Michigan Congressional Election 2010 Political Courage Test

Abortion

1. Do you consider yourself pro-choice or pro-life?
- Pro-choice

2. Should abortion be legal only within the first trimester of pregnancy?
- No

3. Should abortion be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape?
- Yes

4. Should abortion be legal when the life of the woman is endangered?
- Yes

5. Should federal subsidies be prohibited from being used for abortion procedures?
- Yes

6. Other or expanded principles
- I am personally opposed to abortion and would counsel any friend or family member to seek alternatives, however I do not believe in government involvement in the private medical choices of it's citizens.

Budget, Spending, and Tax

1. Agriculture
- Greatly Decrease

2. Arts
- Eliminate

3. Defense
- Greatly Decrease

4. Intelligence operations
- Slightly Increase

5. Military hardware
- Greatly Decrease

6. National missile defense
- Slightly Increase

7. Salary and benefits for active duty personnel
- Maintain Status

8. Programs to improve troop retention rates
- Greatly Decrease

9. Research and development of new weapons
- Slightly Decrease

1. Education
- Eliminate

2. Environment
- Eliminate

3. Homeland security
- Slightly Decrease

4. International aid
- Greatly Decrease

5. Medical research
- Eliminate

6. Scientific research
- Eliminate

7. Space exploration
- Maintain Status

8. United Nations
- Greatly Decrease

9. Welfare
- Slightly Decrease

10. Other or expanded categories
- No Answer

1. Alcohol taxes
- Greatly Decrease

2. Capital gains taxes
- Greatly Decrease

3. Cigarette taxes
- Greatly Decrease

4. Corporate taxes
- Greatly Decrease

5. Gasoline taxes
- Greatly Decrease

6. Income taxes (low-income families)
- Greatly Decrease

7. Income taxes (middle-income families)
- Greatly Decrease

8. Income taxes (high-income families)
- Greatly Decrease

9. Other or expanded categories
- No Answer

10. Do you support the elimination of the federal estate tax?
- Yes

11. Do you support requiring the federal budget to be balanced each year?
- Yes

12. Do you support using government funds in an effort to stimulate and improve the economy?
- No

13. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Business and Employment

1. Do you support privatizing elements of Social Security?
- Yes

2. Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector?
- Yes

3. Do you support increasing the federal minimum wage?
- No

4. Do you support the ability of workers to unionize?
- Yes

5. Do you support federal funding for job-training programs that retrain displaced workers?
- No

6. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Campaign Finance and Government Reform

1. Do you support increasing the amount individuals are permitted to contribute to federal campaigns?
- Yes

2. Should Congress regulate indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions?
- No

3. Do you support removing all contribution limits on federal campaigns?
- Yes

4. Should candidates for federal office be encouraged to meet voluntary spending limits?
- Yes

5. Do you support giving the President the power of the line item veto for items concerning appropriations?
- Yes

6. Do you support limiting the President's ability to define how legislation is applied through the use of signing statements?
- Yes

7. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Crime

1. Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes?
- Yes

2. Do you support programs that provide prison inmates with vocational and job-related training and job-placement assistance when released?
- Yes

3. Do you support programs that provide prison inmates with substance abuse treatment?
- Yes

4. Do you support reduced prison sentences for non-violent offenders?
- Yes

5. Do you support mandatory prison sentences for selling illegal drugs?
- No

6. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Education

1. Do you support federal education standards and testing requirements for K-12 students?
- No

2. Do you support federal funding for universal pre-K programs?
- No

3. Do you support federal funding for charter schools?
- No

4. Do you support federal funding for K-12 school vouchers?
- No

5. Do you support the federal government providing college students with financial aid?
- No

6. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Environment and Energy

1. Do you support enacting environmental regulations aimed at reducing the effects of climate change?
- No

2. Do you support international emissions targets aimed at reducing the effects of climate change?
- No

3. Do you support allowing energy producers to trade carbon credits under a "cap and trade" system?
- No

4. Do you support strengthening fuel efficiency standards on all gasoline and diesel-powered engines, including cars, trucks, and sport utility vehicles?
- No

5. Do you support domestic oil exploration in federally-protected areas?
- Yes

6. Do you support federal funding for the development of alternative energy?
- No

7. Do you support the development of nuclear reactors?
- Yes

8. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Gun

1. Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns?
- No

2. Do you believe that the Second Amendment guarantees the right of individual citizens to own guns?
- Yes

3. Do you support allowing individuals to carry concealed guns?
- Yes

4. Do you support a ban on assault rifles?
- No

5. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Health

1. Do you support a publicly-administered health insurance option?
- No

2. Do you support expanding access to health care through commercial health insurance reform?
- Yes

3. Should the federal government expand eligibility for tax-free medical savings accounts?
- Yes

4. Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits?
- Yes

5. Do you support relaxing regulations on the importation of prescription drugs?
- Yes

6. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Immigration

1. Do you support a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants?
- Yes

2. Do you support decreasing the number of legal immigrants allowed into the country?
- No

3. Do you support establishing English as the official national language?
- Yes

4. Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police?
- Yes

5. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

International Policy

1. Do you support United States military action in Afghanistan?
- No

2. Do you support increasing military assistance for Afghanistan?
- No

3. Do you support increasing economic development assistance for Afghanistan?
- Yes

4. Should the United States continue to strike suspected terrorist targets in Pakistan?
- No

5. Do you support granting aid to countries when it is in the security interests of the United States?
- No

6. Should the United States support the creation of a Palestinian state?
- Yes

7. Do you support increasing sanctions on Iran if it continues to defy United Nations mandates?
- Yes

8. Do you support the withdrawal of United States troops from Iraq?
- Yes

9. Do you support the United States' involvement in free trade agreements?
- Yes

10. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Social

1. Should marriage only be between one man and one woman?
- No

2. Do you support allowing openly-gay men and women to serve in the United States military?
- Yes

3. Do you support federal funding for embryonic stem cell research?
- No

4. Should the federal government end affirmative action programs?
- Yes

5. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Legislative 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.
- I would bring our troops home as quickly as possible, and reduce our military budget by half over ten years. I would address the permanent structural deficits in the country by setting long term plans in place that reduce over time the contributions to, and and reliance upon federal safety nets for working individuals and families, including Medicare and Social Security. I would use a "years in" calculation protecting older individuals, and tax exempt retirement/medical savings accounts for those just entering the workforce. I would strive to reduce or eliminate many federal agencies and their associated tax burden.