Pennsylvania Congressional Election 2016 Political Courage Test

Abortion

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- Women should be free to make their own decisions about their health care, their bodies and their future. If we truly want to reduce the number of abortions, we should be championing affordable access to birth control. The ACA was a first step in making this a reality. The 54+ votes to defund and repeal the ACA is a step backward.

Budget

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

2. In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket?
- 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
- We have allowed money to hijack our political system. Those who can afford to buy policies that benefit them will always have the advantage over those who cannot afford to do so. Our government should serve all of us; not just the wealthy few. I support public financing of campaigns, overturning Citizens United and elimination of the super PACs that permit unfettered interference in our elections.

Crime

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. Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders?
- No

4. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Economy

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

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

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

4. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Education

1. Do you generally support requiring states to adopt federal education standards?
- Unknown Position

2. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Energy

1. Do you support building the Keystone XL pipeline?
- No

2. Do you support government funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, thermal)?
- Yes

3. Do you support increased regulations on the hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") industry?
- Yes

4. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

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
- No Answer

Guns

1. Do you generally support gun-control legislation?
- Yes

2. Other or expanded principles
- I support universal background checks for all gun sales, but I am also a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment right to own. By refusing to study and address the reality of gun violence in America, with every mass shooting, my, and other law abiding Americans', right to own is threatened. The solution to the gun violence in our country is not only strict gun regulation, nor will it be addressed only by investment in mental health services. This is an American problem and I believe we can find an American solution.

Health Care

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- The ACA eliminated lifetime caps, enabled those with pre-existing conditions to obtain coverage, ensured that mammograms were considered routine care, allowed children to remain on their parent's policies until they turned 26, and obligate insurance companies to spend 80% of premium dollars on care. These are all real changes to the health care market that affect Americans. Repeal of this bill, with no alternative to address the millions of Americans who could not access care before the ACA is irresponsible and reckless.

Immigration

1. Do you support requiring immigrants who are unlawfully present to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship?
- Unknown Position

2. Other or expanded principles
- If we are serious about immigration reform, we need to first turn off the magnet that are drawing immigrants here in the first place. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is one of the most influential opponents of E-Verify and other measures taken to restrict the hiring of illegal labor in America. The abundance of low wage, illegal labor drives down the wages for American workers. If we are serious about curbing illegal immigration, we need to hold employers who profit from the exploitation of immigrant labor accountable.

Marriage

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

National Security

1. Do you support increased American intervention in Iraq and Syria beyond air support?
- Unknown Position

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

3. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

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
- No Answer

Spending and Taxes

1. Agriculture
- Maintain Status

2. Arts
- Slightly Increase

3. Defense
- Slightly Decrease

4. Education
- Slightly Increase

5. Environment
- Greatly Increase

6. Homeland Security
- Maintain Status

7. International aid
- Maintain Status

8. Medical Research
- Maintain Status

9. Scientific Research
- Slightly Increase

10. Space exploration
- Maintain Status

11. United Nations
- Maintain Status

12. Welfare
- Slightly Increase

13. Other or expanded categories
- No Answer

1. Capital gains taxes
- Greatly Increase

2. Corporate taxes
- Maintain Status

3. Small business taxes
- Maintain Status

4. Excise taxes (alcohol)
- Maintain Status

5. Excise taxes (cigarettes)
- Maintain Status

6. Excise taxes (transportation fuel)
- Maintain Status

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

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

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

10. Inheritance taxes
- Maintain Status

11. Payroll taxes
- Maintain Status

12. Other or expanded categories
- The only way we can afford to rebuild our nation from within (crumbling infrastructure, underfunded schools, remedy our childhood poverty rate) is to close the loopholes that allow corporations to dodge their tax obligations and tax income as we did during our decades of prosperity. The experiment of trickle-down economics has failed. It is time to return to true investment in our economy and our nation.

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.
- Public financing of campaigns would remove the perverse incentive to invest millions of dollars in elections with the hope of a financial payoff in the end. It is legal bribery and it has corrupted our system to the point that bringing it back from the brink will require new representatives to be elected that are not beholden to the money.