George Sinner's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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George Sinner has refused to provide voters with positions on key issues covered by the 2016 Political Courage Test, despite repeated requests from Vote Smart and voters like you.
This candidate has responded to a Political Courage Test in a previous election. As a continued effort to provide the American public with factual information on candidates running for public office, these archived responses are made available here.
North Dakota Congressional Election 2014 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| I am personally pro-life but I believe that these are complicated and deeply personal decisions that must be left to the woman, her doctor, her family and her faith. But pro-life also means supporting quality child care and early childhood education as well as safe working conditions. ND has the highest worker injury & death rates in the nation with the lowest rates for employers by a substantial margin. We need to ensure that families have quality education systems and safe communities in which to live. | |||
| Yes | In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing defense spending? | ||
| No | In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| The gap between the poorest and wealthiest among us is the largest it has ever been. In order to reduce our debt, we must consider options that remove special treatment for certain individuals (i.e. carried interest for hedge fund managers) helping get us create a tax system that is generally perceived as fair without hurting the most vulnerable among us. | |||
| Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| I do not believe corporations are people, and they should not have such unchecked influence over our democratic process. However, the absolute sources of all contributions used in any political advertising must be disclosed. | |||
| Yes | Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | Do you support lowering taxes as a way of promoting growth in the economy? | ||
| Yes | Do you support providing tax incentives to businesses for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| There are a number of tax incentives/credits that can level the playing field for burgeoning industries until they are able to compete and these kind of incentives not only create jobs, but help improve competition and lower prices. | |||
| Yes | Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants? | ||
| The government has a vested interest in ensuring states have effective education standards. However, it is important to ensure that states and local school districts maintain the power to direct what shape those standards will take and how they will be implemented. | |||
| Yes | Do you support building the Keystone XL pipeline? | ||
| Yes | Do you support reducing restrictions on offshore energy production? | ||
| We need a true all-of-the-above energy approach. This includes not only our natural gas, coal and oil industries, but also renewable options like wind and solar power and ethanol. I do believe that there are some restrictions that can be relaxed, but not at the expense of the safety and security of our people and environment. | |||
| Yes | Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| Lowering emissions is an important and necessary goal, but we must make sure all stakeholders are at the table -- including industry players. Additionally, regulations should not create undue burdens on our families. | |||
| Yes | Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| I am a lifetime hunting enthusiast. And hunting is a longstanding tradition in my family as with many in North Dakota and states like ours. I believe in background checks and the current laws mandating them. I do not believe in passing additional laws for the sake of passing them with no evidence that our communities will be more secure. We must start with an honest conversation about mental health starting with how we can work to improve the process for families and friends to report and seek help when they are concerned about someone's mental and emotional well-being. | |||
| No | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act? | ||
| The Affordable Care Act was a mixed bag. Aspects like kids being able to stay on their parents' health insurance until 26 and those with preexisting conditions being able to receive coverage were clearly good things. And the Frontier States Amendment, which raised Medicare reimbursement rates for states like North Dakota, is critical for the affected states. But there are other parts that are not working and we all must work together to fix these problems (i.e. high deductibles & small business regulations). | |||
| No | Do you support requiring illegal immigrants to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
| Some, but not all should be returned. These must really be decided on a case-by-case basis. For instance, those who came to the U.S. as children and have known no other home do not deserve to be punished for circumstances beyond their control. | |||
| Yes | Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| This is an issue of civil rights, human rights and equal rights. I believe everyone should be able to marry who they love, no matter what gender, and the courts have been very clear that our Constitution ensures that right. | |||
| Yes | Do you support targeting suspected terrorists outside of official theaters of conflict? | ||
| Yes | Should the U.S use military force in order to prevent governments hostile to the United States from possessing a nuclear weapon? | ||
| Military force should always be the last option. However, as our world moves closer to one with fewer and fewer nuclear weapons, there are countries who will be resistant to that. The safety and security of our citizens is always a top priority. | |||
| No | Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts? | ||
| This is just a form of privatization. Privatizing Social Security leaves it to the whims of the market and hurts our seniors. Sacrificing their livelihoods is not an option. Imagine what would have happened to our seniors if Social Security had been a privatized in 2008. | |||
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.
| Maintain Status | a) Agriculture | ||
| Slightly Increase | b) Arts | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Defense | ||
| Slightly Increase | d) Education | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Environment | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Homeland Security | ||
| Maintain Status | g) International aid | ||
| Slightly Increase | h) Medical Research | ||
| Slightly Increase | i) Scientific Research | ||
| Maintain Status | j) Space exploration | ||
| Maintain Status | k) United Nations | ||
| Maintain Status | l) Welfare | ||
| m) Other or expanded categories | |||
| Maintain Status | a) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | b) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Excise taxes (alcohol) | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | f) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | i) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | j) Payroll taxes | ||
| No one likes to pay taxes. And there is the general consensus that we need reforms to our tax system. That said, we need to ensure that any changes give us a reformed system that provides all able citizens the means and incentives to improve their own life status. | |||
| One of the most important investments we can make is in our students. Addressing skyrocketing higher educations costs and student loan debt is a major priority for me. I will also ensure the agriculture community is not threatened because of partisan bickering over a Farm Bill. I refuse to be a rubber stamp for any party's agenda. For me, it's about what's best for the people, not politics. |
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