It was difficult but i took all day and got done. I hope you all like
the results If someone wants to edit the spelling errors, I will
provide the login info. And suggestions are welcome. This is a very
difficult, one wants to be principled and yet engage the voters. I
chose the language greatly reduced over eliminate, as with my training
in calculus, getting infinitely close to zero is usually the way
nature works.
Since what Phil copied into email earlier didn't contain his answers,
here it is from the web (Look to the left of each option for X or Yes or
No or words like Eliminate or Slightly Decrease). There is sometimes an
answer in paragraph form underneath the multiple choice options. There
are some questions that seem to still have no answers (such as taxes on
retirees):
Abortion Issues
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding abortion.
a) Abortions should always be illegal.
X b) Abortions should always be legal.
c) Abortions should be legal only within the first trimester of
pregnancy.
d) Abortions should be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest
or rape.
e) Abortions should be legal when the life of the woman is endangered.
f) Prohibit public funding of abortions and to organizations that
advocate or perform abortions.
g) Other or expanded principles
Abortions are a matter for State Government to decide under the
Constitution. It certinaly should not be a federal matter.
Budgetary, Spending, and Tax Issues, Part 1: Budget Priorities
Using the key, indicate what federal funding levels you support for the
following general categories. Select one number per category, you can
use a number more than once.
Budget Priorities
Eliminate a) Agriculture
Eliminate b) Arts
Greatly Decrease c) Defense
Eliminate d) Education
Slightly Decrease e) Environment
Greatly Decrease f) Homeland security
Eliminate g) International aid
Greatly Decrease h) Law enforcement
Eliminate i) Medical research
Eliminate j) National parks
Slightly Decrease k) Public health services
Eliminate l) Scientific research
Eliminate m) Space exploration programs
Eliminate n) Transportation and highway infrastructure
Eliminate o) Welfare
Eliminate p) Emergency preparedness
q) Other or expanded categories
Budgetary, Spending, and Tax Issues, Part 2: Defense Spending
Defense Spending
Greatly Decrease a) Armed forces personnel training
Slightly Decrease b) Intelligence operations
Greatly Decrease c) Military hardware
Greatly Decrease d) Modernization of weaponry and equipment
Greatly Decrease e) National missile defense
Maintain Status f) Pay for active duty personnel
Eliminate g) Programs to improve troop retention rates
Eliminate h) Research and development of new weapons
Slightly Decrease i) Troop and equipment readiness
j) Other or expanded categories
Budgetary, Spending, and Tax Issues, Part 3: Taxes (A)
Using the key above, indicate what federal tax levels you support for
the following general categories. Select one number per category.
Taxes
Income Taxes:
Family Income
Eliminate a) Less than $25,000
Eliminate b) $25,000-$75,000
Eliminate c) $75,000-$150,000
Eliminate d) Over $150,000
Eliminate e) Other or expanded categories
Retiree Income
f) Over $40,000
g) Other or expanded categories
Other Taxes:
Eliminate a) Alcohol taxes
Eliminate b) Capital gains taxes
Eliminate c) Cigarette taxes
Eliminate d) Corporate taxes
Eliminate e) Gasoline taxes
Eliminate f) Inheritance taxes
g) Other or expanded categories
Deductions/Credits:
a) Charitable contributions
b) Child tax credit
c) Earned income tax credit
d) Medical expense deduction
e) Mortgage deduction
f) Student loan credit
g) Other or expanded categories
Budgetary, Spending, and Taxes, Part 3: Taxes (B)
4) Do you support the permanent repeal of the federal estate tax?
5) Do you support making President Bush's tax cuts permanent?
6) Discuss your proposals for balancing the federal budget. (75 words or
less. Please use an attached page if the space below is not adequate.)
The Federal Government has become a worldwide police state and is a
mortal danger to the citizens of the United States and the world. The
Constitution sets strict limits on the powers of the Congress and the
President. The Government should obey the Constitution. The United
States foreign should be non interventionist... Like Switzerland defense
should be borne by arming large numbers of people domestically in well
regulated militias... The only other duty of the Government is to
regulate disputes over contract and property.... All other activities
should be accomplished by the States or the People.
7) Other or expanded principles
To Rodney King I say we all can get along. I will not espouse the
initiation of force for any political or social reason. A decent civil
society must be built on non violence and non coercion and as Cole
Porter said, it ain't nobody's business if I do.
Campaign Finance and Government Reform Issues
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding campaign
finance and government reform.
a) Support public taxpayer funding for federal candidates who comply
with campaign spending limits.
X b) Increase the amount individuals are permitted to contribute to
federal campaigns.
c) Prohibit Political Action Committee (PAC) contributions to
candidates for federal office.
X d) Allow unregulated soft money campaign contributions to
political parties or committees.
X e) Remove all contribution limits on federal campaigns and parties.
f) Require Section 527 organizations to register with the Federal
Election Commission as Political Action Committees.
Yes g) Do you support instant run-off voting?
No h) Should Election Day be a national holiday?
No i) Do you support a constitutional amendment that would define
marriage as a union between a man and woman?
j) Other or expanded principles
Campaign finance laws are like drug laws. You cannot stop a lust for
power. The laws always have the opposite effect. They scare away
competition to the entrenched existing power. The only to stop the
embrace of government and corporations is to reduce the size and scope
of government so that it doesn't have anything that corporations want to
buy. Then corporations can get to work for their customers rather than
use the government to steal for them with the governments guns.
Crime Issues
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding crime.
a) Support the use of the death penalty for federal crimes.
X b) Eliminate the use of the death penalty for federal crimes.
X c) Support programs to provide prison inmates with educational,
vocational and job-related skills and job-placement assistance when
released.
X d) Support programs to provide prison inmates with drug and
alcohol addiction treatment.
