From: owner-roc-digest@lists.xmission.com (roc-digest) To: roc-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: roc-digest V2 #311 Reply-To: roc-digest Sender: owner-roc-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-roc-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk roc-digest Saturday, January 22 2000 Volume 02 : Number 311 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 20 Jan 00 20:51:35 PST From: roc@xpresso.seaslug.org (Bill Vance) Subject: Fwd: Special Report -- 1/5/2000 -- Outgunned: How the Network News Media Are Spinning the Gun Control Debate (fwd) On Jan 20, David Hannon wrote: [-------------------- text of forwarded message follows --------------------] >Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 10:25:58 -0500 >From: Charles Guatney > >Subject: Special Report -- 1/5/2000 -- Outgunned: How the Network >News Media Are > Spinning the Gun Control Debate > >You have heard about the study documenting media bias. Well, here it is, >with all the graphs. This is worth a special place in the Media Hall of >Shame. Even though it is a special study, few of the literate amongst us >will be able to share the information with today's liberal/leftist >citizens who serve their masters/mistresses as unthinking drones, hewing >to the 'government knows best' line. > >http://www.mediaresearch.org/specialreports/news/sr20000105b.html [------------------------- end of forwarded message ------------------------] - -- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- RKBA! ***** Blessings On Thee, Oh Israel! ***** RKBA! - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- An _EFFECTIVE_ | Insured | All matter is vibration. | Let he who hath no weapon in every | by COLT; | -- Max Plank | weapon sell his hand = Freedom | DIAL | In the beginning was the | garment and buy a on every side! | 1911-A1. | word. -- The Bible | sword.--Jesus Christ - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- - - ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jan 00 22:22:29 PST From: roc@xpresso.seaslug.org (Bill Vance) Subject: [slickplus] VIN: Jan. 20 column -- rich get richer (fwd) On Jan 20, RichSlick@aol.com wrote: [-------------------- text of forwarded message follows --------------------] FROM MOUNTAIN MEDIA FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATED JAN. 20, 2000 THE LIBERTARIAN, By Vin Suprynowicz The rich get richer, the poor ... pay Social Security tax It came as no great surprise when two Washington think tanks -- the Economic Policy Institute and the Center on Budget and Priorities-- reported this week that the gap between America's haves and have-nots has expanded in the past decade, with the earnings of the poorest fifth creeping up only 1 percent, while fat-cat income has jumped 15 percent. "The benefits of this booming economy are not being evenly distributed," explained Jared Bernstein, economist at the Economic Policy Institute. The main questions should be: Is this evil, and should government do anything about it? In fact, even the report's authors concede: "In the last few years, persistent low unemployment and increases in the minimum wage have fueled wage gains at the bottom. As a result, there has been a lessening of wage inequality between the bottom and the top, although the gap between middle- and high-wage workers continues to grow." Nonetheless, the redistributionists predictably intone in this report that "As the administration and financing of government programs continue to be shifted from the federal to the state level, state policy-makers must be prepared to shoulder additional responsibilities for pushing back against growing income inequality." What the states should do, according to the analysts, is continue to raise the minimum wage; "implement a wide range of supports for low-income working families"; and, of course "reform regressive state tax systems" -- raise taxes on the rich. There are a few problems with this prescription. First, the poor are not worse off in America than they have been. America's "poor" would be considered wealthy anywhere else in the world. The statistics used in these studies don't even count non-cash government benefits to the "poor," like Food Stamps or Medicaid. The Cato Institute reports America's poor people manage to spend a dollar and a half for every dollar these government statistics claim they have. More importantly: If sharecroppers in the 1920s saw their incomes tripled when they moved to Detroit and went to work building cars for Henry Ford, but Mr. Ford's own personal income jumped by a factor of 100 in the same decade, who did that hurt? Would anyone (other than the bureaucrats) have been better off had government stepped in immediately with punitive taxes to impoverish the Ford family -- even if the result had been cutbacks and layoffs at the factories? Third, many "rich" families were actually in the "poorest fifth" a few decades ago. Then struggling college kids, they are now two-income couples at the top of their income potential -- doctors, lawyers, executives and airline pilots. Is it really right to try and "redistribute" their wealth to the young, the indolent, or those who decided to drop out of school to bear illegitimate children, at just the time in their lives when these high wage earners are finally educating the children they waited for, and trying to invest for their own retirements? Finally, there's the question of whether policies advanced by outfits like the Economic Policy Institute and the Center on Budget and Priorities have actually contributed to this perceived "problem." "I find there's a great deal of irony here," explains Michael Tanner of the Cato Institute. "It's true that wealth is moving into fewer and fewer