Raul Torres' Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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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.
Texas State Legislative Election 2008 Political Courage Test
The Political Courage Test asks candidates which items they will support if elected. It does not ask them to indicate which items they will oppose. Through extensive research of public polling data, we discovered that voters are more concerned with what candidates would support when elected to office, not what they oppose. If a candidate does not select a response to any part or all of any question, it does not necessarily indicate that the candidate is opposed to that particular item.
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding abortion.
| a) Abortions should always be illegal. | |||
| b) Abortions should always be legal. | |||
| c) Abortions should be legal only within the first trimester of pregnancy. | |||
| X | d) Abortions should be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape. | ||
| X | e) Abortions should be legal when the life of the woman is endangered. | ||
| X | f) Abortions should be subject to a mandatory waiting period. | ||
| X | g) Require clinics to give parental notification before performing abortions on minors. | ||
| I believe that any abortion procedure is morally and constitutionally wrong. However, as long as the Supreme Court does not overrule Roe vs. Wade then it it my desire that public funds should not be used for the medical procedure of abortion. | |||
State Budget: Indicate what state funding levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one level per category, you can use a number more than once.State Taxes: Indicate what state tax levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one level per category, you can use a number more than once.
| Maintain Status | a) Education (Higher) | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Emergency preparedness | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Environment | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Health care | ||
| Maintain Status | f) Law enforcement | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Transportation and highway infrastructure | ||
| Maintain Status | h) Welfare | ||
| i) Other or expanded categories | |||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | d) Gasoline taxes | ||
| Eliminate | e) Margin taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | f) Sales taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | g) Vehicle taxes | ||
| No | 1) Should state sales taxes be extended to Internet sales? | ||
| No | 2) Should accounts such as a "rainy day" fund be used to balance the state budget? | ||
| No | 3) Should fee increases be used to balance the state budget? | ||
| 4) Other or expanded principles | |||
| I would consdier the repel of the Margings Tax with a slight expansion and/or increase of our current sales tax rate. | |||
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding campaign finance and government reform.c) Do you support limiting the following types of contributions to state legislative candidates?
| Yes | a) Do you support limiting the number of terms for Texas governors? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support limiting the number of terms for Texas state senators and representatives? | ||
| No | 1) Individual | ||
| No | 2) PAC | ||
| No | 3) Corporate | ||
| No | 4) Political Parties | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information? | ||
| No | e) Do you support imposing spending limits on state-level political campaigns? | ||
| No | f) Should Texas participate in the federal REAL ID program? | ||
| No | g) Should the Texas Lottery be sold to a privately owned business? | ||
| There are certain aspect of the federal REAL ID program that makes sense, and those items need to be adopted by Texas, but the idea of creating a federal database of all citizens is not acceptable. | |||
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding crime.
| a) Increase state funds for construction of state prisons and hiring of additional prison staff. | |||
| X | b) Support the death penalty in Texas. | ||
| X | c) Support programs to provide prison inmates with vocational and job-related skills and job-placement assistance when released. | ||
| X | d) Implement penalties other than incarceration for certain non-violent offenders. | ||
| e) Decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana. | |||
| X | f) Minors accused of a violent crime should be prosecuted as adults. | ||
| X | g) Support state and local law enforcement officials enforcing federal immigration laws. | ||
| h) Support hate crime legislation. | |||
| I prefer to take a proactive role in reducing crime in Texas, but if those efforts fail to produce postive results and the need for more prisons are required then I would be in favor of increaseing state funds for prisons. | |||
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding education.
| a) Support state funding of universal pre-K programs. | |||
| b) Support federal education standards and testing requirements for K-12 students (No Child Left Behind). | |||
| c) Support state education standards and testing requirements for K-12 students. | |||
| d) Support requiring public schools to administer high school exit exams. | |||
| X | e) Allow parents to use vouchers to send their children to any public school. | ||
| X | f) Allow parents to use vouchers to send their children to any private or religious school. | ||
| X | g) Provide state funding to increase teacher salaries. | ||
| X | h) Support using a merit pay system for teachers. | ||
| X | i) Provide state funding for tax incentives and financial aid to help make college more affordable. | ||
| j) Support allowing illegal immigrant high school graduates of Texas to pay in-state tuition at public universities. | |||
| Every child in Texas should have access to a school environment that works and produces positive results for the students. However, if a child is not in such a school district, then I believe a parent should have the option of using a voucher to send their child to any public, private, or religious school that will produce a positive and effective learning environment for that child. There are conditions that must exist on behalf of the state and the student. The state voucher is set a limited amount. The student must pass all courses. | |||
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding employment.