X e) Reduce prison sentences for those who commit non-violent crimes.
f) Require that crimes based on gender, sexual orientation, and
disability be prosecuted as federal hate crimes.
g) Impose stricter penalties for those convicted of corporate crimes.
h) Minors accused of a violent crime should be prosecuted as adults.
i) Other or expanded principles
Bankers, such as those who lent Enron and WorldCom money and were in the
middle of the scandal have so far been immune from prosectution. Go
after the crooks in the banks, the biggest and most dangerous criminals
in our society.
Drug Issues
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding drugs.
a) Support mandatory jail sentences for selling illegal drugs.
b) Expand federally sponsored drug education and drug treatment
programs.
X c) Decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana.
X d) Allow doctors to recommend marijuana to their patients for
medicinal purposes.
e) Increase border security to stop the flow of illegal drugs into
the United States.
X f) Eliminate federal funding for programs associated with the "war
on drugs."
g) Support a federal law to standardize testing and penalties for
steroid use in professional sports.
h) Other or expanded principles
The constitution does not give Congress the power to ban or regulate
drugs. That is why prohibition was enacted as an amendment to the
Constitution. Prohibition was repealed. All regulation should be
accomplished by private labs such as Underwriters Labs which privately
regulates appliance manufacture to make the appliances are safe. This is
the model for a private FDA. The drug war is ruining millions of lives,
endangering our children by sucking them into gangs. The drug war also
funds terrorist groups throughout the world and destabilizes Afghanistan.
Education Issues
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding education.
a) Support national standards for and testing of public school students.
X b) Allow parents to use vouchers, (equal opportunity scholarships)
to send their children to any public school.
c) Allow parents to use vouchers, (equal opportunity scholarships)
to send their children to any private or religious school.
X d) Allow teachers and professionals to receive authorization and
funding to establish charter schools.
e) Reward teachers with merit pay for working in low-income schools.
f) Increase funding for school capital improvements (e.g. buildings,
infrastructure, technology).
g) Support affirmative action in public college admissions.
h) Increase funding of programs such as Pell grants and Stafford
loans to help students pay for college.
i) Support federal tax incentives to help families save for college.
j) Other or expanded principles
If governments were dramatically downsized, wars ended, the savings
would be very large. Not only would paychecks be larger, but taxes
hidden in everything would be gone... [T]he hidden tax of inflation must
be eliminated by forbidding the Federal Reserve from creating more
money. With minimal taxes, and ever lower prices, there would very few
poor people. Almost every poor or disabled person would know a friend or
family member who could help them
and could pay for their own
children's education
Communities could also help, as could voluntary
charitable non profits and school based scholarships
Employment and Affirmative Action Issues
1) Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding employment.
a) Increase funding for national job-training programs that re-train
displaced workers or teach skills needed in today's job market.
X b) Reduce government regulation of the private sector in order to
encourage investment and economic expansion.
c) Provide tax credits or grants to businesses that offer child care
services to employees.
d) Encourage employers to offer flex-time scheduling, comp-time, and
unpaid leave for family emergencies.
X e) Eliminate all federal programs designed to reduce unemployment.
f) Increase the federal minimum wage.
g) Support the right of workers to strike without fear of being
permanently replaced.
h) Include sexual orientation in federal anti-discrimination laws.
i) Other or expanded principles
Everything costs more because the Federal Reserve has created mountains
of fresh green new money since the last time the minimum wage was raised
and did that each time the minimum wage was raised
Who stole all that
money?
The Federal reserve is a counterfeiting operation that steals
from the working man and gives to the bankers and the people who can
borrow big bucks from the banks, especially the government, which uses
the stolen money to pay for war... Inflation starves the old and sick
who don't get their fixed incomes raised
2) Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding affirmative
action.
a) The federal government should consider race and gender in
government contracting decisions.
X b) The federal government should discontinue affirmative action
programs.
c) The federal government should continue affirmative action programs.
d) Other or expanded principles
All people should be treated equally by the government. The government
should not be looking at your skin or what is in your pants. Or what you
do in your bedroom.
Environment and Energy Issues
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding the environment
and energy.
a) Strengthen the regulation and enforcement of the Clean Water Act.
b) Strengthen the regulation and enforcement of the Clean Air Act.
c) Support Clear Skies Act to reduce power plant emissions by
setting a national cap on pollutants.
d) Require states to compensate citizens when environmental
regulations limit uses of privately-owned land.
e) Relax logging restrictions on federal lands.
f) Relax standards on federal lands to allow increased recreational
usage.
g) Support increased development of traditional energy resources
(e.g. coal, natural gas, oil).
h) Strengthen emission controls and fuel efficiency standards on all
gasoline and diesel-powered engines, including cars, trucks, and sport
utility vehicles.
i) Support opening a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
for oil exploration.
j) Encourage further development and use of alternative fuels to
reduce pollution.
k) Support the use of ethanol as an alternative fuel.
l) Allow energy producers to trade pollution credits.
m) Support the Kyoto Protocol to limit global warming.
n) Other or expanded principles
Polluters should be subject to strict liability. And the government
should offer no protection to polluters to be taken to court. Wide-scale
diffuse pollution is a very difficult problem and a solution is readily
apparent from my principles. I am open to discussion of reasonable and
necessary regulation of diffuse pollution after all avenues of
cooperative encouragement of responsible behavior on the part of
polluters is exhausted.
Gun Issues
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding guns.
a) Reauthorize the ban on the sale or transfer of semi-automatic
guns, except those used for hunting.
b) Maintain and strengthen the current level of enforcement of
existing federal restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns.
X c) Ease federal restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns.
X d) Repeal federal restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns.
