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Favorite Book:
A Sand County Almanac, Aldo Leopold
Favorite Movie:
Casablanca
Favorite Musician:
Bob Dylan, Elton John, Steve Winwood
Favorite Type of Music:
Vintage Rock
Hobbies or Special Talents:
Farming, running, biking, hiking, and photographing nature.
Reason for Seeking Public Office:
It is my belief that there are major challenges facing our nation that need to be addressed now. The longer we delay in addressing this nations policies (or lack of them) on health-care, energy, the environment and fiscal irresponsibility, the more difficult it will be to avoid a crisis.
1. Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation?
- Unknown Position
1. In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket?
- Unknown Position
2. In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing defense spending?
- Unknown Position
1. Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions?
- Unknown Position
1. Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth?
- Unknown Position
2. Do you support lowering corporate taxes as a means of promoting economic growth?
- Unknown Position
1. Do you support requiring states to adopt federal education standards?
- Unknown Position
1. Do you support government funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, thermal)?
- Unknown Position
2. Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions?
- Unknown Position
1. Do you generally support gun-control legislation?
- Unknown Position
1. Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")?
- Unknown Position
1. Do you support the construction of a wall along the Mexican border?
- Unknown Position
2. Do you support requiring immigrants who are unlawfully present to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship?
- Unknown Position
Do you support the legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes?
- Unknown Position
1. Should the United States use military force in order to prevent governments hostile to the U.S. from possessing a nuclear weapon?
- Unknown Position
2. Do you support increased American intervention in Middle Eastern conflicts beyond air support?
- Unknown Position
1. Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation?
- Pro-life
1. Do you support United States' combat operations in Afghanistan?
- No
2. Do you support a timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan?
- No
1. do you support reducing defense spending?
- Yes
2. do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket?
- Yes
3. do you support reducing Medicaid spending?
- No
4. do you support reducing Medicare spending?
- No
5. Is balancing the budget a legislative priority?
- Yes
1. Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions?
- Yes
Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes?
- No
1. Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth?
- No
2. Do you support providing tax incentives to businesses for the purpose of job creation?
- No
3. Do you support spending on infrastructure projects for the purpose of job creation?
- No
4. Do you support the temporary extension of unemployment benefits?
- No
5. Do you support the 2010 temporary extension of tax relief?
- No
1. Do you support requiring states to implement education reforms in order to be eligible for competitive federal grants?
- No
Do you support reducing restrictions on offshore energy production?
- No
1. Do you believe that human activity is contributing to climate change?
- Yes
2. Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions?
- Yes
1. Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns?
- Yes
1. Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act?
- Yes
2. Should individuals be required to purchase health insurance, as mandated in the 2010 Affordable Care Act?
- No
1. Do you support requiring illegal immigrants to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship?
- No
2. Do you support allowing illegal immigrants, who were brought to the United States as minors, to pursue citizenship without returning to their country of origin?
- Yes
3. Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration law by state and local police?
- Yes
Do you support same-sex marriage?
- No
1. Do you support targeting suspected terrorists outside of official theaters of conflict?
- No
2. Should the U.S use military force in order to prevent Iran from possessing a nuclear weapon?
- No
1. Agriculture
- No Answer
2. Arts
- No Answer
3. Defense
- No Answer
4. Education
- No Answer
5. Environment
- No Answer
6. Homeland Security
- No Answer
7. International aid
- No Answer
8. Medical Research
- No Answer
9. Scientific Research
- No Answer
10. Space exploration
- No Answer
11. United Nations
- No Answer
12. Welfare
- No Answer
13. Other or expanded categories
- No Answer
14. Capital gains taxes
- No Answer
15. Corporate taxes
- No Answer
16. Excise taxes (alcohol)
- No Answer
17. Excise taxes (cigarettes)
- No Answer
18. Excise taxes (transportation fuel)
- No Answer
19. Income taxes (low-income families)
- No Answer
20. Income taxes (middle-income families)
- No Answer
21. Income taxes (high-income families)
- No Answer
22. Inheritance taxes
- No Answer
23. Payroll taxes
- No Answer
St. Cloud Times - Farmfest Draws Political Battles Democrat Al Franken said during an agricultural policy forum at Farmfest 2008 on Tuesday that U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman is a better friend to President Bush than to farmers. Coleman, R-Minn., touted votes on agriculture issues he said proved he had gotten things done for Minnesotans in a bipartisan way during his six-year term. And Independence Party candidates Steve Williams and former U.S. Sen. Dean Barkley each argued that the two-party system had let farmers and the rest of America down, each sometimes seeming to compete for the title of "most average guy" in the debate. Several candidates seeking to be on their party's ballot this fall were left out of the Farmfest candidate forum, which provides one of the first head-to-head matchups of the election year. But in an election year long since marked by negative attacks on the character of the Republican incumbent and the Democratic challenger, on Tuesday the issues got to take center stage. Franken attacks Franken used the forum to paint Coleman as a loyal follower of President Bush's policies on agriculture and energy. He said Coleman's votes in favor of a Central American Free Trade Agreement hurt Minnesota sugar growers and that votes to reduce milk payment increases hurt dairy producers. Franken also cited Coleman's opposition to taking tax breaks away from oil companies and giving them to renewable-energy development. "Norm has been a bigger friend to President Bush and Big Oil than he ever has to Minnesota farmers. They can't count on him," Franken said. Franken said he would follow the lead of U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., who is chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. He also renewed his call for putting significant new federal dollars into an "Apollo Project" for renewable energy to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil. Coleman's record Coleman noted his support for the federal farm bill that Peterson shepherded through Congress earlier this year over Bush's objections. He defended his vote on CAFTA and said he'd worked to make the trade agreement beneficial to as many Minnesota agricultural industries as possible. "More than anyone else, I know the difference between talk and results," Coleman said. "You have to ask of each candidate, what have we done in our lives to merit serving you in the U.S. Senate." Coleman said it was crucial for America to expand its energy supply and said Franken and Democrats had been holding up efforts to drill for more offshore oil and to get new nuclear power plants built. Independence duo As the Independence Party-endorsed candidate, Williams noted his background as a southern Minnesota farmer. "As a farmer, you work hard, you eat well and you sleep great every night," he said. "I find it rewarding to produce the food that sustains our lives every day." He promoted a plan to create a national sales tax to pay for universal health care and fund Social Security as a primary way to boost the economy. Barkley noted his experience serving in the U.S. Senate as then-Gov. Jesse Ventura's appointee to serve out the late U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone's term in 2002. He promoted balancing the federal budget and restoring fiscal sanity as the best way to help farmers and the rest of the country, but warned it would not happen if voters were afraid to ditch the two-party system. "I can't stand what the two-party system is doing to our country," he said. "It's driving us down and heading us in the wrong direction."
