Arkansas State Legislative Election 2010 Political Courage Test

Abortion and Reproductive

1. Do you consider yourself pro-choice or pro-life?
- Pro-life

2. Should abortion be legal only within the first trimester of pregnancy?
- Yes

3. Should abortion be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape?
- No

4. Should abortion be legal when the life of the woman is endangered?
- Yes

5. Do you support requiring parental notification before an abortion is performed on a minor?
- Yes

6. Do you support requiring parental consent before an abortion is performed on a minor?
- Yes

7. Do you support sexual education programs that include information on abstinence, contraceptives, and HIV/STD prevention methods?
- Yes

8. Do you support abstinence-only sexual education programs?
- Yes

9. Other or expanded principles
- I would support any attempt to restrict abortions to the first trimester as better than the current situation, but I am strongly pro-life and wish to see them ended. I support only education programs that are age appropriate.

Budget, Spending, and Tax

1. Education (higher)
- Maintain Status

2. Education (K-12)
- Maintain Status

3. Environment
- Slightly Decrease

4. Health care
- Maintain Status

5. Law enforcement
- Maintain Status

6. Transportation and highway infrastructure
- Maintain Status

7. Welfare
- Slightly Decrease

8. Other or expanded categories
- No Answer

1. Alcohol taxes
- Maintain Status

2. Cigarette taxes
- Maintain Status

3. Corporate taxes
- Slightly Decrease

4. Gasoline taxes
- Maintain Status

5. Sales taxes
- Maintain Status

6. Sales taxes (grocery)
- Eliminate

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

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

9. Income taxes (high-income families)
- Slightly Decrease

10. Property taxes
- Maintain Status

11. Other or expanded categories
- No Answer

1. Establishing a "rainy day" fund
- Yes

2. Issuing the early release of certain non-violent offenders
- Yes

3. Increasing tuition rates at public universities
- No

4. Instituting mandatory furloughs and layoffs for state employees
- No

5. Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients
- No

6. Privatizing certain government services
- Yes

7. Other or expanded principles
- In order to balance the budget I support an immediate freeze in the overall amount of state spending and in the number of state employees. In the longer term I would restrict future percentage growth in the number of state employees to no more than the percentage of population growth and spending growth to the rate of inflation and population growth.

Campaign Finance and Government Reform

1. Individual
- No

2. Political Action Committee
- No

3. Corporate
- No

4. Political Party
- No

5. Should candidates for state office be encouraged to meet voluntary spending limits?
- No

6. Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information?
- Yes

1. Other or expanded principles
- The Constitution of the United States guarantees the right of free speech and free association. You cannot limit campaign contributions without infringing on these core rights. Fast and full disclosure of contributions allows voters to decide the appropriateness of any contribution accepted by any politician.

Crime and Public Safety

1. Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes?
- Yes

2. Do you support alternatives to incarceration for certain non-violent offenders, such as mandatory counseling or substance abuse treatment?
- Yes

3. Do you support building more state prisons in Arkansas?
- Yes

4. Should the possession of small amounts of marijuana be decriminalized?
- No

5. Should minors accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as adults?
- Yes

6. Should minors who send sexually-explicit or nude photos by cell phone face criminal charges?
- No

7. Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police?
- Yes

8. Other or expanded principles
- Violent criminals have forfeited their rights and must be locked up for the protection of society. In some cases, non-violent offenses may be dealt with more appropriately and cheaply by fines, community service, or similar measures.

Economic

1. Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector?
- Yes

2. Do you support increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers?
- No

3. Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits?
- No

4. Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation?
- No

5. Do you support increased spending on infrastructure projects for the purpose of job creation?
- No

6. Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure?
- No

7. Other or expanded principles
- The best way to grow our economy is by reducing the drag created by excessive taxes and regulations. There is an important role for the government in providing the infrastructure needed for economic growth, but I do not support spending on random infrastructure projects just to create make-work jobs.

Education

1. Do you support national education standards?
- Yes

2. Do you support requiring public schools to administer high school exit exams?
- Yes

3. Do you support using a merit pay system for teachers?
- Yes

4. Do you support state funding for charter schools?
- Yes

5. Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid?
- No

6. Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Arkansas high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities?
- No

7. Other or expanded principles
- Schools must be held accountable for their performance and one of the best ways to do that is to compare our performance to the rest of the nation. I also believe in educational choice, such as charter schools and home schooling. I see no reason to grow the state government bureaucracy by getting it directly involved in financial aid. The money should be turned over to the colleges and universities to be given by already established mechanisms to deserving students.

Environment and Energy

1. Do you support state funding for the development of alternative energy?
- No

2. Do you support state funding for the development of traditional domestic energy sources (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil)?
- No

3. Do you support providing financial incentives to farms that produce biofuel crops?
- No

4. Do you support state funding for improvements to Arkansas' energy infrastructure?
- Yes

5. Do you support state funding for open space preservation?
- Yes

6. Do you support enacting environmental regulations aimed at reducing the effects of climate change?
- No

7. Other or expanded principles
- As noted above, I think it is entirely appropriate for government to supply the infrastructure needed for economic growth where the market fails to meet those needs. I also think that parks supply an important need for recreation in the Natural State, and I would like to see them to grow at a rate similar to our population growth.

Gun

1. Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns?
- No

2. Do you support requiring background checks on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows?
- No

3. Do you support allowing individuals to carry concealed guns?
- Yes

4. Do you support requiring a license for gun possession?
- No

5. Other or expanded principles
- The Constitution of the United States guarantees the right to keep and bear arms. We must carefully examine existing laws to ensure that we are not infringing this key right.

Health

1. Do you support a universally-accessible, publicly-administered health insurance option?
- No

2. Do you support expanding access to health care through commercial health insurance reform?
- Yes

3. Do you support interstate health insurance compacts?
- Yes

4. Should individuals be required to purchase health care insurance?
- No

5. Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits?
- Yes

6. Do you support legalizing physician-assisted suicide in Arkansas?
- No

7. Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes?
- No

8. Do you support increasing Arkansas' tax on alcohol to expand substance abuse programs?
- No

9. Other or expanded principles
- The key to providing good and affordable health care is not to expand government, but to unshackle free enterprise to meet the needs of people using innovative private sector solutions.

Social

1. Should marriage only be between one man and one woman?
- Yes

2. Should Arkansas allow same-sex couples to form civil unions?
- Yes

3. Do you support state funding for stem cell research?
- No

4. Do you support state funding for embryonic stem cell research?
- No

5. Do you support the state's use of affirmative action?
- No

6. Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Arkansas' anti-discrimination laws?
- No

7. Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Arkansas' anti-discrimination laws?
- No

8. Do you support eliminating the state lottery?
- No

9. Other or expanded principles
- The fundamental purpose served by marriage, at least from the standpoint of society, is to provide the optimal environment for the raising of children. I think that means one man and one woman, consistent with thousands of years of tradition and Biblical understanding. However, I also believe that the government should not discriminate for or against any individual. This means, for example, providing a convenient route (civil unions) to allow those in a long term relationship to make medical decisions and so forth for the other partner. It also means not selecting certain people for preferential treatment in hiring.

Legislative 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.
- People are telling me that their concern is jobs. The first 3 steps to my Good Jobs Now agenda are:1. Stop job killing mandates like Obamacare, cap and trade, and card check.2. Put the brakes on Arkansas government spending. State spending is out of control, just like in Washington, up 35% over the past 4 years. 3. Cut the tax on work. Arkansas has the highest income tax in our region. Texas and Tennessee have a 0% tax on work (i.e. earned income). It's common sense that the more you tax something, the less you get of it.