Marilynn Baker's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Marilynn Baker submitted the 2016 Political Courage Test after the official deadline.
North Carolina State Legislative Election 2016 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | a) Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| No | b) Should abortions be illegal after the first trimester of pregnancy? | ||
| Yes | c) Should abortion be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape? | ||
| Yes | d) Should abortion be legal when the life of the woman is endangered? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support requiring parental notification before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| No | f) Do you support requiring parental consent before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| No | g) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for abortion procedures? | ||
| No | h) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions? | ||
| Generally, I think that abortions should be illegal after the second trimester, except in cases where the mother's life is in jeopardy. When that is the case, efforts should be made to save both mother and child. When it comes to minors, this is an extremely difficult situation because the father of the unborn child may be a family member or guardian, and/or the family may be extreme fundamentalists that severely punish or even kill the victim. I believe that prevention (sex education, abstinence and/or access to birth control) is far superior to abortion. | |||
1) Budget Stabilization:Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing North Carolina's budget.2) State Spending:Indicate what state funding levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one level per category; you may use a number more than once.3) State Taxes:Indicate what state tax levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one level per category; you may use a number more than once.
| Yes | a) Tapping into North Carolina's "rainy day" fund | ||
| No | b) Decreasing funding for public universities | ||
| No | c) Reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions | ||
| No | d) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees | ||
| No | e) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| Slightly Increase | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Greatly Increase | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Slightly Increase | c) Environment | ||
| Slightly Increase | d) Health care | ||
| Slightly Increase | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Slightly Increase | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Slightly Increase | g) Welfare | ||
| Slightly Increase | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | d) Small business taxes | ||
| Maintain Status | e) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | f) Property taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | g) Sales taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | h) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Maintain Status | i) Income taxes (mid-income families) | ||
| Slightly Increase | j) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| Yes | k) Do you support applying sales taxes to all online purchases? | ||
| I do not support proposals that balance the budget on backs of state employees, nor do I support cutting funds for public schools and universities or Medicaid recipients. As our population grows, there are more people to educate and more needs for healthcare. Recent budget cuts have benefited the wealthy (who can most afford to pay taxes) at the expense of the middle class and poor -- including cuts to funding public schools and universities. We need to increase the minimum wage in NC so that fewer people need welfare. | |||
| Our NC constitution recognized the importance of public education, and speaks to funding our public schools and universities. I believe that a strong education system is critical for our mid- and long-term economic prospects. I also believe that it is very important to protect our environment and our natural resources. Trees help to clean our air and moderate temperature. Our lakes and rivers provide recreation and safe drinking water. Our law enforcement personnel deserve to be fairly compensated and receive competitive benefits. Without competitive pay and benefits, we cannot expect to attract and retain high quality officers. | |||
| I would support legislation that provides tax credits to businesses for creating/adding full-time jobs with benefits. We need more jobs with healthcare benefits, and other benefits (e.g. 401K, dental and vision, etc.). We need to support companies (small, medium and large) that pay living wages and provide relevant benefits. In contrast, we need to avoid awarding state contracts to contractors who use "contract employees" who receive no benefits and who do not have payroll taxes withheld from their pay checks. | |||
a) Do you support limits on the following types of contributions for state candidates?
