Shirley Ringo's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
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Shirley Ringo has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2014 Political Courage Test.
Idaho Congressional Election 2014 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| Focus upon prevention of unplanned pregnancies. A woman's private decisions are appropriately handled by herself, family, and physician. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Tax reform must be addressed for a number of reasons. Consideration should be given to increasing income taxes for the top 1% of earners. | |||
| Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| The supreme court decisions related to such contributions gives these groups too much power to influence elections. | |||
| Yes | Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | 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 would support lowering taxes in a progressive way, to provide more opportunity for discretionary spending for those with lower incomes. Tax incentives in general should motivate good behaviors. More than creating jobs, there should be concern about such issues as livable wage, working conditions, and providing full-time jobs. | |||
| Yes | Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants? | ||
| The responsibilty for education decisions appropriately belongs at the local level. However, those who aspire to receive federal grants can be held responsible for meeting certain standards. | |||
| No | Do you support building the Keystone XL pipeline? | ||
| No | Do you support reducing restrictions on offshore energy production? | ||
| Certain practices have contributed to climate change, which is damaging to our economy and threatens our future. We should devote our attention to development of alternative energy and responsible standards of operation. | |||
| 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? | ||
| It is important to protect Constitutional guarantees, including the Second Amendment. Some individuals, such as those with certain criminal records and certain mental illness, present a danger to all of us, and themselves, if they possess firearms. | |||
| No | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act? | ||
| There is no doubt that our "system" of providing healthcare, prior to ecactment of the Affordable Care Act, has been greatly problematic for many years. The Affordable Care Act is intended to address those deficiencies and help assure accessible healthcare. We must assure a process to embrace those aspects that are working and make improvements as necessary. It wouldbe a huge mistake to go backwards. | |||
| No | Do you support requiring illegal immigrants to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
| Many undocumented workers and individuals, although they have entered the country illegally, are otherwise law abiding and are contributing to the economy. There should be a process encouraging them to come forward and comply with actions spelled out in a "path to citizenship." It would be disruptive for these individuals, their families, and employers to require them to return to their country of origin before becoming eligible. | |||
| Yes | Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| Some people are drawn to same-sex relationships. They have the right to marry the person of their choice. | |||
| 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? | ||
| The term"suspected" should be given due attention. Such people could be detained and questioned, with appropriate process given to proving guilt or innocence. We should work with allies and organizations in the international community to provide strong incentives for such governents to refrain from developing a nuclear capability. | |||
| No | Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts? | ||
| Social Security is a program that has been critical to assist senior citizens in their retirement. We have seen ups and downs in the economy that have devastated personal retirement accounts. Allowing people to divert a portion of their taxes to their personal retirement accounts could be devastating to them and to the program. Any cutbacks in social security are likely to increase poverty. | |||
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 | ||
| Greatly 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 | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Corporate taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | c) Excise taxes (alcohol) | ||
| Slightly Increase | d) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | ||
| Slightly Increase | 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) | ||
| Maintain Status | i) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | j) Payroll taxes | ||
| The budget of Homeland Security has increased dramatically. This is an agency that has money to spend on spying on our own citizens. We need to tightly define the role of Homeland Security and budget accordingly. Defense spending should be controlled. I this budget influences funding for the VA, since the cost of war continues for years with the appropriate care of veterans who are physically or mentally disabled as a result of their service. | |||
| Taxes are needed for revenue - while we work to assure that programs are efficient and not wasteful, we need to assure support for programs that are essential. Taxes can also be used to provide incentives. For some categories mentioned above, it would be appropriate to assign a level of taxation and offer tax credits to encourage desired outcomes. We should lift the cap on social security tax paid by individuals with high incomes. | |||
| 1. Examine policies that have resulted in the nation's wealth being concentrated in the hands of a few. This would include increasing compensation to the level of a living wage for individuals and families; improving bank policies and curbing predatory lending; and tax reform. 2. Fully explore practices contributing to climate change and encourage research that will offer alternative energy sources, development of public transportation and encourage use of vehicles with lower emissions. 3. Comprehensive immigration reform will help those who enter the United States and improve our economy. Tax reform, to include closing loopholes, will improve the revenue stream. |
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