Matthew Wookey's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Matthew Wookey has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2016 Political Courage Test.
California Congressional Election 2016 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| If we lived in a country where every unwanted pregnancy resulted in a child that was loved and had all of its needs taken care of, then I might consider a pro-life stance. However, we are far from being that country. Insufficient adoption programs and an inadequate foster care system already leave far too many children without the love and care that they need. | |||
| 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? | ||
| Defense spending needs to be streamlined. Far too much is wasted on projects that have little practical value. We need to reform a tax system that is rife with fraud, waste and inefficiency. This also includes tax increases on corporations and the wealthiest Americans. Corporations should pay taxes proportional to the amount of money they make off of the American people regardless of where they are headquartered. | |||
| Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| I support amending the constitution to attempt to remove the corrupting influence of money on our political system. | |||
| 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? | ||
| No government should hold the power of life and death over its citizens. Our justice system still exists in the shadow of Jim Crow and is plagued by inequity and, too often, corruption. | |||
| Yes | Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | 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 need to start preparing for an economy that may lose almost half of its jobs to automation in the next half century. This will require a radical shift in our economic system to avoid catastrophe. | |||
| Yes | Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants? | ||
| We need to reform our educational system to better meet the needs of students in the 21st century so that every child has an equal chance to be successful. | |||
| No | Do you support building the Keystone XL pipeline? | ||
| Yes | Do you support funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, thermal)? | ||
| Yes | Do you support increased regulations on the hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") industry? | ||
| We need to free ourselves entirely from the fossil fuels of the 19th century and fully devote ourselves to the variety of sustainable clean energy options here in the 21st century. | |||
| Yes | Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| Our goal should be to eliminate fossil fuel use within 20 years and thus lead the world by our example. | |||
| Yes | Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| Gun owners should be required to be part of state regulated militias. These militias should have strict membership requirements that include extensive background and mental health checks. | |||
| Yes | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")? | ||
| I support repealing ACA only if it is replaced with a single-payer healthcare system. | |||
| No | Do you support requiring illegal immigrants to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
| Illegal immigrants that have committed no other crimes and are a contributing member of society should pay a substantial fine and be allowed to stay while doing so. | |||
| Yes | Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| Everyone in the United States should have the same rights and protections; no exceptions. | |||
| 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 will never win the war of ideologies if we cannot uphold our ideals outside our borders. Preemptive strikes and extrajudicial killings violate the ideals of our constitution. Our national security efforts should focus on increased technology and manpower to better protect us from the threats of terror or rogue nations. | |||
| 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.
| Maintain Status | a) Agriculture | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Arts | ||
| Greatly Decrease | c) Defense | ||
| Greatly Increase | d) Education | ||
| Greatly Increase | e) Environment | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Homeland Security | ||
| Maintain Status | g) International aid | ||
| Greatly Increase | h) Medical Research | ||
| Greatly Increase | i) Scientific Research | ||
| Slightly Increase | j) Space exploration | ||
| Maintain Status | k) United Nations | ||
| Maintain Status | l) Welfare | ||
| Slightly Increase | a) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | b) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Small business taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | d) Excise taxes (alcohol) | ||
| Slightly Increase | e) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Slightly Decrease | h) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Greatly Increase | i) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | j) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | k) Payroll taxes | ||
| Our focus must be on ensuring the future of this nation and to that end we must greatly increase our spending on education and scientific research as these are our best hopes for a better future for all. | |||
| We need massive tax reform for a system where far too much is lost and the burden on the middle class is still far too great. | |||
| My top priority is congressional reform. We need a Congress that works for the people and isn't crippled by partisan strife and petty obstructionism. My long term goal is to eliminate poverty in America by 2050. This will require radical changes to our economy. We need to start laying the groundwork for this now. In order to make this goal possible, we need a better educated populace. We need to streamline defense spending, social security and medicare so that more funds can be allocated to all levels of education, especially post secondary. |
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