hands. We are in a society where about one fifth of the society holds about half of all the wealth. But these two groups (that issued the report) are the most active in fighting the remedy ... which is primarily Social Security privatization. "The real reason for the wealth gap is that the wealthy can invest, and the poor can't," Mr. Tanner explains. The poor are "left with 12 and a half percent going into the Social Security program, which has a negative return and leaves them nothing to invest anywhere that will generate real wealth." Martin Feldstein at Harvard has estimated privatizing Social Security would cut the "wealth gap" about in half, Mr. Tanner reports. "We still have one of the most mobile societies in terms as moving from rich and poor, and vice versa. In 10 years, 14 percent of the poor will still be poor, and 14 percent will be rich. It's just that wages are becoming progressively less important; we have to create opportunities to invest," Mr. Tanner concludes. Which means freeing the poor from the Social Security Ponzi scheme -- often the single biggest tax they pay. As mundane as it may sound, incomes are still generally a factor of job skills and early life decisions. The best way to become financially secure in life is to complete one's education, get a job, and marry before having children. If state governments instead follow these analysts' advice and intervene with ever more redistributionist tax schemes -- removing both the incentives for those who work hard, and the real-world disincentives and penalties for those who indulge dead-end behaviors -- who do we really think that's going to help? Vin Suprynowicz is assistant editorial page editor of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. His new book, "Send in the Waco Killers: Essays on the Freedom Movement, 1993-1998," is available by dialing 1-800-244-2224. *** Vin Suprynowicz, vin@lvrj.com "The evils of tyranny are rarely seen but by him who resists it." -- John Hay, 1872 "The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed -- and thus clamorous to be led to safety -- by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." -- H.L. Mencken * * * - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - - To subscribe, send a message to vinsends-request@ezlink.com, from your NEW address, including the word "subscribe" (with no quotation marks) in the "Subject" line. All I ask of electronic subscribers is that they not RE-forward my columns until on or after the embargo date which appears at the top of each, and that (should they then choose to do so) they copy the columns in their entirety, preserving the original attribution. The Vinsends list is maintained by Alan Wendt in Colorado, who may be reached directly at alan@ezlink.com. The web sites for the Suprynowicz column are at http://www.infomagic.com/liberty/vinyard.htm, and http://www.nguworld.com/vindex. The Vinyard is maintained by Michael Voth in Flagstaff, who may be reached directly at mvoth@infomagic.com. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ To subscribe to the Slick e-zine, send e-mail to RichSlick@aol.com for details. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Looking for the lowest mortgage rate? Whether you re buying, refinancing or consolidating debt GetSmart.com can help. We ll help you find the loan you need quick, and FREE click here: http://click.egroups.com/1/658/4/_/4501/_/948424795/ - -- 20 megs of disk space in your group's Document Vault - -- http://www.egroups.com/docvault/slickplus/?m=1 [------------------------- end of forwarded message ------------------------] - -- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- RKBA! ***** Blessings On Thee, Oh Israel! ***** RKBA! - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- An _EFFECTIVE_ | Insured | All matter is vibration. | Let he who hath no weapon in every | by COLT; | -- Max Plank | weapon sell his hand = Freedom | DIAL | In the beginning was the | garment and buy a on every side! | 1911-A1. | word. -- The Bible | sword.--Jesus Christ - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- - - ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Jan 00 12:17:52 PST From: roc@xpresso.seaslug.org (Bill Vance) Subject: TAKE BACK YOUR COUNTRY - RUNNING CAMPAIGNS (fwd) On Jan 21, Weldon Clark wrote: [-------------------- text of forwarded message follows --------------------] TAKE BACK YOUR COUNTRY - RUNNING CAMPAIGNS In order to regain your rights and keep your guns from government theft it is necessary to control politicians. Elections are politician control. THE BASIC POLITICAL PRINCIPLE In order to achieve legislative results it is necessary to achieve political results. Regarding either elections or passing legislation, if you do not have the votes you will lose. Influencing politicians to vote your way is achieved by the application of political power. Political power is the ability to influence the outcome of an election ONLY. No politicians can be "controlled" once in office. They can only be controlled by elections. Again-- elections are politician control! GENERAL RULES CONCERNING INCUMBENTS AND CANDIDATES 1. If an incumbent votes with you, you support him. His opponent may promise more than the incumbent, but the opponent may be lying. If you do not support a politician who votes your way, he will have no reason to stick with you and neither will the rest of the incumbents. 2. If an incumbent votes against you, you oppose him. If you do not, he will receive no meaningful negative feedback for his bad vote. It does not matter that his opponent may turn out to be worse. 