| Political Courage Test |
Here are Jim Wilhelm's answers to the Project Vote Smart / Political Courage Test.This candidate has demonstrated 100% courage during the test.*Note: This percentage is calculated based on the number of issue areas addressed by the candidate on the Political Courage Test at the conclusion of the testing period. It does not indicate support or lack of support by Project Vote Smart. What is the Political Courage Test? Maryland Congressional Election 2010 Political Courage Test In response to the increasing unwillingness of candidates to answer issue questions, Project Vote Smart has researched Congressional candidates' public records to determine candidates' likely responses on certain key issues. These are provided below as a courtesy to voters.
Abortion Issues Pro-life a) Do you consider yourself pro-choice or pro-life? No
b) Should abortion be legal only within the first trimester of pregnancy? No
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) Should federal subsidies be prohibited from being used for abortion procedures?
f) Other or expanded principles Budget, Spending, and Tax Issues 1) Spending Indicate what federal funding 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 Slightly Decrease
b) Arts Maintain Status
c) Defense Maintain Status
1) Intelligence operations Maintain Status
2) Military hardware Slightly Decrease
3) National missile defense Maintain Status
4) Salary and benefits for active duty personnel Slightly Decrease
5) Programs to improve troop retention rates Maintain Status
6) Research and development of new weapons Maintain Status
d) Education Maintain Status
e) Environment Maintain Status
f) Homeland security Slightly Decrease
g) International aid Maintain Status
h) Medical research Maintain Status
i) Scientific research Slightly Increase
j) Space exploration Greatly Decrease
k) United Nations Slightly Decrease
l) Welfare
m) Other or expanded categories 2) 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.
Slightly Decrease
a) Alcohol taxes Greatly Decrease
b) Capital gains taxes Maintain Status
c) Cigarette taxes Greatly Decrease
d) Corporate taxes Maintain Status
e) Gasoline taxes Maintain Status
f) Income taxes (low-income families) Slightly Decrease
g) Income taxes (middle-income families) Slightly Decrease
h) Income taxes (high-income families)
i) Other or expanded categories
Yes
3) Do you support the elimination of the federal estate tax? Yes
4) Do you support requiring the federal budget to be balanced each year? No
5) Do you support using government funds in an effort to stimulate and improve the economy?
6) Other or expanded principles Regarding #5 above: The Economic Stimulus Bill passed by Congress in 2009 was too big and not tailored toward the private sector - it was tailored toward the public sector and the unions. A true economic stimulus bill should have been tailored towards benefiting private sector businesses and main street. Business and Employment Issues
Yes
a) Do you support privatizing elements of Social Security? Yes
b) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? No
c) Do you support increasing the federal minimum wage? Yes
d) Do you support the ability of workers to unionize? Yes
e) Do you support federal funding for job-training programs that retrain displaced workers?
f) Other or expanded principles Social Security must be modified in some manner. It is a contract with the American people; however, those who are not yet receiving it, must realize that the system must be modified because it is unsustainable. There are not enough taxpayers paying into Social Security to keep it solvent; according to the SSA it will be paying more out than taking in starting THIS YEAR. This is the first time this will happen since SS was overhauled in 1983. Campaign Finance and Government Reform Issues
No
a) Do you support increasing the amount individuals are permitted to contribute to federal campaigns? Yes
b) Should Congress regulate indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? No
c) Do you support removing all contribution limits on federal campaigns? Yes
d) Should candidates for federal office be encouraged to meet voluntary spending limits? Yes
e) Do you support giving the President the power of the line item veto for items concerning appropriations? Yes
f) Do you support limiting the President's ability to define how legislation is applied through the use of signing statements?
g) Other or expanded principles Crime Issues Yes
a) Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? No
b) Do you support programs that provide prison inmates with vocational and job-related training and job-placement assistance when released? Yes
c) Do you support programs that provide prison inmates with substance abuse treatment? Yes
d) Do you support reduced prison sentences for non-violent offenders? Yes
e) Do you support mandatory prison sentences for selling illegal drugs?
