Bob Dingethal's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
Official Position: Candidate addressed this issue directly by taking the Political Courage Test.
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Bob Dingethal has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2014 Political Courage Test.
Washington Congressional Election 2014 Political Courage Test
| 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? | ||
| Our tax system has been ovewhelmed by complexity and special-interest tax breaks that average citizens and small businesses cannot use. We desperately need to make our tax system equitable, transparent, and simple again. | |||
| Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| Campaign finance reform has been an ongoing issue for many years now. I support efforts to pass a Constitutional Amendment on campaign finance reform. | |||
| Yes | Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| A mixture of reasonable incentives and disincentives for business would benefit all of us, but we must stop providing big tax breaks to corporations and industries with the biggest lobbying budgets! | |||
| No | Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants? | ||
| Federal monetary support for public education is less than 10% of the school district budgets, but comes with strings that have a huge effect on how our schools are run. Provide reasonable funding and let those closest to the students set educational policy. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Private and Internet sales of firearms are slipping through our background check system. All changes of firearm ownership should require a background check. | |||
| No | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act? | ||
| The Affordable Care Act has created a strong framework that allows for changes and improvement. We should work to improve the system we have now, not repeal and replace it with a system that has a whole new set of problems to solve. | |||
| Yes | Do you support requiring illegal immigrants to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
| 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? | ||
| No | Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts? | ||
| Social Security is a vital part of our senior safety net, keeping millions of seniors from falling into poverty. We need to act, as Ronald Reagan did 30 years ago, to keep it on sound financial footing. | |||
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 | ||
| Greatly Increase | d) Education | ||
| Slightly Increase | e) Environment | ||
| Slightly Decrease | f) Homeland Security | ||
| Maintain Status | g) International aid | ||
| Slightly Increase | h) Medical Research | ||
| Slightly Increase | i) Scientific Research | ||
| Slightly Increase | 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 | ||
| Slightly Increase | c) Excise taxes (alcohol) | ||
| Slightly Increase | 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) | ||
| Slightly Increase | h) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Slightly Increase | i) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | j) Payroll taxes | ||
| k) Other or expanded categories | |||
| We need to to do a better job with education. We cannot expect to keep unemployment below 5% when 20% of our young adults fail to graduate from high school. Our nation's infrastructure is crumbling. We need to invest in roads, bridges, transportation systems and public architecture. The Affordable Care Act has extended health care coverage to millions of previously uninsured Americans. Now we need to address other issues, like improving mental health services and simplifying medical billing and insurance statements. Our tax code has become burdensomely complex and unfair. We need tax code simplification that treats all taxpayers fairly. |
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