3. In open seats look for the good and the bad in the candidates for that seat. The NRA questionnaire is useful and it puts the candidate on notice regarding our issues. However, politicians lie. The most accurate record of what a politician will do is to check what he has done in the past in another political office he has held. 4. Primary elections require fewer votes to win, and therefore each vote has a greater impact than in the general election. This is an excellent point to weed out the bad candidate. REQUIREMENTS FOR WINNING THE CAMPAIGN CANDIDATE You cannot beat something with nothing. If you wish to replace an incumbent he must have a strong opponent who is willing to spend the money to communicate (usually by mail) to all voters. TIME - Each step in the political process has a deadline. Everything you do in a campaign must be done before the election and on schedule. If there is one ILA failing, it is timely, accurate two-way communications between staff and local KNOWLEDGEABLE activists. The problem is finding good, knowledgeable activists and maintaining timely two- way communication. For a typical state legislative race approximately 4 months MONEY - You must have the money to spend on your communications to voter. This is usually equal to number of households times postage plus printing. PEOPLE - You need people to do everything that needs doing in a campaign. These people will also be a visible demonstration that your campaign has the support of the people in the voting district. The NRA Grass Roots program is a way to find the necessary people. RULES FOR RUNNING THE CAMPAIGN ISSUES - In a campaign, in order to win your must use ANY and ALL issue against your opponent NEGATIVE CAMPAIGNS - Negative campaigns work. However, the negative charges must be made by a credible OUTSIDE person or group--NOT the candidate you wish to win, NOR his party. This works best if the OUTSIDE person or group is local to the area and well-known. We hope YOU can be this person. All politics is local. LIES MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO STAND - Each lie or false charge in a campaign must be answered promptly and answered directly to the voters in the district. COMMUNICATIONS - Communications such as mailings only work if they arrive in a timely fashion. There are three reasons to make them: (1) To spread the word about events and proposals that the media will not broadcast. (2) To raise money. (3) To increase membership in you're voting bloc or interest group (such as the NRA). The persons you are mailing to must be the ones who will vote your way with the information you give them. You must get a list of such persons. The list of voters is one place to start. However these are all kinds of people including anti-gun people. You can use list of "customers" of your favorite place to shop for the thinks you like if the owner will trust you. RULES Some states have run-off elections and some do not. If it is a primary contest, many fewer votes are needed to win. SOMETHING TO REMEMBER At any time, about 66% of the people are of voting age. Of these, 50% to 60% will vote in a general election. This means that if the vote is split fifty/fifty between two candidates, each candidate receives at most about 19% of the available votes. Therefore, motivating only a few percentage points of the voters on any issue can change the outcome. FIRST CAMPAIGN EXAMPLE This is a campaign in which I was involved. In this case we had a member of the state house of representatives who was introducing bad gun bills and pushing them every legislative session. Right after the legislative session was over; I got one other person to form a political committee with me. We filed with the state board of elections. Here was our situation: Time -- We had 4 months to organize. Money -- We decided to split the cost of 3000 post cards and printing between us. In a larger campaign you must ask your friends and fellow club members for the money to operate the campaign. Do this by mail, and call and visit those who can give a little more. People -- We used approximately 9 volunteers to clear an old mailing list. We gathered the names and addresses of firearms owners from THOSE WHO HAD THEM. I worked each gun club giving each secretary enough cards to cover all club members in the zip codes of the politician we were trying to defeat. They would not give us the list but were glad to mail the cards. Negative Campaign--We ran a negative campaign on the gun issue. Communications -- We wrote up in 250 words the politician's bill and what it would do to gun owners. We used his voting record and the bills he introduced and almost got passed. It was a difficult job coming up with those 250 words. We stressed that violating his proposed law would have subjected gun owners to a $1000 fine a year in prison and loss of the right to ever again own firearms. Post cards have the following advantages: they are first class mail, they do not have to be opened, and since people get so few of them they read them. Rules -- The campaign was in a Democratic primary in a liberal Jewish district. There were 11 candidates. The top 3 candidates got the Democratic nomination. All three incumbents were running, including the politician we wished to defeat. Results -- We mailed the postcards a week and a half before the election. There were 11000 votes cast. The politician we were trying to defeat was number FOUR in the voting by 333 votes. He lost. We won. SECOND CAMPAIGN EXAMPLE This campaign was in the rural South. In this district the incumbent was strongly pro- gun, but he had won by only 77 votes in a special election. In the voting district there existed a small pro-gun, conservative newspaper. The largest newspaper was typical media garbage. In this election we decided to latch onto the small paper's credibility. We got a group of