Honest Gabe Rothblatt's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Honest Gabe Rothblatt submitted the 2014 Political Courage Test after the official deadline and release of results to the media. The candidate's late responses are provided here as a public service.
Florida Congressional Election 2014 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| I believe in choosing life. That means providing the education and resources to prevent unwanted pregnancies. That means allowing for options throughout a pregnancy, but ensuring the mother and child have sufficient care and community, not just during, but after birth. | |||
| 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? | ||
| I support reducing defense spending that does not protect Americans. However, with the continuation of threats posed by terrorist groups like ISIL, and the emergence of military powers like China, I believe we need to have a national discussion on how defense spending cuts may jeopardize our national security interests. I'm against raising Income Taxes on working people in the middle class because they need every opportunity to gain a larger share of the nation?s income so that they may create jobs by spending money in the American economy. | |||
| Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| 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? | ||
| I support federal spending and tax cuts that help the American people and our economy grow. I support programs like SNAP, college tuition grants, Medicaid, and Social Security because I know they reduce the financial burden of pursuing income security and prosperity, and provide more opportunities for consumer spending. Just the same, I support tax breaks to small business that invest in their workers, that hire veterans, that invest in renewable energy, and tax breaks for working families through the earned income tax credit because I know that these programs provide more opportunities for economic growth for working Americans. | |||
| Yes | Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants? | ||
| All 50 states should be meeting a national standard of excellence in creating curriculum that ensures all students are passing benchmarks we know will help them in the modern economy. Among others, this means a well funded public school system with teachers who are paid a salary that is worthy of the high expectations and responsibilities that they will be facing. | |||
| No | Do you support building the Keystone XL pipeline? | ||
| No | Do you support reducing restrictions on offshore energy production? | ||
| The potential economic, environmental, and social benefits of pursuing investments in renewable energy outweigh the limited economic gains and environmental costs associated with continuing to pursue fossil fuel related projects. I believe renewable energy will cause a second industrial revolution in our world. The question now is weather America will prosper as a leading member of this movement, or be left behind out of a misguided loyalty to fossil fuels that endangers our future in many ways. | |||
| Yes | Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| We simply cannot afford to doubt the increasing consensus amongst the scientists and leaders of our world that human activity is contributing to climate change. For me, the dangers of ignoring this problem is amoral. | |||
| Yes | Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| I support common sense gun control restrictions such as background checks and waiting periods. However, I do not believe that violence in our society can be addressed with gun control alone. | |||
| No | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act? | ||
| I recognize that, for some individuals and businesses, insurance costs have gone up because of the ACA. I look forward to finding ways to reduce this problem. That said, I will not support going back to a system where people, especially children, were at a disadvantage for getting sick or having a previously existing condition. In my view, repealing the ACA would hurt far more Americans than it would stand to help. | |||
| No | Do you support requiring illegal immigrants to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
| While we should work to prevent future illegal immigration into America, the millions of illegal immigrants already here should be given a reasonable path to citizenship that does not include going back to their country of origin. A majority of these people are working in legitimate jobs and given them access to citizenship would only hold them accountable to meeting the obligations of every citizen. It is especially important to provide citizenship opportunities to people who have obeyed our laws and graduated from our schools or participated in public service. | |||
| 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? | ||
| No | Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts? | ||
| I understand the intended virtue behind this idea. But doing this would essentially privatize Social Security to an unstable market that would not necessarily stay fixed to the cost of living for seniors. I believe we have to strengthen the future of Social Security with a modest increase of income subject to Social Security taxes, and a commitment by those in both parties to stop raiding the Social Security Trust Fund. | |||
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 | ||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Defense | ||
| Greatly Increase | d) Education | ||
| Slightly Increase | e) Environment | ||
| Eliminate | f) Homeland Security | ||
| Greatly Decrease | g) International aid | ||
| Slightly Increase | h) Medical Research | ||
| Slightly Increase | i) Scientific Research | ||
| Greatly Increase | j) Space exploration | ||
| Slightly Decrease | k) United Nations | ||
| Maintain Status | l) Welfare | ||
| Slightly Increase | a) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Corporate taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | c) Excise taxes (alcohol) | ||
| Greatly Increase | d) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) | ||
| Eliminate | f) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Slightly Increase | h) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Slightly Increase | i) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | j) Payroll taxes | ||
| k) Other or expanded categories | |||
| This category is misleading as the amount we spend on welfare has more to do with how many people both qualify and seek to use this benefit. I believe the most attention is needed to provide services with welfare that encourage receipt of that benefit to be more temporary and less cultural. | |||
| My principal priority in going to Congress is to facilitate the deregulation necessary for a true and effective commercial spaceport to operate at Canaveral. This would transfer a large economic burden onto the generation of private revenue, both creating jobs and not only saving tax dollars but increasing them. My secondary priority would be to create incentives and transfer subsidies for fossil fuels and rural agriculture, to renewable energy and urban agriculture. I would also introduce 'leave no trace' legislation which would require mining and energy production companies to better include the cost of environmental restoration in their price. |
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