James Foster's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
Official Position: Candidate addressed this issue directly by taking the Political Courage Test.
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Unknown Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, or we could not infer an answer for this candidate despite exhaustive research of their public record.
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James Foster has refused to provide voters with positions on key issues covered by the 2016 Political Courage Test, despite repeated requests from Vote Smart and voters like you.
This candidate has responded to a Political Courage Test in a previous election. As a continued effort to provide the American public with factual information on candidates running for public office, these archived responses are made available here.
Oregon Congressional Election 2014 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| While I am generally pro-choice, I believe that the decision on this and other criminal law matters should be left to the states. | |||
| Yes | In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing defense spending? | ||
| No | In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| The problem is spending, and substantial cuts are required. | |||
| No | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| No | Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| I believe that the cost of the process exceeds the benefit, if any. I'm also very concerned about the conviction (and execution) of innocent persons. | |||
| No | 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? | ||
| No | Do you support providing tax incentives to businesses for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| Federal spending should be limited to that needed to support necessary and Constitutional actions. Taxes and spending should not be used to manipulate the economy. | |||
| No | Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants? | ||
| There should not be any federal grants for education. | |||
| Yes | Do you support building the Keystone XL pipeline? | ||
| Yes | Do you support reducing restrictions on offshore energy production? | ||
| I support building the Keystone XL pipeline only if it can be done with private funds and without interfering with (including condemnation of) any private property. | |||
| Yes | Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change? | ||
| No | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| While there is a "scientific consensus" that human activity contributes to climate change, I believe that the link is not as strong as originally argued. Also, I believe that the "solutions" will make humanity worse off and that we can address the actual problems that arise in better ways. | |||
| Yes | Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| I think that a case can be made for restrictions on purchase and possession by certain convicted violent felons and by those who have been judicially determined to be insane. Beyond that, and for the most part, I would oppose any restrictions. | |||
| No | Do you support requiring illegal immigrants to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
| 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 governments hostile to the United States from possessing a nuclear weapon? | ||
| Yes | 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.
| Eliminate | a) Agriculture | ||
| Eliminate | b) Arts | ||
| Greatly Decrease | c) Defense | ||
| Eliminate | d) Education | ||
| Eliminate | e) Environment | ||
| Greatly Decrease | f) Homeland Security | ||
| Eliminate | g) International aid | ||
| Eliminate | h) Medical Research | ||
| Eliminate | i) Scientific Research | ||
| Eliminate | j) Space exploration | ||
| Eliminate | k) United Nations | ||
| Eliminate | l) Welfare | ||
| Eliminate | a) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Eliminate | b) Corporate taxes | ||
| Eliminate | c) Excise taxes (alcohol) | ||
| Eliminate | d) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | ||
| Eliminate | e) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | f) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | g) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | h) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | i) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Eliminate | j) Payroll taxes | ||
| Congress should be limited to the 18 enumerated powers granted in Article 1 of the Constitution. This would dramatically reduce spending and the need for taxes. | |||
| Congress should be limited to the 18 enumerated powers granted in Article 1 of the Constitution. The federal government should not encourage militarization of local police departments. We should stop the drug war. We should stop our military involvement overseas. We should stop distorting the economy through the Federal Reserve. |
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