X e) Allow citizens to carry concealed guns.
f) Require background checks on gun sales between private citizens
at gun shows.
g) Require a license for gun possession.
h) Other or expanded principles
In the Federalist Papers Madison said "We will not allow the soil of
this continent to be red with the blood of it's citizens. In the last
century hundreds of millions of unarmed citizens in Europe, Africa, and
Asia were slaughtered by their governments. The Iraq insurgency
demonstrates the power of gun ownership in asymmetric warfare. Citizens
must be able to credibly balance the power of government should tyranny
arise and no peaceful avenues be avaliable. This is what the founders
intended. It helps keep the government and the military honest. If drugs
were legalized almost all gun violence would end.
Health Issues
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding health care.
a) Providing health care is not a responsibility of the federal
government.
b) Implement a universal health care program to guarantee coverage
to all Americans regardless of income.
c) Expand eligibility for tax-free medical savings accounts.
d) Establish limits on the amount of punitive damages awarded in
medical malpractice lawsuits.
e) Support expanding prescription drug coverage under Medicare.
f) Offer tax credits to individuals and small businesses to offset
the cost of insurance coverage.
g) Support automatic enrollment of children in federal health care
programs such as CHIP and Medicaid.
h) Support stem cell research on existing lines of stem cells.
X i) Allow laboratories to create new lines of stem cells for
additional research.
j) Other or expanded principles
Before the government began to interfere with all aspects of medicine it
was voluntary self regulating including a near universal perceived duty
of health care professionals and institutions to provide care for the
indigent
The common law must be reformed to be like it was when it was
written into the Constitution and as it exists today in Britain.
Contingency fees should be outlawed and losers should pay for the other
side's legal fees
. The present system is a system of systemic extortion
for benefit of the trial who run the system when they are appointed to
judgeships. The out of control tort system is a primary driver of
excessive medical costs.
Immigration Issues
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding immigration.
a) Decrease the number of legal immigrants allowed into the country.
b) Establish English as the official national language.
c) Support a temporary worker program that would enable illegal
immigrants to work in the United States legally.
d) Relax restrictions barring legal immigrants from using government
funded social programs (e.g. public housing, food stamps).
e) Support amnesty for illegal immigrants already working in the
United States.
f) Other or expanded principles
Before the welfare State was started the only requirement for coming to
this country was that you paid the fare on the boat. The government
funded welfare system has acted as an excuse to put in place the funding
mechanism that pays for both the welfare state and the warfare state and
police state. The only way to get rid of the warfare state and police
state is to get rid of all three by eliminating the ability of the
federal to fund anything but direct territorial defense and the courts...
International Aid, International Policy, and Trade Issues, Part 1:
International Aid
International Aid
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding United States
economic assistance.
a) Aid should be granted to countries when extraordinary
circumstances cause disaster and threaten civilian lives.
b) Aid should be granted to countries when it is in the security
interests of the United States.
X c) Aid should be eliminated for any nation with documented human
rights abuses.
X d) International Aid programs should be scaled back and eventually
eliminated.
e) Other or expanded principles
Governments do a lousy with aid. Private organizations such as the
Heffer project, or the Internatinal Red Cross should do the job. With a
greatly reduced tax and inflation burden on the people, much more
resources would be avaliable to give to these organizations.Private
corporations and insurance companies also play a role. WalMart was one
of the first organizations to logistically mount support for Katrina
victims on a voluntary basis.
International Aid, International Policy, and Trade Issues, Part 2:
International Policy
International Policy
1) Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding the Middle East.
Undecided a) Should the United States continue to provide leadership
in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process?
Undecided b) Should the United States support the creation of a
Palestinian state?
Yes c) Should the United States withdraw its troops from Iraq?
No d) Should the United States send more troops to Iraq?
e) Discuss your proposals for an exit strategy in Iraq. (75 words or
less. Please use an attached page if the space below is not adequate.)
Iraq is a perfect example of the law of unintended consequences and its
corollary the law of opposite effects. Every thing the US government
says about Iraq is the direct opposite of reality. So immediate
withdrawal is likely to be the best way to end the bloodshed there.
Clearly staying there keeps the anger flowing and the blood.
f) Other or expanded principles
2) Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding Central and
East Asia.
No a) Should the United States use diplomatic and economic pressure
to encourage North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program?
No b) Should the United States use military force to dismantle the
North Korean nuclear weapons program?
No c) Should the United States remove the North Korean government
from power?
No d) Should the United States increase financial support to
Afghanistan?
No e) Should the United States increase military support to Afghanistan?
f) Other or expanded principles
If heroin was legalized, Afghanistan could quickly become a prosperous
market oriented country. US Aid to Afghanistan only fuels inflation
there and makes things more expensive for those who have earn a living
as opposed to the connected bootlickers
The Founders advice remains
best today. No entangling alliances. Our Nuclear deterrence worked
against Stalin, Khrushchev and Mao, why not the modern day nut jobs with
a lot less power. Why change a military strategy of deterrence that
worked flawlessly for over sixty years not only for the US but for
India, and for Israel.
3) Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding the United
Nations.
No a) Should the United States maintain its financial support of the
United Nations?
Undecided b) Should the United States decrease its financial support
of the United Nations?
c) Should the United States commit troops to United Nations
peacekeeping missions?
d) Other or expanded principles
Ted Turner donated over a billion dollars to the UN. Absent income taxes
and inflation, US citizens should be welcomed to support the UN. Perhaps
this could be a model for the UN to represent the citizens of the world.
US citizens should be allowed to fight for the UN if they so choose and
Yes 4) Should the United States lift the travel ban to Cuba?
No 5) Should the United States increase its financial support to
Colombia to combat "the war on drugs?"
Yes 6) Should aid to African nations for AIDS prevention programs
fund distribution of contraceptives?
