environment | ||
| Eliminate | d) Health care | ||
| Greatly Decrease | e) Law enforcement | ||
| Slightly Increase | f) Transportation and highway infrastructure | ||
| Eliminate | g) Welfare | ||
| Greatly Decrease | h) Other or expanded categories | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | d) Gasoline taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | e) Property taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | f) Sales taxes | ||
| Eliminate | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | h) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| j) Other or expanded categories | |||
| No | a) Tapping into California's "rainy day" fund | ||
| Yes | b) Issuing the early release of certain non-violent offenders | ||
| Yes | c) Instituting mandatory furloughs and layoffs for state employees | ||
| Yes | d) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| Yes | e) Privatizing certain government services | ||
| Rail Systems are multi-billion dollar wastes of money. Buses and cars are more efficient forms of transportation. We need more highways, wider highways, well-maintained bridges and highways, and no more monuments to politicians with trains that few people use at phenomenal cost. We also need to eliminate most zoning laws and restrictions on private property use. Eliminate harmful, useless, and duplicate regulatory agencies. End the war on drugs; it causes more harm than the drugs and often corrupts law enforcement. Eliminate SWAT teams. Freedom works; let's try it. | |||
| Eliminate many agencies and reduce employees at most agencies. Reduce pensions for currently retired state employees to 1998 levels; increase retirement age from 55 to 65 or higher; lower yearly accruals for current employees back to the pre-1998 levels; reduce benefits actuarially for those who retire/retired younger than 65; eliminate lifetime medical after 5 years of employment (30 years + age 65); no double-dipping; no pensions for elected officials; move state employees into Social Security and reduce pensions equivalently; limit pensions to $80,000; lower all salaries and benefits to private sector levels; eliminate automatic seniority raises. Other stuff. | |||
e) Do you support limits on the following types of contributions to candidates for state government?
| No | a) Should California hold a constitutional convention to rewrite the state constitution? | ||
| No | b) Do you support changing the requirement for state budget passage from a two-thirds vote to a majority vote? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support limits on the number of terms for California governors? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support limits on the number of terms for California state legislators? | ||
| No | 1) Individual | ||
| No | 2) Political Action Committee | ||
| No | 3) Corporate | ||
| No | 4) Political Party | ||
| No | f) Should candidates for state office be encouraged to meet voluntary spending limits? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information? | ||
| You skipped government employee unions (private, voluntary, non-coercive unions are fine), the most corrupting influence on California politics. California is state government of the unions, by the unions, and for the unions. Public-sector unionism is collusive. States where public-sector unions are strong face enormous budget deficits and pension liabilities. The public sector has become a parasite sucking the life out of the private-sector economy. Public-sector unionism extracts money from taxpayers and puts it on a conveyor belt to the Democratic Party. Still, there should be no limits on such contributions; however, government employees should no be allowed to unionize. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support alternatives to incarceration for certain non-violent offenders, such as mandatory counseling or substance abuse treatment? | ||
| Yes | c) Should the possession of small amounts of marijuana be decriminalized? | ||
| No | d) Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | ||
| No | e) Should a minor who sends sexually-explicit or nude photos by cell phone face criminal charges? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| Capital punishment is appropriate for certain heinous crimes; however, I do not trust government NOT to execute innocent people; prosecutors are too focused on winning and not enough on truth and justice. Restitution (with penalties paid to the victim) is alternative for non-violent crimes. When minors commit crimes, even violent crimes, judges, not prosecutors, need discretion. Sometimes minors should be tried as adults; sometimes not. The criminal justice system should include the concepts of restitution and rehabilitation. Victimless "crimes" should not be crimes. Eliminate welfare, war on drugs, and most of the immigration problem will go away. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| No | b) Do you support increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers? | ||
| No | c) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | ||
| No | d) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support increased spending on infrastructure projects for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| No | f) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support suspending the sale of bonds that would finance the California high-speed rail? | ||
| The government is terrible at "creating" jobs. Get the government out of the way and let people figure out how to make a living. Eliminate useless and harmful regulations (which discriminate against small business) and many more people would become self-employed; many more would hire others to help them. It is too expensive and there is too much risk when hiring people in California. | |||
