Guy McLendon's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Official Position: Candidate addressed this issue directly by taking the Political Courage Test.
Inferred Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, but Vote Smart inferred this issue based on the candidate's public record, including statements, voting record, and special interest group endorsements.
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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Other or Expanded Principles & Legislative Priorities are entered exactly as candidates submit them. Vote Smart does not edit for misspelled words, punctuation or grammar.
Issue Positions
For Presidential and Congressional candidates who refuse to provide voters with their positions, Vote Smart has researched their public records to determine their likely responses. These issue positions are from 2022.
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- Despite exhaustive research, Vote Smart was unable to find information about this candidate's position.
- Despite exhaustive research, Vote Smart was unable to find information about this candidate's position.
- Despite exhaustive research, Vote Smart was unable to find information about this candidate's position.
- Despite exhaustive research, Vote Smart was unable to find information about this candidate's position.
- Despite exhaustive research, Vote Smart was unable to find information about this candidate's position.
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.
| Yes | In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing defense spending? | ||
| No | In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| In a list of the nations ranked by spending on military costs, the US is the #1 spender. Our taxpayers are burdened to pay as much as the following nations combined: China, Saudi Arabia, Russia, UK, India, France, Japan and Germany. All that spending does not make our citizens safer. | |||
| Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| Banks and other financial institutions should be prohibited from spending depositor's money on political campaigns. | |||
| Yes | Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| Yes | Do you support alternatives to incarceration for certain non-violent offenders such as mandatory counseling or substance abuse treatment? | ||
| No | Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders? | ||
| Non-violent drug users are not criminals. Anyone previously convicted of a non-violent drug related crime should generally be released from prison, and their records cleared. Application of capital punishment should be applied only to heinous crimes, and should require an ultra-high burden of proof. My main reluctance regarding use of capital punishment is that I'm skeptical about the integrity & competence of public officials. | |||
| No | Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | Do you support lowering taxes as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | Do you support providing tax incentives to businesses for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| Taxes should be lowered in conjunction with a reduced scope of government. Government granting tax favors leads to corruption. Taxes should generally be uniform & low without giving public officials the opportunity to sell tax favors for their own personal gain. | |||
| No | Do you generally support requiring states to adopt federal education standards? | ||
| The federal government should have no involvement in the state educational systems. | |||
| Yes | Do you support building the Keystone XL pipeline? | ||
| No | Do you support government funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, thermal)? | ||
| Do you support increased regulations on the hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") industry? | |||
| Government does have a legitimate role in protection of the environment. Prior to determining whether current regulations on the fracking industry are adequate, I'd need to review the existing regulations in detail. | |||
| No | Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| People have a natural right to defend themselves. | |||
| Yes | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")? | ||
| Government involvement in the marketplace is what caused high prices, so more of the same won't fix the problem. Politicians rarely admit they are the root cause of the problem. | |||
| No | Do you support requiring immigrants who are unlawfully present to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
| I support Gary Johnson's work visa proposal. | |||
| No | Do you support increased American intervention in Iraq and Syria beyond air support? | ||
| No | Should the U.S use military force in order to prevent governments hostile to the United States from possessing a nuclear weapon? | ||
| The US should not be involved in nation-building, and policing the world. All nations have the same right as the US to defend themselves from aggression, and having nuclear weapons enables other nations to resist being bullied by such nations as the US & Russia. | |||
| Yes | Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts? | ||
| In fact, individuals should be able to opt-out of the social security system entirely. | |||
SpendingIndicate what federal spending levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one number per category; you can use a number more than once.TaxesIndicate what federal tax levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one number per category; you can use a number more than once.
| Greatly Decrease | a) Agriculture | ||
| Greatly Decrease | b) Arts | ||
| Greatly Decrease | c) Defense | ||
| Eliminate | d) Education | ||
| Greatly Decrease | e) Environment | ||
| Slightly Decrease | f) Homeland Security | ||
| Eliminate | g) International aid | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Medical Research | ||
| Maintain Status | i) Scientific Research | ||
| Maintain Status | j) Space exploration | ||
| Greatly Decrease | k) United Nations | ||
| Greatly Decrease | l) Welfare | ||
| Eliminate | a) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Small business taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Excise taxes (alcohol) | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) | ||
| Eliminate | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | h) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | j) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Eliminate | k) Payroll taxes | ||
| The scope of federal government should generally be limited to the roles enumerated in the US Constitution except that a few new powers need to be added. For example, some federal regulatory oversight is needed to manage communication frequencies, and the founders of our nation had no way to anticipate that new technological challenge. The development of nuclear power presents a similar need for a new enumerated power. | |||
| Legitimate powers of the federal government do require a source of funding. My intention above is to first eliminate those taxes that presume the government essentially can claim ownership title to a fraction of a human's life. So, my first preference is to eliminate the individual income tax, and taxes that enable the government to invade the privacy of taxpayers. | |||
| Balance the budget via reduced spending. Support the troops by bringing most of them back home, and change US foreign policy: end practice of nation building, and policing the world. End the federal war on drugs, and manage drug abuse as a public health issue rather than a criminal justice system issue. |
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