On The Ballot: Running, Democratic for U.S. House (CA) - District 36
Ted Lieu has failed to provide voters with positions on key issues covered by the 2024 Political Courage Test, despite repeated requests from Vote Smart and voters like you.
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 2024.
Pro-choice | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
I am 100% pro-choice and honored to be endorsed by Planned Parenthood. |
Yes | In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing defense spending? | ||
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Yes | In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
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It is not reasonable to answer the above two questions with just yes or no answers because these are vastly complicated areas in an immense budget. Would I support reducing defense spending by reducing some troop levels? YES. Would I support reducing spending that is critical to maintaining our technological edge? NO. Would I support simply increasing taxes? NO. Would I support increasing taxes in certain areas but lowering them in others? Maybe. It would depend on the specifics. |
Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
I support a Clean Money system. I also believe the US Congress should pass a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United. That's why I introduced legislation to place a measure on the statewide ballot to allow California voters to tell Congress that real campaign finance reform must happen, including disallowing corporations to be treated as human beings. |
Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | |||
California's existing death penalty law doesn't work. There is a racial disparity on who gets sentenced to death. I support efforts to reform current law. |
Do you support lowering taxes as a way of promoting growth in the economy? | |||
Do you support providing tax incentives to businesses for the purpose of job creation? | |||
Yes | Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
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It makes little sense to answer the above tax and spending questions with yes or no answers. Would I support federal stimulus for a bridge to nowhere? NO. Would I support federal stimulus to help reduce congestion on the 405? YES. Would I support a tax credit for making socks? NO. Would I support a tax credit for Film & TV production? YES. My answers will depend on specific issues. That's why limited forms like this make it difficult to have intelligent responses. |
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? | ||
I believe the federal government should set greenhouse gas reduction goals. This is working in California not just for carbon emissions, but also for renewables and efficiency. I was proud to support California?s landmark renewable portfolio standard, as well as its most recent increase to 33% by 2020. As a Member of Congress, I will continue to champion policies that discourage fossil fuel use and encourage renewables and efficiency. I would also reintroduce the Waxman-Markey bill to tackle climate change. |
No | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act? | ||
As a legislator, I have voted regularly to support the ACA, including the creation of the health exchange, setting a minimum level of benefits and expanding MediCal. Additionally, with the increase in health insurance marketing to communities whose first language is not English, I authored and passed a law to ensure that when insurers advertise in a language other than English, the documents must also be in that language. However, the ACA is not perfect and I would support bills to make it better. |
No | Do you support requiring illegal immigrants to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
Looking for a better life and opportunity, my parents immigrated to the United States when I was three. With the support of hard-working parents and a country that provided limitless opportunity, I would attend college and then law school. I am in public service because I want to ensure that the opportunities provided to me and my family are open and available to everyone. Comprehensive immigration reform must happen. |
Yes | Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
I have been on the frontline in the fight for marriage equality. As an Assemblymember, I voted to support all landmark marriage equality bills, voted YES every time to expand domestic partner benefits and I was a proud co-author of HR 5, which sought to overturn the ban on same-sex marriage. |
Yes | Do you support targeting suspected terrorists outside of official theaters of conflict? | ||
Should the U.S use military force in order to prevent governments hostile to the United States from possessing a nuclear weapon? | |||
No elected official could reasonably answer just YES or NO to the previous question. Should we bomb North Korea now because they are hostile to the US and have nuclear weapons? NO. Should we use military force to prevent other rogue nations from getting nuclear weapons? It depends on the circumstances. It also depends on my review of classified information. |
No | Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts? | ||
I oppose any effort to privatize social security. |
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.
a) Agriculture | |||
b) Arts | |||
c) Defense | |||
d) Education | |||
e) Environment | |||
f) Homeland Security | |||
g) International aid | |||
h) Medical Research | |||
i) Scientific Research | |||
j) Space exploration | |||
k) United Nations | |||
l) Welfare | |||
a) Capital gains taxes | |||
b) Corporate taxes | |||
c) Excise taxes (alcohol) | |||
d) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | |||
e) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) | |||
f) Income taxes (low-income families) | |||
g) Income taxes (middle-income families) | |||
h) Income taxes (high-income families) | |||
i) Inheritance taxes | |||
j) Payroll taxes | |||
It is impossible to answer the above questions in this limited format. Would I support increasing education funding so schools can do more rigid testing? NO. Would I support increasing education funding to reduce class sizes? YES. Would I support increasing funding for space exploration to the moon? NO. Would I support increasing funding for space exploration to Mars and other planets? YES. Without specifics, it is impossible to answer the above questions in any meaningful manner. | |||
It is impossible to answer the above questions in this limited format. Would I support increasing corporate taxes across the board? NO. Would I support closing corporate loopholes that allow inversions? YES. How much revenues we need also depends on the state of the economy and the state of the budget. Are there cuts being proposed? If so, where? How much are the cuts? What are the tradeoffs? Do we need more revenues? To answer the above questions in the abstract is impossible. |
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