Wisconsin Congressional Election 2010 Political Courage Test

Abortion

1. Do you consider yourself pro-choice or pro-life?
- No Answer

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

3. Should abortion be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape?
- No Answer

4. Should abortion be legal when the life of the woman is endangered?
- No Answer

5. Should federal subsidies be prohibited from being used for abortion procedures?
- No Answer

6. Other or expanded principles
- I am pro-life. I support protecting life from conception to natural death. Federal funds should not be used to pay for abortion procedures. I support increasing parental notification requirements for minors seeking an abortion.

Budget, Spending, and Tax

Spending

Indicate what federal funding levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one number per category- you can use a number more than once.

1. Agriculture
- No Answer

2. Arts
- No Answer

3. Defense
- No Answer

4. Intelligence operations
- No Answer

5. Military hardware
- No Answer

6. National missile defense
- No Answer

7. Salary and benefits for active duty personnel
- No Answer

8. Programs to improve troop retention rates
- No Answer

9. Research and development of new weapons
- No Answer

Spending

Indicate what federal funding levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one number per category- you can use a number more than once.

1. Education
- No Answer

2. Environment
- No Answer

3. Homeland security
- No Answer

4. International aid
- No Answer

5. Medical research
- No Answer

6. Scientific research
- No Answer

7. Space exploration
- No Answer

8. United Nations
- No Answer

9. Welfare
- No Answer

10. Other or expanded categories
- Federal spending is out of control. Our nation faces budget deficits exceeding $1 trillion a year for the first time in our history. I support reducing government spending to 2008 levels and a balanced budget requirement with a 2/3 super majority needed to raise taxes. Balancing the federal budget will require a reduction in federal spending and reforming the entitlement programs that drive mandatory spending.

Taxes

Indicate 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.

1. Alcohol taxes
- No Answer

2. Capital gains taxes
- No Answer

3. Cigarette taxes
- No Answer

4. Corporate taxes
- No Answer

5. Gasoline taxes
- No Answer

6. Income taxes (low-income families)
- No Answer

7. Income taxes (middle-income families)
- No Answer

8. Income taxes (high-income families)
- No Answer

9. Other or expanded categories
- The government must stop using tax dollars to "stimulate" the economy and reward large corporations that are politically well-connected.

10. Do you support the elimination of the federal estate tax?
- No Answer

11. Do you support requiring the federal budget to be balanced each year?
- No Answer

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

Taxes

Indicate 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.

1. Other or expanded principles
- I support making permanent the 2001 and 2003 tax reductions already passed, including lower income taxes, capital gains and dividend tax rates, marriage penalty relief and the expanded child care credit. I also believe we should lower the corporate income tax rate, which is the second highest in the industrialized world, and support eliminating the death tax.

Business and Employment

1. Do you support privatizing elements of Social Security?
- No Answer

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

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

4. Do you support the ability of workers to unionize?
- No Answer

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

6. Other or expanded principles
- I do not support privatizing Social Security because it will not address the program's solvency. I would like to get to a place where privatizing Social Security can be a part of the solution, but unfortunately we are past that point right now due to years of inaction. I support reducing sectors of the economy that are over-regulated, but do believe in reasonable regulation of commercial activity. Workers have the right to unionize, but by a system of secret ballot voting.

Campaign Finance and Government Reform

1. Do you support increasing the amount individuals are permitted to contribute to federal campaigns?
- No Answer

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

3. Do you support removing all contribution limits on federal campaigns?
- No Answer

4. Should candidates for federal office be encouraged to meet voluntary spending limits?
- No Answer

5. Do you support giving the President the power of the line item veto for items concerning appropriations?
- No Answer

6. Do you support limiting the President's ability to define how legislation is applied through the use of signing statements?
- No Answer

7. Other or expanded principles
- I support retaining the current contribution levels for federal campaigns. I believe that those who fund independent issue ads should be disclosed to the public. I support granting the president line item veto authority for appropriations bills. I do not believe the president should be afforded the use of signing statements when legislation is signed into law.

Crime

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

2. Do you support programs that provide prison inmates with vocational and job-related training and job-placement assistance when released?
- No Answer

3. Do you support programs that provide prison inmates with substance abuse treatment?
- No Answer

4. Do you support reduced prison sentences for non-violent offenders?
- No Answer

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

6. Other or expanded principles
- I support programs for prison inmates to help them deal with substance abuse. I do not support reductions in prison sentences and believe that those who sell illegal drugs must be punished for their crime.

