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Universal Health Care strongly supports |
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Slavery Reparations against Edwards is against reparations but supports social programs |
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Constitutional Ban on Flag Desecration against June 2004: Flag burning is despicable, but not a constitutional issue. |
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Kyoto Protocol Ratification undecided 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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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 against Edwards stands against gay marriage but stands for same-sex civil unions |
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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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Agricultural Subsidies supports Voted yes on the Farm Security and Rural Investment Acts of 2002. Favors cutting subsidies to agribusiness and corporate farms, which are currently included in the Farm Bill, but is a known proponent of poor subsidies and the most protectionist of the 2008 candidates. |
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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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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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Capital Punishment strongly supports Edwards supports the death penalty, saying some crimes |
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Lobbyist Gifts to Congress strongly against April 2001: Voted YES on banning campaign donations from unions & corporations, March 2002: Voted YES on banning soft money contributions and restricting issue ads, January 2004: Ban lobbyist campaign donations and disclosure activities & order limits on lobbyists & special interests, March 2004: Supports public financing of elections |
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Public Campaign Financing against |
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Line-Item Veto undecided |
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Legalization of Medical Marijuana strongly against |
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Legalization of Gambling strongly against |
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Legalization of Drugs strongly against |
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Mandatory Pledge of Allegiance against |
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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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Death Penalty for Child Offenders against |
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Mandatory Sentencing 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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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 strongly 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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Social Security Reform strongly against All affluent countries are faced with aging populations and the retirement of the large postwar generation which will soon overwhelm public pension systems. President Bush made pension reform an issue in his 2004 reelection campaign. |
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Corporate Governance strongly 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 strongly 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 strongly 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 strongly 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 |
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Estate Tax strongly supports The estate tax, aka |
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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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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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School Vouchers strongly against |
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Public Preschool strongly supports |
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Financial Aid for Students strongly supports |
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Animal Welfare Some Regulation and funding for enforcement of animal welfare 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 strongly 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 supports 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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Genetically Engineered Foods undecided |
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Welfare Programs strongly supports |
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Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty strongly supports 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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Darfur Intervention Sufficiently fund peacekeeping and intervention 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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Unification of Korea undecided |
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Dialogue with Rogue World Leaders 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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Partitioning of Iraq 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 |
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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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Iraq War Withdrawal strongly 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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Iraq Troop Surge strongly against The Iraq Troop Surge was announced by President George W. Bush on January 10, 2007 as a new strategy for securing regions of Iraq by increasing the number of American troops. |
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Military Draft strongly against The military draft, which makes military service mandatory, has been used several times in U.S. history before it was ended in 1973. Declining troop levels as a result of the Iraq war have made the draft a renewed possibility. |
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Militarization of Space strongly 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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Guantanamo strongly 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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Gays in the Military strongly supports 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. Edwards has shown support for Congressman Meehan's Military Readiness Enhancement Act - which would end the military's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy and would allow openly gay men and women to serve in the military. |
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Two Party System against The United States is a two party system elected through plurality vote. |
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The Separation of Church and State supports |
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Net Neutrality strongly supports |
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Lunar Base Construction undecided |
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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. |
