James V. Cardoza

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I am against abortion. I am also pragmatic; if there is not a limited legal way for a woman who is insistent on getting an abortion to get an abortion, she may resort to a "black market" abortion, which may risk her safety. I am ok with Planned Parenthood providing contraceptives, but abortion funding should be limited. Any abortion funding should be offset by earmarked funds to praise motherhood and advertise alternatives - keep baby, adoption, contraception, or abstinence.

Agree

Alternatives to abortion should be advocated for; a meeting with a mental health counselor and a medical doctor should be required before receiving chemical abortion drugs. Data should be collected, but strict adherence to HIPAA / privacy (redacting personal identifying data) needs to be followed. If the individual requesting chemical abortion treatment is a minor, her parent or legal guardian MUST be notified and consent to the treatment.

In cases of severe medical condition that may risk the life of the mother, elective abortion should be allowed. In cases of (promptly-reported) rape or incest (limit is to prevent false accusations), abortion should be allowed, but only after receiving consultation regarding the possibility of adoption. Any other case of 2nd or 3rd trimester abortion should be disallowed, except severe birth defect or likely stillbirth, subject to approval of a panel of three separate medical doctors.

I am generally against abortion, but I am also pragmatic, understanding that some women will resort to an abortion whether it is legal or not. Any federal funding for abortion treatment should be offset by equal funding to encourage carrying a child to term and keeping the child, adoption, contraception, or abstinence. I would support a federal ban on second and third trimester abortions, with the exceptions to the ban being limited to those situations discussed in my answers to the previous questions. Any abortion (chemical or surgical) should require prior consultation with a mental health therapist and an adoption advocate. First trimester chemical abortion should require a prescription from a medical doctor. Any surgical abortion should require a three panel medical doctor review as well as meeting with a mental health therapist and a meeting with an adoption advocate.

I support regular inflation indexed adjustments to the standard deduction for individual filers, extension of provisions of IRC 1031 Exchanges to REITs, lower early 401K withdrawal penalties, and increased estate tax exemption.

Strongly Agree

Blanket student loan forgiveness encourages irresponsible spending on non-productive college degrees, and makes other students who completed degree programs that provide a better return on investment pay for the poor educational investment decisions of students who chose degree programs without a clear defined career path. The only time student loans should be forgiven is if the borrower becomes permanently disabled or faces severe hardship from a severe medical condition (e.g. cancer).

No

"ESG" is out of control. We certainly need clean air and clean water, and discrimination that is disallowed by the Civil Rights Act must continue to be disallowed; however, ESG programs result in excessive environmental regulations and discrimination against hard working, capable candidates. Such discrimination against capable candidates harms the candidate, weakens companies and government agencies, and puts the public at risk. Excessive environmental regulation is economically inefficient.

Government agencies may not advocate for any particular religion. Likewise, companies that receive federal funding, state funding, or local government funding may not advocate for one religion or another. However, government agencies and government funded private entities should make REASONABLE accommodations so that people can practice their faith, but during their scheduled break times. Privately held companies that do not receive government funding can practice whatever religion they choose.

Strongly Disagree

A privately held business (that is not receiving government funding) or an individual should be allowed to practice their own faith and not be required to provide services that violate their own moral/religious beliefs. Although privately owned, non-government-funded business should not be able to discriminate based on protected classifications, they also should have full-control of the artistic and religious expression of their product and service offerings.

Government or school-required vaccinations should be limited to those absolutely necessary, such as MMR, which have undergone FULL FDA approval; vaccinations that have only received emergency approval (e.g. COVID vaccines) should not be required.

B. Government-funded BASIC preventative care and BASIC emergency care should be available, as well as private healthcare options that can be purchased as an add-on to basic government funded healthcare, or as a stand-alone alternative to government funded healthcare. A very large percentage of the population simply cannot afford even basic healthcare, but universal healthcare without a private option is a recipe for inefficiency, excessive cost, and ineffective outcomes.

C, and with very rare exceptions, B. War should be avoided if at all possible, but a strong military should be ready to prevent the risk of any other country attacking the United States. We must first focus on solving our own domestic problems (and our own border security problems) before putting money and troops into another country's problems. If we do fund another country's war, there needs to be a strategic nexus to U.S. security and U.S. economy.