volunteers to contribute money to the paper so it could afford a special edition. In the mean time we had a volunteer use his computer to strip out all black voters since they usually vote Democrat. (If I had found black voters who would have voted for us I would have communicated with them.) Our opponent was a trial lawyer, so we had the computer volunteer strip out all lawyers. Finally, we stripped out all known friends of the opponent. Then we had our computer volunteer print out male heads of households on labels. If the head of household was a woman she got the mailing. The special edition of the paper contained a very good article on our candidate, a damaging article on the opponent, and an article by me on what our candidate had done for gun owners. We also posted signs for our progun candidate at a gun show the weekend before the election. I posted one on every wall and pole facing the people at the gun show. I also posted them in the men's room on the door of each stall and over every urinal. Our candidate won by 150 votes per precinct, with a final tally of 60% of the vote. THIRD CAMPAIGN EXAMPLE This campaign, which I was not involved, was used against the infamous anti-gun politician Roberti in California. The progun activists used a novel technique. They mailed to gun club members and progun people, asking them for money and for mailing volunteers. The volunteers were given a prepared information sheet and pre-printed labels addressed to the voters in the politician's district, and were asked to send copies of the information sheet to these voters. The activists found that they could get much greater results with the volunteer mailers than they ever could by asking for money and doing the mailings themselves. As well, the volunteers enjoyed it and this campaign technique, repeated many times, brought down the most powerful man in the California state senate. This was part 5 of a 5 parts series. ConfiscationDefense_1.doc Go On the offensive 10_CAO_2.doc 12_EffectiveLobbying_3.doc Unregistering your gun 17_AdviceonStayingFree_4.doc Running Political Campaigns 19_WinningCampaign_5.doc >From The 2ndAmendmentNews Team If you received this as a forward and wish to join please send: E-MAil to listserver@frostbit.com with the following text in the message body: SUBSCRIBE 2nd-Amendment-News We have had a computer error. If you want to be removed send a message to the list administrator, send E-mail to luz.clark@prodigy.net If you know anyone who would appreciate these alerts, please let us know and we'll enroll them on a trial basis. Also, feel free to forward our alerts. [------------------------- end of forwarded message ------------------------] - -- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- RKBA! ***** Blessings On Thee, Oh Israel! ***** RKBA! - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- An _EFFECTIVE_ | Insured | All matter is vibration. | Let he who hath no weapon in every | by COLT; | -- Max Plank | weapon sell his hand = Freedom | DIAL | In the beginning was the | garment and buy a on every side! | 1911-A1. | word. -- The Bible | sword.--Jesus Christ - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- - - ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 22 Jan 00 14:43:50 PST From: roc@xpresso.seaslug.org (Bill Vance) Subject: Fwd: Presidential Candidates' Platforms (1/2) (fwd) On Jan 22, ASSETNJ@AOL.COM wrote: [-------------------- text of forwarded message follows --------------------] Note how the "snapshot" shapes the debate...NO mention of the lives saved by lawful self defense << GUN CONTROL: Snapshot: The United States had 32,436 firearm deaths in 1997. Homicides are the second leading cause of gun deaths, behind suicide. Homicide handgun deaths fell to a 9-year low of 9,796 in 1997. Bauer: Enforce existing laws. Bradley: Supports mandatory licenses for handgun buyers and registration for their guns, as well as ban on ``Saturday night specials.'' Would raise license fees on dealers to reduce their number. Buchanan: ``No compromise'' on gun rights. Deny convicted felons right to own firearms. Bush: Enforce existing laws. Raise age for handgun purchases to 21. Supports instant background checks at gun shows, opposes universal gun registration. Signed laws in Texas permitting carrying of concealed weapons and protecting gun makers from lawsuits from cities. Forbes: Enforce existing laws and have states, not Washington, set firearm standards. Gore: Supports mandatory photo ID licenses for handgun buyers. Would require manufacturers and federally licensed sellers to report gun sales to a state authority to help trace the owner when gun is used in crime. Supports banning ``Saturday night specials.'' In 1999, cast tie-breaking Senate vote to expand background checks to gun shows and require safety devices, but measure did not become law Hatch: Enforce existing laws. Extend background checks to gun shows and expand them to look for history of mental problems. Cosponsored bill to toughen gun-show restrictions and deny juveniles convicted of felonies the right to gun ownership for life. Require child-safety locks. Keyes: Right to gun ownership is essential to duty of citizens to ``resist and overthrow the power responsible'' if their rights are being ``systematically violated.'' Repeal federal gun restrictions for law-abiding citizens. McCain: Favors instant criminal background checks on all gun purchases. Opposes waiting periods. Opposed ban on assault-type weapons. Mandatory child-safety locks. >> - --part1_ab.441093.25bb40a7_boundary Content-Type: message/rfc822 Content-Disposition: inline Return-path: AOLNews@aol.com From: AOLNews@aol.com Full-name: AOL News Message-ID: <4c.b928b7.25bb3c77@aol.com> Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2000 