Positions

Maine Congressional Election 2014 Political Courage Test

Abortion

1. Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation?
- Pro-choice

2. Other or expanded principles
- 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.

Budget

1. In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing defense spending?
- Yes

2. In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket?
- Yes

3. Other or expanded principles
- We need to make sure the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share and lower the income tax burden on middle and low-income families.

Campaign Finance

1. Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions?
- Yes

2. Other or expanded principles
- 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.

Capital Punishment

1. Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes?
- No

2. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Economy

1. Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth?
- Yes

2. Do you support lowering taxes as a way of promoting growth in the economy?
- No Answer

3. Do you support providing tax incentives to businesses for the purpose of job creation?
- Yes

4. Other or expanded principles
- 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.

Education

1. Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants?
- No

2. Other or expanded principles
- 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.

Energy

1. Do you support building the Keystone XL pipeline?
- No

2. Do you support reducing restrictions on offshore energy production?
- No

3. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Environment

1. Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change?
- Yes

2. Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions?
- Yes

3. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Guns

1. Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns?
- Yes

2. Other or expanded principles
- As a former member of the National Rifle Association, I believe in the Second Amendment, and I support bipartisan reforms that make gun ownership safer for all of us. I support background checks for example. I believe reasonable safety measures are congruent with our constitutional freedoms. We should no more sacrifice security for freedom than we should sacrifice freedom for security.

Health Care

1. Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act?
- No

2. Other or expanded principles
- I support universal healthcare for all. We need to strengthen the Affordable Care Act to expand coverage. I support Medicaid and Medicare expansion.

Immigration

1. Do you support requiring illegal immigrants to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship?
- No

2. Other or expanded principles
- I support comprehensive immigration reform.

Marriage

1. Do you support same-sex marriage?
- Yes

2. Other or expanded principles
- I was one of the leaders of the winning marriage equality campaign in Maine.

National Security

1. Do you support targeting suspected terrorists outside of official theaters of conflict?
- No

2. Should the U.S use military force in order to prevent governments hostile to the United States from possessing a nuclear weapon?
- No

3. Other or expanded principles
- 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.

Social Security

1. Do you support allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts?
- No

2. Other or expanded principles
- 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.

Spending and Taxes

Spending

Indicate 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.

1. Agriculture
- Greatly Decrease

2. Arts
- Slightly Increase

3. Defense
- Greatly Decrease

4. Education
- Greatly Increase

5. Environment
- Slightly Increase

6. Homeland Security
- Slightly Decrease

7. International aid
- Maintain Status

8. Medical Research
- Greatly Increase

9. Scientific Research
- Greatly Increase

10. Space exploration
- Maintain Status

11. United Nations
- Maintain Status

12. Welfare
- Maintain Status

13. Other or expanded categories
- 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.

Taxes

Indicate 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.

1. Capital gains taxes
- Greatly Increase

2. Corporate taxes
- Greatly Increase

3. Excise taxes (alcohol)
- Maintain Status

4. Excise taxes (cigarettes)
- Slightly Increase

5. Excise taxes (transportation fuel)
- Maintain Status

6. Income taxes (low-income families)
- Greatly Decrease

7. Income taxes (middle-income families)
- Slightly Decrease

8. Income taxes (high-income families)
- Greatly Increase

9. Inheritance taxes
- Slightly Increase

10. Payroll taxes
- No Answer

11. Other or expanded categories
- 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.

Administrative Priorities

Please explain in a total of 100 words or less, your top two or three priorities if elected. If they require additional funding for implementation, please explain how you would obtain this funding.
- 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.