Wisconsin Congressional Election 2012 Political Courage Test

Abortion

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- As one of the nation's strongest pro-choice advocates, I will defend abortion rights and work to advance reproductive justice for all women and men. I served four years as Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin, advocating for women's rights across the state. We must continue to do everything we can to reduce the need for abortion, while ensuring that it remains safe, legal, and available for every woman who needs it. I also support expanding access to the full range of reproductive health care, including preventing unintended pregnancy and bearing healthy children.

Afghanistan

1. Do you support United States' combat operations in Afghanistan?
- No

2. Do you support a timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan?
- Yes

3. Other or expanded principles
- I support immediate withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Budget

1. do you support reducing defense spending?
- Yes

2. do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket?
- Yes

3. do you support reducing Medicaid spending?
- No

4. do you support reducing Medicare spending?
- No

5. Is balancing the budget a legislative priority?
- Yes

6. Other or expanded principles
- Focusing only on cutting the budget in a time of economic uncertainty is damaging for the middle class and will prolong our economic hurt. We must make smart cuts to our unnecessarily high defense and private contractor spending, but allow the Bush Tax Cuts to expire on those earning over $250,000 per year. Compromising vital economic security programs like Medicare and Social Security, and slashing funding for infrastructure and education, will lead to serious economic harm for millions of American families. Detailed information is available on my website, www.keldaforcongress.com/issues

Campaign Finance

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- Given the dramatic flood of special interest money into our political system as a result of the Citizens United decision, I have chosen to take a tough stance and refuse all corporate PAC money for my campaign. This puts me at a fundraising disadvantage, but I believe that it is the right thing to do. I will not perpetuate this broken system - I will work to change it. We must move towards a system of full public financing for our elections, eliminating the opportunity for special interests to buy influence from our representatives.

Capital Punishment

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- As an attorney who worked on the Innocence Project, the death penalty should never be used by our imperfect, human justice system.

Economy

1. Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth?
- Yes

2. Do you support providing tax incentives to businesses for the purpose of job creation?
- Yes

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

4. Do you support the temporary extension of unemployment benefits?
- Yes

5. Do you support the 2010 temporary extension of tax relief?
- No

6. Other or expanded principles
- I assume the question about 2010 extension refers to the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy. I only support tax incentives that are reasonably tied to the creation of family-supporting jobs - they must include accountability measures. Otherwise, I strongly oppose giveaways and subsidies to wealthy corporate special interests like big oil, one of the most profitable businesses in human history. Supply side tax incentives are an inefficient means of job creation; direct federal investment and increasing consumer demand are more effective.

Education

1. Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants?
- No

2. Other or expanded principles
- Public schools should not be pitted against each other for scarce resources. A free, quality public education should be the birthright of every single child in this country. Our economy - our democracy - will not thrive if we do not recommit to the promise of great public education. We simply must marshal the resources to provide it for all kids.

Energy

1. Do you support reducing restrictions on offshore energy production?
- No

2. Other or expanded principles
- We must reduce our overall dependence on oil, whether it comes from the middle east or the Gulf of Mexico. Making it easier for profit-driven corporations to suck every last drop of dinosaur fuels out of the earth is the worst way to meet our energy needs. Instead, we must become more efficient, conserve energy, and develop sustainable energy production, transport, and storage. This will not only be better for our environment, but will improve our national security, economy, and human health.

Environment

1. Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change?
- Yes

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

3. Other or expanded principles
- Climate scientists are clear: global climate change is not a "belief" - it is a fact. I support taxing carbon emissions for polluters to make sure that those who profit also pay their fair share towards repairing damage done to our environment and human health. Carbon pollution is a massive, market-distorting externality, and allowing large-scale polluters to socialize all the negative costs associated with their industries is not sustainable. The US must be a leader in combating climate change.

Guns

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- While considering both the rights granted by the Second Amendment and the rich tradition of hunting and sportsmanship in Wisconsin, I must recognize that firearms are inherently dangerous. As the daughter of a law enforcement officer, I support greater accountability in the form of background checks, gun locks, closing the gun show loophole, and reinstating the assault weapons ban. We must be able to prevent violent criminals and mentally unstable individuals from misusing firearms and other weapons.