7) Should aid to African nations for AIDS prevention programs fund
abstinence education?
8) Other or expanded principles
International Aid, International Policy, and Trade Issues, Part 3:
International Trade
International Trade
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding international
trade.
No 1) Do you support the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)?
No 2) Do you support the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA)?
No 3) Do you support the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)?
No 4) Do you support continued U.S. membership in the World Trade
Organization (WTO)?
No 5) Should a nation's human rights record affect its normal trade
relations (most favored nation) status with the United States?
No 6) Do you support the trade embargo against Cuba?
No 7) Should trade agreements include provisions to address
environmental concerns and to protect workers' rights?
8) Other or expanded principles
Private organizations could develop labels to indicate if goods are
produced in a moral manner
The government must enforce the copyrights
of these labeling private organizations. The biggest with trade is that
the world financial is government controlled by central banks that are
private organizations granted government monopolies. These entities
distort the natural rates of exchange rates for the benefits of the
bankers and the associated governments
By overvaluing the dollar and by
not allowing natural market forces to adjust the value of the dollar,
American labor has been robbed of hundreds of millions of jobs
National Security Issues
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding national security.
No a) Do you support using military tribunals to try suspected
terrorists when ordinary civilian courts are deemed inappropriate or
impractical?
No b) Should the United States grant law enforcement agencies
greater discretion to read mail and email, tap phones, and conduct
random searches to prevent future terrorist attacks?
Yes c) Should the United States hold foreign states accountable for
terrorists who operate in their country?
No d) Should the federal government increase funding to states and
cities for homeland security?
e) Do you support the prohibition of torture or cruel, inhuman, or
degrading treatment or punishment of prisoners in U.S. custody?
No f) Do you support a policy of pre-emptive military strikes
against countries deemed to be a threat to U.S. national security?
g) Other or expanded principles
The United States should have defense posture like a porcupine. No body
messes with a procupine. George Washington laid out the proper foreign
policy in his Farewell address. Human nature has not changed, so the
principles remain the same. The US foreign policy should be Neutrality
and non aggression.
Social Security Issues
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding Social Security.
a) Allow workers to invest a portion of their payroll tax in private
accounts which they manage themselves.
b) Allow workers to invest a portion of their payroll tax in private
accounts managed by private firms contracted by the government.
c) Invest a portion of Social Security assets collectively in stocks
and bonds instead of United States Treasury securities.
d) Increase the payroll tax to better finance Social Security in its
current form.
e) Lower the annual cost-of-living increases.
f) Raise the retirement age for individual eligibility to receive
full Social Security benefits.
g) Other of expanded principles
Technology and Communication Issues
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding technology and
communication.
a) Collect taxes on commercial Internet transactions.
b) Continue the moratorium on Internet taxation.
c) Implement government regulation of Internet content.
d) Support government mandates to curtail violent and sexual content
on television.
e) Support strict penalties for Internet crimes (e.g. hacking,
identity theft, worms/viruses).
f) Support legislation to detail how personal information can be
collected and used on the Internet.
g) Regulating the Internet is not a responsibility of the federal
government.
h) Other or expanded principles
The greatest barrier to a retirement not marred by destitution on a
massive scale is to end inflation. Inflation systematically robs people
of their hard earned money and makes it impossible to save
The
resulting ever growing debt loads make the economy unstable, causing
periods of unemployment, also cutting into savings... Social Security is
like throwing people after their boat has been torpedoed by inflation.
The most important issue is fixing financial system so people can save
again
Giving social taxes to Wall Street is a prescription for
wholesale robbery of the working by the thieves who control the existing
unconstitutional financial system.
Welfare and Poverty Issues
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding welfare and
poverty.
a) Require welfare recipients to spend at least 40 hours a week in a
combination of work and training programs.
b) Increase funding for child care programs.
c) Continue to give states and local governments flexibility in and
responsibility for welfare programs through federal block grants.
d) Direct federal poverty aid through religious, community-based, or
other non-profit organizations.
X e) Abolish all federal welfare programs.
f) Support housing assistance for welfare recipients.
g) Other or expanded principles
Welfare is the ultimate trickle down economics. It justifies the much
larger funding of the war and police state machinery. The funding base
of the whole enterprise much be abolished. With little taxes, no
inflation lower prices, greater opportunity, and greater private
compassion and more money for private compassion and more time for
community involvement, the poor will be much better off. Otherwise the
poverty will continue to grow spread. No one likes to live on a minimal
handout when they can have a proud opportunity to succeed. Starve the
war machine along with the machine of pathetic perpetual dependence.
Legislative Priorities
On an attached page, disk, or via email, please explain in a total of 75
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.
No Answer
Philip Berg wrote:
Hi Phil,
Thank you for completing this enormous form. If you are interested,
here are a few "typos" that I see:
1. Under "Budgetary Spending" : "The United States foreign POLICY
(ADD POLICY). Place a comma after "Like Switzerland,"
2. I would remove the reference to Cole Porter; it will not be clear
the the average reader.
3. Under "Campaign Financing": "The only WAY (ADD WAY) to stop.
"Bankers, as those that have lent money to Enron...have so far been
from from PROSECUTION (SPELLING)
4. Under "Guns": "No peaceful avenues are AVAILABLE (SPELLING)
5. Under "Foreign Aid": "Governments do a lousy JOB (ADD JOB) with
aid." INTERNATIONAL (SPELLING) Red Cross.
6. Under "Social Security": "Social Security is like throwing people
A ROPE (DID YOU MEAN A ROPE?) after the boat has been torpedoed.
7. Under "Welfare": The funding base MUST (SPELLING) be abolished.
Hope this helps, Phil.
