Martin Buchanan'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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Martin Buchanan has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2016 Political Courage Test.
Colorado Congressional Election 2016 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| Abortion should generally be legal, without government subsidies. Late in pregnancy when the fetus is viable outside the womb, restrictions on procedures like "partial birth" abortion may be justified. | |||
| 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? | ||
| I support two Constitutionally limited flat taxes, 10% on income paid by persons and 10% on business value-added paid by businesses, along with a carbon tax and a per-person rebate making the federal tax system progressive. See my web site at http://buchananforcongress.org. Some people's taxes would increase and some would decrease. | |||
| No | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| Political speech is free speech. All campaign contribution restrictions involving American legal residents or entities should be ended. | |||
| 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 should end the drug war. See my web site at http://buchananforcongress.org. | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| No | Do you support providing tax incentives to businesses for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| We can lower marginal tax rates, as proposed at my web site http://buchananforcongress.org. Overall tax revenues should not be lowered until the budget is permanently balanced and in surplus. | |||
| No | Do you generally support requiring states to adopt federal education standards? | ||
| We should end federal involvement in education. Give families control of state and local education dollars, with full choice of home, private, religous, or government schools. | |||
| Yes | 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)? | ||
| No | Do you support increased regulations on the hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") industry? | ||
| I favor quickly adopting a substantial carbon tax applied to greenhouse gas emissions that are not sequestered or reliably offset. Once such a tax is in place, subsidies for renewable energy can be reduced or eliminated. | |||
| Yes | Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| Rather than centrally planned regulations, the main approach I favor is quickly adopting a substantial carbon tax applied to greenhouse gas emissions that are not sequestered or reliably offset. | |||
| Yes | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")? | ||
| ObamaCare is a failure. It forces you to buy inferior health insurance for an excessive price, continuing the trend of government making health care less affordable. Government has wrecked and distorted our health care system for more than five decades, and has caused most of the huge increases in health care costs in that time. This section in my web site goes into more detail: http://buchananforcongress.org/Policy_Other.htm#HEALTH . | |||
| No | Do you support requiring immigrants who are unlawfully present to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
| I favor a path to citizenship / "amnesty" for many who are here illegally. We need a large increase in legal immigration to deal with our demographic challenges, notably fewer workers per Social Security recipient. There is much more info in this section of my website: http://buchananforcongress.org/Policy_Other.htm#IMMIGRATION . | |||
| No | Do you support increased American intervention in Iraq and Syria beyond air support? | ||
| No | Should the U.S use military force in order to prevent governments hostile to the United States from possessing a nuclear weapon? | ||
| The main purpose of our foreign and military policy is to protect the independence of our nation and the freedom of its people. The greatest current threat to our freedom is the United States government, which violates the liberties of its citizens continuously. Spending the blood of our troops and trillions of dollars in far away lands reduces our liberties and increases the very real threats from our government itself. External threats to our freedom are occasional (such as terrorist attacks) or hypothetical (fears that Russia or China seeks world domination). See http://buchananforcongress.org/Policy_Peace.htm . | |||
| No | Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts? | ||
| I am very open to changes in Social Security. That particular proposal would worsen federal deficits and I am committed to balancing the federal budget. See http://buchananforcongress.org/Policy_Balance.htm . | |||
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 | ||
| Slightly Increase | e) Environment | ||
| Greatly Decrease | f) Homeland Security | ||
| Eliminate | g) International aid | ||
| Greatly Decrease | h) Medical Research | ||
| Greatly Decrease | i) Scientific Research | ||
| Greatly Decrease | j) Space exploration | ||
| Maintain Status | k) United Nations | ||
| Slightly Decrease | l) Welfare | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Small business taxes | ||
| Eliminate | d) Excise taxes (alcohol) | ||
| Eliminate | e) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | j) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | k) Payroll taxes | ||
| I have written an entire book about permanently balancing the federal budget with spending cuts. It is available as a free PDF file on my web site: http://buchananforcongress.org/ . | |||
| As I favor comprehensive tax reform, multiple choice answers like those above don't fit. There is a proposal for complete and radical reform of all federal taxes on my web site: http://buchananforcongress.org/Policy_Other.htm#TAXES . A 10% tax on personal income, a 10% business tax on value-added, a carbon tax, and a per-person rebate making the system progressive. | |||
| Peace. End our ongoing wars, bring the troops home, maintain our core alliances, and stop meddling in other countries. Balance. Immediately pass a Balanced Budget Amendment and balance the budget with massive spending cuts. Freedom. Restore personal freedom. That includes ending the disastrous drug war and pardoning many people in our prisons who should not be there. |
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