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Universal Health Care supports Universal healthcare proposes a governmental coverage of health care costs rather than citizens paying private insurance companies often exorbitant administrative fees; such a program's aim would be to cover the 41-50 million Americans currently uninsured |
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Kyoto Protocol Ratification supports An amendment to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change which seeks to assign mandatory emission limitations for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to the signatory nations |
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Constitutional Ban on Flag Desecration against December 1995: Voted NO on Amendment to prohibit flag burning, June 2006: Voted NO on recommending Constitutional ban on flag desecration. |
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Economic Sanctions on Iran supports With Iran's 2003 fruition of their purportedly legitimate nuclear ambition came an international cry for economic sanctions and dialogue with President Ahmadinejad |
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Assault Weapons Ban supports The Federal Assault Weapons Ban (AWB) provision was signed into law in 1994. The 10 year ban, expiring in 2004, is currently undergoing an inspection of effectiveness and a reinstitution bill in the House of Representatives |
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Same Sex Marriage undecided Dodd believes the decisions about gay marriage and same-sex civil unions should be left up to the states |
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Legalized Abortion supports Abortion is the removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus from the uterus, resulting in or caused by its death and has become highly politicized since U.S. Supreme Court intervention in 1973 |
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Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Oil Drilling against The proposed 2,000 acre Coastal Plains region of the ANWR in Alaska has created a divide between environmentalists, big oil, and political parties alike, sparking a discussion on where and how the US will get its oil, and at what cost |
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No Child Left Behind Act supports The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 has sought to elevate the performance of American schools and student with federal oversight and strict penalties for poor performance and as such has been both attacked and backed by various groups |
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Capital Punishment strongly supports Dodd has called for judicial reform and a closer look at the country's criminal justice system so that "we can do a better job of making decisions" about the death penalty but he would not call for a moratorium on capital punishment. |
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Lobbyist Gifts to Congress against July 1995: Voted YES on banning more types of Congressional gifts, April 2001: Voted YES on banning campaign donations from unions & corporations, March 2002: Voted YES on banning soft money contributions and restricting issue ads, March 2006: Voted YES on allowing some lobbyist gifts to Congress, April 2007: Supports public campaign finance, despite personal history |
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Iraq Troop Surge against May 2007: voted in the Senate against continued funding for the Iraq war. |
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State Children's Health Insurance Program strongly supports In October 2007, President Bush vetoed a bill that would expand SCHIP, a program that gives health insurance to uninsured children that cannot qualify for MEDICAID. Over the past 10 years, SCHIP cost $40 billion federal dollars and has covered 7m children |
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Death Penalty for Child Offenders against |
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Prison Reform undecided The United States currently leads the world in incarceration. It holds 2.1 million people in prisons or jails, thereby sparking public and legislative debates over crime rates, mandatory sentencing, and the growing prison industry. |
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Mandatory Pledge of Allegiance against |
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Mandatory Sentencing supports |
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Legalization of Medical Marijuana supports |
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Legalization of Drugs against |
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Legalization of Gambling undecided |
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Patriot Act supports The USA Patriot Act, which extends the power of law enforcement agencies in pursuing suspected terrorists, has caused outrage for perceived violations of civil liberties. |
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Warrantless Wiretapping against Following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, President Bush, in a highly contested move, executively ordered the NSA to wiretap communications between U.S. citizens and suspected terrorists |
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Border Fence Wants a fence across parts of the border with the heaviest traffic The border fence spans two issues: immigration and homeland security. First passed in 2006, the fence has been included in immigration legislation to control illegal immigration flow across the southern border. |
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Minimum Wage strongly supports |
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Affirmative Action supports Affirmative action refers to policies intended to promote access to education or employment aimed at a historically socio-politically non-dominant group, typically minorities and women. |
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Outsourcing strongly against Business wants to preserve the ability to exporting jobs abroad in order to stay competitive. Labor interests wish to limit the extent to which businesses can layoff American workers for cheaper sources of labor in developing countries. |
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Slavery Reparations undecided A movement in the US which seeks the apology of the government and reparations in the form of money, land, or other goods to slave descendants, for its role in the institution of slavery prior to 1865. |
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Corporate Governance supports Corporations are largely unregulated in the United States and became even less regulated during the 1990s. The deregulation movement and the American shareholder model led to a devastating series of corporate scandals. |
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Antitrust Regulation strongly supports Antitrust regulation is used to preserve competition in markets. Whereas American law emphasizes strict competition, European and Japanese law emphasize competition with inter-firm collaboration. |
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Bank Regulation supports Regulation that prevents major financial crises by regulating how much capital banks store according to the riskiness of their investments. It also served a number of other functions from ensuring privacy to revealing information on suspected terrorists. |
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Business Regulation supports Compared to other countries, the United States has fewer regulations on businesses but the markets in which businesses operate are not completely unrestricted, contrary to popular belief. |