Marcy
Since what Phil copied into email earlier didn't contain his answers,
here it is from the web (Look to the left of each option for X or
Yes or
No or words like Eliminate or Slightly Decrease). There is
sometimes an
answer in paragraph form underneath the multiple choice options. There
are some questions that seem to still have no answers (such as taxes on
retirees):Abortion Issues
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding abortion.
a) Abortions should always be illegal.
X b) Abortions should always be legal.
c) Abortions should be legal only within the first trimester of
pregnancy.
d) Abortions should be legal when the pregnancy resulted from
incest
or rape.
e) Abortions should be legal when the life of the woman is
endangered.
f) Prohibit public funding of abortions and to organizations that
advocate or perform abortions.
g) Other or expanded principles
Abortions are a matter for State Government to decide under the
Constitution. It certinaly should not be a federal matter.Budgetary, Spending, and Tax Issues, Part 1: Budget Priorities
Using the key, indicate what federal funding levels you support for the
following general categories. Select one number per category, you can
use a number more than once.
Budget Priorities
Eliminate a) Agriculture
Eliminate b) Arts
Greatly Decrease c) Defense
Eliminate d) Education
Slightly Decrease e) Environment
Greatly Decrease f) Homeland security
Eliminate g) International aid
Greatly Decrease h) Law enforcement
Eliminate i) Medical research
Eliminate j) National parks
Slightly Decrease k) Public health services
Eliminate l) Scientific research
Eliminate m) Space exploration programs
Eliminate n) Transportation and highway infrastructure
Eliminate o) Welfare
Eliminate p) Emergency preparedness
q) Other or expanded categories
Budgetary, Spending, and Tax Issues, Part 2: Defense SpendingDefense Spending
Greatly Decrease a) Armed forces personnel training
Slightly Decrease b) Intelligence operations
Greatly Decrease c) Military hardware
Greatly Decrease d) Modernization of weaponry and equipment
Greatly Decrease e) National missile defense
Maintain Status f) Pay for active duty personnel
Eliminate g) Programs to improve troop retention rates
Eliminate h) Research and development of new weapons
Slightly Decrease i) Troop and equipment readiness
j) Other or expanded categories
Budgetary, Spending, and Tax Issues, Part 3: Taxes (A)Using the key above, indicate what federal tax levels you support for
the following general categories. Select one number per category.
Taxes
Income Taxes:
Family Income
Eliminate a) Less than $25,000
Eliminate b) $25,000-$75,000
Eliminate c) $75,000-$150,000
Eliminate d) Over $150,000
Eliminate e) Other or expanded categories
Retiree Income
f) Over $40,000
g) Other or expanded categories
Other Taxes:
Eliminate a) Alcohol taxes
Eliminate b) Capital gains taxes
Eliminate c) Cigarette taxes
Eliminate d) Corporate taxes
Eliminate e) Gasoline taxes
Eliminate f) Inheritance taxes
g) Other or expanded categories
Deductions/Credits:
a) Charitable contributions
b) Child tax credit
c) Earned income tax credit
d) Medical expense deduction
e) Mortgage deduction
f) Student loan credit
g) Other or expanded categories
Budgetary, Spending, and Taxes, Part 3: Taxes (B)4) Do you support the permanent repeal of the federal estate tax?
5) Do you support making President Bush's tax cuts permanent?
6) Discuss your proposals for balancing the federal budget. (75
words or
less. Please use an attached page if the space below is not adequate.)
The Federal Government has become a worldwide police state and is a
mortal danger to the citizens of the United States and the world. The
Constitution sets strict limits on the powers of the Congress and the
President. The Government should obey the Constitution. The United
States foreign should be non interventionist... Like Switzerland
defense
should be borne by arming large numbers of people domestically in well
regulated militias... The only other duty of the Government is to
regulate disputes over contract and property.... All other activities
should be accomplished by the States or the People.
7) Other or expanded principles
To Rodney King I say we all can get along. I will not espouse the
initiation of force for any political or social reason. A decent civil
society must be built on non violence and non coercion and as Cole
Porter said, it ain't nobody's business if I do.
Campaign Finance and Government Reform IssuesIndicate which principles you support (if any) regarding campaign
finance and government reform.
a) Support public taxpayer funding for federal candidates who
comply
with campaign spending limits.
X b) Increase the amount individuals are permitted to contribute to
federal campaigns.
c) Prohibit Political Action Committee (PAC) contributions to
candidates for federal office.
X d) Allow unregulated soft money campaign contributions to
political parties or committees.
X e) Remove all contribution limits on federal campaigns and
parties.
f) Require Section 527 organizations to register with the Federal
Election Commission as Political Action Committees.
Yes g) Do you support instant run-off voting?
No h) Should Election Day be a national holiday?
No i) Do you support a constitutional amendment that would define
marriage as a union between a man and woman?
j) Other or expanded principles
Campaign finance laws are like drug laws. You cannot stop a lust for
power. The laws always have the opposite effect. They scare away
competition to the entrenched existing power. The only to stop the
embrace of government and corporations is to reduce the size and scope
of government so that it doesn't have anything that corporations
want to
buy. Then corporations can get to work for their customers rather than
use the government to steal for them with the governments guns.
Crime IssuesIndicate which principles you support (if any) regarding crime.
a) Support the use of the death penalty for federal crimes.
X b) Eliminate the use of the death penalty for federal crimes.
X c) Support programs to provide prison inmates with educational,
vocational and job-related skills and job-placement assistance when
released.
X d) Support programs to provide prison inmates with drug and
alcohol addiction treatment.
