New York State Legislative Election 2010 Political Courage Test

Abortion and Reproductive

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. Do you support requiring parental notification before an abortion is performed on a minor?
- No

6. Do you support requiring parental consent before an abortion is performed on a minor?
- No

7. Do you support sexual education programs that include information on abstinence, contraceptives, and HIV/STD prevention methods?
- Yes

8. Do you support abstinence-only sexual education programs?
- No

9. Other or expanded principles
- attacking abortion cllinics should have enhanced penaltiesaccess to contraceptives is essentialcodifying Roe v Wade in every state should be a goal

Budget, Spending, and Tax

1. Education (higher)
- Greatly Increase

2. Education (K-12)
- Slightly Increase

3. Environment
- Greatly Increase

4. Health care
- Maintain Status

5. Law enforcement
- Maintain Status

6. Transportation and highway infrastructure
- Greatly Increase

7. Welfare
- Maintain Status

8. Other or expanded categories
- Greatly Increase

1. Alcohol taxes
- Slightly Increase

2. Cigarette taxes
- Maintain Status

3. Corporate taxes
- Greatly Increase

4. Gasoline taxes
- Slightly Increase

5. Property taxes
- Slightly Decrease

6. Sales taxes
- Maintain Status

7. Income taxes (low-income families)
- Maintain Status

8. Income taxes (middle-income families)
- Slightly Decrease

9. Income taxes (high-income families)
- Greatly Increase

10. Other or expanded categories
- Having just greatly increased cigarette taxes, I don't believe we can increase that, but we need to return progressivity into our income tax schedule. Corporate profits are up and the lack of willingness to contribute to societies needs is shocking.

1. Tapping into New York's "rainy day" fund
- Yes

2. Allowing grocery stores to purchase licenses to sell wine
- No

3. Issuing the early release of certain non-violent offenders
- Yes

4. Increasing tuition rates at public universities
- No

5. Instituting mandatory furloughs and layoffs for state employees
- No

6. Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients
- No

7. Privatizing certain government services
- No

8. Other or expanded principles
- If there are any rainy day funds available this would be the time to use themI don't believe that undermining small businesses, by allowing sale of wine in grociery stores is appropriateInmates who need substance abuse aid shouldn't be in prison- it costs too muchHigher education is a gateway and we should open the door, which is being closedIn New York 2/3 of Medicaid expenditures are for long term care of the elderly and disabled-cutting services is not likely

Campaign Finance and Government Reform

1. Individual
- Yes

2. Political Action Committee
- Yes

3. Corporate
- Yes

4. Political Party
- Yes

5. Should candidates for state office be encouraged to meet voluntary spending limits?
- Yes

6. Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information?
- Yes

1. Other or expanded principles
- I believe that elections ae the appropriate way to determine who is in office and not artificial term limits. What is appropriate are spending limits and the requirement for debates that are sponsored by legitmate organizations.

Crime and Public Safety

1. Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes?
- No

2. Do you support alternatives to incarceration for certain non-violent offenders, such as mandatory counseling or substance abuse treatment?
- Yes

3. Should the possession of small amounts of marijuana be decriminalized?
- Yes

4. Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult?
- Yes

5. Should a minor who sends sexually-explicit or nude photos by cell phone face criminal charges?
- No

6. Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police?
- No

7. Other or expanded principles
- I believe that under certain circumstances minors who are involved in violent crimes may be fully aware of the gravity of their actions and should be prosecuted as adults, but this should be a rare and unusual situation.

Economic

1. Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector?
- No

2. Do you support legalizing mixed martial arts competitions in New York?
- No

3. Do you support increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers?
- Yes

4. Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits?
- Yes

5. Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation?
- Yes

6. Do you support increased spending on infrastructure projects for the purpose of job creation?
- Yes

7. Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure?
- No

8. Other or expanded principles
- I think the best way to improve job training programs is to utilize institutions of higher education- community colleges- which are already engaged in this activity, but are severely limited because of budget cuts. This would be a win-win situation. Across the country the use of adjuncts in higher education is increasing and these are individuals who are regularly out of work during semester breaks and yet are unable to collect unemployment- this should be addressed.

