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Former Member, Congressional Internet Caucus
Former Member, Congressional Task Force Against Anti-Semitism
Former Chair, House Republican Conference
Former Member, Tea Party Caucus
Chair, House Republican Study Committee, 2005-2007
Former Member, Congressional Internet Caucus
Former Member, Congressional Task Force Against Anti-Semitism
Former Chair, House Republican Conference
Former Member, Tea Party Caucus
Chair, House Republican Study Committee, 2005-2007
Astrological Sign:
Gemini
Date of Wedding Anniversary:
1985
Favorite Book:
Holy Bible (NIV), Basic Christianity - John R. W. Stott,
Favorite Movie:
Wizard of Oz is the greatest movie of all time (no further discussion). Runner ups include: Hoosiers, High Noon, Rudy, Star Wars, Master and Commander, Raiders of the Lost Arc, Kingdom of Heaven, E.T., 3:10 To Yuma, Facing the Giants, Finding Nemo, Amazing Grace, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Favorite Musician:
Contemporary Christian, Country, Classical, and anything by Earth Wind and Fire.
Favorite Quote:
Genesis 18:19 (New International Version) "For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him."
Favorite TV Shows:
Andy Griffith Show, Dick Van Dyke Show, Seinfeld, The Office, 24
Hobbies or Special Talents:
Horseback Riding, Walking and Jogging, Playing Golf
Spouse's Occupation:
School teacher, artist, small business owner
1. Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation?
- Pro-life
1. In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket?
- No
2. Do you support expanding federal funding to support entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare?
- Unknown Position
Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions?
- Unknown Position
1. Do you support the protection of government officials, including law enforcement officers, from personal liability in civil lawsuits concerning alleged misconduct?
- Unknown Position
Do you support increasing defense spending?
- Yes
1. Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth?
- Yes
2. Do you support lowering corporate taxes as a means of promoting economic growth?
- Yes
3. Do you support providing financial relief to businesses AND/OR corporations negatively impacted by the state of national emergency for COVID-19?
- Yes
1. Do you support requiring states to adopt federal education standards?
- No
1. Do you support government funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, geo-thermal)?
- Unknown Position
2. Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions?
- No
Do you generally support gun-control legislation?
- No
1. Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")?
- Yes
2. Do you support requiring businesses to provide paid medical leave during public health crises, such as COVID-19?
- Yes
1. Do you support the construction of a wall along the Mexican border?
- Yes
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
1. Should the United States use military force to prevent governments hostile to the U.S. from possessing a weapon of mass destruction (for example: nuclear, biological, chemical)?
- Unknown Position
2. Do you support reducing military intervention in Middle East conflicts?
- Unknown Position
Do you generally support removing barriers to international trade (for example: tariffs, quotas, etc.)?
