Elliot Fausz's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
Official Position: Candidate addressed this issue directly by taking the Political Courage Test.
Inferred Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, but Vote Smart inferred this issue based on the candidate's public record, including statements, voting record, and special interest group endorsements.
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Elliot Fausz has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2014 Political Courage Test.
Virginia Congressional Election 2014 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| I believe this is a personal and moral decision in which needs to be made between a woman, her significant other, doctor and faith leader. The government has no purpose in a woman's right to choose what's best for her health. | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| I believe we need to continue to strengthen and modernize our naval forces. In order to balance the budget I would support repealing some of the Bush era tax cuts for the wealthy. | |||
| Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| In a post Citizens United world, we are seeing the highest bidders when the public opinions of the masses and that is directly related to the amount of money they are able to spend on political advocacy. Unlimited spending dilutes the truth for individual gain and takes away from the democratic process. | |||
| No | Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| I do not support capital punishment. Human are not the final judge of anyone's life; only God has that ability. After all, we are humans and we make mistakes, as it's been shown with DNA evidence. | |||
| 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? | ||
| I will support any idea that promotes economic growth. Some situation call for federal stimulus, other situations call for tax breaks. But the federal government needs to be responsible in it's spending and revenue increases or decreases because recklessness at any level can cause economic downturns. | |||
| No | Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants? | ||
| I think the states need to be held accountable for providing a world class education and they can be held accountable by the people who elect local and state representatives. Education problems stem from local issues and the federal government is not capable of addressing issues on the local level. However, there needs to be a standard set and schools need to strive to meet that standard to make our students competitive in a global economy. | |||
| No | Do you support building the Keystone XL pipeline? | ||
| No | Do you support reducing restrictions on offshore energy production? | ||
| The Keystone XL pipeline and offshore drilling offer short term gains while risking long term assets. For instance, the Keystone pipeline puts Ogallala Aquifer at risk, which supplies water to a large portion of our food supply. Furthermore, off shore drilling in Virginia will risk the livelihoods of over 40,000 fishermen and risk the loss of over $2 billion in fishing revenue. The long term assets we have relied on out weigh the short term gains of these proposals. | |||
| Yes | Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| No | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act? | ||
| The Affordable Care Act was a first step in creating a better health care system for everyone involved. There are a lot of piece of the law in which Americans are benefiting from. Still, there are pieces of the law which are hurting small businesses and doctor-patient relationships. I would like to amend that law to better suit our needs and help reduce costs. | |||
| No | Do you support requiring illegal immigrants to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
| I support a pathway to citizenship because it is the most cost effect means to dealing with our immigration problem. It cost tax payers $54 billion to manage our illegal immigrant population. However, by offering a pathway to citizenship, it will save tax payers $15 billion while generating revenue because immigrants will be paying into the tax base. | |||
| Yes | Do you support targeting suspected terrorists outside of official theaters of conflict? | ||
| No | Should the U.S use military force in order to prevent governments hostile to the United States from possessing a nuclear weapon? | ||
| Diplomacy is the best means at preventing hostile states from gaining nuclear weapons. Our sanctions against countries like Iran have been working and will continue to work if the international community continues to comply. These sanctions will force Iran to negotiate and discontinue their operations. | |||
| 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 | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Arts | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Defense | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Education | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Environment | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Homeland Security | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) International aid | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Medical Research | ||
| Slightly Increase | i) Scientific Research | ||
| Slightly Increase | j) Space exploration | ||
| Slightly Decrease | k) United Nations | ||
| Slightly Decrease | l) Welfare | ||
| m) Other or expanded categories | |||
| Slightly Increase | a) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Excise taxes (alcohol) | ||
| Slightly Increase | d) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Slightly Increase | h) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | i) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | j) Payroll taxes | ||
| k) Other or expanded categories | |||
| I will focus on economic security for the 4th district and Virginia. This can be achieved by creating an atmosphere that attracts technology, science, and energy related private sector jobs. I would advocate to reduce the student loan debt for graduates. Graduates need more flexibility in repaying their debts. They need to be able to refinance their student loans to get a lower rate and lower payments, much like we do with mortgages. Last, I will work with colleagues on both sides of the isle to fix the flaws in ACA, repealing is not the answer. |
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