Shenna Bellows' Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Office:
- Secretary of State (ME), Democratic
Key
Official Position: Candidate addressed this issue directly by taking the Political Courage Test.
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Shenna Bellows has failed to provide voters with positions on key issues covered by the 2020 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.
Maine Congressional Election 2014 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| As a leader in the Maine Choice Coalition from 2005 to 2013, I am a strong advocate for women's healthcare and reproductive freedom including access to abortion and contraception. Decisions about abortion and contraception should be between a woman and her doctor, not the government. | |||
| 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? | ||
| We need to make sure the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share and lower the income tax burden on middle and low-income families. | |||
| Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| The Supreme Court decision of Citizens United undermines our democracy, and I will work to overturn it. I support public financing of elections and strong disclosure rules. | |||
| Yes | Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| 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? | ||
| Reducing the tax burden on lower tax brackets and small businesses is important to restore tax fairness and grow the economy, but I do not support lowering taxes for the wealthiest Americans or largest corporations. | |||
| No | Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants? | ||
| Top-down mandates from the federal government as a stick are not appropriate. Grants to states should be awarded on the merits of the individual applications and the demonstrated needs. | |||
| No | Do you support building the Keystone XL pipeline? | ||
| No | Do you support reducing restrictions on offshore energy production? | ||
| Yes | Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| No | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act? | ||
| I support universal healthcare for all. We need to strengthen the Affordable Care Act to expand coverage. I support Medicaid and Medicare expansion. | |||
| No | Do you support requiring illegal immigrants to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
| I support comprehensive immigration reform. | |||
| Yes | Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| I was one of the leaders of the winning marriage equality campaign in Maine. | |||
| 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? | ||
| We should do everything in our power to stop terrorists, but we must adhere to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. We need not sacrifice our freedoms for a false sense of security. We can be both safe and free. Similarly, we should do everything in our power to stop the flow of nuclear weapons to governments hostile to us, and we must be strategic and targeted in our approach to guard against unintended consequences. | |||
| No | Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts? | ||
| I oppose privatization of Social Security. I believe we need to increase Social Security benefits, and we can do so in a fiscally responsible way by scrapping the cap. | |||
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.
| Greatly Decrease | a) Agriculture | ||
| Slightly Increase | b) Arts | ||
| Greatly Decrease | c) Defense | ||
| Greatly Increase | d) Education | ||
| Slightly Increase | e) Environment | ||
| Slightly Decrease | f) Homeland Security | ||
| Maintain Status | g) International aid | ||
| Greatly Increase | h) Medical Research | ||
| Greatly Increase | i) Scientific Research | ||
| Maintain Status | j) Space exploration | ||
| Maintain Status | k) United Nations | ||
| Maintain Status | l) Welfare | ||
| Greatly Increase | a) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | b) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Excise taxes (alcohol) | ||
| Slightly Increase | d) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | f) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Greatly Increase | h) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Slightly Increase | i) Inheritance taxes | ||
| j) Payroll taxes | |||
| I support decreasing the subsidies to big agricultural corporations. We should be focused on promoting small farmers at the local level. We cannot afford to be the world's military policeman. We should stop spending so much money on spying on ordinary Americans. We should reduce levels of incarceration and the costs associated with incarceration. We need to invest more money in infrastructure, public education, renewable energy and research. Our number one focus should be investment in the economy. | |||
| We should increase payroll taxes on the highest income earners by scrapping the Social Security cap on taxable income. We should decrease payroll taxes for low-income and middle-income families. | |||
| My number one goal is jobs and the economy. We need more jobs and better pay for workers. We need to invest in technology infrastructure like universal broadband access to create jobs now and lay the foundation for the economy to grow. I�ll work hard to increase Social Security benefits for our seniors and fix the student loan crisis for the next generation. I�ll defend the Constitution. I will work to repeal the Patriot Act and place checks and balances on NSA spying. |
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