f) Other or expanded principles for b) Why should prisoners who have committed a crime be offered free job training and placement assistance when a non criminal cannot necessarily even get those services? Education Issues
Yes
a) Do you support federal education standards and testing requirements for K-12 students? Yes
b) Do you support federal funding for universal pre-K programs? Yes
c) Do you support federal funding for charter schools? Yes
d) Do you support federal funding for K-12 school vouchers? Yes
e) Do you support the federal government providing college students with financial aid?
f) Other or expanded principles d) but only for meals/food for poverty or low income families/children. Overall comment: Public schools should be a local issue. The city or county or township should manage the public schools in its area. A parent doesn't call the federal Dept of Education when he has an issue with their local public school. Environment and Energy Issues No
a) Do you support enacting environmental regulations aimed at reducing the effects of climate change? Yes
b) Do you support international emissions targets aimed at reducing the effects of climate change? No
c) Do you support allowing energy producers to trade carbon credits under a "cap and trade" system? Yes
d) Do you support strengthening fuel efficiency standards on all gasoline and diesel-powered engines, including cars, trucks, and sport utility vehicles? Yes
e) Do you support domestic oil exploration in federally-protected areas? Yes
f) Do you support federal funding for the development of alternative energy? Yes
g) Do you support the development of nuclear reactors?
h) Other or expanded principles Gun Issues Yes
a) Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? Yes
b) Do you believe that the Second Amendment guarantees the right of individual citizens to own guns? Yes
c) Do you support allowing individuals to carry concealed guns? No
d) Do you support a ban on assault rifles?
e) Other or expanded principles a) Only for persons convicted of a crime. Health Issues No
a) Do you support a publicly-administered health insurance option? Yes
b) Do you support expanding access to health care through commercial health insurance reform? Yes
c) Should the federal government expand eligibility for tax-free medical savings accounts? Yes
d) Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits? No
e) Do you support relaxing regulations on the importation of prescription drugs
f) Other or expanded principles Immigration Issues a) Do you support a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants? No
b) Do you support decreasing the number of legal immigrants allowed into the country? Yes
c) Do you support establishing English as the official national language? Yes
d) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police?
e) Other or expanded principles a) All illegal immigrants must atone for coming and staying in this country illegally. My grandfather immigrated after WWI and followed the rules, as should everyone. One idea I recommend is once we simpify the tax code, we retrain IRS employees to become ICE employees to process the millions of illegal immigrants. International Policy Issues Yes
a) Do you support United States military action in Afghanistan? Yes
b) Do you support increasing military assistance for Afghanistan? Yes
c) Do you support increasing economic development assistance for Afghanistan? Yes
d) Should the United States continue to strike suspected terrorist targets in Pakistan? Yes
e) Do you support granting aid to countries when it is in the security interests of the United States? No
f) Should the United States support the creation of a Palestinian state? Yes
g) Do you support increasing sanctions on Iran if it continues to defy United Nations mandates? Yes
h) Do you support the withdrawal of United States troops from Iraq? Yes
i) Do you support the United States' involvement in free trade agreements?
j) Other or expanded principles Social Issues Yes
a) Should marriage only be between one man and one woman?
b) Do you support allowing openly-gay men and women to serve in the United States military? Yes
c) Do you support federal funding for embryonic stem cell research? Yes
d) Should the federal government end affirmative action programs? e) Other or expanded principles c) Yes, but only using the currently available embryos that have been frozen already. I would prefer using adult stem cells, which many scientists feel are just as usable and scientifically viable to use in research. d) Affirmative action programs have served their purpose and are no longer needed; we must as a nation understand that everyone has the opportunity to become what they want, and there are resources available to assist those that are need based, not race, creed, religious or any other 'special' category. 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. We will focus on the economy; restructure/replace the ineffective economic stimulus package with policies that promote private sector jobs; we will stop the deficit spending and balance the budget; we must rewrite and simplify the tax code for businesses and individuals. We will rewrite the health care legislation to include competition across state lines, transparency, choices and tort reform. We will focus on smaller, limited government. We must write legislative bills that are single issue (directly related to that cabinet level department) and they must be Constitution based. We must secure our borders and enforce our current laws. |