Health Care

1. Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act?
- No

2. Should individuals be required to purchase health insurance, as mandated in the 2010 Affordable Care Act?
- Yes

3. Other or expanded principles
- We have made great progress in reforming our broken health care system, and repealing the Affordable Care Act would have far-reaching negative effects: more than 30 million Americans would lose coverage and the deficit would increase the deficit by $109 billion, according to the CBO. The individual mandate is necessary to ensure that insurance companies cover everyone, regardless of "pre-existing conditions." I will work to build on the protections of the ACA to include a public option and ultimately a universal, single-payer health care system like Medicare-for-all.

Immigration

1. Do you support requiring illegal immigrants to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship?
- No

2. Do you support allowing illegal immigrants, who were brought to the United States as minors, to pursue citizenship without returning to their country of origin?
- Yes

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

4. Other or expanded principles
- Law-abiding immigrants should be given a clear path to citizenship. Mass deportation would have a very negative effect on our economy and communities. I applaud President Obama's executive order to suspend deportation for undocumented young people who came to the United States as children. Ultimately, though, we must pass comprehensive immigration reform that recognizes the fact that there are millions of law-abiding, taxpaying undocumented families living in virtually every community in this country. Local public safety resources should not go toward federal immigration enforcement. Conscripting local law enforcement agencies actually undermines public safety for citizens and undocumented people.

Marriage

1. Do you support same-sex marriage?
- Yes

2. Other or expanded principles
- I enthusiastically support marriage equality for same-sex couples, and have publicly advocated for it throughout my life. We must repeal the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, which is unconstitutional and morally abhorrent in its discrimination against same-sex couples. We must also repeal Wisconsin's ban on civil unions and marriage, which enshrined hatred and discrimination in our state constitution. Ensuring legal protections for all LGBTQ families is crucial. Partners deserve to have access to adoption and must be fully protected in the case of a family emergency. LGBT equality is a fundamental right, the civil rights issue of our time.

National Security

1. Do you support targeting suspected terrorists outside of official theaters of conflict?
- No

2. Should the U.S use military force in order to prevent Iran from possessing a nuclear weapon?
- No

3. Other or expanded principles
- While I do not support the use of military force in general, it is not responsible to take all military action completely "off the table" in dealing with a potentially nuclear Iran. Iran must not be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons, and the US must use every single tool at our disposal short of military action, working with international organizations and other nations, to prevent this. Using military force would be extremely risky and dangerous, and should be avoided at all costs. It must always be the very, very last resort.

Social Security

1. Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts?
- No

2. Other or expanded principles
- We do not need to dramatically rewrite the rules of Social Security. By simply removing the cap on revenue from payroll taxes, we can ensure that Social Security remains solvent long into the future, through 2075 and beyond.

Spending and Taxes

1. Agriculture
- Slightly Decrease

2. Arts
- Slightly Increase

3. Defense
- Greatly Decrease

4. Education
- Greatly Increase

5. Environment
- Greatly Increase

6. Homeland Security
- Greatly Decrease

7. International aid
- Slightly Increase

8. Medical Research
- Greatly Increase

9. Scientific Research
- Greatly Increase

10. Space exploration
- Maintain Status

11. United Nations
- Slightly Increase

12. Welfare
- Slightly Increase

13. Other or expanded categories
- No Answer

1. Capital gains taxes
- Greatly Increase

2. Corporate taxes
- Slightly Increase

3. Excise taxes (alcohol)
- Maintain Status

4. Excise taxes (cigarettes)
- Maintain Status

5. Excise taxes (transportation fuel)
- Maintain Status

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

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

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

9. Inheritance taxes
- Greatly Increase

10. Payroll taxes
- Maintain Status

11. Other or expanded categories
- These basic descriptors are not sufficient to address the complicated factors involved in tax policy. For instance, the corporate tax rate is supposed to be 39%, but the effective tax rate (actually paid) is only about 23.5%. I'd like to lower the published rate for small businesses that pay their fair share but raise the amount actually paid by profitable multinational corporations that often pay little or no taxes. For detailed descriptions of my tax policies, please go to www.keldaforcongress.com/issues

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.
- 1. Create family-supporting jobs and shared prosperity2. Expand public educational opportunities, including early childhood and higher education3. Address climate change and sustainable energy/energy independenceAlso critically important are health care, campaign finance reform, and tax fairness. Please see my issues page, www.keldaforcongress.com/issues for a much more detailed discussion of my principles and priorities