Education

1. Do you support national education standards?
- No Answer

2. Do you support requiring public schools to administer high school exit exams?
- Yes

3. Do you support using a merit pay system for teachers?
- No

4. Do you support state funding for charter schools?
- No

5. Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid?
- Yes

6. Should the state universities of New York be permitted to set their own tuition rates?
- No

7. Should illegal immigrants who graduate from New York high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities?
- Yes

8. Other or expanded principles
- I'm not certain how I feel about national standards-in view of the disaster No Child Left Behind has been. On the other hand, I think the NEAP test protocol is helpful. I think it is problematic to offer merit pay for teachers- police officers- fire fighters etc- not certain how to base this. I believe the creation of charter schools is really giving up on public education and private interests wanting a piece of the public expenditure on education- an educational-industrial complex.

Environment and Energy

1. Do you support state funding for the development of alternative energy?
- Yes

2. Do you support state funding for the development of traditional domestic energy sources (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil)?
- No

3. Do you support providing financial incentives to farms that produce biofuel crops?
- Yes

4. Do you support state funding for improvements to New York's energy infrastructure?
- Yes

5. Do you support state funding for open space preservation?
- Yes

6. Do you support enacting environmental regulations aimed at reducing the effects of climate change?
- Yes

7. Other or expanded principles
- I believe we need to move away from fossil fuels and offering public dollars to exploit natural gas and oil is still problematic- especially the use of hydrofracking, which has created severe pollution problems in many states. We should be supporting a smart grid, investing in better battery technology, biofuel research and the growth of those products that don't compete with food- like algae and grasses. It would also have the benefit of supporting open space.

Gun

1. Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns?
- Yes

2. Do you support requiring semiautomatic pistols made or sold in New York to microstamp bullet casings?
- Yes

3. Do you support requiring background checks on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows?
- Yes

4. Do you support allowing individuals to carry concealed guns?
- No

5. Do you support requiring a license for gun possession?
- Yes

6. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Health

1. Do you support a universally-accessible, publicly-administered health insurance option?
- Yes

2. Do you support expanding access to health care through commercial health insurance reform?
- No

3. Do you support interstate health insurance compacts?
- No Answer

4. Should individuals be required to purchase health care insurance?
- Yes

5. Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits?
- No

6. Do you support legalizing physician-assisted suicide in New York?
- Yes

7. Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes?
- Yes

8. Do you support a "presumed consent" organ donation policy?
- No Answer

9. Other or expanded principles
- Not certain about the details of interstate health insurance compacts- so I don't feel I can comment on that. I don't beleive we should limit damages- in a capitalist system monetary damages are the true enforcement mechanism for negligent behavior. Without that "stick" we'd still see Ford Pintos on the road.I'm not clear on the presumed consent policy- I'm inclined towards it, but am not certain about the implications for people who don't pay attention, but would be opposed to donation.

Social

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

2. Should New York allow same-sex couples to form civil unions?
- No

3. Do you support state funding for stem cell research?
- Yes

4. Do you support state funding for embryonic stem cell research?
- Yes

5. Do you support the state's use of affirmative action?
- Yes

6. Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in New York's anti-discrimination laws?
- Yes

7. Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in New York's anti-discrimination laws?
- Yes

8. Other or expanded principles
- I don't believe civil unions are acceptable- Marriage Equality is the only answer- everything else is separate but equal and therefore discriminatory. We are a democracy and not a theocracy- in fact, for years we have been engaged in a war on the basis that there are religious extremists who want to impose religious strictures on everyone.

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.
- Codifying Roe v Wade to ensure reproductive freedom for future generationsEstablishing Marriage EqualityEstablishing a stable funding stream for public higher education- reducing our unrestricted support to large private institutions, surcharge on corporate taxes to upgrade the workforce, by improving K-12 educaiton we would save substantial resources on remediation that could be redirected to public higher education