Scott Fuhrman's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Scott Fuhrman has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2016 Political Courage Test.
Florida Congressional Election 2016 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| I firmly believe in a woman's right to make her own reproductive health care decisions. Furthermore, I don't believe the term "pro-life" accurately portrays that side of the debate. To be pro-life is to support funding education, a livable wage for families, adoption programs, and social safety-net programs. The same party that attacks social security and the ACA consistently cannot claim to to care about 'life.' Furthermore, the Republicans blocked Zika funding, a disease that affects the unborn worst of all. | |||
| 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 country's massive economic inequality, with corporate CEOs often enjoying a lower effective tax rate than their secretaries, shows why our tax scale's defunct. I support a progressive tax based on the ability to pay. We lose over $100 billion a year in revenue that could fund education, for example, from offshore tax cash stashes around the world, footing the bill to the middle class. I believe closing loopholes for wealthy benefactors, a more progressive tax code, and a tax on Wall Street speculation, can reel in the recklessness and predatory behavior that crashed the economy not long ago. | |||
| Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| Locally, I unequivocally support the Accountable Miami-Dade amendment capping the maximum contribution for local races in Miami-Dade County to $250. The biggest issue with dark money is that it's dark. Federal guidelines that campaigns follow should also be followed by their surrogate organizations. A fierce majority of Democrats, Republicans, and independents all believe that money is influencing electoral campaigns to a level of toxicity not seen in American politics before. It's time for a Congress with the actual will to change the money culture in Washington. | |||
| No | Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| Yes | Do you support alternatives to incarceration for certain non-violent offenders such as mandatory counseling or substance abuse treatment? | ||
| No | Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders? | ||
| We need to be shifting away from the outdated policies of a failed drug war. Our current response structure to drug addiction has only exacerbated the problem, alienated more and more drug users from getting help, and made dangerous international cartels richer in the process. If we want to treat drug addiction as what it is, a health issue, we cannot be locking people up who need treatment. The way to teach people how drugs can ruin peoples' lives is not by sending them to jail and ruining their lives. | |||
| Yes | Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | Do you support lowering taxes as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | Do you support providing tax incentives to businesses for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| Federal spending can be a useful tool to promote economic growth when used appropriately. Lowering taxes for low and middle income earners is a means of promoting economic growth as they will then have more disposable income to spend on goods and services, thus stimulating the economy. Tax incentives, when targeted appropriately, are another useful means of promoting economic growth. | |||
| Yes | Do you generally support requiring states to adopt federal education standards? | ||
| I do not, however, believe that Common Core is the answer. We need more community and teacher input to workshop a better federal standard that isn't reliant on high-stakes testing to measure learning. | |||
| No | Do you support building the Keystone XL pipeline? | ||
| Yes | Do you support government funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, thermal)? | ||
| Yes | Do you support increased regulations on the hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") industry? | ||
| Yes | Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| We need quick and effective action to address climate change. One way we can do that, I believe, is through a tax on carbon emissions with a built-in credit for those using renewable energy exceeding a certain threshold. I support action to ban Arctic and offshore oil drilling, fracking, mountaintop removal coal mining, and any new pipeline projects. | |||
| Yes | Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| I support banning gun sales to people on the terror watch list -- given means by which a wrongly-listed person can appeal both the no-fly list and the no-gun list, as to ensure due process. Universal background checks are a must. Congress should close the gun show and online sales loopholes. | |||
| No | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")? | ||
| Health care is a human right and the goal should be universal coverage for all Americans. I support a renewed push to bring the public option amendment back in the ACA. Allowing Congress to negotiate prescription drug prices is another needed addition. Ultimately, I see the ACA adopting the single-payer model Senator Sanders advocated for. Preventative care is far less expensive than reactive or emergency care. The more people insured, the lower our costs become in an area where we spend $3 trillion annually with millions of Americans still locked out of proper healthcare. | |||
| No | Do you support requiring immigrants who are unlawfully present to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
| Yes | Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| I firmly believe that an injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, and I will be a tireless advocate for the rights of my LGBTQ brothers and sisters. I fully support marriage equality and always have. I believe we must work to ensure that those in the LGBTQ community enjoy the same rights and equal protections that all Americans enjoy. Specifically, we need to pass legislation to provide protections against employment, adoption, and housing discrimination for the LGBTQ community. | |||
| Yes | Do you support increased American intervention in Iraq and Syria beyond air support? | ||
| 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? | ||
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.
| Slightly Decrease | a) Agriculture | ||
| Slightly Increase | b) Arts | ||
| Slightly Increase | c) Defense | ||
| Greatly Increase | d) Education | ||
| Greatly Increase | e) Environment | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Homeland Security | ||
| Slightly Increase | g) International aid | ||
| Greatly Increase | h) Medical Research | ||
| Greatly Increase | i) Scientific Research | ||
| Slightly Increase | j) Space exploration | ||
| Maintain Status | k) United Nations | ||
| Greatly Increase | l) Welfare | ||
| Greatly Increase | a) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | b) Corporate taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Small business taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | d) Excise taxes (alcohol) | ||
| Greatly Increase | e) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | ||
| Slightly Increase | f) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | h) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Greatly Increase | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Greatly Increase | j) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | k) Payroll taxes | ||
| Increased Defense spending must include allocating far more resources toward Veterans. The lapses in VA care are unforgivable, and we must do far more as a nation to ensure that our veterans are fully cared for once they return from combat. If we have the resources to send them to war, we must also have the resources to properly care for them upon their return stateside. | |||
| More than 90% of the income since the Great Recession has gone to the top 1%, and it's long past time that those at the top do their patriotic duty and pay their fair share of taxes. | |||
| In Florida, 11 percent of seniors over 65 live below the $11,770 annual poverty line. I will fight tirelessly to expand Social Security to provide a more promising structure of care. In Miami-Dade, more than 22 percent of seniors aged 65+ live in poverty. Combining just Miami-Dade and Broward counties, roughly 124,000 seniors are living below the poverty line. I will fight to address climate change and work to stop our water supply from being jeopardized by privatization, sea-level rise and ecologically predatory industrial techniques like fracking. There is no safe fracking. The consequences are no longer theoretical. |
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