12:01:43 EST Subject: Presidential Candidates' Platforms MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Unknown (No Version) To: undisclosed-recipients:; Presidential Candidates' Platforms .c The Associated Press By CALVIN WOODWARD WASHINGTON (AP) - Campaign platforms sketched in faint outline months ago have color, shading and even some bold strokes now. A new day can always bring a new promise from the presidential candidates and some gaps remain in major policy areas. But in large measure, the candidates have weighed in on the issues that motivate them now, and even some that do not. Here, on a variety of issues, are positions of Democrats Bill Bradley and Al Gore, Reform Party contender Pat Buchanan and Republicans Gary Bauer, George W. Bush, Steve Forbes, Orrin Hatch, Alan Keyes and John McCain: ABORTION: Snapshot: About 23 percent of U.S. pregnancies end in abortion. The abortion rate is at a two-decade low, largely because of more effective contraception. On nominating only Supreme Court justices who oppose abortion rights: Bauer: Yes. Bradley: No. Buchanan: Yes. Bush: No. Forbes: Yes. Gore: No. Hatch: No. Keyes: Yes. McCain: No. On when abortion should be permitted: Bauer: Opposes abortion rights, would make anti-abortion constitutional amendment a priority. Bradley: Abortion is a legal right and private decision between a woman and her doctor. Supports federal financing of abortions for women on Medicaid. Buchanan: Opposes abortion rights, would make anti-abortion amendment a priority. Bush: Only in cases of rape, incest or when a woman's life is in jeopardy from the pregnancy, but would not make anti-abortion constitutional amendment a priority. Forbes: Only in cases of rape, incest or when a woman's life is endangered. Would ban certain late-term abortions and says constitutional amendment is a priority that he would not immediately force on Congress but try to achieve through public and politic Gore: Abortion is ``fundamental personal right.'' Supports Medicaid abortion financing despite past statements to the contrary. Hatch: Only in cases of rape, incest or when a woman's life is endangered. Keyes: Only as a ``collateral and unintended consequence'' of saving a woman's life. McCain: Only in cases of rape, incest or when a woman's life is endangered. AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: Snapshot: About 15 percent of blacks and 11 percent of Hispanics aged 25-29 have graduated from college, compared with 29 percent of whites. In an example of federal affirmative action, large contractors supplying the government must have programs encoura Bauer: Opposes racial preferences. Bradley: Favors. ``I think that it is very important that leadership uses affirmative action.'' Buchanan: Opposes. ``No set asides, no forced busing, no mandatory hiring, no affirmative action.'' Bush: Opposes racial preferences. Supports Texas law requiring public universities to admit the top 10 percent of every high school's graduating class. Forbes: Opposes set-asides and racial preferences. Gore: Criticized efforts to roll back affirmative action. ``I support vigorous enforcement of our laws against discrimination, including affirmative action.'' Hatch: Sponsored bill to end preferences based on race and sex in more than 150 federal programs. Keyes: Opposes. Sole black candidate says any preferential treatment is ``patronizing.'' McCain: Favors in limited cases. Voted to maintain program that encourages the awarding of 10 percent of federal highway construction spending to women and minorities. CAMPAIGN FINANCE: Snapshot: Corporations, lobbyists, unions, political action committees and individuals can give unlimited ``soft money'' to parties that cannot be spent directly on candidates but often ends up helping or hurting them. Presidential candidates who do not t Most candidates say they favor increased disclosure of campaign finance information. Republicans would require unions to get members' permission before using dues for political advocacy. As well: Bauer: Ban soft money, raise $1,000 individual contribution limit. Bradley: Ban soft money to national parties and prohibit state party committees from spending their soft money to influence federal elections. Increase taxpayer financing of elections and require all broadcasters to give candidates free time. Buchanan: Ban corporate donations to national parties, prohibit PACs from giving to candidates for federal office and national party committees, require 75 percent of campaign funds to come from a senator's state or representative's district. Five-year ba Bush: First presidential candidate ever to raise more than $50 million would ban soft money from corporations and unions, but not from other groups, and raise the limit on individual contributions. Refusing federal matching funds. Forbes: Would allow soft money and raise or abolish caps on personal contributions to campaigns. Prohibit PAC contributions to federal candidates. Not taking federal matching funds and favors eliminating them. Gore: Ban soft money in future campaigns and increase taxpayer financing of elections. Require TV networks to give candidates free time. Hatch: Allow soft money, raise individual contribution limit. Keyes: Ban soft money, prohibit PACs from giving to federal candidates, increase individual contribution limit, stop matching funds. McCain: Has tried unsuccessfully for four straight years to get Senate to adopt stricter fund-raising controls, including ban on soft money. Would stop matching funds for presidential campaigns, make congressional candidates raise over half their campaign CHILD CARE: Snapshot: An estimated 68 percent of married women with children work full