| X | a) Increase funding for state job-training programs that re-train displaced workers and teach skills needed in todays job market. | ||
| X | b) Reduce state government regulations on the private sector. | ||
| X | c) Provide low interest loans and tax credits for starting, expanding, or relocating businesses. | ||
| X | d) Provide tax credits for businesses that provide child care for children in low-income working families. | ||
| e) Increase state funds to provide child care for children in low-income working families. | |||
| f) Include sexual orientation in Texas anti-discrimination laws. | |||
| g) Include gender identity in Texas anti-discrimination laws. | |||
| h) Increase the state minimum wage. | |||
| i) Support laws that prevent employers from dismissing employees at will. | |||
| j) Support financial punishments for those who knowingly employ illegal immigrants. | |||
| X | k) Support increased work requirements for able-bodied welfare recipients. | ||
| X | l) Increase funding for employment and job training programs for welfare recipients. | ||
| There must a more aggressive effort to bring together well developed vocational training programs into the state educational system supported by partnership of local industries needing such educated and trained students. In addition, all able bodied welfare recipients should be required to adopt a job training program should they elect not to enroll in a community college. | |||
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding the environment and energy.
| X | a) Promote increased use of alternative fuel technology. | ||
| X | b) Support increased production of traditional domestic energy sources (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil, etc). | ||
| c) Support providing financial incentives to farms that produce biofuel crops. | |||
| d) Use state funds to clean up former industrial and commercial sites that are contaminated, unused, or abandoned. | |||
| X | e) Support funding for improvements to Texas power generating and transmission facilities. | ||
| f) Support funding for open space preservation. | |||
| g) Limit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases linked to global warming. | |||
| h) Enact environmental regulations even if they are stricter than federal law. | |||
| i) Other or expanded principles | |||
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding guns.
| Yes | a) Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows? | ||
| Yes | b) Should citizens be allowed to carry concealed guns? | ||
| Yes | c) Should a license be required for gun possession? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support current levels of enforcement of existing state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support current state restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| f) Other or expanded principles | |||
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding health.
| X | a) Ensure that citizens have access to basic health care through managed care, insurance reforms, or state-funded care where necessary. | ||
| X | b) Guaranteed medical care to all citizens is not a responsibility of state government. | ||
| X | c) Limit the amount of damages that can be awarded in medical malpractice lawsuits. | ||
| X | d) Allow patients to sue their HMOs. | ||
| X | e) Require hospitals and labs to release reports on infections that are a risk to public health, while not compromising patient confidentiality. | ||
| f) Legalize physician assisted suicide in Texas. | |||
| g) Allow doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes. | |||
| h) Other or expanded principles | |||
['Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding social issues.', 'Legislative Priorities']
| No | a) Should Texas recognize civil unions between same-sex couples? | ||
| No | b) Should same-sex couples be allowed to marry? | ||
| No | c) Should Texas provide state-level spousal rights to same-sex couples? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support a moment of silence in public schools? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support voluntary prayer in public schools? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support sexual education programs that include information on abstinence, contraceptives, and HIV/STD prevention methods? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support abstinence-only sexual education programs? | ||
| Yes | h) Should the state government consider race and gender in state government contracting and hiring decisions? | ||
| No | i) Do you support affirmative action in public college admissions? | ||
| No | j) Should Texas continue affirmative action programs? | ||
| Yes | k) Do you support state funding of stem cell research? | ||
| No | l) Do you support state funding of embryonic stem cell research? | ||
| Yes | m) Do you support allowing pharmacists who conscientiously object to emergency contraception to refuse to dispense it? | ||
| n) Other or expanded principles | |||
| Repel or change certain aspects of the new Texas margins tax. Reform Texas insurance law for homeowners, health and windstorm to lower costs and increase accessibility to more Texans. Shore up the TWIA with adequate funding to cover the current liability exposure risk along the Texas coast and avoid a future unexpected huge tax increase Implement a merit pay system for Texas teachers. Enhance state efforts to increase our border security along the Mexico border. Stop the Trans Texas Corridor and abuse of eminent domain Pass a constitutional amendment to limit government spending to inflation plus population growth | |||
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