Neutral

China may pose some threat, but Chinese and U.S. economies are in many respects interdependent, which should dampen some risk. To reduce risk, the U.S. must quickly ramp up domestic rare-earth metals processing, restore its manufacturing sector, and maintain strong ag and energy sectors. On a cyber-security front, the U.S. must make sure that all of its systems have proper security, backup, replication, and recovery systems in place to minimize the risk of and damage from possible cyber-attack.

Yes. Israel is a long standing trading partner and strategic military ally of the United States. The United States must be cautious, however, about getting drawn into a war in the region, putting U.S. military lives at stake. However, U.S. involvement in the protection of ships and shipping routes to and from Israel and throughout the greater region is necessary to protect the U.S. and global economy.

The United States has unfortunately had a history of sometimes unnecessarily getting involved in other countries' conflicts, putting the life and safety of U.S. military members at risk. The U.S. military is the best and the most capable, but we must not put our military personnel's life and safety at risk willy nilly. We must also not spend American tax dollars on bombs and wars haphazardly. Finally, global socialist subversion has infected U.S. youth. Patriotism must be restored.

Strongly Agree

U.S. immigration policy needs a mix of: 1. Strong border. 2 Quick deportation of violent criminals and drug traffickers. 3. Drug treatment for addicts and anti-drug education for youth to reduce the demand for drugs (that is causing the excess immigration problem). 4. Mental health services to teach youth to manage their problems without drugs. 5. More efficient VISA and PRE-ENTRY background checks and applicant processing. 5. LONG and well-publicized prison terms for drug traffickers.

People who do not have criminal records, who will commit to becoming full U.S. citizens, who apply BEFORE entry, and who will renounce their origin-country citizenship should efficiently be allowed to become citizens; the U.S. should negotiate a transfer of any social security accrued in the individuals original country to their U.S. social security account. Violent criminals and drug traffickers should be permanently banned from the U.S. and deported after finishing their U.S. prison sentences.

Agree

One key to holding U.S. public schools accountable is the ability of parents to transfer children to schools of their own choice; however, such transfers should be limited if they create excessive transportation costs for the school district, or if program average standardized test scores fall below 70%. Normal grade-level progress above the 50th percentile on standardized tests should be required for renewal of any individual student voucher or home-schooling credit/reimbursement.

Strongly Disagree

Complete elimination of the U.S. Department of Education is an extreme measure that just does not make any sense. However, as with every government agency and government program, the U.S. Department of Education's budget and programs should be regularly audited and reviewed for effectiveness and financial efficiency. Based on the periodic reviews and audits, policy changes or budget modifications should be made respecting specific programs or budget allocations.

Disagree

The word "marriage" is both a legal and religious term. Each religious organization that does not receive government funds may define (religious) marriage and choose who can and cannot marry within their religion, so long as the people getting married have reached the age of consent and are not being married under duress or coercion. However, the government should not be allowed to restrict state "legalized" marriages of two individuals of consenting age and not under duress or coercion.

Strongly Agree

With the limited exceptions of ambiguous genitalia at birth, chromosomal abnormality, physical/hormonal/development abnormalities, cancer-related surgeries or reconstruction, other legitimate medical purposes, or de-transition, children should not be given genital-altering hormones or surgeries or breast surgery. Sub-18 genital or breast alteration other than for these limited exceptions should be prohibited. That said, a child should be able to dress how he, she, and his/her parents choose.

Disagree

"Gender transition" services should only be paid for with government funds or be reimbursed by insurance in instances of ambiguous genitalia or chromosomal abnormality at birth, or to reverse surgeries or hormonal treatments that had been conducted to alter an individual's gender to look like something other than his or her birth gender, so long as the gender alteration that is being reversed was done before the individual turned age 18. Reversal of post-age-18 transition should be self-funded.