time or part time for pay. The percentage of employees with flexible work hours almost doubled last decade. Parents working for large companies are entitled to up to 12 weeks of un Bauer: Lobbied for $500 per child tax credit. Bradley: Wants $2 billion per year in public-private partnerships for early child care and education. Families that don't make enough to pay income tax - and can't take the dependent care tax credit - would get the equivalent in cash (average of $470 per Buchanan: No known position. Bush: Unspecified extra spending on after-school programs as well as encouraging churches and charities to sponsor such programs. Double child tax credit to $1,000. Forbes: Says a low flat tax is key to easing work pressure on families; critical of family-leave mandates. ``What parents need is more family time, less overtime. Tax cuts are the surest means to that end.'' Gore: $50 billion over 10 years in federal matching funds with states to make preschool available to all 4-year-olds and more children 3 and younger. Extra spending on child care, including subsidies and tax credits for low-income families and mothers at Hatch: Pushed legislation to subsidize child care and protect jobs of mothers returning to work. Keyes: No known position. McCain: Double child tax credit to $1,000. DEFENSE: Snapshot: The U.S. government spends about 16 percent of its budget on defense, down from about 50 percent in the early 1960s. The number of active-duty troops has dropped by about one-third since the end of the Cold War. Bauer: Increase military spending, expand NATO, develop national missile defense system. Restore ban on gays in military. Bradley: Sees no need to increase defense spending. As senator voted against Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) deployment and B-2 stealth bombers, and for sanctions instead of military force against Iraq. Let gays serve openly. Buchanan: ``Retrench and rearm,'' return many troops from abroad, build national missile defense system. Assure Russia of no more NATO expansion on condition of Russia's non-intervention in nearby states. Opposes nuclear test ban treaty. Previously oppose Bush: Increase weapons research and development spending by $20 billion over five years, spend extra $1 billion a year to raise military salaries beyond recent pay increase, build missile defense systems for deployment inside and outside U.S. Supports mon [------------------------- end of forwarded message ------------------------] - -- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- RKBA! ***** Blessings On Thee, Oh Israel! ***** RKBA! - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- An _EFFECTIVE_ | Insured | All matter is vibration. | Let he who hath no weapon in every | by COLT; | -- Max Plank | weapon sell his hand = Freedom | DIAL | In the beginning was the | garment and buy a on every side! | 1911-A1. | word. -- The Bible | sword.--Jesus Christ - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- - - ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 22 Jan 00 14:44:54 PST From: roc@xpresso.seaslug.org (Bill Vance) Subject: Fwd: Presidential Candidates' Platforms (2/2) (fwd) On Jan 22, ASSETNJ@AOL.COM wrote: [-------------------- text of forwarded message follows --------------------] Forbes: ``Major military buildup.'' Build national missile defense system. Favored NATO expansion. Supports ``don't ask, don't tell'' policy. Gore: Unspecified ``sensible'' increase in defense spending. Has helped negotiate arms reduction and nuclear stability arrangements. As senator, voted for SDI and B-2s. Supports letting gays serve openly. Hatch: Would greatly increase defense spending. Voted to make closing of military bases by administration more difficult. Keyes: Criticized U.S. intervention in Kosovo as precedent for ``new internationalism,'' but supported strikes against alleged terrorist targets in Sudan and Afghanistan. Restore ban on gays in military. McCain: Close more bases to save $4 billion, build national missile defense system, spend $4.3 billion more over three years to raise military pay and get thousands of personnel off food stamps. Exempt personnel overseas from federal income tax. Lists C13 On whether they supported the treaty, rejected by the Senate, to ban nuclear tests: Bauer: No. Bradley: Yes. Buchanan: No. Bush: No. Forbes: No. Gore: Yes. Hatch: No. Keyes: No. McCain: No. EDUCATION: Snapshot: More than 53 million children set a public school enrollment record in 1999. SAT scores for college-bound seniors have recovered to early 1970s levels in math but verbal scores are down. On whether federal tax dollars should be used to help parents send their children to private schools: Bauer: Yes, and for home schooling as well. Experiments have been ``very encouraging, and if activist judges allow them to continue and expand, will increase the pressure on urban public schools to improve their performance.'' Bradley: Skeptical, although voted for experimental voucher programs in the past. ``I do not support any measures that divert funding from public to private schools.'' Buchanan: Yes. ``Vouchers, but without strings - we don't want the government following vouchers into religious schools.'' Bush: Yes. Scholarships of $1,500 a year for children in public schools that fail state testing for three years. The money could be used for private schooling, tutoring or ``whatever offers hope. '' Forbes: Yes, and for home schooling as well. ``I will immediately turn federal education funds into block grants for states and local communities with this directive: Give parents the freedom to choose schools that work.'' Gore: No. Favors more choice among public schools. ``I believe we must focus our efforts on strengthening the