Scotty Boman's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Scotty Boman has demonstrated Political Courage by telling citizens where he stands on the issues he may face if elected.
Michigan Congressional Election 2012 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| I'm also "pro-choice." Life and choice are complimentary components of self-ownership; to deny choice is to take from a person's present. To deny life is to take from his or her future. The Constitution does not authorize the Federal government to make abortion law. This power is reserved to the states and the people. As your Senator, I would oppose Federal funding for abortions. I would only confirm Supreme Court justices that recognize the Tenth Amendment rather than legislating abortion law from the bench. I personally support the right of would-be mothers to defend their own lives. | |||
| No | Do you support United States' combat operations in Afghanistan? | ||
| Yes | Do you support a timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan? | ||
| The original mission has been accomplished. It is reckless to repeat the mistake of the Soviet Union. This war is killing people in Afghanistan and contributing to economic destruction of the United States. Individuals and non-governmental organizations who wish to help the people of Afghanistan should be free to do so. We should provide political asylum for Afghans who face persecution when troops are withdrawn. | |||
Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing the federal budget.In order to balance the budget,
| Yes | do you support reducing defense spending? | ||
| No | do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| Yes | do you support reducing Medicaid spending? | ||
| Yes | do you support reducing Medicare spending? | ||
| Yes | Is balancing the budget a legislative priority? | ||
| Medicare and Medicaid should be transferred to the states to comply with the Constitution, but promises made, must be kept. Meanwhile, transparency in pricing must be a prerequisite to any healthcare provider being eligible for payments. Defense spending can be reduced somewhat by having a non-interventionist foreign policy, though some neglected areas of defense should be increased such as that needed to prevent cometary and asteroid impacts. All of the above actions are band aids compared to an orderly retirement of the Federal Reserve System. The Federal reserve system robs peoples savings and lines the pockets of the super-rich. | |||
| No | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| I support some restrictions on campaign contributions from public contractors, public employee unions, and foreign governments. This prevents some conflicts of interest. However, the use of the weasel-word, "indirect" appears to be a reference to free speech activities that should be protected, not restricted. | |||
| No | Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| To support capital punishment I must either believe that the government doesn't make mistakes, or that it is OK to kill some innocent people with the hope that others would be discouraged from killing. The first assertion is stupid, and the second rationalization is immoral. | |||
| No | Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | Do you support providing tax incentives to businesses for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| No | Do you support spending on infrastructure projects for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| No | Do you support the temporary extension of unemployment benefits? | ||
| No | Do you support the 2010 temporary extension of tax relief? | ||
| This question fails to distinguish Federal from State unemployment benefits. States should be able to extend unemployment benefits, but this is outside the Constitutionally enumerated powers of the Federal government. People should be free to shop around for the best deal on unemployment insurance. Ideally, all insurance should be independent of all levels of government, and insurers should be able to do business across state lines. The government should employ people to perform services that are appropriate under the enumerated powers, but any surplus government employment, destroys other more essential jobs in the private sector. | |||
| No | Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants? | ||
| The Constitution does not give the Federal government control of education, nor does it authorize grants for that purpose. Even if this practice was Constitutional, it would be a bad idea. The idea that a politician or bureaucrat in a distant capital, can know how to best educate millions of unique children in classrooms all over the country is so absurd that only a person educated in said matter could assert something so ridiculous. Our strength is inn our diversity. A free market of competing pedagogies is the best way to educate students with diverse learning styles and talents. | |||
| Yes | Do you support reducing restrictions on offshore energy production? | ||
| Energy is converted not created. I support reducing preemptive restrictions so long as people harvesting the energy are 100% liable and accountable for all tangible damages, with no caps or subsidies. | |||
| No | Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change? | ||
| No | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| Predictions of the man-made global warming hypothesis have not been actualized. A natural warming of the climate is to be expected between ice ages. Since we have only recently come out of an ice age, we can expect a warming climate. I am not aware of any study that reliably compares current warming to prior inter-glacial periods. Without such a control, any data used to argue for an androgenic origin is anecdotal. Coercive efforts to limit carbon dioxide production have already had devastating effects on our economy with no attributable reduction of that gas. | |||
| No | Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| I have assumed this question refers to people who have not been convicted of a violent crime. People who violate the rights of others forfeit their own rights, including this one. In addition to the Constitutional protection provided by the Second Amendment, private ownership of weapons is a critical part of our system of checks and balances, for it provides a check by the people on a government that has hopelessly abandoned compliance with Constitutional limits. In many nations, forced disarmament of the civilian population has been a precursor to genocide. | |||
| Yes | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act? | ||