I am running for a government office, so I am not disclosing my personal religious or spiritual beliefs. Government officials have a duty to accept and respect every individual's own right to practice his or her own religion as he or she chooses, so long as it is not done using government funds. School children and government employees should be allowed reasonable accommodations to practice their religion of their own choice and wear the religious garments of their own choice while on shift, so long as those garments do not create a physical safety risk for themselves or others. School prayer and government employee prayer should be allowed in private during regularly scheduled breaks.

Strongly Disagree

Photo identification must be conducted for all votes to prevent the risk of voter fraud. However, given advances in electronic identity verification technologies, remote electronic identity verification, such as the ID.ME program or similar technology-driven identity verification should be explored as an alternative to only allowing in-person photo identification verification.

Neutral

I have not studied this issue thoroughly enough to express an opinion on the Electoral College system at this time. However, I do advocate for greater transparency of how specifically the Electoral College system works, so that I and every single other voter can make an informed decision about the merits or drawbacks of the Electoral College at some point in the future.

Strongly Disagree

Critical Race Theory is a divisive and subversive program that should be banned from school curriculum. At one point in our history, systematic racism did exist. But the Civil Rights Act was passed several decades ago, and affirmative action programs have been in place for decades. As the Supreme Court stated in the recent affirmative action ruling, affirmative action has accomplished its purpose, and now it is time to move on.

Strongly Agree

As a former NCAA Division I athlete, this is one of my most important issues. The women's division, the women's locker room, women's shelter, women's prison, and other women-only spaces where women are partially or completely unclothed absolutely must be protected from intrusion by men who have taken hormones and had surgeries or otherwise have decided to identify themselves as women. People identifying themselves as "trans" can compete with the men or in an open division.

Strongly Disagree

"Climate change" is caused by changing planetary orbit patterns, which are beyond the control of man. Environmental policy needs to be pragmatic, with primary focus on clean air and clean water. I witnessed out-of-control air and water pollution when I traveled to Shanghai, China in December 1994; we must not allow our air and water to be polluted like what I saw in China. However, we must be sensible in our environmental efforts. Electric vehicles should be an option, not a requirement.

Diversity of energy sources is best, including a mix of energy from oil/gas/diesel/petroleum/natural gas, solar, wind, hydroelectric, nuclear, biomass, methane digestion, similar waste-to-energy technologies, clean-burned coal, co-gen, and others.

Conservative

Fiscally conservative. Socially moderate. Smaller government and less regulation is generally best. Protect the Constitution, including 2nd Amendment. Fund the military, police, and border security. Smart immigration. Allow gay marriage. Genital-modifying surgeries on children should be prohibited (except for very limited medical exceptions I detail elsewhere in this survey). Women's sports is for biological women only. Trans-identifying people can compete with the men or in an open division.

The primary purposes of government are to maintain order, guarantee national security, protect the enforceability of private property rights & arms-length contracts, and manage externalities. Additionally, as part of U.S. culture, a core element of the U.S. Constitution, and one of the United States' competitive advantages is that the U.S. government also has a system for funding some research into the sciences and arts, as well as a system for limited protection of intellectual property.

No.

No.

Strongly Disagree

A 9-member U.S. Supreme Court is sufficient to provide a variety of perspectives and analysis on each issue brought before the court. Furthermore, adding seats to the court would just result in more dissenting and concurring opinions, which would make Supreme Court Decisions more ambiguous, virtually impossible to decipher, and impractical to use in everyday legal practice.

Disagree

Police are essential to public safety, as are 2nd Amendment and self-defense rights. Police need to receive adequate funding to protect public safety. That said, we must remain vigilant to make sure that police departments and individual police officers follow Constitutional due process. Failure to follow Constitutional due process should result in permanent loss of an individual's status as a police officer. Allocation of federal funds to state family courts needs modification. Fund drug rehab.

Criminal conviction of robbery, burglary, homicide, rape/S.A., child molestation, kidnapping should mean loss of gun rights. Other revocations are generally Unconstitutional. Possession of a small-caliber firearm should only require a one-time completion of a readily-available BASIC course in gun safety, or the direct supervision of someone who has completed a course in gun safety. Larger caliber, higher-capacity, semi-automatic, or similar firearms should be allowed with more safety training.