X e) Reduce prison sentences for those who commit non-violent
crimes.
f) Require that crimes based on gender, sexual orientation, and
disability be prosecuted as federal hate crimes.
g) Impose stricter penalties for those convicted of corporate
crimes.
h) Minors accused of a violent crime should be prosecuted as adults.
i) Other or expanded principles
Bankers, such as those who lent Enron and WorldCom money and were in
the
middle of the scandal have so far been immune from prosectution. Go
after the crooks in the banks, the biggest and most dangerous criminals
in our society.
Drug IssuesIndicate which principles you support (if any) regarding drugs.
a) Support mandatory jail sentences for selling illegal drugs.
b) Expand federally sponsored drug education and drug treatment
programs.
X c) Decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana.
X d) Allow doctors to recommend marijuana to their patients for
medicinal purposes.
e) Increase border security to stop the flow of illegal drugs into
the United States.
X f) Eliminate federal funding for programs associated with the
"war
on drugs."
g) Support a federal law to standardize testing and penalties for
steroid use in professional sports.
h) Other or expanded principles
The constitution does not give Congress the power to ban or regulate
drugs. That is why prohibition was enacted as an amendment to the
Constitution. Prohibition was repealed. All regulation should be
accomplished by private labs such as Underwriters Labs which privately
regulates appliance manufacture to make the appliances are safe.
This is
the model for a private FDA. The drug war is ruining millions of lives,
endangering our children by sucking them into gangs. The drug war also
funds terrorist groups throughout the world and destabilizes
Afghanistan.
Education Issues
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding education.
a) Support national standards for and testing of public school
students.
X b) Allow parents to use vouchers, (equal opportunity
scholarships)
to send their children to any public school.
c) Allow parents to use vouchers, (equal opportunity scholarships)
to send their children to any private or religious school.
X d) Allow teachers and professionals to receive authorization and
funding to establish charter schools.
e) Reward teachers with merit pay for working in low-income schools.
f) Increase funding for school capital improvements (e.g.
buildings,
infrastructure, technology).
g) Support affirmative action in public college admissions.
h) Increase funding of programs such as Pell grants and Stafford
loans to help students pay for college.
i) Support federal tax incentives to help families save for college.
j) Other or expanded principles
If governments were dramatically downsized, wars ended, the savings Â
would be very large. Not only would paychecks be larger, but taxes
hidden in everything would be gone... [T]he hidden tax of inflation
must
be eliminated by forbidding the Federal Reserve from creating more
money. With minimal taxes, and ever lower prices, there would very few
poor people. Almost every poor or disabled person would know a
friend or
family member who could help them  and could pay for their own
children's education Communities could also help, as could voluntary
charitable non profits and school based scholarshipsÂ
Employment and Affirmative Action Issues1) Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding employment.
a) Increase funding for national job-training programs that
re-train
displaced workers or teach skills needed in today's job market.
X b) Reduce government regulation of the private sector in order to
encourage investment and economic expansion.
c) Provide tax credits or grants to businesses that offer child
care
services to employees.
d) Encourage employers to offer flex-time scheduling, comp-time,
and
unpaid leave for family emergencies.
X e) Eliminate all federal programs designed to reduce unemployment.
f) Increase the federal minimum wage.
g) Support the right of workers to strike without fear of being
permanently replaced.
h) Include sexual orientation in federal anti-discrimination laws.
i) Other or expanded principles
 Everything costs more because the Federal Reserve has created
mountains
of fresh green new money since the last time the minimum wage was
raised
and did that each time the minimum wage was raised Who stole all that
money? The Federal reserve is a counterfeiting operation that steals
from the working man and gives to the bankers and the people who can
borrow big bucks from the banks, especially the government, which uses
the stolen money to pay for war... Inflation starves the old and sick
who don't get their fixed incomes raisedÂ
2) Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding affirmative
action.
a) The federal government should consider race and gender in
government contracting decisions.
X b) The federal government should discontinue affirmative action
programs.
c) The federal government should continue affirmative action
programs.
d) Other or expanded principles
All people should be treated equally by the government. The government
should not be looking at your skin or what is in your pants. Or what
you
do in your bedroom.
Environment and Energy IssuesIndicate which principles you support (if any) regarding the
environment
and energy.
a) Strengthen the regulation and enforcement of the Clean Water Act.
b) Strengthen the regulation and enforcement of the Clean Air Act.
c) Support Clear Skies Act to reduce power plant emissions by
setting a national cap on pollutants.
d) Require states to compensate citizens when environmental
regulations limit uses of privately-owned land.
e) Relax logging restrictions on federal lands.
f) Relax standards on federal lands to allow increased recreational
usage.
g) Support increased development of traditional energy resources
(e.g. coal, natural gas, oil).
h) Strengthen emission controls and fuel efficiency standards on
all
gasoline and diesel-powered engines, including cars, trucks, and sport
utility vehicles.
i) Support opening a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
for oil exploration.
j) Encourage further development and use of alternative fuels to
reduce pollution.
k) Support the use of ethanol as an alternative fuel.
l) Allow energy producers to trade pollution credits.
m) Support the Kyoto Protocol to limit global warming.
n) Other or expanded principles
Polluters should be subject to strict liability. And the government
should offer no protection to polluters to be taken to court.
Wide-scale
diffuse pollution is a very difficult problem and a solution is readily
apparent from my principles. I am open to discussion of reasonable and
necessary regulation of diffuse pollution after all avenues of
cooperative encouragement of responsible behavior on the part of
polluters is exhausted.
Gun IssuesIndicate which principles you support (if any) regarding guns.
a) Reauthorize the ban on the sale or transfer of semi-automatic
guns, except those used for hunting.
b) Maintain and strengthen the current level of enforcement of
existing federal restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns.
X c) Ease federal restrictions on the purchase and possession of
guns.
X d) Repeal federal restrictions on the purchase and possession
of guns.