Education

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

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

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

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

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

6. Other or expanded principles
- I support higher standards for our students, but those standards should be set by the states and school boards, not Washington. Funding for K-12 education is the single largest portion of our state budget, comprising over 43% of our state budget. When higher education and student aid funding is included, education accounts for more than 52% of Wisconsin's state budget. I believe that we need to make it more affordable for students to attend college. We need to create incentives for parents to save money for their children's college tuition.

Environment and Energy

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

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

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

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

5. Do you support domestic oil exploration in federally-protected areas?
- No Answer

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

7. Do you support the development of nuclear reactors?
- No Answer

8. Other or expanded principles
- Thousands of jobs in Northeast Wisconsin are dependent on the forest products industry. It is imperative that we diligently oversee timberland management. Government at both the state and federal level should ensure economic, environmental and recreational benefits are derived from its timberland for generations to come. At the same time, we must protect neighboring communities and timber lands from the increasing threats of fire, disease and infestation. To allow our nation to become truly independent of foreign energy supplies, our federal government must remove obstacles to the environmentally safe production of domestic energy supplies. A responsible increase in domestic oil(...)

Gun

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

2. Do you believe that the Second Amendment guarantees the right of individual citizens to own guns?
- No Answer

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

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

5. Other or expanded principles
- I support our Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, and I believe there is an individual right to own guns. I support conceal and carry legislation at the state level.

Health

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

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

3. Should the federal government expand eligibility for tax-free medical savings accounts?
- No Answer

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

5. Do you support relaxing regulations on the importation of prescription drugs?
- No Answer

6. Other or expanded principles
- I support health care reforms that will lower cost and provide better access to quality care. I support repealing the ObamaCare law and replacing it with a package of reforms that will allow insurers to compete across state lines, address medical malpractice reform, and increase transparency for the price of health care procedures. I do not support a public insurance option. I support expanding eligibility for tax-free medical savings accounts.

Immigration

1. Do you support a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants?
- No Answer

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

3. Do you support establishing English as the official national language?
- No Answer

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

5. Other or expanded principles
- I support securing our border, and I do not support granting amnesty to illegal immigrants already in the United States. I also support ending the visa lottery, preventing illegal immigrants from using government-funded social programs such as housing and food stamps, and the immediate expulsion of violent criminals of our jails who are illegal immigrants. State and local policy should be allowed to enforce existing immigration laws. I have authored legislation in Wisconsin that would ban sanctuary cities that harbor illegal aliens and that would make English our official state language, and I fought for legislation that would ensure that(...)

International Policy

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

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

3. Do you support increasing economic development assistance for Afghanistan?
- No Answer

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

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

6. Should the United States support the creation of a Palestinian state?
- No Answer

7. Do you support increasing sanctions on Iran if it continues to defy United Nations mandates?
- No Answer

8. Do you support the withdrawal of United States troops from Iraq?
- No Answer

9. Do you support the United States' involvement in free trade agreements?
- No Answer

10. Other or expanded principles
- We must either commit the resources needed and put forth a plan for victory to win the war in Afghanistan or pull our troops out of harm's way. Allowing them to die by two's and three's and not giving them resources needed to win is a disastrous position our country should never put our soldiers into. The United States should continue to provide leadership in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Israel's right to exist should be recognized if a Palestinian state is created. American troops should be brought home from Iraq when the mission of raising a new Iraqi Security force(...)

Social

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

2. Do you support allowing openly-gay men and women to serve in the United States military?
- No Answer

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

4. Should the federal government end affirmative action programs?
- No Answer

5. Other or expanded principles
- I support marriage between on man and one woman. I support the military's long time policy on "don't ask, don't tell" I support ethical stem cell research that uses adult stem cells or umbilical cord blood. I believe that the residents of northeast Wisconsin are the hardest working people in the U.S., and I do not believe that race or gender should be considered in government contracting decisions or that race-based preferences should be required.

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.
- My top three priorities if elected to Congress include growing the private sector economy again with pro-growth tax and regulatory policies that are proven to create jobs, reigning in out-of-control government spending and securing our borders and enforcing existing immigration law.