Byron Donalds' Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Office:
- U.S. House (FL) - District 19, Republican
On The Ballot: Running, Republican for Governor (FL)
Key
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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.
Florida Congressional Election 2012 Political Courage Test
| No | Do you support United States' combat operations in Afghanistan? | ||
| No | Do you support a timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan? | ||
| I do not support current combat operations in Afghanistan, because there are no clear objectives for what victory means. If there are no clear objectives we should but our troops in harms way. A public timetable for withdrawal makes no sense. We are advertising to our enemies when we will withdraw so they can simply wait us out. | |||
Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing the federal budget.In order to balance the budget,
| Yes | do you support reducing defense spending? | ||
| No | do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| Yes | do you support reducing Medicaid spending? | ||
| Yes | do you support reducing Medicare spending? | ||
| Yes | Is balancing the budget a legislative priority? | ||
| Defense, Medicaid, and Medicare need to be on the table to help balance the budget, but raising taxes does not raise tax revenue. That is a political game that will do nothing to increase the size of our economy. Economic growth leads to increased government revenue. Balancing the budget will require spending cuts and economic policy to grow the economy. I support lowering the corporate tax rate to 20%, and going to two individual tax rates of 25% and 10%. Then we need real tax reform which is embodied by the Fair Tax. | |||
| No | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| No | Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | Do you support providing tax incentives to businesses for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| No | Do you support spending on infrastructure projects for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| No | Do you support the temporary extension of unemployment benefits? | ||
| No | Do you support the 2010 temporary extension of tax relief? | ||
| Temporary extension of tax relief does not provide the certainty and stability an economy needs to flourish. We need stable tax and economic policy if we ever expect to have job creation take off gaining in America. It is clear that federal spending does not promote viable economic growth. We just have to look at Cash for Clunkers to see a case study in government spending. Government can make markets jump, it can't make markets fly. | |||
| No | Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants? | ||
| Education standards in America have decreased with more federal involvement in education. The best course of action today is returning education control to local school boards so they can design and implement education standards to fit their community. National and statewide policy has no appreciation for the unique abilities for our kids. | |||
| Yes | Do you support reducing restrictions on offshore energy production? | ||
| Offshore drilling is a decision that should be made by coastal communities and the State legislature. | |||
| No | Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change? | ||
| No | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| Yes | Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act? | ||
| No | Should individuals be required to purchase health insurance, as mandated in the 2010 Affordable Care Act? | ||
| The only way you can lower the cost of care and increase accessibility is to have a dynamic market place for health insurance where everyone buys insurance with their own money. When people spend their own money, they always look for the best product at the lowest possible price. When you spend other people's money (which is how 95% of the healthcare market operates), there is less care and concern for how money is spent and what it is spent on. There has not been a robust health insurance marketplace since before WWII. | |||
| Yes | Do you support requiring illegal immigrants to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
| No | Do you support allowing illegal immigrants, who were brought to the United States as minors, to pursue citizenship without returning to their country of origin? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration law by state and local police? | ||
| Yes | Do you support targeting suspected terrorists outside of official theaters of conflict? | ||
| No | Should the U.S use military force in order to prevent Iran from possessing a nuclear weapon? | ||
| With respect to Iran's nuclear program, currently I do not think that the US should engage militarily. However, this is a subject that requires much analysis and study. Military action may have to be taken, but only after a thorough review of the issue. | |||
| 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.
| Greatly Decrease | a) Agriculture | ||
| Eliminate | b) Arts | ||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Defense | ||
| Eliminate | d) Education | ||
| Greatly Decrease | e) Environment | ||
| Slightly Decrease | f) Homeland Security | ||
| Greatly Decrease | g) International aid | ||
| Slightly Decrease | h) Medical Research | ||
| Slightly Decrease | i) Scientific Research | ||
| Maintain Status | j) Space exploration | ||
| Greatly Decrease | k) United Nations | ||
| Slightly Decrease | l) Welfare | ||
| m) Other or expanded categories | |||
| Eliminate | a) Capital gains taxes | ||
| Eliminate | b) Corporate taxes | ||
| Eliminate | c) Excise taxes (alcohol) | ||
| Eliminate | d) Excise taxes (cigarettes) | ||
| Eliminate | e) Excise taxes (transportation fuel) | ||
| Eliminate | f) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | g) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | h) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | i) Inheritance taxes | ||
| Eliminate | j) Payroll taxes | ||
| The withholding of taxes and the taxing of income does not respect the value of a person's labor and the reward for production. To permanently unleash our economy, we must change the very nature of taxation, and implement the Fair Tax. We must make the individual the sovereign once again. In route to that goal, we need major tax reform, and that we can begin immediately. We must reduce all tax rates while eliminating loopholes. We need a simplified and much flatter tax code to stimulate private sector investment, job creation, sustainable growth, opportunity, and individual wealth creation. | |||
| 1. Repeal Obamacare, and replace it with patient centered reforms, where people would purchase their own insurance in a dynamic marketplace. 2. Stabilize tax policy, so our citizens know what tax rates are going forward. This political game about tax policy is great for politicians, but it is unsettling for the American people. Once rates are stabilized begin the hard work to implement the Fair Tax. 3. End baseline budgeting and go to zero-based budgeting. This will cut $9 trillion dollars in future spending. Then we must implement a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, that ties spending to GDP. |
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