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Blue are Republicans. Red are Democrats. Black are other parties and independents.
Abortion |
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| Chris Cagle | "I support it only in cases of rape, incest, and if the mother is in danger." |
| Adam Graham | "Abortion ought to be illegal except to save the life of the mother. However as there is disagreement on whether abortion should be legal in the case of rape an incest among pro-lifers, I would support a Constitutional Amendment that banned abortion after the first trimester except to save the life of the mother, and in the first trimester except in the cases of rape, incest, and the life of the mother, and gives the states the right to outlaw abortion in the first trimester in the cases of rape and incest. The reason I believe this is not out of some sense of women hating, rather I believe that all human beings have a right to life, that is given to them by God. And a mother, the president, or the supreme court have no right to rob them of that right." |
| Ethan Jones | "The government has no right to deny a woman the right to choose. It is the government's responsibility to guarantee health care to all its citizens, and abortion/adoption counseling should be included in that guarantee." |
| Jason Koepke | Position unknown. |
| Michael Martin | "It is every single woman's God-given right to decide whether or not she wants to have an abortion." |
| Bruce McDonald | "The subject of abortion is a very touchy for most people, myself included. I am not prepared to make the decision on when life begins, rather at conception or at birth, though I do believe that there is sufficient proof to say that life begins at conception.. I do believe that murder is both legally and morally wrong, and I do believe that there is a point at which an abortion is done when the child is alive, therefore by performing such an abortion we would be murdering the child. My stance on abortion is based on this idea that if we prohibit abortion it will not stop, however continue underground causing conditions to be worsened and the safety levels to drop dramatically. Am I ready to trade one life for another? No and because of this I cannot outlaw abortion, rather I believe we should instate an abortion education campaign to inform the public of the safety concerns and other options to abortion." |
| Sean McElroy | "I believe in the right for a woman to choose for herself how she will handle her pregnancy, in most instances. I believe the logical choices for abortion are cases of incest, imminent danger to the mother, and rape. I oppose any abortion past the second trimester of a pregnancy. I oppose any partial birth abortions. I oppose using any taxpayer money to support abortions. I would consider it very important to have a balanced staff of Supreme Court justices on the issue." |
| Chris McKee | "Personally I believe that abortion is wrong. Although, I do not believe that abortion should be totally abolished, merely restricted in use." |
| Brian Quarforth | "Although I believe a woman should have the right to choose if she going to keep an unwanted pregnancy. I don't believe it should be used as birth control. I think that a waiting period is a good idea." |
| Kate Timmons | "A question that people frequently ask me is my stance on abortion. The only way that I can ethically answer them is with a firm 'NO.' I believe that abortion is as wrong as it is to murder a person. I know that this is my own personal belief. I know that I said in the past that it should be a punishable murder, but I have come to realize that while it may be my belief, it is an unrealistic one for the country. I feel that there are bigger things that this country needs taken care first, for example illegal drugs, crime, and education. Through education, I hope that we can inform future generations that there are ways other than abortion. I want to try to make abortion unnecessary." |
| Jesus Tirado | Position unknown. |
| Joe Weber | Position unknown. |
Affirmative Action |
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| Chris Cagle | Position unknown. |
| Adam Graham | "I believe all preferences, quotas, and set-asides for Minorities should be eliminated by 2004, and for women by 2005. A generation of Affirmative Action is enough. Most past injustices have been corrected significantly, but the continued use of affirmative action creates racial strife, and dissention. As we move to the twenty-first century we need to begin to stop looking at each other as Black and White, but as friend, brother (or sister), and American." |
| Ethan Jones | "Society as a whole should move toward color-blindness. Until such a time as that is feasible, however, measures should be in place that help make up for discriminatory practices, based on race, gender, sexual orientation, or any other factor that unfairly lessens opportunity for one group over another." |
| Jason Koepke | Position unknown. |
| Michael Martin | "Only when sexual, racial and religious discrimination--discrimination of any kind--have been eliminated can we even think of ending this program." |
| Bruce McDonald | Position unknown. |
| Sean McElroy | "I oppose affirmative action. I believe everyone should and can compete equally for opportunity, regardless of race or sex, without special provisions made to reserve jobs and opportunities for minorities. Affirmative action, in my own view, is a new form of racism that precludes employment on basis of merit." |
| Chris McKee | "I believe that affirmative action is wrong. It's discriminating against the white male to make up for past indiscretions. Do two wrongs make a right?" |
| Brian Quarforth | Position unknown. |
| Kate Timmons | Position unknown. |
| Jesus Tirado | Position unknown. |
| Joe Weber | Position unknown. |
Education |
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| Chris Cagle | Position unknown. |
