Brian Caples' Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Brian Caples 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.
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.
California State Legislative Election 2014 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? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| This is not a fair question. I am pro-life and pro-choice. Those that oppose abortion are not always "pro-life", they are actually just "pro-birth". How can one be pro-life, if they do not care about the life of the child who might be born to a mother who does not want them, cannot afford to take care of them, etc? Some want to eliminate public education. What kind of life is that for the child? Do not let the pro-birth people call themselves "pro-life", unless they care about the life of the baby after it is born as well. | |||
1) State Spending:Using the key, 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.2) State Taxes:Using the key, 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.3) Budget Stabilization:Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing California's budget.
| Greatly Increase | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Greatly Increase | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Greatly Increase | c) Environment | ||
| Greatly Increase | d) Health care | ||
| Greatly Decrease | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Greatly Increase | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Greatly Decrease | g) Welfare | ||
| Eliminate | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Eliminate | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | d) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | e) Property taxes | ||
| Eliminate | f) Sales taxes | ||
| Eliminate | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | h) Income taxes (mid-income families) | ||
| Slightly Increase | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| No | a) Tapping into California's "rainy day" fund | ||
| No | b) Increasing tuition rates at public universities | ||
| No | c) Reducing or eliminating public worker collective bargaining | ||
| No | d) Reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions | ||
| No | e) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees | ||
| No | f) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| If there was enough opportunity for people to live a good quality of life, the black market would not have the appeal it does today. Absent opportunity, people have limited choices. I will reduce the spending we have on welfare not with budget cuts, but by empowering people. I will support legislation to hold employers accountable for paying below poverty level wages, so people are not forced to use social programs. I will close the loopholes that special interests take advantage of, to make sure they pay their fair share, and put the proceeds towards Education. | |||
| We are taxed at every angle these days, nearly every aspect of our life has some tax, fee, permit, fine, or other extraction tool attached to it. It has become too much. I vote to close the loopholes that allow multinational corporations to skip out on taxes. We are the only oil producing state in the union with no oil extraction tax. It is time to change that, and fund our infrastructure to support green energy and not big oil. | |||
| How are these the only options? Who wrote this test? There are more options to balance CA budget than to cut salaries, programs, or tapping the rainy day fund! How about taxing Big Oil in CA a huge severance and oil export tax? How about closing the tax loopholes? How about a billionaire corporation tax? | |||
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? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| The problem of money in politics has reached the epidemic level. At all levels, politicians are being influenced by big money donors to serve their interests. This must come to an end. Corporations are not people. Money for advertising is not free speech. I want a government that is not for sale. I am fed up with the influence of money in politics. Now is the time to fix the number 1 problem in the entire political realm. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support legalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana? | ||
| No | d) Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | ||
| No | e) Should a minor who sends sexually-explicit or nude photos by cell phone face criminal charges? | ||
| No | f) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support requiring labels on foods that have been genetically engineered or contain genetically modified ingredients? | ||
| Our society is one of freedom. The freedom to pursue happiness in whatever way you want. That right ends where it begins to infringe on the rights of others. If there is no victim, there should be no crime. We are all immigrants to this country unless you are a native. Let us not forget that. The USA represents freedom from tyranny, and that is why millions have come here seeking a better life. We owe all we are to immigrants. We must have GMO labeling at a MINIMUM! I say ban GMO's like many other civilized countries already have. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | ||
| No | d) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage? | ||
| We give billions to special interests already, there is no need for any more. Let's put those monies into the hands of the little people to create business. I support a complete review of our entire commercial code system. To amend/repeal the legislation passed by special interests that create barriers to entry and stifle competition. I support putting all of the subsidies we pay to Big Oil towards green energy and improving our water system. | |||
| No | a) Do you support the national Common Core State Standards initiative? | ||
| No | b) Do you support a merit pay system for teachers? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| No | 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 California high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| The real higher education issues are 1. The cost of education. 2. The cost of education. 3. The cost of education. Why was this not listed as an issue? Giving aid is just treating the symptom. I support returning our higher education system to a free system as it was when it started. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state funding for the development of alternative energy? | ||
| 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 California'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? | ||
| All of this will not matter if we do not have clean air to breathe, healthy food to eat, and safe water to drink. Coexistence with our environment is every ones responsibility. We should completely divest away from oil, coal, and natural gas in favor of renewable energy. I want to free us from the grasp of PGE and truly deregulate our energy market. I want to free us from the dependence on dirty fuels that destroy our environment. I will create a market where innovation and new technology is embraced and not suppressed to keep the status quo. | |||
| No | a) Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| No | b) Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows? | ||
| Yes | c) Should citizens be allowed to carry concealed guns? | ||
| No | d) Should a license be required for gun possession? | ||
| As your representative, I am required to swear an oath to uphold the Constitution. The second amendment clearly states, "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." Now, if the authors wanted it restricted to certain types of weaponry, why did they did not say the right to muskets, or bayonets, or cannons, or limit Arms in any way? So until the Constitution is amended to say something different, or my oath of office changes, I am sworn to uphold and protect all of the amendments, and I will do so. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support interstate health insurance compacts? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act? | ||
| No | e) Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| I support a single payer system for healthcare, like we thought we were getting. We have been misled, and tricked by the insurance companies who lobbied in favor of ACA. We are now forced to buy insurance from corporations whose sole purpose is to profit off of us. The only good part is removing the pre-existing condition clauses that prevented people from obtaining care. We will keep that and fix the other problems. I support moving CA to a single payer system as an alternative to mandating insurance and funneling tax payer money into a for profit corporate insurance system. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in California's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in California's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Time to step into 2014! Discrimination and racism are out. Tolerance and free thinking are in! | |||
| 1. Restore the balance of power in Government back to the people 2. Be a voice for the people- Special interests have plenty of say in Government 3. Lower costs on food, water, housing, energy, gas, internet, healthcare. 4. Implement oil severance tax. You take it out of the ground, you pay. 5. Implement oil export tariff. You take it out of CA, you pay a huge penalty. 6. Billionaire corporation tax- Any corporation that has revenue of 1B or more pays a 20% additional flat tax. 7. Put all that money towards making life better for all residents. |
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