| No | a) Do you support national education standards? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support requiring public schools to administer high school exit exams? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support using a merit pay system for teachers? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| No | e) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| No | f) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from California high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| Parents should decide children's education. High schools should be accountable; exit exams help with that. Teachers' unions harm the education process; seniority pay increases and tenure should be eliminated. Parents should be given vouchers (or taxes eliminated) and choose where and how to educate their children. Private, competitive schools would be much better than charter schools. The higher education system has perpetrated a fraud on the public. Too many children waste time in colleges and universities who are not prepared for them and will not benefit from them. Many never even graduate. We need to get government out of education. | |||
| No | a) Do you support state funding for the development of alternative energy? | ||
| No | b) Do you support state funding for the development of traditional domestic energy sources (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil)? | ||
| No | c) Do you support providing financial incentives to farms that produce biofuel crops? | ||
| No | d) Do you support state funding for improvements to California's energy infrastructure? | ||
| No | e) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | ||
| No | f) Do you support enacting environmental regulations aimed at reducing the effects of climate change? | ||
| Anthropogenic global warming is a fraud perpetrated by a group of scientists and politicians who seek control over our lives. Get government out of the way and we will have plenty of energy. Sell off the government property and private owners will protect their land. Victims of pollution should be able to sue polluters. Government should not be a party to or beneficiary of such lawsuits. | |||
| No | a) Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| No | b) Do you support requiring background checks on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support allowing individuals to carry concealed guns? | ||
| No | d) Do you support requiring a license for gun possession? | ||
| Gun control is about control. There are dozens of states where a significant portion of the population can carry concealed weapons. In those states, violent crime has decreased. A person is far more likely to be shot by mistake by a trigger-happy law enforcement officer (especially SWAT teams, which should be eliminated almost entirely), than by an armed citizen. Morally, we all have the right of self-defense, and nothing is better than a hand gun for that purpose. The Supreme Court has recognized this right and politicians who keep trying to pass anti-gun laws are traitors and hypocrites. | |||
| No | a) Do you support the establishment of a single-payer, publicly-administered health care system for California? | ||
| No | b) Do you support a universally-accessible, publicly-administered health insurance option? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support expanding access to health care through commercial health insurance reform? | ||
| No | d) Do you support interstate health insurance compacts? | ||
| No | e) Should individuals be required to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| No | f) Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support legalizing physician-assisted suicide in California? | ||
| Yes | h) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| Let's try freedom. Health care financing was not a problem until government intervened. We do not have a rational insurance system. We need to eliminate favorable tax treatment of health insurance premiums and get government out of the health care financing business. | |||
| No | a) Should marriage only be between one man and one woman? | ||
| Yes | b) Should California allow same-sex couples to form domestic partnerships? | ||
| No | c) Do you support state funding for stem cell research? | ||
| No | d) Do you support state funding for embryonic stem cell research? | ||
| No | e) Do you support the state's use of affirmative action? | ||
| No | f) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in California's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | g) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in California's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| People should be free to live their lives as they choose. The government should stay out of such decisions. The government should not be funding stem cell research or any other medical research. The money is allocated politically and mostly wasted. People should also be free to associate with whom they choose and to hire and fire whom they choose. So-called "affirmative action" has become a spoils system for wealthy minorities. A female or black billionaire gets priority over a hard-working white male. It is morally wrong. People should make their own decisions and live with the consequences. | |||
| 1. Roll back spending to 1998 (or prior) levels by cutting thousands of employees and eliminating dozens of useless and harmful state agencies 2. lower taxes significantly and force the state to live within its means by permanently limiting growth in spending and taxes 3. make legislature part time; we already have laws against real crimes and do not need more and more laws that do nothing but grant favors to politically-connected individuals, groups or companies and try to micromanage the economy and our lives. Politics attracts bullies. We need only to pass a budget; repeal harmful and useless laws. |
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