| Adam Graham | "I believe that parents ought to be able to choose which type of school they send their kids to (Private, Public, Parochial, or Home School). This will create competition, give kids and parents more choices, and force the public schools to become better. But I also believe that education is not an issue that the federal government should be greatly involved in. Leave it to the school boards, except when guidelines are need to protects kids' and parents' freedoms." |
| Ethan Jones | "Public education should be free through college. We should hire more teachers to reduce class size, increase teacher salaries, and increase funding particularly for struggling inner city schools. We should encourage arts education, mentoring and tutoring programs, and require student representation on school boards. We should not sacrifice our public schools to the constitutionally questionable experiment of voucher programs." |
| Jason Koepke | Position unknown. |
| Michael Martin | "It is only fair to United States citizens for them to be assured they are all getting a quality education, no matter where they live." |
| Bruce McDonald | "The problem with our education is not computers or the internet. Where was the internet when the Wright Brothers flew their first plane or when Isaac Newton discovered the existence of gravity? We must find the problem at its core and solve it from there rather than trying to place the blame on someone or something else. Our problem exists in teachers. Teachers are under paid and over worked. Inflation alone makes the hardships of a teachers life that much harder forcing many of them to flee to better paying jobs in the private sector. We do not only need to pay our teachers decently, we also need only the best. Our teachers need more and better training then what they are receiving. Our society is so diverse that teachers need to be prepared for all potential problems. Our schools need to become effective learning grounds. No weapons and no drug rules should be enforced. Another incident like that shooting in Colorado should never happen again. Only when these conditions are met will we see improvement in our nations education levels, and only then will such resources as the internet and computers become usual." |
| Sean McElroy | "I believe there is a serious funding problem with the American education system. I oppose the current property tax system which unfairly and inequitably restricts funding from getting to schools in serious need of help. I support voucher programs that do not include private institutions. I oppose spending any federal funds on programs at private education institutions. I think that we should not fund facilities that our children cannot freely enjoy, and use that revenue to enhance our own public education system. The government should not subsidize selective educational institutions which may preclude taxpayers from utilizing their services." |
| Chris McKee | " I believe that our educational system is not failing, it's not horrible, and it's not the lowest of the world's schooling systems as many may have us believe. There are problems, yes, but there are also many advantages in our system. I think that the place to start is not by acting hastily but by observing what's going on. You can't fix a problem if you don't know what's wrong. I think that a good way to start this is by testing teachers on the material they teach. They can't teach something that they don't know themselves. Also, I think we need to reward our teachers more. This is a thankless job, and these public servants have nothing less than my utmost respect. Yet this job is not well-paying in the grand scheme of things. Learning from my college experience, I believe that student evaluations of the teachers would be another way to evaluate a teacher's performance in secondary schools. While many of these should be taken with a grain of salt, the trends will prove effective in determining a teacher's ability to teach or willingness to help students in need. There is no way to make kids want to learn and no way to make parents involved. We must make sure that what we can control, the effectiveness of their education while physically in public schools, is functioning at its highest potential." |
| Brian Quarforth | Position unknown. |
| Kate Timmons | Position unknown. |
| Jesus Tirado | "The future of this planet are the children. They will inherit the thrones and the seats of the government and beyond. So we should give them the best education possible in order to govern over the consented wisely and efficiently. We owe it to them and to our future." |
| Joe Weber | Position unknown. |
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Gun Control |
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| Chris Cagle | Position unknown. |
| Adam Graham | "Gun Control violates the second amendment. I believe that all other freedoms are protected by the Second Amendment, from 1) the force of external invasion, 2) the force of an internal tyrant who might establish himself as a dictator and declare Martial law in time of peace. If the people do not have firearms, our nation could become a despotism under a president who has guaranteed himself a life tenure. If the government takes away people's guns, or wants to know where the guns are, you can bet tyranny is on the way. Hitler did take away the right to bear arms, just before the Holocaust began. I believe that the assault weapon ban should be repealed, and that the five-day waiting period for a hand gun purchase be cut down to one day with an instant background check." |
| Ethan Jones | "In a society plagued with gun violence, we have to question the actual relevance of the 2nd Amendment. Why do hunters need assault rifles? Why do homeowners need a semi-automatic Uzi to defend themselves? We should question this extreme self-defense mentality and move toward more peaceful conflict resolutions. My hope is to eventually get to a point where the 2nd Amendment is no longer necessary." |
| Jason Koepke | Position unknown. |
| Michael Martin | "Guns (in the hands of the wrong people) are dangerous; there are too many of them out there as it is, so a bit of control will do a hell of a lot of good." |
