R. J. Harris' Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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R. J. Harris has demonstrated Political Courage by telling citizens where he stands on the issues he may face if elected.
Oklahoma Congressional Election 2012 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| Since modern medical technology makes it possible for a human life to be viable prior to natural birth and since the Constitution protects a person's right to life, I support a Constitutional Amendment which establishes the beginning of personhood as that definition applies to the Constitutional protections contained in the 5th and 14th amendments. This solution would replace judicial interpretations of an issue, not contemplated by the authors of the 5th and 14th Amendments, with the People's consent to be governed on the matter. | |||
| No | Do you support United States' combat operations in Afghanistan? | ||
| Yes | Do you support a timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan? | ||
| Immediate. As an Army Officer; 22 year, three-time deployed combat veteran I have lived the foreign policy of our nation for the last two decades and I can attest to you that interventionism makes our nation weaker not stronger. Thus, having learned this hard lesson first-hand, I will not support any measure which commits our soldiers to battle for any cause less than the direct defense of the Republic or the lives, liberty or property of We the People. Moreover, we defeated the Taliban and restored the government a long time ago. Its time to come home. | |||
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? | ||
| No | do you support reducing Medicaid spending? | ||
| No | do you support reducing Medicare spending? | ||
| Yes | Is balancing the budget a legislative priority? | ||
| I support a balanced budget amendment and I will not vote to raise the debt ceiling under any circumstances short of needed funding for a declared war or bonafide national emergency. | |||
| No | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| Freedom means that we get to give our money to the candidates of our choice as an act of exercising free speech and all the tinkering in the world has not stopped people/entities from finding ways to support their candidates of choice. If we don't like what a corporation or union is doing with its money politically, then we can leave that union or boycott that company. | |||
| No | Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| When we use the death penalty, if we get it wrong even once and execute an innocent person, then we have just turned our entire society into one that has murdered an innocent person. Life sentences for capital crimes leaves the possibility that future technologies might establish innocence as has been the case with DNA analysis four thousands of the innocently convicted. For how many innocent deaths are we already responsible? Considering the people executed before DNA testing was used in cases the potential number is sickening. | |||
| No | Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| Moreover, I support the total elimination of the personal income tax and the ending of all unconstitutional federal agencies and programs. Certainly I support spending on infrastructure when such is needed but not simply to create jobs. Job creation is the purview of the private sector not the Federal Government. | |||
| No | Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants? | ||
| Because I do not support Federal Grants. I will vote to return all public education monies to the states who are best equipped and are the constitutionally correct entities to engage in such activities if given leave to do so by their citizens. | |||
| Yes | Do you support reducing restrictions on offshore energy production? | ||
| I support requiring domestic purchase of energy, whenever possible, by the Federal Government for all its energy needs and I will propose legislation requiring the replacement of 50% of the current federal vehicle fleet with natural gas powered vehicles by 2020. Natural gas is almost half the price per gallon as foreign petroleum based fuels and Congress owes the American People the best value on their federal fuel purchases. | |||
| No | Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change? | ||
| No | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| Increased awareness, not government legislation, has been the biggest driver in people voluntarily becoming more environmentally conscientious. | |||
| No | Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| I will work tirelessly for the elimination of ALL federal gun laws and to obtain pardons for every citizens who's only "crime" was keeping and bearing their arms. The second amendment has nothing to do with hunting and everything to do with the people protecting themselves from crime and tyranny. The rise of the police state has occurred because of the disarmament of the people. A gun in your hand is way better than a cop on the phone. | |||
| 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? | ||
| As congressman from Oklahoma's 4th district I will make repealing Obama care my top priority and not rest until our healthcare freedom and the free markets are restored to us. | |||
| No | Do you support requiring illegal immigrants to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| The only immigration power mentioned in the Constitution is the power to establish a uniform rule of naturalization. Naturalization is the process by which immigrants become citizens not by which they are allowed into the country. The Constitution being silent then on immigration, the tenth amendment leaves this power to the states. Thus, I will propose legislation which makes clear the power of the border states themselves to determine their own levels of immigration until such time as an amendment is passed granting Congress power to act any further. | |||
| Yes | Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| The 1st and 9th Amendments protect the freedom of Citizens to marry whomever they choose and since the Constitution was intended to constrain the Government, not our Liberty, I am not in favor of an amendment or legislation which abridges this freedom in any way. People will use their Liberty in ways not in keeping with the majority but our commitment to freedom means that the majority cannot dictate life choices on the minority. | |||
| Yes | Do you support targeting suspected terrorists outside of official theaters of conflict? | ||
| No | Should the U.S use military force in order to prevent Iran from possessing a nuclear weapon? | ||
| But we should quickly deploy a missile defense system, using the Navy and the space program, so as to make any missiles developed by Iran obsolete before they are even completed. | |||
| Yes | Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts? | ||
| Further, I support allowing this up to 100% until we have finally eliminated the need for social security. | |||
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.
| Eliminate | a) Agriculture | ||
| Eliminate | b) Arts | ||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Defense | ||
| Eliminate | d) Education | ||
| Eliminate | e) Environment | ||
| Eliminate | f) Homeland Security | ||
| Eliminate | g) International aid | ||
| Eliminate | h) Medical Research | ||
| Eliminate | i) Scientific Research | ||
| Slightly Increase | j) Space exploration | ||
| Eliminate | k) United Nations | ||
| Eliminate | l) Welfare | ||
| Eliminate | m) Other or expanded categories | ||
| Eliminate | a) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | b) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Excise taxes (alcohol) | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) | ||
| Eliminate | f) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | g) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | h) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | i) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Eliminate | j) Payroll taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | k) Other or expanded categories | ||
| Eliminate all unconstitutional federal spending and agencies and consolidate those that remain for greater efficiency. I consider homeland security the same as defense so I said eliminate because it is a redundancy. I said slightly increase on the space program because of the need for communications and defense against nuclear weapons proliferation. | |||
| Excise tax on marijuana unless it is medicinal. So decriminalize marijuana and then excise tax it. | |||
| 1. Repeal Obamacare. 2. Audit then end the Federal Reserve. 3. Repeal as much unconstitutional, Liberty infringing legislation as possible. 4. End the War on Drugs and 5. Stop all the foreign aid and interventionism. None of this requires additional spending but would save us $trillions. So that was 5 not 3 but I kept it short and sweet. |
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