| Yes | 1) Individual | ||
| Yes | 2) Political Action Committee | ||
| Yes | 3) Corporate | ||
| Yes | 4) Political Party | ||
| Yes | b) Should candidates for state office be encouraged to meet voluntary spending limits? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support the use of an independent AND/OR bipartisan commission for redistricting? | ||
| No | e) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| The voter ID law was passed to prevent voter fraud. However, there are very few instances of known voter fraud in NC. It is true that many people are registered in more than one place, but it isn't due to their intent to defraud, but rather the new board of elections office not informing the former BoE that someone has now registered in a new city. For example, NC has many military personnel who have transferred to NC from another state and vice versa, and are registered in two states for a period of time. | |||
| No | a) Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support alternatives to incarceration for certain non-violent offenders, such as mandatory counseling or substance abuse treatment? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support legalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana? | ||
| Yes | d) Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | ||
| No | e) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| No | f) Do you support delaying the seizure of assets by law enforcement officials until after a conviction? | ||
| The actual answers to most of the above questions would have been "It Depends". For example, what is the age of the minor? What was the crime? Was the minor abused or neglected? Were there other extenuating circumstances? Also, I think our federal immigration laws need reform, and once reformed, they should be enforced. Finally, regarding the seizure of assets, the defendant needs sufficient funds to live and pay for his/her defense, but he/she should not be able to "hide" funds -- especially in cases of fraud and embezzlement. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | b) Do you support lowering taxes as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | c) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | ||
| No | f) Do you support requiring welfare applicants to pass a drug test in order to receive benefits? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| Yes | h) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| Yes | i) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage? | ||
| No | j) Should employers be able to ask about applicants' criminal history before interviewing them? | ||
| History has shown that "trickle down economics" does not work -- so cutting taxes for the wealthy as a means of promoting economic growth has not succeeded over the long term. Overall, I do not support reducing government regulations on the private sector regarding consumer or employee safety, pollution, or adequate financial disclosure. Perhaps there are some regulations that are non-productive that should be repealed, but those regulations that protect people and the environment should be preserved. Regarding minimum wage: the original intent was to ensure that people who work full-time earn a living wage. | |||
| No | a) Do you support the national Common Core State Standards initiative? | ||
| No | b) Do you support a merit pay system for teachers? | ||
| Yes | c) Is the tenure process for public school teachers producing effective teachers? | ||
| No | d) Should parents be allowed to use vouchers to send their children to any school? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| Yes | g) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from North Carolina high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| Most of these answers are actually "it depends". I support the intent to standardize course content across the 50 states so that if a family is transferred from one state to another the children will not be adversely affected academically. Apparently, the Common Core standards need improvement to meet that goal. I do not support merit pay for teachers because it is nearly impossible to assess "merit" since the main predictor of academic achievement (or failure) is the economic status of the family and community. "Tenure" is an unfair word to use, the issue is actually "due process". | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, thermal)? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support state funding for the development of traditional domestic energy sources (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil)? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support state funding for improvements to North Carolina's energy infrastructure? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support government regulations of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support increased regulations of the hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") industry? | ||
| I strongly support the development of renewable, clean energy. I reluctantly support funding for traditional energy sources, but only when there is limited, if any, damage to the environment. I strongly support the need to preserve our natural resources, state and national parks, in part due to the benefit of tourism, but also because we need trees and natural spaces for air quality, as well as preserving these beautiful natural resources for future generations. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| Yes | b) Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows? | ||
| Yes | c) Should citizens be allowed to carry concealed guns? | ||
| Yes | d) Should a license be required for gun possession? | ||
| I believe that there can be common sense gun control legislation. We need to listen to our law enforcement personnel and other experts who have conducted independent, non-partisan, non-NRA sponsored research in order to develop common sense, relevant legislation to protect our citizens. We also need to find or help support independent research on mass shooters. Preliminary research has found that they tend to be people (mainly men) who were bullied or ostracized in high school and/or have been involved in domestic violence. Additional well designed, independent research is needed and should be heeded. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support a universally-accessible, publicly-administered health insurance option? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support expanding access to health care through commercial health insurance reform? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support interstate health insurance compacts? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| No | f) Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| Many of the above answers are actually "it depends". I believe that all people should have access to good quality, affordable health care -- whether it is from a publicly administered health insurance option or from independent insurance companies. With regard to requiring people to purchase health care insurance, we need to make sure that it actually is affordable, and that they have reasonable options from which to choose. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in North Carolina's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in North Carolina's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | d) Based on the religious beliefs of the owners, should businesses be allowed to refuse services to their employees and/or customers? | ||
| No | e) Should individuals be required to use a bathroom that corresponds with the gender listed on their birth certificates? | ||
| The question regarding the religious beliefs of business owners is a difficult one. If the company is not a contractor with the state or federal government, then they should be able to serve a limited set of customers. However, if the company wishes to become a contractor with the government, then they should not discriminate on the bases of gender identity or sexual orientation (or race, ethnicity, religion, etc.). | |||
| My top priority is to adequately fund public education, especially K-12 and technical/community colleges. My next priority would be to adequately fund law enforcement personnel, especially equipping them with bodycams, and providing training on diversity and excessive force issues. My next priority would be to provide adequate healthcare services to poor and working class families through either medicare or the affordable healthcare options ("Obamacare" or its successor). I would propose to fund this through modest, but regular increases in the minimum wage (stimulating the economy and increasing revenues) and increasing the tax rate on people earning over $200,000. |
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