public schools that serve nearly 90 percent of our nation's schoolchildren.'' Hatch: Yes. ``We should do what we can to assist our public schools, but we should never allow children to get trapped in poorly performing schools.'' Keyes: Yes. McCain: Yes. School vouchers worth $2,000 for disadvantaged children under three-year, $5.4 billion program to be paid for by eliminating ethanol, gas and oil subsidies, and sugar price supports. ``Tuition vouchers would give low-income families the same On public education: Bauer: Turn more federal responsibilities over to states and localities. Bradley: Each year forgive student loans for 60,000 college students, high school graduates and mid-career professionals who certify as teachers and commit to serving in poor urban or rural schools. Add new Head Start slots for 400,000 children. Buchanan: End federal role in primary and secondary education, sending block grants to the states with the directive that school decisions be made at the local level. Bush: $300 million fund in first five years to reward states that improve student performance. In states where test scores do not improve, 5 percent of federal education financing would be shifted to charter schools. Guarantee $3 billion in loans in two y Forbes: Send federal block grants to communities with the directive to let parents choose form of education. Eliminate federal Goals 2000 and School-to-Work program. Gore: $50 billion to make preschool universally available as part of $115 billion, 10-year plan. Proposal includes raises of up to $5,000 for public school teachers who meet certain standards in poor and rural areas, and an extra $5,000 in pay for ``maste Hatch: Slightly increase spending overall. Favors federal spending, normally reserved for states and localities, on school buildings. Keyes: Close Education Department, let parents decide what to do with their share of federal money for schools. McCain:Tax credit for people who donate up to $200 a year to any public or private school. Tougher teacher testing. Slightly increase spending overall. ENVIRONMENT: Snapshot: U.S. per-capita emissions of carbon dioxide - considered a greenhouse gas - and the nation's energy consumption dwarf rates in all other industrialized countries except Canada. Air quality overall has improved in the United States in the last 10 Bauer: Make states fully compensate citizens when regulation limits use of their land. Promote alternative fuels. Opposes unratified Kyoto accord on global warming. Bradley: Create $250 million annual fund for coastal protection and restoration on top of existing programs, and give states more authority to rule against harmful coastal or offshore development. Critical of Clinton administration's executive order aimed Buchanan: Give hundreds of millions of acres of land managed by Washington to states unconditionally. Prohibit designation of endangered species without vote in Congress. Opposes Kyoto treaty. Bush: Supports the limited moratorium on California and Florida offshore drilling. Is becoming ``more convinced'' global warming exists but opposes Kyoto accord. Unspecified increase in spending on conservation. In 1998 favored changing federal law to lim Forbes: ``Conservative, free market vision of environmental stewardship.'' Make states fully compensate citizens for land regulation. Calls claims about global warming ``deeply flawed'' and opposes Kyoto treaty. Gore: Ban all new offshore oil drilling in federal waters off Florida and California, including zones where companies have spent billions to secure drilling rights. Spend $2 billion over 10 years to set aside more parkland, paying for it with new mining r Hatch: Backed subsidies, but not mandates, for use of alternative fuels. Would limit president's ability to designate vast tracts of land as national monuments by executive decision. Called Kyoto treaty ``environmental extremism at its worst. '' Strengthe Keyes: Reduce federal regulation, make states fully compensate citizens for land regulation, promote selling of pollution credits between nations, raise federal mining royalties. Opposes Kyoto treaty. McCain: Upgrade national parks, using public and private money to eliminate a $5 billion backlog in projects in eight years. Would rescind Clinton administration's order limiting logging in national forests. Strengthen regulation of nuclear fuel and waste FARM POLICY: Snapshot: The federal government spent a record $22.7 billion last year in direct payments to farmers. Most candidates propose expanding foreign markets for U.S. agriculture. In addition: Bauer: Keep ethanol tax break, extend federally supported crop insurance to livestock farmers, let farmers put 20 percent of taxable income into five year, tax-deferred accounts. Heavy federal aid recently ``is not too much, given the severity of the comm Bradley: Former opponent of ethanol tax breaks now supports them. Says he regrets voting for the law that scaled back government price guarantees for crops. But overall, ``government support has not been helping the family farmer.'' Buchanan: ``Support ethanol production,'' exempt farmers from federal job-safety and most other regulations, lower taxes. U.S. needs a crackdown on unfair food imports. ``Until we get it, let's help the farmers out.'' Bush: Keep ethanol tax breaks, lower taxes. ``I have supported disaster relief to help our farmers weather crises and programs to help transition to a market economy.'' Forbes: Lower taxes and interest rates. Supports ethanol tax breaks for about seven more years while preparing industry to live without them. Some emergency economic aid is needed for agriculture but ``American farmers and ranchers know government assista Gore: Keep ethanol tax breaks. Supported