Barry Michaels' Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
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.
Additional Information: Click on this icon to reveal more information about this candidate's position, from their answers or Vote Smart's research.
Other or Expanded Principles & Legislative Priorities are entered exactly as candidates submit them. Vote Smart does not edit for misspelled words, punctuation or grammar.
Barry Michaels has failed to provide voters with positions on key issues covered by the 2018 Political Courage Test, despite repeated requests from Vote Smart and voters like you.
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 2018.
- Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? "Pro-Choice". (votesmart.org)
- In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? "No". (votesmart.org)
- In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing defense spending? "No" (votesmart.org)
- Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? "Yes" (votesmart.org)
- "Creating jobs can be simple, my plan calls for the government to issue a new type of savings bond (possibly: USA BizBonds) used exclusively to finance small businesses and create jobs. The bonds would be available in different denominations at any FDIC bank or other financial institution. Each bond would yield a reasonable rate of return which would be preset for a period of 5 â 10 years." (barryforussenate.com)
- 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.
- "I also believe in exploring all alternative methods of clean energy" (barryforussenate.com)
- Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? "Yes" (votesmart.org)
- "I believe in the Second Amendment like I do all the other amendments, but I also believe there can be restrictions as to the type of weapons available without conflicting with oneâs constitutional rights." (barryforussenate.com)
- "There are things we should do to reduce the number of "mass" shootings and there are things we can do that may be of some help. To begin with we should ban future sales of high capacity magazine clips and military style rapid fire assault type weapons (with a suitable buy back provision for existing ones). I recognize this alone will not solve the entire problem but will provide the biggest piece of the much complicated problem. Mental illness is a big problem but unfortunately one that will not be solved overnight." (barryforussenate.com)
- "Since I first ran for office in 2005, I have promoted a plan to modify Medicare and require everyone under the age of retirement to "buy" into the program through their payroll deduction tax." (barryforussenate.com)
- "Since Iâm currently on Medicare I have personal knowledge of the program and I believe itâs simple and most of all it will work well for all Americans. Not only would you be covered for pre-existing conditions but you could also purchase a supplemental plan for even better coverage, if they so desire." (barryforussenate.com)
- Despite exhaustive research, Vote Smart was unable to find information about this candidate's position.
- "For all of the above, I believe we need to develop a plan which leads to legalization and eventually citizenship." (barryforussenate.com)
- "It's my opinion that the only way to eliminate illegal drugs is to take the money out, legalize, tax and regulate them." (barryforussenate.com)
- "Letâs begin slowly with marijuana, many states have already legalized it in one form or another, however it remains illegal under federal law. Itâs time to change that NOW!" (barryforussenate.com)
- Should the United States use military force in order to prevent governments hostile to the U.S. from possessing a nuclear weapon? "No". (votesmart.org)
- "Iâve always been against both the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. I believe you can not kill an ideology with the barrel of a gun. However, I do believe the more the U.S. is involved militarily, the more we help promote ISIS ideology and terrorism attacks within our own borders." (barryforussenate.com)
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.
| No | 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? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| Yes | Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | Do you support lowering taxes as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | Do you support providing tax incentives to businesses for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| Yes | Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants? | ||
| No | Do you support building the Keystone XL pipeline? | ||
| Yes | Do you support funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, thermal)? | ||
| No | Do you support increased regulations on the hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") industry? | ||
| Yes | Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| No | Do you support requiring illegal immigrants to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
| No | Do you support targeting suspected terrorists outside of official theaters of conflict? | ||
| No | Should the U.S use military force in order to prevent governments hostile to the United States from possessing a nuclear weapon? | ||
| No | Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts? | ||
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.
| Slightly Decrease | a) Agriculture | ||
| Slightly Decrease | b) Arts | ||
| Slightly Increase | c) Defense | ||
| Greatly Increase | d) Education | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Environment | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Homeland Security | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) International aid | ||
| Slightly Decrease | h) Medical Research | ||
| Slightly Decrease | i) Scientific Research | ||
| Greatly Decrease | j) Space exploration | ||
| Maintain Status | k) United Nations | ||
| Maintain Status | l) Welfare | ||
| m) Other or expanded categories | |||
| Slightly Increase | a) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | 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) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Greatly Increase | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | j) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | k) Payroll taxes | ||
| l) Other or expanded categories | |||
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