Lauren Stephens' Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
Official Position: Candidate addressed this issue directly by taking the Political Courage Test.
Inferred Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, but Vote Smart inferred this issue based on the candidate's public record, including statements, voting record, and special interest group endorsements.
Unknown Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, or we could not infer an answer for this candidate despite exhaustive research of their public record.
Additional Information: Click on this icon to reveal more information about this candidate's position, from their answers or Vote Smart's research.
Other or Expanded Principles & Legislative Priorities are entered exactly as candidates submit them. Vote Smart does not edit for misspelled words, punctuation or grammar.
Lauren Stephens has demonstrated Political Courage by telling citizens where she stands on the issues she may face if elected.
Wisconsin Congressional Election 2012 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| I don't just say that I am pro-life, I live it. Not only am I adopted but I did two adoptions when I was younger, rather than abortions. I believe that abortion is a human rights issue. I also believe that it is very wrong when a man wants his child and a woman can abort it without any notice whatsoever. | |||
| No | Do you support United States' combat operations in Afghanistan? | ||
| Yes | Do you support a timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan? | ||
| My blood relatives/ancestors were part of the original American Revolution in the 1700s and I proudly support our military 100%. I believe our country's most important constitutional duty is to protect this country from all enemies foreign and domestic. Having said that, I only support legitimate military operations and wars against real threats and I pledge to initiate impeachment proceedings against any sitting President who violates our Constitution in any way, including violating the war powers of the Presidential office. | |||
Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing the federal budget.In order to balance the budget,
| Yes | do you support reducing defense spending? | ||
| No | do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| Yes | do you support reducing Medicaid spending? | ||
| No | do you support reducing Medicare spending? | ||
| Yes | Is balancing the budget a legislative priority? | ||
| Congress does a terrible job of following the constitution as it is, so I see no point in passing a constitutional amendment to balance the budget. What we need to do is elect people who WILL balance the budget. | |||
| No | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| As long as corporations and unions continue to pay taxes and be effected by this country's legislation, then I will continue to support their right to speak in favor of, or in opposition to legislative issues and the candidates who may or may not support issues that are important to them. I do NOT support candidates getting rich from campaign contributions and I refuse ALL special interest money. | |||
| No | Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | Do you support providing tax incentives to businesses for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| No | Do you support spending on infrastructure projects for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| No | Do you support the temporary extension of unemployment benefits? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the 2010 temporary extension of tax relief? | ||
| I believe we need to fix infrastructure when and where needed, not simply because of political purposes. I always support tax relief. I believe we are Taxed Enough Already. | |||
| No | Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants? | ||
| As the parent of two school age children, in Wisconsin, I can tell you that between the federal government and the unions, our schools have been destroyed. I now have one child in private school and the other is currently home-schooled. I want to see the schools go back to the hands of the parents and the communities that they serve. | |||
| Yes | Do you support reducing restrictions on offshore energy production? | ||
| We need to get Keystone and ANWR going and we need to start offshore drilling again. I also want to see many more refineries in the US. Last year, we EXPORTED more crude than we imported! | |||
| No | Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change? | ||
| No | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| No | Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| The second amendment is not a state's rights issue! Those rights were guaranteed to us by our founding fathers and the constitution. | |||
| Yes | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act? | ||
| No | Should individuals be required to purchase health insurance, as mandated in the 2010 Affordable Care Act? | ||
| Yes | Do you support requiring illegal immigrants to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
| 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 | Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration law by state and local police? | ||
| I believe illegal immigration is one of the most serious threats to this country and we need to immediately fix this. It has been done before. Illegals have no allegiance this this country and they often send much of their money back to their homelands. Since when do we owe illegal aliens anything above and beyond what we owe our own citizens? We don't. We have almost 15 million here now, closing the borders will only do so much. I do not believe in amnesty. Why give citizenship to someone who has already broken many of our laws? | |||
| Do you support targeting suspected terrorists outside of official theaters of conflict? | |||
| Should the U.S use military force in order to prevent Iran from possessing a nuclear weapon? | |||
| Yes | Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts? | ||
SpendingIndicate what federal spending levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one number per category; you can use a number more than once.TaxesIndicate 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.
| Greatly Decrease | a) Agriculture | ||
| Greatly Decrease | b) Arts | ||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Defense | ||
| Eliminate | d) Education | ||
| Eliminate | e) Environment | ||
| Greatly Decrease | f) Homeland Security | ||
| Greatly Decrease | g) International aid | ||
| Greatly Decrease | h) Medical Research | ||
| Greatly Decrease | i) Scientific Research | ||
| Slightly Decrease | j) Space exploration | ||
| Eliminate | k) United Nations | ||
| Greatly Decrease | l) Welfare | ||
| Greatly Decrease | m) Other or expanded categories | ||
| Eliminate | a) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | b) Corporate taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Excise taxes (alcohol) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | d) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | e) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | g) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | h) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | i) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | j) Payroll taxes | ||
| Eliminate | k) Other or expanded categories | ||
| We need to roll back congressional salaries by at least ten years. Additionally, I have pledged to pay my way back and forth to Washington. It disgusts me that our nation's lawmakers continue to use and abuse taxpayer money for their own profit. If you make $174,000 a year, as congress does, then pay your own [...] way to work! | |||
| Stop Obamacare and all the new taxes associated with it | |||
Vote Smart does not permit the use of its name or programs in any campaign activity, including advertising, debates, and speeches.