| Bruce McDonald | "There is a saying, "If we outlaw guns, the only people carrying them will be the outlaws." I believe that the Constitution did give the right to bear arms, however I believe we must look at this in context of the time. The Constitution was written in a time when much of the United States was wilderness. Guns were needed for hunting and protection from wild animals and thieves. I believe in the right to hunt, however I believe that we should tighten the gun control laws, not allowing handguns to be kept within city limits except by law enforcement officers. Although this may seem harsh, I challenge gun owners. When teachers and students are afraid to go to school because other students might be carrying guns, what is to happen to these students should their gun carrying school mates become upset with the teacher or them? What happens to innocent little children who are gunned down in a drive-by shooting? Or what happens to a child that finds a handgun in her father's drawer and accidentally shoots her baby sister? You can tell me you have the right to carry a gun, and maybe you do. But we lost that right when we lost the responsibility that comes with the ownership. Nobody should ever be afraid to go to school and nobody should have to die because of someone else's doings." |
| Sean McElroy | "I support the right to bear arms on private property. I oppose the right to carry concealed weaponry in public places. I support the Brady Bill and other background checks and waiting periods for those looking to purchase handguns. I oppose federal gun licensing programs, as there is no evidence that they would significantly affect the current problem with violence." |
| Chris McKee | " It's a proven fact that counties where law-abiding citizens are allowed to carry weapons have lower crime rates than counties that restrict weapons harshly. Why argue with facts?" |
| Brian Quarforth | Position unknown. |
| Kate Timmons | Position unknown. |
| Jesus Tirado | Position unknown. |
| Joe Weber | " I do not belong to the NRA, but I do feel that it is not guns that kill people, it is people with guns who kill people. It is difficult to imagine a free nation that does not allow its citizens to defend themselves, and the elimination of guns from our society would only increase stabbings and bring back the bow and arrow. I strongly agree with any type of gun control that allows good, safe, law abiding citizens to purchase, and use firearms. I personally enjoy trapshooting, hate hunting, and cannot stand irresponsible people with weapons, so you can see that I am split on the issue. Background checks? Sure. Trigger locks? Oh for god sakes most definitely. Safety devices and background checks should be used to prevent injuries and the sales of weapons to the wrong people." |
Taxes |
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| Chris Cagle | Position unknown. |
| Adam Graham | "I believe the Sixteenth Amendment should be repealed, and income taxes and property taxes eliminated, and replaced by a sales tax, and a reciprocal tariff on all imported goods (meaning whatever tariff). Exceptions can easily made for the poor by excluding people or certain items from the tax. Also a good amount of money will be saved by the average consumer as 50% of the price of goods at market is from hidden government taxes that will be eliminated under my proposal." |
| Ethan Jones | "Establish a living wage indexed to inflation, and a maximum income of ten times the living wage. All income exceeding that maximum would be taxed at 100% and used to fund social services." |
| Jason Koepke | "Down with taxes and up with tariffs." |
| Michael Martin | Position unknown. |
| Bruce McDonald | Position unknown. |
| Sean McElroy | "I support a sliding tax scale to be easiest on the poor and hardest on the rich. I support more stringent regulation of tax deductible contributions. I support a higher federal sales tax to remove smaller taxes (i.e. travel tax). I support putting tariffs on goods from countries who tariff US exports at the same rate to discourage trade deficits. I support tax credits for home-schooling families, families with disabled members, and families who have an elderly parent at home. I support tax credits for parents of children entering college. I support tax penalties for parents whose children drop out of high school before graduation." |
| Chris McKee | "Taxation has become rampant in the U.S. Taxing Americans on everything from their hard-earned pay to gasoline is taking its toll on our nerves. I think a very small national sales tax would help by taking the burden off income tax and estate tax. This can lead to problems, so the national sales tax must remain small and controlled by someone who doesn't balance the national budget (Example: Alan Greenspan)." |
| Brian Quarforth | " Tax issues are very tricky. People want to fix the problem, but they don't want to pay more taxes. The fact of the matter is, we as a nation are going to have to make sacrifices now to solve the problem in the long run!" |
| Kate Timmons | Position unknown. |
| Jesus Tirado | Position unknown. |
| Joe Weber | "This might seem like a small detail but I feel that it is necessary to observe what the current government is doing to the people who are feeding the nation. Currently, every day in the United States, we loose more then 100 family-owned farms due to bankruptcy. A large factor that contributes to this is the federal tax thrown onto families who inherit a farm from a relative who has died. Sometimes the tax is just too much to handle. The tax, combined with the huge markups by middlemen are driving the farmer out of business. Selling prices for some farmers haven't been as low as they are today since the Depression. The companies who buy the products of farmers and then in turn who sell them to other companies who market the product and sell to the consumer, have agreed to only buy what the farmer has to sell at outrageously low prices. As a strong believer in capitalism, I feel that government involvement in this matter should only occur if it can be proven that the middlemen have created an inescapable monopoly over the farmers, but the least we can do is stop charging the family farmer for inheriting the land his father, mother, or grandparents worked. We owe it to them." |