Robert Gibeling, Jr.'s Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Robert Gibeling, Jr. has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2016 Political Courage Test.
Georgia State Legislative Election 2016 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | a) Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| No | b) Should abortions be illegal after the first trimester of pregnancy? | ||
| Yes | c) Should abortion be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape? | ||
| Yes | d) Should abortion be legal when the life of the woman is endangered? | ||
| No | e) Do you support requiring parental notification before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| No | f) Do you support requiring parental consent before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| No | g) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for abortion procedures? | ||
| No | h) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions? | ||
| I share the common ground with most Georgians, wanting to keep the need for abortions at a minimum. To do this we must support birth control measures and education to prevent unwanted pregnancies in the first place. I also support the option of adoption whenever possible. Restricting access to safe medical procedures does not prevent abortions, it just endangers the woman's life. | |||
1) Budget Stabilization:Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing Georgia's budget.2) State Spending:Indicate what state funding levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one level per category; you may use a number more than once.3) State Taxes:Indicate what state tax levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one level per category; you may use a number more than once.
| No | a) Tapping into Georgia's "rainy day" fund | ||
| No | b) Decreasing funding for public universities | ||
| No | c) Reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions | ||
| No | d) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees | ||
| No | e) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| Slightly Increase | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Greatly Increase | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Slightly Increase | c) Environment | ||
| Slightly Increase | d) Health care | ||
| Slightly Increase | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Greatly Increase | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Welfare | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | d) Small business taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | e) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | f) Property taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | g) Sales taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | i) Income taxes (mid-income families) | ||
| Slightly Increase | j) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| No | k) Do you support applying sales taxes to all online purchases? | ||
| The way to keep the budget balanced is to stimulate the economy and keep revenue streams healthy. Any tax break proposals for corporations must be accompanied by an estimate of long term revenue growth and an estimate of a " break even" time table. We must stop passing negative economic influences such as so called " religious liberty" bills and the refusal to expand Medicaid for our low income but hard working citizens of Georgia. | |||
| I will always take a practical approach to budget proposals. | |||
| All these categories must be considered in the overall budget context, so there must be some flexibility to revise priorities if some options for economic stimulation or revenue sources are not adopted. | |||
a) Do you support limits on the following types of contributions for state candidates?
| Yes | 1) Individual | ||
| Yes | 2) Political Action Committee | ||
| Yes | 3) Corporate | ||
| Yes | 4) Political Party | ||
| Yes | b) Should candidates for state office be encouraged to meet voluntary spending limits? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support the use of an independent AND/OR bipartisan commission for redistricting? | ||
| No | e) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| Some form of identification has always been required on voting day in Georgia, to the best of my knowledge, having voted consistently for over 40 years in this state. Having some form of ID should be continued. However, requiring a government issued photo ID limits access to voting for many Georgians. This photo ID Law was passed with the excuse of preventing voter fraud. There are virtually NO cases of in person, election day voter fraud in this state, which was even admitted by the Attorney General. | |||
| No | a) Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support alternatives to incarceration for certain non-violent offenders, such as mandatory counseling or substance abuse treatment? | ||
| c) Do you support legalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana? | |||
| Yes | d) Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | ||
| No | e) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support delaying the seizure of assets by law enforcement officials until after a conviction? | ||
| I support making it legal to purchase and use cannabis oil for medical purposes. I am very open to having a comprehensive discussion about revising the laws about possession of a small amount of marijuana. However, if we were to consider making this legal, I would insist we revise a whole set of laws regulating the impact on driving, work performance etc. similar to our laws on alcohol intoxication before voting in favor of this revision. Far too many people are being incarcerated and locked into a downward legal spiral by simple possession laws, so change is needed. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| b) Do you support lowering taxes as a means of promoting economic growth? | |||
| c) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | |||
| Yes | d) Do you support increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | ||
| No | f) Do you support requiring welfare applicants to pass a drug test in order to receive benefits? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| Yes | h) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| Yes | i) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage? | ||
| Yes | j) Should employers be able to ask about applicants' criminal history before interviewing them? | ||
| b) lowering some income taxes ( primarily for middle income families ) can provide a stimulus but not for families earning $500,000 or more annually. Lowering corporate taxes should only be done with the assurance of economic stimulation and eventual state revenue growth. c) Some government regulations need to be simplified or eliminated but others should be strengthened for public safety. Wiping out all government regulations would be irresponsible and not an overall economic stimulus. | |||
| No | a) Do you support the national Common Core State Standards initiative? | ||
| No | b) Do you support a merit pay system for teachers? | ||
| Yes | c) Is the tenure process for public school teachers producing effective teachers? | ||
| No | d) Should parents be allowed to use vouchers to send their children to any school? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| Yes | g) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Georgia high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| a) Local school systems should determine their own curriculum while following state standards. c) I believe the tenure process helps create stability for teachers, who improve with experience, but the system should be constantly monitored for ways to improve it. e) Yes as long as charter schools are open to anyone who is qualified based on objective measures g) Yes this is an economic stimulus and fair since parents have been paying state sales tax and most likely have been paying income taxes. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, thermal)? | ||
| No | b) Do you support state funding for the development of traditional domestic energy sources (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil)? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support state funding for improvements to Georgia's energy infrastructure? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support government regulations of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support increased regulations of the hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") industry? | ||
| g) Other or expanded principles: | |||
| Yes | a) Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| Yes | b) Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows? | ||
| No | c) Should citizens be allowed to carry concealed guns? | ||
| No | d) Do you support allowing concealed carry on public college campuses in Georgia? | ||
| Yes | e) Should a license be required for gun possession? | ||
| As a gun owner I do not want to take away guns from owners who use them for sport or self defense. However, we must keep guns from the hands of terrorist sympathizers and the mentally ill. We should not allow private citizens to purchase or use military style rifles that are designed to slaughter as many people as possible in as little time as possible. I have not accepted and will not accept contributions from the NRA. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support a universally-accessible, publicly-administered health insurance option? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support expanding access to health care through commercial health insurance reform? | ||
| No | c) Do you support interstate health insurance compacts? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| c) This would not lower local insurance rates in my opinion, based on analysis I have seen. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Georgia's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Georgia's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | d) Based on the religious beliefs of the owners, should businesses be allowed to refuse services to their employees and/or customers? | ||
| My MBA program described a concept called " cost of doing business." These costs are required and must be paid in order to do a particular business. Serving people in accordance with federal or local non discrimination laws is a cost of doing business. If someone is not willing to abide by the laws, no matter what the excuse, then that person should get out of that business and find another line of work. Clergy have never been required to marry anyone they don't want to marry and they never will. To say otherwise is pandering to unwarranted fears. | |||
| My priority is not just to stop harmful legislation but to sponsor and pass positive legislation that stimulates our economy and stops upward pressure on local property taxes. The number one priority that does this, while helping low income working people, is passing a Medicaid expansion law of some sort. The additional costs will be covered by the economic stimulus provided by this program, boosting state revenues. I also will work to pass a comprehensive civil rights/ employment non discrimination law, since Georgia does not have one. This would include race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, disabilities and veteran status. |
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