Kelly Westlund's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
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Kelly Westlund did not provide voters with positions on key issues covered by the 2022 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.
Wisconsin Congressional Election 2014 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| We can all agree that we'd like to see fewer abortions, but the best way to do that is to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies. Providing comprehensive sex education and access to contraceptives are effective ways to help address the issue. Ultimately, I trust women to make their own health care and family planning decisions. | |||
| 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? | ||
| With the rapid consolidation of wealth at the very top of the economic ladder, we must pursue tax reform to help address the impacts of growing inequality. Closing tax loopholes and raising taxes on millionaires and billionaires would generate revenues that could be used to balance the budget while financing investment in our nation's infrastructure and education systems. When everyone pays their fair share, we can expand opportunity for everyone to build a secure economic future, regardless of their family's net worth or their ability to exploit a tax loophole. | |||
| Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| Citizen voices ought to speak louder than campaign contributions, which is why I'm in favor of a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United. Corporations are not people and money is not speech. | |||
| 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? | ||
| 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? | ||
| Yes | Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| I am in support of universal background checks and policies that promote responsible gun ownership and hunter safety. | |||
| No | Do you support requiring illegal immigrants to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
| No | Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts? | ||
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 | ||
| Greatly Decrease | c) Defense | ||
| Greatly Increase | d) Education | ||
| Slightly Increase | e) Environment | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Homeland Security | ||
| Maintain Status | g) International aid | ||
| Greatly Increase | h) Medical Research | ||
| Greatly Increase | i) Scientific Research | ||
| Slightly Increase | j) Space exploration | ||
| Maintain Status | k) United Nations | ||
| Slightly Increase | l) Welfare | ||
| Greatly Increase | a) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | b) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Excise taxes (alcohol) | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | f) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | i) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | j) Payroll taxes | ||
| In many of these categories, I would support re-prioritization of the current spending to better reflect our values and priorities. | |||
| The effective tax rates on top income earners and corporations is often much lower than the established tax rate, resulting from the exploitation of tax loopholes and accounting gimmicks. Closing these loopholes would raise tax revenues without raising established rates. | |||
| I want to go to Congress to fight for working people and middle class families. Budgets and policies should reflect our values and our priorities, but citizen voices are being drowned by corporate money and special interests. I want to build an economy that works for working people, but that starts with reinvesting in our infrastructure and education system as a solid foundation on which commerce can build. Making billionaires and corporations pay their fair share in taxes would generate the necessary revenues and help expand the opportunity for any American to build a secure economic future. |
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