Utah Congressional Election 2018 Political Courage Test

Abortion

1. Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation?
- Unknown Position

2. Other or expanded principles
- Neither. Abortion is a deeply personal issue, and the government shouldn't be involved in any way. It shouldn't ban, encourage, fund, or unreasonably restrict abortion access.

Budget

1. In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket?
- No

2. In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing defense spending?
- Yes

3. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Campaign Finance

1. Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions?
- Yes

2. Other or expanded principles
- It depends on what 'regulation' entails. I believe that transparency and freedom of speech are both absolutely indispensable to our republic. To that end, I believe that the source of any and all money spent in support of a candidate or political campaign, direct or indirect, must be made available to the public. Beyond that, I support the right of individuals and organizations to freely promote the candidates and positions they support.

Economy

1. Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth?
- No

2. Do you support lowering corporate taxes as a means of promoting economic growth?
- No

3. Other or expanded principles
- I support lowering taxes for everyone, and every organization. We need to cut spending first. We need to balance our spending so that any economic growth that comes from tax cuts is an added benefit, and not necessary for the cuts to make fiscal sense.

Education

1. Do you support requiring states to adopt federal education standards?
- No

2. Other or expanded principles
- Education decisions should be made by people as close to the students that will be impacted by them as possible. I support greater autonomy for school districts and the removal of the federal government from curriculum decisions.

Energy & Environment

1. Do you support government funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, thermal)?
- No

2. Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions?
- Yes

3. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Guns

1. Do you generally support gun-control legislation?
- No

2. Other or expanded principles
- As with many of these questions my answer is more nuanced than 'yes' or 'no'. I support greater efforts to enforce the laws and standards that are currently on the books. Until we can properly enforce existing laws, there's no reason to believe that new laws will solve the problem of gun violence.

Health Care

1. Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")?
- No

2. Other or expanded principles
- While there are many elements of this law that I would like to see substantially modified, a clean repeal is simply unrealistic. I support repealing the individual mandate, and opening multi-state marketplaces to foster greater competition, and eventually lower prices.

Immigration

1. Do you support the construction of a wall along the Mexican border?
- No

2. Do you support requiring immigrants who are unlawfully present to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship?
- No

3. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Marijuana

1. Do you support the legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes?
- Yes

2. Other or expanded principles
- I absolutely support cannabis legalization, and I support the right of states and communities to set their own standards regarding its use. Federal prohibition needs to end immediately.

National Security

1. Should the United States use military force in order to prevent governments hostile to the U.S. from possessing a nuclear weapon?
- No

2. Do you support increased American intervention in Middle Eastern conflicts beyond air support?
- No

3. Other or expanded principles
- One of the greatest wastes (of lives, of money, and of time) that the United States has ever embarked on is our constant military intervention in the Middle East. The only justifiable reasons to engage in military conflict are to respond to an act of direct aggression against the United States or our allies, or to stop an ongoing act of genocide. Beyond that, we need to allow other nations to conduct their affairs as they see fit.

Administrative Priorities

Please explain in a total of 100 words or less, your top two or three priorities if elected. If they require additional funding for implementation, please explain how you would obtain this funding.
- If elected, I would have two main goals. First, I would propose a budget that would balance federal spending within 5 years. I would also use my vote to oppose any federal budget that would result in any net increase in spending, no matter how insignificant. The first step to balancing the budget is to stop growing it. My other is to ensure (if it hasn't already happened by the election) that the federal prohibition of cannabis ends, and that states are allowed to make their own decisions regarding its use.