X e) Allow citizens to carry concealed guns.
f) Require background checks on gun sales between private citizens
at gun shows.
g) Require a license for gun possession.
h) Other or expanded principles
In the Federalist Papers Madison said "We will not allow the soil of
this continent to be red with the blood of it's citizens. In the last
century hundreds of millions of unarmed citizens in Europe, Africa, and
Asia were slaughtered by their governments. The Iraq insurgency
demonstrates the power of gun ownership in asymmetric warfare. Citizens
must be able to credibly balance the power of government should tyranny
arise and no peaceful avenues be avaliable. This is what the founders
intended. It helps keep the government and the military honest. If
drugs
were legalized almost all gun violence would end.
Health IssuesIndicate which principles you support (if any) regarding health care.
a) Providing health care is not a responsibility of the federal
government.
b) Implement a universal health care program to guarantee coverage
to all Americans regardless of income.
c) Expand eligibility for tax-free medical savings accounts.
d) Establish limits on the amount of punitive damages awarded in
medical malpractice lawsuits.
e) Support expanding prescription drug coverage under Medicare.
f) Offer tax credits to individuals and small businesses to offset
the cost of insurance coverage.
g) Support automatic enrollment of children in federal health care
programs such as CHIP and Medicaid.
h) Support stem cell research on existing lines of stem cells.
X i) Allow laboratories to create new lines of stem cells for
additional research.
j) Other or expanded principles
Before the government began to interfere with all aspects of
medicine it
was voluntary self regulating including a near universal perceived duty
of health care professionals and institutions to provide care for the
indigent The common law must be reformed to be like it was when it was
written into the Constitution and as it exists today in Britain.
Contingency fees should be outlawed and losers should pay for the other
side's legal fees . The present system is a system of systemic
extortion
for benefit of the trial who run the system when they are appointed to
judgeships. The out of control tort system is a primary driver of
excessive medical costs.
Immigration IssuesIndicate which principles you support (if any) regarding immigration.
a) Decrease the number of legal immigrants allowed into the country.
b) Establish English as the official national language.
c) Support a temporary worker program that would enable illegal
immigrants to work in the United States legally.
d) Relax restrictions barring legal immigrants from using
government
funded social programs (e.g. public housing, food stamps).
e) Support amnesty for illegal immigrants already working in the
United States.
f) Other or expanded principles
Before the welfare State was started the only requirement for coming to
this country was that you paid the fare on the boat. The government
funded welfare system has acted as an excuse to put in place the
funding
mechanism that pays for both the welfare state and the warfare state
and
police state. The only way to get rid of the warfare state and police
state is to get rid of all three by eliminating the ability of the
federal to fund anything but direct territorial defense and the
courts...
International Aid, International Policy, and Trade Issues, Part 1:
International AidInternational Aid
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding United States
economic assistance.
a) Aid should be granted to countries when extraordinary
circumstances cause disaster and threaten civilian lives.
b) Aid should be granted to countries when it is in the security
interests of the United States.
X c) Aid should be eliminated for any nation with documented human
rights abuses.
X d) International Aid programs should be scaled back and
eventually
eliminated.
e) Other or expanded principles
Governments do a lousy with aid. Private organizations such as the
Heffer project, or the Internatinal Red Cross should do the job. With a
greatly reduced tax and inflation burden on the people, much more
resources would be avaliable to give to these organizations.Private
corporations and insurance companies also play a role. WalMart was one
of the first organizations to logistically mount support for Katrina
victims on a voluntary basis.
International Aid, International Policy, and Trade Issues, Part 2:
International PolicyInternational Policy
1) Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding the
Middle East.
Undecided a) Should the United States continue to provide
leadership
in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process?
Undecided b) Should the United States support the creation of a
Palestinian state?
Yes c) Should the United States withdraw its troops from Iraq?
No d) Should the United States send more troops to Iraq?
e) Discuss your proposals for an exit strategy in Iraq. (75 words or
less. Please use an attached page if the space below is not adequate.)
Iraq is a perfect example of the law of unintended consequences and its
corollary the law of opposite effects. Every thing the US government
says about Iraq is the direct opposite of reality. So immediate
withdrawal is likely to be the best way to end the bloodshed there.
Clearly staying there keeps the anger flowing and the blood.
f) Other or expanded principles
2) Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding Central and
East Asia.
No a) Should the United States use diplomatic and economic pressure
to encourage North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program?
No b) Should the United States use military force to dismantle the
North Korean nuclear weapons program?
No c) Should the United States remove the North Korean government
from power?
No d) Should the United States increase financial support to
Afghanistan?
No e) Should the United States increase military support to
Afghanistan?
f) Other or expanded principles
If heroin was legalized, Afghanistan could quickly become a prosperous
market oriented country. US Aid to Afghanistan only fuels inflation
there and makes things more expensive for those who have earn a living
as opposed to the connected bootlickers The Founders advice remains
best today. No entangling alliances. Our Nuclear deterrence worked
against Stalin, Khrushchev and Mao, why not the modern day nut jobs
with
a lot less power. Why change a military strategy of deterrence that
worked flawlessly for over sixty years not only for the US but for
India, and for Israel.
3) Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding the United
Nations.
No a) Should the United States maintain its financial support of
the
United Nations?
Undecided b) Should the United States decrease its financial
support
of the United Nations?
c) Should the United States commit troops to United Nations
peacekeeping missions?
d) Other or expanded principles
Ted Turner donated over a billion dollars to the UN. Absent income
taxes
and inflation, US citizens should be welcomed to support the UN.
Perhaps
this could be a model for the UN to represent the citizens of the
world.
US citizens should be allowed to fight for the UN if they so choose and
Yes 4) Should the United States lift the travel ban to Cuba?
No 5) Should the United States increase its financial support to
Colombia to combat "the war on drugs?"
