Phil Bellfy's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Phil Bellfy 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.
Michigan 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? | ||
| 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) Other or expanded principles: | |||
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 Michigan's budget.
| Greatly Increase | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Greatly Increase | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Greatly Increase | c) Environment | ||
| Greatly Increase | d) Health care | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Slightly Increase | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Slightly Increase | g) Welfare | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Property taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Sales taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | h) Income taxes (mid-income families) | ||
| Greatly Increase | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| No | a) Tapping into Michigan'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 | ||
| 4) Do you support providing financial assistance to Detroit's city pension system from the State of Michigan's "rainy day" fund? | |||
| We do not face a "budget crisis" --we face a "priorities crisis." That is, Michigan has plenty of sources of revenue to commit to resolving the myriad of problems faced by "carbon-based life forms," but the current administration has decided to concentrate solely on "corporate-based life-forms." The 99% is my only concern --the 1% are doing very nicely, thank you. | |||
| One huge problem Michigan faces is a Constitutional ban on a graduated income tax, so, state tax policy is ill-equipped to deal with the rising disparities of wealth in the state (and the $1.8b tax give-away to wealthy businesses is a disaster!!). | |||
| See answer to "State Spending," above. NO further cuts to the 99% --repeal the tax-cuts for the 1%!! | |||
a) Do you support limits on the following types of contributions for state candidates?
| 1) Individual | |||
| 2) Political Action Committee | |||
| 3) Corporate | |||
| 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? | ||
| I'm surprised that there are no questions related to "dark money" contributions --which I am unalterably opposed to. Corporationsa re not "people," and money is not "speech." | |||
| 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? | ||
| Under (c), "legalizing" suggests "regulation and taxation" of small amounts of marijuana, which I am opposed to. I would prefer a "decriminalization" option. | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| No | 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? | ||
| The "private sector" is doing quite well, and if the $1.8b tax break they recently received isn't enough to spur "job creation," then I would suggest that the tax-cut was rather ill-conceived. I would only support "financial incentives" for the private sector if the "incentives" are offset, dollar-for-dollar, by increased tax revenue collected by the state directly from the new hires such "incentives" are designed to promote. | |||
| 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? | ||
| 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 Michigan high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| Under (a), I support Common Core standards, but I am unalterably opposed to "teaching to the test." Under (f), I would support the establishment of a "State bank" that would provide students with education loans at the lowest interest rate possible (near or at the rate of inflation would be a good place to start, and work down from there!). | |||
| 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 Michigan'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? | ||
| Michigan could do so much more to promote "alternative energy sources," but seems beholden to to the fossil-fuel industries. Ban "fracking," and get rid of the Enbridge pipeline under the Straits ("Double-Wall, or Not-At-All). Remove all subsidies to "dirty energy" (especially nuclear), and give those subsidies to alternative energy sources --wind and solar PV. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Sensible gun control regulations should not be a problem for responsible gun-owners (like me). Sensible gun control regulation cannot effectively be answered by the "yes/no" choices we are presented with, here. Every "yes" and every "no" demands extensive discussion and an exploration of all sides of this very complex issue. For example, under (c), why no discussion of "open-carry" laws? And, under (c), why no discussion of "gun-free" zones? | |||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | 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? | ||
| Under (e), my "yes" answer is tempered by my answer under (a), that is, the "individual mandate" should only be required if there's a "public option" available to everyone. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| Yes | b) Should same-sex couples be allowed to form civil unions? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Michigan's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Michigan's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Under (c) and (d), I would prefer the State's anti-discrimination laws to be written to prohibit discrimination against anyone for any reason. | |||
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