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Please answer the following questions. If no answer is acceptable to you, leave it unanswered. You may also indicate issues that are important or not important to you. These choices will affect your match.

Minnesota - 8th Congressional District (2010) Survey

What would you do to stimulate job creation and economic development?

Work to reduce taxes and regulations on small businesses.
Essential investments in education, health care, and infrastructure will promote an effective workforce and an efficient transportation system and create jobs. Work for a robust increase in transportation funding to grow the economy. Comprehensive tax reform and necessary deficit reduction will create a sound environment for economic growth.
Review and eliminate many redundant regulations that have chased manufacturers & industries out of this country, including lead laws, OSHA, EPA and other outdated departments/agencies. Revisit NAFTA.

Is this issue important to you?

Not at all  Somewhat  Very

What should be done to erase the federal budget deficit?

Stop spending money we do not have.
Promote sensible economic policies that will create jobs and grow the economy. Comprehensively reform taxes, permit the unaffordable Bush-era tax breaks for the wealthy to expire, end the costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, eliminate costly weapons systems that are unnecessary in the post Cold-War period and examine entitlement programs for savings.
Reduce spending. Eliminate earmarks.

Is this issue important to you?

Not at all  Somewhat  Very

Do you support extending the Bush tax cuts? If so, all of them?

Yes, for families with incomes below $250,000.
Yes, all of them.

Is this issue important to you?

Not at all  Somewhat  Very

How would you reform the education system?

Repeal No Child Left Behind. Move more authority from the federal government to the state government.
The No Child Left Behind Act must be reformed to ensure that rural education has the proper funding and tools to improve and measure academic progress.
Take authority away from the federal government and grant more autonomy to the state, teachers and school boards. Also, a teacher's pay should be based upon performance.

Is this issue important to you?

Not at all  Somewhat  Very

What types of reform should be made in the health care sector?

Repeal the recently passed legislation and replace it with the following initiatives: make it illegal to deny health insurance based on pre-existing conditions, open up insurance markets across state lines, grant tax deductions and/or tax credits to families and individuals for premiums they pay out-of-pocket, require individuals and families to own and control their own health insurance policies that they can keep it regardless of where they are employed, provide incentive payments to states that reduce premiums and the number of people uninsured, and enhance Health Savings Accounts to allow and encourage individuals and families to save for future needs and allow the use of such accounts for the payment of health insurance premiums.
Support the full implementation of the recently passed health care reform law. New reform should address the Medicare reimbursement system to improve payments for Minnesota health care providers. Medicare reimbursement should be based on value not volume of care.
Get the government out of it.

Is this issue important to you?

Not at all  Somewhat  Very

What would you do to shape America's energy policy?

Reduce America's dependency on foreign oil by reducing taxes on domestic oil production and further tapping into America's own oil, gas and coal using existing environmentally friendly technology. Oppose Cap and Trade.
Produce more domestic energy to reduce our demand for foreign oil and to invest in clean American energy.
Remove protections from land places off limits for oil, coal and gas exploration and start drilling. Eliminate the Department of Energy. Don't spend anymore money on renewable energy. Start building more nuclear power plants, after removing the moratorium.

Is this issue important to you?

Not at all  Somewhat  Very

Do you favor privatizing Social Security to any degree?

No. We should make sure the money that is allotted for Social Security stays in Social Security.
No. Oppose reckless privatization proposals that would jeopardize the solvency of Social Security. Instead, support tax incentives to help American workers create retirement accounts which they can invest to supplement and not replace Social Security.
Yes.

Is this issue important to you?

Not at all  Somewhat  Very

Would you further regulate, or undo the new regulations on the U.S. financial system?

Support regulation that protects consumer and holds Wall Street accountable without strangling the economy with red tape. Oppose bailouts and the "too big to fail" mantra.
Neither. Support the recently passed Wall Street reform legislation, as it was imperative to have this financial regulatory legislation enacted to ensure that our nation does not experience another collapse of financial markets.
Get the government out of the home loan and student loan business.

Is this issue important to you?

Not at all  Somewhat  Very

Should the U.S. stick to the plan to withdraw troops from Afghanistan by July 2011?

Yes.
No. Support a more rapid withdrawal schedule and oppose President Obama's plan for a surge in troop levels.
No, the military leaders on the ground should make that decision.

Is this issue important to you?

Not at all  Somewhat  Very

Would you continue the 45-cent-a-gallon tax credit to gasoline refiners that make a blend of as much as 10 percent ethanol? The credit is set to expire December 31, and has added more than $4.7 billion to the federal deficit in the last year, but the ethanol industry says expiration could lead to higher prices at the pump.

No.
Yes. Support continued federal support for ethanol as an important component of a national energy policy to produce more clean energy from domestic sources.
Undecided.

Is this issue important to you?

Not at all  Somewhat  Very

Do you support federal direct payments to farmers?

Yes.
No.

Is this issue important to you?

Not at all  Somewhat  Very

Do you support the proposed Northern Lights train line from Duluth to Minneapolis?

Yes, but no public money should be spent on it.
Yes.
No.

Is this issue important to you?

Not at all  Somewhat  Very

Should the U.S. or Minnesota Constitutions be amended to define marriage as between one man and one woman?

No, neither should be modified.

Is this issue important to you?

Not at all  Somewhat  Very

Should the federal government's environmental protection efforts be reformed? If so, how?

Yes. Support common sense regulations that protect the environment, but they should not be written or enforced in a way that places unnecessary burdens on on job creators and prevents people from working and earning a paycheck.
Yes. Introduce legislation to restore the proper jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act, which was taken away by two U.S. Supreme Court decisions.
End outdated and unnecessary environmental protection departments.

Is this issue important to you?

Not at all  Somewhat  Very

Where do you stand on legalized abortion?

Abortion should be illegal.
It should be legal only to protect the life of the mother and in cases of rape and incest.
Abortion is a sad end to a tender life. It also should not be used as a political football.

Is this issue important to you?

Not at all  Somewhat  Very
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