| No | Should individuals be required to purchase health insurance, as mandated in the 2010 Affordable Care Act? | ||
| Mandating health insurance, and providing such services is not among the Constitutionally enumerated powers of the Federal government. Furthermore, forcing people to pay for medical services that violate their religious values, violates the first Amendment right to the free exercise of religion. People belong to themselves, not the government. Healthcare has become unfordable as a result of regulations, litigation and bureaucratic red tape, not the free market. There is no free market without prior knowledge of pricing. I invite the reader to insist on a prior written estimate of the actual cost (covered or not) for all medical services received. | |||
| Yes | Do you support requiring illegal immigrants to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
| Yes | Do you support allowing illegal immigrants, who were brought to the United States as minors, to pursue citizenship without returning to their country of origin? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration law by state and local police? | ||
| Exceptions: I would not deport illegal immigrants to their country of origin, if doing so would clearly endanger their lives, or if they are eligible for political asylum. Children (who don't fit the previous exception) brought here illegally should have to return unless they have been in this country for over 10 years and were acculturated as Americans. Other possible exceptions may be evaluated on a case by case basis if extreme or unusual circumstances are involved. | |||
| Yes | Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| There is no reason for Government to preside over the sacrament of marriage, and laws that discriminate on the basis of marital status should be repealed in compliance with Amendment Fourteen, Section 1. The wording of this question is problematic since I neither support nor oppose any other people's marriage. It is up to other people who they marry, if they marry. I support the right of any consenting individuals to form their own contractual relationships. This includes the right of same-sex couples to form unions, or even plural arrangements if this is agreeable to all involved consenting spouses. | |||
| No | Do you support targeting suspected terrorists outside of official theaters of conflict? | ||
| No | Should the U.S use military force in order to prevent Iran from possessing a nuclear weapon? | ||
| Suspects are innocent until proven guilty. They should be targeted for investigation, not for assassination. It is appropriate to extradite them to stand trial. Also the phrase "outside of official theaters of conflict" could apply to people inside the United States. This raises the ominous specter of our own security apparatus being turned inward on us. The United States should not help Iran's nuclear program anymore (as it has with Atoms for Peace and by providing Iran with the TNRC research reactor). Force is an appropriate response to aggression. Possession is not aggression. | |||
| Yes | Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts? | ||
| We need to keep our promise to those already vested into the system, but social security should be administered by the state of the recipients residence. The next generation should have the option of opting out all together. In either case their is no enumerated power authorizing Congress to set up a national tax-based retirement system. | |||
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.
| Eliminate | a) Agriculture | ||
| Eliminate | b) Arts | ||
| Greatly Decrease | c) Defense | ||
| Eliminate | d) Education | ||
| Greatly Decrease | e) Environment | ||
| Greatly Decrease | f) Homeland Security | ||
| Eliminate | g) International aid | ||
| Greatly Decrease | h) Medical Research | ||
| Greatly Decrease | i) Scientific Research | ||
| Maintain Status | j) Space exploration | ||
| Eliminate | k) United Nations | ||
| Eliminate | l) Welfare | ||
| Maintain Status | m) Other or expanded categories | ||
| Eliminate | a) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | b) Corporate taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | c) Excise taxes (alcohol) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | d) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | e) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) | ||
| Eliminate | f) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | g) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | h) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | i) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Eliminate | j) Payroll taxes | ||
| Eliminate | k) Other or expanded categories | ||
| Federal social spending and similar services not authorized by the Constitutionally enumerated powers may remain fully funded by the states (If the people co choose). Most of the current activities of NASA should be privatized. However, I selected, "maintain status" for space exploration in regard to the common defense; Federal space exploration should be exclusively devoted to neglected defense rolls such as detecting and diverting asteroids and comets (under the Constitutionally authorized Department of the Navy). a non-interventionist foreign policy makes it possible to both cut defense spending and improve national security. | |||
| This level of tax reduction could not be done without first changing policy and cutting spending. I ultimately support replacing all taxes with voluntary forms of revenue. Collection of the revenue could be delegated to the states in proportion to census data. Innovative means of collection could be developed by the people of each state to best suit their economy. Voluntary approaches such as contract insurance, user fees, mineral wealth profits and lotteries could replace taxes. This would be a tax-free society since taxes differ from earnings, or donations in that they are the booty of legalized theft. | |||
| 1. Restore civil liberties: without basic liberty and due process, it is dangerous to embark on fundamental reforms. This includes repealing the indefinite detention part of the NDAA, and most of the so-called Patriot Act. 2. Audit and end the Federal Reserve System, which has decimated our economy. This debt-creation system has caused large-scale foreclosures, inflation, unemployment and depreciated savings. An audit and an end to legal tender laws is a first step. The creation of Reserve notes out of thin air must stop. 3. End foreign occupations and close non-essential bases. Interventionism has killed thousands of human beings. |
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