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Dave Koller's 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.

Dave Koller 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.

What is the Political Courage Test?

Issue Positions

For Presidential and Congressional candidates who refuse to provide voters with their positions, Vote Smart has researched their public records to determine their likely responses. These issue positions are from 2016.

  • "I will protect our women and their rights. Period." (koller2016.com)
  • "I stand behind women and I will fight to protect their right to choose. I trust women them with their bodies and their choices." (koller2016.com)
  • "Women health issues should not be open to political agendas and used as fodder for elections. Women’s health issues affect lives and families. Unintended pregnancies put many women in a position where they need to make difficult choices. Rarely does a woman make these decisions lightly." (koller2016.com)
  • Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? "Pro-Choice" (votesmart.org)
  • "We need to increase wages, strengthen Social Security and Medicare, support unions and close tax loopholes for the rich." (votesmart.org)
  • In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? "Yes" (votesmart.org)
  • "As you well many states have addressed this issue and passed laws that support the use of medical marijuana. I want to see this passed at a federal level, so that patients that legally obtain medical use marijuana, can do so safely and without the threat of prosecution." (koller2016.com)
  • "Law enforcement funded by War on Drugs money equip and train police forces to use using military style tactics against our own citizens. Instead of focusing on justice, our courts have become huge money machines. In some cases, minor violations are punished with jail time for non-payment of fines." (koller2016.com)
  • "The other issue that I believe should be addressed at federal, state and local levels is the prosecution and sentencing of non- violent offenders charged with possession of small amounts of marijuana. Yes, I understand that marijuana, at this time, is illegal, but I do think that we need to take a close and objective look at sentencing guidelines and be sure that they are in line with the severity of the crime." (koller2016.com)
  • "Let’s pass a bipartisan infrastructure plan that could create more than 30 times as many jobs per year, and make this country stronger for decades to come." (koller2016.com)
  • Do you support lowering taxes as a means of promoting economic growth? "No" (votesmart.org)
  • Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants? "Yes" (votesmart.org)
  • "Vote for candidates that don’t take money from Big Energy, who refuse to see that dependence on coal, petroleum, and natural gas endangers our country. If you care about the environment, elect candidates that support clean energy technologies and research." (koller2016.com)
  • Do you support building the Keystone XL pipeline? "No" (votesmart.org)
  • "Vote for candidates that don’t take money from Big Energy, who refuse to see that dependence on coal, petroleum, and natural gas endangers our country. If you care about the environment, elect candidates that support clean energy technologies and research." (koller2016.com)
  • "Vote for candidates that don’t take money from Big Energy, who refuse to see that dependence on coal, petroleum, and natural gas endangers our country. If you care about the environment, elect candidates that support clean energy technologies and research." (koller2016.com)
  • "We need to enact laws that preserve and protect our planet. Elect candidates that accept the scientific proof that climate change and global warming exist." (koller2016.com)
  • Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? "Yes" (votesmart.org)
  • Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act? "No" (votesmart.org)
  • "Currently many politicians, elected and vying to be elected have made some vile and racist concerning desperate families that are seeking entry into the U.S.. They are tarnishing the very ideals that our country was founded on. Instead of addressing immigration reform in a reasonable manner and working through bipartisanship cooperation to find innovative solutions, they would rather talk of building giant walls and imprisonment." (koller2016.com)
  • "Their are many different levels of immigrants who are here undocumented. this cannot be a quick yes or no answer. What we need to do is reform our immigration laws to allow people to immigrate if they desire by constructing a legal and functional process for individuals to follow. Some may have to be returned to their land of origin, where others would be able to stay to pursue legal residency. There is no blanket solution to this crisis." (votesmart.org)
  • "We need to look at how we can rebuild the immigration system to ensure that the people that attain citizenship add to our society. It is our moral responsibility to help others in need, those that wish to escape oppressive and dangerous lives." (koller2016.com)
  • Do you support targeting suspected terrorists outside of official theaters of conflict? "Yes" (votesmart.org)
  • "First, is the rationing of healthcare that takes place under the Medicare system. Medicare Part D, which provides prescriptions to seniors is privatized and by statute it is not allowed to be part of a single-payer system. This leads to rampant overspending." (koller2016.com)
  • Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts? "This is not a yes or no answer. This would be need to be debated and resolved with respect to what the American people want and how it would best serve them. The gravest concern is to ensure that our seniors have the ability to live out their lives with dignity." (votesmart.org)
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.
Pro-choice Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation?
Yes In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing defense spending?
Yes In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket?
Multi national Corporations should not be receiving tax payer dollars in the form of subsidies nor should the "1%" be able to offshore their money to avoid paying taxes. No increases for the middle class.
Yes Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions?
Yes Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes?
Extreme cases without any doubt of guilt.
Yes Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth?
No 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?
If they are local small town businesses. I am not in favor of using tax dollars to give subsidies to Major Corporations in order for them to come in and create minimum wage jobs.
Yes Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants?
We need to support our public schools with tax dollars, private schools should not benefit from our tax dollars over public schools.
No Do you support building the Keystone XL pipeline?
No Do you support reducing restrictions on offshore energy production?
Yes Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change?
Yes Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions?
Yes Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns?
A background check should be conducted before the purchase of a fire arm.
No Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act?
No Do you support requiring illegal immigrants to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship?
Their are many different levels of immigrants who are here undocumented. this cannot be a quick yes or no answer. What we need to do is reform our immigration laws to allow people to immigrate if they desire by constructing a legal and functional process for individuals to follow. Some may have to be returned to their land of origin, where others would be able to stay to pursue legal residency. There is no blanket solution to this crisis.
Yes Do you support same-sex marriage?
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?
Diplomacy should always be promoted until that option is exhausted, but no option for protecting The United States should ever be taken off the table.
Unknown Position Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts?
This is not a yes or no answer. This would be need to be debated and resolved with respect to what the American people want and how it would best serve them. The gravest concern is to ensure that our seniors have the ability to live out their lives with dignity.

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
Greatly Increase b) Arts
Slightly Decrease c) Defense
Greatly Increase d) Education
Slightly Increase e) Environment
Maintain Status f) Homeland Security
Slightly Decrease g) International aid
Greatly Increase h) Medical Research
Greatly Increase i) Scientific Research
Maintain Status j) Space exploration
Maintain Status k) United Nations
Maintain Status l) Welfare
m) Other or expanded categories
Slightly Increase a) Capital gains taxes
Slightly Increase 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
k) Other or expanded categories
It is all about Investing, if as a nation we invest in our nations infrastructure this will create jobs, which in turn increases our countries revenue. We invest in renewable resources and our energy grid this will create jobs, which in turn increases our countries revenue. To find the revenue we will need to insist on big money corporations on paying their fair share in taxes and not allow money to stored off shore. We also need to raise the pay of Americans to a livable wage which would then free up dependency programs revenue.

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