farm subsidies in Senate, including tobacco subsidies. ``I will shore up the safety net for family farmers'' with stronger income stability programs and federally backed insurance. Hatch: Keep ethanol tax breaks. ``We must support American farmers with appropriate safety net programs, but we must not make decisions for them about what to plant and when to plant it.'' Keyes: Sees centralized banking system as key to decline of family farms, opposes unspecified ``shortsighted socialist policies'' in farm aid. McCain: End ethanol tax breaks and sugar price supports, using savings for school vouchers, and reduce taxes. ``We need fiscally responsible reform of our farm policies to provide assistance to farmers who truly need it and promote efficient, free-market FOREIGN POLICY: Snapshot: The U.S. government spends less than 1 percent of its budget on non-military foreign affairs, including foreign aid. That's down from 4.5 percent in 1965. Bauer: Defeat ``isolationist voices.'' ``America is called to use its power abroad.'' Abolish International Monetary Fund. U.S. should not have ground troops in Kosovo. Extend full diplomatic relations to Taiwan. Bradley: U.S. should depend more on international organizations to respond to ethnic conflicts. Says the five countries of most importance to U.S. interests are China, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Russia. Buchanan: End foreign aid, except assistance for natural disasters. ``I intend to isolate America from all the bloody territorial, tribal and ethnic wars.'' NATO campaign for Kosovo was ``illegal war on Serbia.'' Would withdraw U.S. from unspecified ``int Bush: Isolationism and trade protectionism are a ``shortcut to chaos, an approach that abandons our allies and our ideals. The vacuum left by America's retreat would invite challenges to our power.'' Move U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Keep sanction Forbes: Goals include ``free markets, free elections and freedom to worship around the globe.'' Abolish IMF. Full diplomatic relations for Taiwan. European Union is ``misguided global institution.'' No ground troops in Kosovo. Gore: Unspecified extra spending on foreign affairs. U.S. should show willingness to ``use our strength - to lead the world toward what is right and just.'' Hatch: No U.S. involvement in foreign struggles for independence. Backs IMF. Keep troops in Kosovo for now. Undecided on Taiwan. Keyes: Former U.S. diplomat at United Nations calls the international body ``source of pernicious and dangerously naive globalist dreams.'' No ground troops in Kosovo. Full diplomatic relations for Taiwan. McCain: ``Despite the isolationist views of a distinct minority, we have every intention of continuing to use our primacy in world affairs for humanity's benefit.'' U.S. should support forces trying to overthrow regimes in Iraq, North Korea and other ``ro GUN CONTROL: Snapshot: The United States had 32,436 firearm deaths in 1997. Homicides are the second leading cause of gun deaths, behind suicide. Homicide handgun deaths fell to a 9-year low of 9,796 in 1997. Bauer: Enforce existing laws. Bradley: Supports mandatory licenses for handgun buyers and registration for their guns, as well as ban on ``Saturday night specials.'' Would raise license fees on dealers to reduce their number. Buchanan: ``No compromise'' on gun rights. Deny convicted felons right to own firearms. Bush: Enforce existing laws. Raise age for handgun purchases to 21. Supports instant background checks at gun shows, opposes universal gun registration. Signed laws in Texas permitting carrying of concealed weapons and protecting gun makers from lawsuits Forbes: Enforce existing laws and have states, not Washington, set firearm standards. Gore: Supports mandatory photo ID licenses for handgun buyers. Would require manufacturers and federally licensed sellers to report gun sales to a state authority to help trace the owner when gun is used in crime. Supports banning ``Saturday night special Hatch: Enforce existing laws. Extend background checks to gun shows and expand them to look for history of mental problems. Cosponsored bill to toughen gun-show restrictions and deny juveniles convicted of felonies the right to gun ownership for life. Req Keyes: Right to gun ownership is essential to duty of citizens to ``resist and overthrow the power responsible'' if their rights are being ``systematically violated.'' Repeal federal gun restrictions for law-abiding citizens. McCain: Favors instant criminal background checks on all gun purchases. Opposes waiting periods. Opposed ban on assault-type weapons. Mandatory child-safety locks. HEALTH CARE: Snapshot: An estimated 44.3 million Americans - one in six - have no health insurance. Among them are 11 million children. On expanding health coverage: Bauer: Expand option of medical savings accounts - tax-free accounts people can use for routine health bills and to save up for premiums for high-deductible health plans covering major expenses. ...Forbes: Expand medical savings accounts. IMMIGRATION: LABOR: Bauer: Yes. [------------------------- end of forwarded message ------------------------] - -- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- RKBA! ***** Blessings On Thee, Oh Israel! ***** RKBA! - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- An _EFFECTIVE_ | Insured | All matter is vibration. | Let he who hath no weapon in every | by COLT; | -- Max Plank | weapon sell his hand = Freedom | DIAL | In the beginning was the | garment and buy a on every side! | 1911-A1. | word. -- The Bible | sword.--Jesus Christ - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- - - ------------------------------ End of roc-digest V2 #311 *************************