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Consumption Tax strongly against A tax levied on consumption that can be made progressive by accounting for lower-income earners. It has the potential to solve public financing issues that other forms of taxation cannot and is favored among most economists. |
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Marriage Tax against A provision in American tax code that levies higher taxes on couples with equal incomes than singles or couples with disparate incomes. Over half of couples actually benefit from this provision. The penalty was eliminated as a part of the 2001 tax cuts. |
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Flat Tax strongly against A flat tax is a tax on income or consumption at a set rate. It differs from from income or consumption taxes that use sliding scale "brackets" that are determined by income earned. |
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Estate Tax supports The estate tax, aka "death tax" is a tax levied on the largest estates in the U.S. after an individual's death. Opposed by fiscal conservatives, it has been significantly reduced by Pres. Bush in 2001 and is set to end in 2010. |
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Bush Tax Cuts strongly against From 2001-2004, Congress approved legislation introduced by President Bush that would significantly reduce taxes in order to stimulate the economy. Pres. Bush has received criticism for pursuing a policy that largely benefits America's wealthiest citizens. |
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Agricultural Subsidies strongly supports Over $55 billion per year are expended on agricultural subsidies under the Farm Bill in the United States. These subsidies keep American farmers in business since their costs would otherwise be too high if forced to compete in undistorted markets. |
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Free Trade strongly against Republicans more often promote free trade to satisfy business interests. Democrats have changed their position on trade. In the 1990s they were supportive of trade agreements but today their position appeals to people who are concerned about losing their j |
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Animal Welfare No regulation Animal Welfare in the US is regulated by 3 federal laws and state statues. Currently, pets and wildlife are protected from acts of cruelty. Livestock and lab animals are granted limited protections and there is no legislation for purpose-bred birds. |
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Energy Independence supports A popular campaign that promises to reduce oil imports for security purposes and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Legislation in 2005 and 2007 have attempted, although poorly, to address American dependency. |
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Fuel Efficiency Regulation against The large automotive industry has prevented any effective change from occurring in fuel efficiency standards since 1975 until the Senate passed a bill in June of 2007 that would require a 10 mpg increase in efficiency by car manufacturers. |
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School Vouchers against |
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Public Preschool supports |
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Financial Aid for Students supports |
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Darfur Intervention Support intl. intervention and/or deploy NATO to protect civilians The United States was the first country to call the situation in the western province of Sudan a genocide. Since then, Congress and the Bush administration have imposed sanctions on the Sudanese government for its part in prolonging the conflict. |
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Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty against The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NNPT) is an international treaty opened for signature in 1968 and currently signed by 189 nations to stop the production of nuclear weapons, disarm current weapons and peacefully use nuclear technology. |
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Dialogue with Rogue World Leaders strongly supports With the leaders of Iran, North Korea, Venezuela and Cuba increasingly vocal about their opposition to the U.S., talk of a potential dialogue with such leaders is becoming a central political issue with international implications. |
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Unification of Korea undecided |
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Partitioning of Iraq strongly against There is increasing support for partitioning post-war Iraq along ethno-religious lines. This would in effect create a Kurdistan, Sunnistan and Shiastan under the umbrella of a de-centralized "Iraq" government and would, many hope, quell civil war. |
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Public Display of 10 Commandments against |
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The Separation of Church and State supports |
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Iraq War Withdrawal supports Democrats and Republicans in congress are considering various withdrawal and exit proposals as America's support for the war plummets. |
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Two Party System against The United States is a two party system elected through plurality vote. |
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Militarization of Space supports The Cold War triggered a race between U.S. and the USSR to militarize space and develop new space weaponry technologies. Since the end of the war, space weapons have been used in various ways to support military ground operations. |
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Gays in the Military strongly against Previously, homosexuals were banned from joining the armed forces. Under current law, non-heterosexual behavior cannot be discussed or investigated and is subject to discharge. |
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Guantanamo against A U.S. military detention and interrogation facility located in Cuba that holds suspected al-Qaeda and Taliban operatives. It has received international attention for violating international law by engaging in torture and holding captives indefinitely with |
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Electoral College Reform against |
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Public Campaign Financing strongly supports |
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Line-Item Veto strongly against |
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Net Neutrality strongly supports Network neutrality generally refers to the regulation of residential broadband networks, specifically ensuring networks free of restrictions on the kinds of equipment attached and the modes of communication allowed through these computer networks. |
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Manned Mission to Mars supports Since the end of the Apollo program, which successfully placed a man on the moon, there have been rumors of a manned mission to the Red Planet. |
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Lunar Base Construction supports |
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Free Flow of Information Act strongly supports The Act protects a media reporter's source unless a federal judge, "by a preponderance of the evidence," rules that the identity sought is "essential to the resolution of the matter." |
