Paul Lange's 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.
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Paul Lange has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2022 Political Courage Test.
Illinois Congressional Election 2022 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| A woman's right to choose and to make medical decisions for herself was taken away by an activist court that threw away decades of precedent for the personal social agenda of a few justices. | |||
| Yes | Do you support expanding federal funding to support social safety net programs such as Social Security and Medicare? | ||
| Social security and medicare must be preserved. All those that paid in should never doubt that they will get the funding and support essentially guaranteed. | |||
| Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations,unions, and individuals? | ||
| yes. Citizens United was a disastrous event forced upon America that degraded our democracy when the Supreme Court in an extraordinary act of shortsighted rhetoric declared that corporations were essentially people with rights accorded to the corporation. | |||
| No | Do you support the protection of government officials, including law enforcement officers, from personal liability in civil lawsuits concerning alleged misconduct? | ||
| Accountability must be preserved. | |||
| Yes | Do you support increasing defense spending? | ||
| When needed and not solely for the purpose of getting funding to specific localities. | |||
| Yes | Do you support federal spending 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? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the federal government taking action, beyond those of the Federal Reserve, to alleviate inflation? | ||
| All of the above are worded as absolutes. Federal spending on infrastructure will create new jobs that pay well. Financial relief to corporations must be regulated to assure that money is not wasted on large corporations that can't really justify their need. Federal action to lower inflation such as a windfall profits tax on oil companies would help with inflation. To say all federal government action would be acceptable is too broad a statement. But of course, any viable option that would help Americans survive and thrive during inflationary times should be discussed. | |||
| Yes | Do you support the forgiveness of federal student loan debt? | ||
| A lot of money from federal student load debts go to large banks overcharging on interest rates while making refinancing of federal debt almost impossible for many. Funds from forgiven debt, instead of going to large banks could go towards buying goods and services, thus reinvesting in the economy. Recent cost estimates did not discuss the reinvestment of the forgiven debt back into the economy thus lessening the cost. Studies show debt relief would have almost no effect on inflation. | |||
| No | Do you support requiring a government-issued identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| Claims of massive voter fraud are in fact, fraudulent. There are anecdotes, but anecdotes do not constitute a crisis and are not justification for creating challenges for people's ability to vote. States like Alabama closed DMV offices in areas with minority population. The effect of those closings was to make it difficult for certain groups to get necessary ID's. Voting should be encouraged and enabled and never inhibited. | |||
| Yes | Do you support government funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, geo-thermal)? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| We have a responsibility to the next generation to amend for the harm of this and previous generations. Renewable energy creates jobs, lowers costs and won't harm the environment. Will this perhaps harm the coal industry? Yes. I support creating intensive job training opportunities fo those that lose their jobs in coal and to assure these people are paid a living wage during training. | |||
| Yes | Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| A gun that is not sold tomorrow due to common sense regulation will do nothing to stop next week's tragedy. But perhaps the gun not sold tomorrow means a future massacre that is stopped before it starts. | |||
| Yes | Do you support a government-run (single-payer) healthcare program, such as Medicare-for-All? | ||
| Yes | Do you support expanding paid family AND/OR medical leave opportunities? | ||
| Yes | Do you support lowering the cost of prescription drugs? | ||
| Health care is necessary for all and should be affordable for all. The idea of an American not being able to afford insulin is abhorrent. Family and/or medical leave policies need to acknowledge the realities of two working parents and the need for two incomes for many families. Also, the benefits for children to have parents at home for extended stay are obvious. | |||
| No | Do you support increasing security along the southern US border? | ||
| No | Do you support requiring immigrants who are unlawfully present to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
| Again, these questions are worded as absolutes. Many immigrants are here to escape harm and persecution in their home countries. Sending them back will often mean punishment or death. There are moral issues involved in this question. Might there be a time for increased border security? Perhaps. But at this time, common sense regulations and well trained border agents can handle the flow and vet individuals when necessary. And I want to assure that no parents and children are every split up again. | |||
| Yes | Do you support economic intervention as a means of resolving international conflicts? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the U.S. providing increased offensive military aid to Ukraine? | ||
| Yes | Do you support raising taxes, on any income or on any entity, to promote economic growth? | ||
| A common sense tax plan that fairly taxes the richest of Americans or large corporations to assure they pay their fair share must be put in place. | |||
| Preserving medicare, social security, a woman's right to choose and all American's ability to cast a vote without obstruction are among my priorities. Finding funding possibilities for social security may mean adjusting the upper limit that such taxes are taken. Republicans are content to not act and oversee the death of these policies. These policies help people live the lives they're earned through decades of hard work. A woman's right to choose and facilitating the ability of every American of voting age to vote takes no money. Just common sense and a respect for every American. |
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