Yes 6) Should aid to African nations for AIDS prevention programs
fund distribution of contraceptives?
7) Should aid to African nations for AIDS prevention programs fund
abstinence education?
8) Other or expanded principles
International Aid, International Policy, and Trade Issues, Part 3:
International TradeInternational Trade
Indicate which principles you support (if any) regarding international
trade.
No 1) Do you support the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA)?
No 2) Do you support the Central American Free Trade Agreement
(CAFTA)?
No 3) Do you support the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
(GATT)?
No 4) Do you support continued U.S. membership in the World Trade
Organization (WTO)?
No 5) Should a nation's human rights record affect its normal trade
relations (most favored nation) status with the United States?
No 6) Do you support the trade embargo against Cuba?
No 7) Should trade agreements include provisions to address
environmental concerns and to protect workers' rights?
8) Other or expanded principles
Private organizations could develop labels to indicate if goods are
produced in a moral manner The government must enforce the copyrights
of these labeling private organizations. The biggest with trade is that
the world financial is government controlled by central banks that are
private organizations granted government monopolies. These entities
distort the natural rates of exchange rates for the benefits of the
bankers and the associated governments By overvaluing the dollar
and by
not allowing natural market forces to adjust the value of the dollar,
American labor has been robbed of hundreds of millions of jobsÂ
National Security IssuesIndicate which principles you support (if any) regarding national
security.
No a) Do you support using military tribunals to try suspected
terrorists when ordinary civilian courts are deemed inappropriate or
impractical?
No b) Should the United States grant law enforcement agencies
greater discretion to read mail and email, tap phones, and conduct
random searches to prevent future terrorist attacks?
Yes c) Should the United States hold foreign states accountable for
terrorists who operate in their country?
No d) Should the federal government increase funding to states and
cities for homeland security?
e) Do you support the prohibition of torture or cruel, inhuman, or
degrading treatment or punishment of prisoners in U.S. custody?
No f) Do you support a policy of pre-emptive military strikes
against countries deemed to be a threat to U.S. national security?
g) Other or expanded principles
The United States should have defense posture like a porcupine. No body
messes with a procupine. George Washington laid out the proper foreign
policy in his Farewell address. Human nature has not changed, so the
principles remain the same. The US foreign policy should be Neutrality
and non aggression.
Social Security IssuesIndicate which principles you support (if any) regarding Social
Security.
a) Allow workers to invest a portion of their payroll tax in
private
accounts which they manage themselves.
b) Allow workers to invest a portion of their payroll tax in
private
accounts managed by private firms contracted by the government.
c) Invest a portion of Social Security assets collectively in
stocks
and bonds instead of United States Treasury securities.
d) Increase the payroll tax to better finance Social Security in
its
current form.
e) Lower the annual cost-of-living increases.
f) Raise the retirement age for individual eligibility to receive
full Social Security benefits.
g) Other of expanded principles
Technology and Communication IssuesIndicate which principles you support (if any) regarding technology and
communication.
a) Collect taxes on commercial Internet transactions.
b) Continue the moratorium on Internet taxation.
c) Implement government regulation of Internet content.
d) Support government mandates to curtail violent and sexual
content
on television.
e) Support strict penalties for Internet crimes (e.g. hacking,
identity theft, worms/viruses).
f) Support legislation to detail how personal information can be
collected and used on the Internet.
g) Regulating the Internet is not a responsibility of the federal
government.
h) Other or expanded principles
The greatest barrier to a retirement not marred by destitution on a
massive scale is to end inflation. Inflation systematically robs people
of their hard earned money and makes it impossible to save The
resulting ever growing debt loads make the economy unstable, causing
periods of unemployment, also cutting into savings... Social
Security is
like throwing people after their boat has been torpedoed by inflation.
The most important issue is fixing financial system so people can save
again Giving social taxes to Wall Street is a prescription for
wholesale robbery of the working by the thieves who control the
existing
unconstitutional financial system.
Welfare and Poverty IssuesIndicate which principles you support (if any) regarding welfare and
poverty.
a) Require welfare recipients to spend at least 40 hours a week
in a
combination of work and training programs.
b) Increase funding for child care programs.
c) Continue to give states and local governments flexibility in and
responsibility for welfare programs through federal block grants.
d) Direct federal poverty aid through religious,
community-based, or
other non-profit organizations.
X e) Abolish all federal welfare programs.
f) Support housing assistance for welfare recipients.
g) Other or expanded principles
 Welfare is the ultimate trickle down economics. It justifies the
much
larger funding of the war and police state machinery. The funding base
of the whole enterprise much be abolished. With little taxes, no
inflation lower prices, greater opportunity, and greater private
compassion and more money for private compassion and more time for
community involvement, the poor will be much better off. Otherwise the
poverty will continue to grow spread. No one likes to live on a minimal
handout when they can have a proud opportunity to succeed. Starve the
war machine along with the machine of pathetic perpetual dependence.
Legislative PrioritiesOn an attached page, disk, or via email, please explain in a total
of 75
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.
No AnswerPhilip Berg wrote:
> It was difficult but i took all day and got done. I hope you all
like
> the results If someone wants to edit the spelling errors, I will
> provide the login info. And suggestions are welcome. This is a very
> difficult, one wants to be principled and yet engage the voters. I
> chose the language greatly reduced over eliminate, as with my
training
These are my answers from the last election. Wow, they seem a lot better than what I wrote yesterday.
A couple of proofing issues:
The Government should obey the Constitution. The United
States foreign POLICY should be a non interventionist... insert
POLICY.
A couple of questions unanswered
4) Do you support the permanent repeal of the federal estate tax?
5) Do you support making President Bush's tax cuts permanent?
Good job Phil....excellent!