Kerith Taylor's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Kerith Taylor has failed to provide voters with positions on key issues covered by the 2018 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.
Pennsylvania Congressional Election 2016 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| Women should be free to make their own decisions about their health care, their bodies and their future. If we truly want to reduce the number of abortions, we should be championing affordable access to birth control. The ACA was a first step in making this a reality. The 54+ votes to defund and repeal the ACA is a step backward. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| We have allowed money to hijack our political system. Those who can afford to buy policies that benefit them will always have the advantage over those who cannot afford to do so. Our government should serve all of us; not just the wealthy few. I support public financing of campaigns, overturning Citizens United and elimination of the super PACs that permit unfettered interference in our elections. | |||
| No | Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| Yes | Do you support alternatives to incarceration for certain non-violent offenders such as mandatory counseling or substance abuse treatment? | ||
| No | Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders? | ||
| Yes | Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | Do you support lowering taxes 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 building the Keystone XL pipeline? | ||
| Yes | Do you support government funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, thermal)? | ||
| Yes | Do you support increased regulations on the hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") industry? | ||
| 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 generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| I support universal background checks for all gun sales, but I am also a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment right to own. By refusing to study and address the reality of gun violence in America, with every mass shooting, my, and other law abiding Americans', right to own is threatened. The solution to the gun violence in our country is not only strict gun regulation, nor will it be addressed only by investment in mental health services. This is an American problem and I believe we can find an American solution. | |||
| No | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")? | ||
| The ACA eliminated lifetime caps, enabled those with pre-existing conditions to obtain coverage, ensured that mammograms were considered routine care, allowed children to remain on their parent's policies until they turned 26, and obligate insurance companies to spend 80% of premium dollars on care. These are all real changes to the health care market that affect Americans. Repeal of this bill, with no alternative to address the millions of Americans who could not access care before the ACA is irresponsible and reckless. | |||
| No | 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.
| Maintain Status | a) Agriculture | ||
| Slightly Increase | b) Arts | ||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Defense | ||
| Slightly Increase | d) Education | ||
| Greatly Increase | e) Environment | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Homeland Security | ||
| Maintain Status | g) International aid | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Medical Research | ||
| Slightly Increase | i) Scientific Research | ||
| Maintain Status | j) Space exploration | ||
| Maintain Status | k) United Nations | ||
| Slightly Increase | l) Welfare | ||
| m) Other or expanded categories | |||
| Greatly Increase | a) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Small business taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Excise taxes (alcohol) | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Greatly Increase | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | j) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | k) Payroll taxes | ||
| The only way we can afford to rebuild our nation from within (crumbling infrastructure, underfunded schools, remedy our childhood poverty rate) is to close the loopholes that allow corporations to dodge their tax obligations and tax income as we did during our decades of prosperity. The experiment of trickle-down economics has failed. It is time to return to true investment in our economy and our nation. | |||
| Public financing of campaigns would remove the perverse incentive to invest millions of dollars in elections with the hope of a financial payoff in the end. It is legal bribery and it has corrupted our system to the point that bringing it back from the brink will require new representatives to be elected that are not beholden to the money. |
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