- Yes
1. Abortions should always be illegal.
- No Answer
2. Abortions should always be legal.
- No Answer
3. Abortions should be legal only within the first trimester.
- No Answer
4. Abortions should be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape.
- No Answer
5. Abortions should be legal when the life of the woman is endangered.
- X
6. Dilation and extraction or "partial-birth" abortion procedures should be legal.
- No Answer
7. Medicare, Medicaid, and federal subsidies should be prohibited from being used on abortion procedures.
- X
8. Other or expanded principles.
- No Answer
1. Agriculture
- Slightly Decrease
2. Arts
- Slightly Decrease
3. Defense
- Slightly Increase
4. Education
- Slightly Decrease
5. Environment
- Slightly Decrease
6. FEMA
- Maintain Status
7. Homeland security
- Slightly Increase
8. International aid
- Slightly Decrease
9. Law enforcement (Federal)
- Slightly Increase
10. Law enforcement (State)
- Slightly Increase
11. Medical research
- Maintain Status
12. National parks
- Slightly Decrease
13. Public health services
- Maintain Status
14. Scientific research
- Slightly Decrease
15. Space exploration programs
- Maintain Status
16. Transportation and highway infrastructure
- Slightly Decrease
17. United Nations
- Greatly Decrease
18. Welfare
- Slightly Decrease
19. Other or expanded categories
- No Answer
20. Armed forces personnel training
- Slightly Increase
21. Intelligence operations
- Greatly Increase
22. Military hardware
- Slightly Increase
23. Modernization of weaponry and equipment
- Slightly Increase
24. National missile defense
- Greatly Increase
25. Pay for active duty personnel
- Slightly Increase
26. Programs to improve troop retention rates
- Slightly Increase
27. Research and development of new weapons
- Slightly Increase
28. Troop and equipment readiness
- Greatly Increase
29. Less than $12,000
- Slightly Decrease
30. $12,001-$40,000
- Slightly Decrease
31. $40,001-$100,000
- Slightly Decrease
32. $100,001-$180,000
- Slightly Decrease
33. $180,001-$350,000
- Slightly Decrease
34. $350,001 and above
- Slightly Decrease
35. Alcohol taxes
- Slightly Decrease
36. Capital gains taxes
- Greatly Decrease
37. Cigarette taxes
- Slightly Decrease
38. Corporate taxes
- Slightly Decrease
39. Gasoline taxes
- Slightly Decrease
40. Inheritance taxes
- Greatly Decrease
41. Charitable contribution deduction
- Slightly Increase
42. Child tax credit
- Slightly Increase
43. Earned income tax credit
- Slightly Increase
44. Medical expense deduction
- Slightly Increase
45. Mortgage deduction
- Slightly Increase
46. Student loan credit
- Slightly Increase
47. Do you support the permanent repeal of the federal estate tax?
- Yes
48. Do you support requiring the federal budget to be balanced each year?
- Yes
1. Support increasing the amount individuals are permitted to contribute to federal campaigns.
- No Answer
2. Prohibit Political Action Committee (PAC) contributions to candidates for federal office.
- No Answer
3. Allow unregulated soft money campaign contributions to political parties or committees.
- No Answer
4. Remove all contribution limits on federal campaigns and parties.
- No Answer
5. Support prohibiting ads containing candidates' name that are paid for by third parties from airing 60 days before a primary and 30 days before a general federal election.
- No Answer
6. Support instant run-off voting (IRV).
- No Answer
7. Support designating Election Day as a national holiday.
- No Answer
8. Support giving the President the power of the line item veto for items concerning appropriations.
- No Answer
9. Support limiting the President's use of signing statements in order to prevent an alternative interpretation of the bill.
- No Answer
10. Support a federal shield law to protect reporter-source privilege.
- No Answer
11. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Support the use of the death penalty for federal crimes.
- X
2. Eliminate the use of the death penalty for federal crimes.
- No Answer
3. Support programs to provide prison inmates with vocational and job-related skills and job-placement assistance when released.
- X
4. Support programs to provide prison inmates with drug and alcohol addiction treatment.
- X
5. Reduce prison sentences for those who commit non-violent crimes.
- No Answer
6. Support mandatory jail sentences for selling illegal drugs.
- X
7. Support strict penalties for internet crime (e.g. hacking, identity theft, worms/viruses).
- X
8. Require that crimes based on sexual orientation be prosecuted as federal hate crimes.
- No Answer
9. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Support the federal government funding universal pre-K programs.
- No Answer
2. Allow parents to use vouchers to send their children to any public school.
- X
3. Allow parents to use vouchers to send their children to any private or religious school.
- X
4. Allow teachers and professionals to receive federal funding to establish charter or magnet schools.
- X
5. Increase funding for the Pell Grant program.
- X
6. Decrease interest rates of Stafford Loans.
- X
7. Support federal tax incentives to help families save for college.
- X
8. Ban university financial aid officers from owning stock in or accepting gifts from student loan lenders.
- No Answer
9. Require universities to disclose financial relationships with lenders.
- X
10. Support federal education standards and testing requirements for K-12 students (No Child Left Behind).
- No Answer
11. Eliminate all federal education standards and testing requirements for K-12 students (No Child Left Behind).
- X
12. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Increase funding for national job-training programs that retrain displaced workers or teach skills needed in today?s job market.
- No Answer
2. Reduce government regulation of the private sector.
- X
3. Encourage employers to offer child care services, flex-time scheduling, comp-time, and unpaid leave for family emergencies.
- No Answer
4. Increase the federal minimum wage.
- No Answer
5. Support the right of workers to unionize.
- No Answer
6. Eliminate all federal programs designed to reduce unemployment.
- No Answer
7. Include sexual orientation in federal anti-discrimination laws.
- No Answer
8. Include gender identity in federal anti-discrimination laws.
- No Answer
9. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Strengthen the regulation and enforcement of the Clean Water Act.
- No Answer
2. Strengthen the regulation and enforcement of the Clean Air Act.
- No Answer
3. Support increased development of traditional energy resources (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil).
- X
4. Strengthen emission controls on all gasoline and diesel-powered engines, including cars, trucks, and sport utility vehicles.
- No Answer
5. Strengthen fuel efficiency standards on all gasoline and diesel-powered engines, including cars, trucks, and sport utility vehicles.
- X
6. Support domestic oil exploration in areas that are currently restricted.
- X
7. Encourage further development and use of alternative fuels.
- X
8. Support the use of ethanol as an alternative fuel.
- X
9. Support research and development of nuclear reactors as an alternative energy source.
- X
10. Allow energy producers to trade pollution credits under "cap and trade" laws.
- No Answer
11. Support international mandatory emission targets to limit global warming.
- No Answer
12. Support international voluntary emission targets to limit global warming.
- No Answer
13. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Allow individuals to carry concealed guns.
- X
2. Ban the sale, ownership or possession of handguns except by law enforcement and other government officials.
- No Answer
3. Enforcement of existing restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns.
- Maintain Status
4. Restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns.
- Maintain Status
5. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Implement a universal healthcare program to guarantee coverage to all Americans, regardless of income.
- No Answer
2. Expand eligibility for tax-free medical savings accounts.
- X
3. Allow the importation of prescription drugs into the United States.
- No Answer
4. Support expanding prescription drug coverage under Medicare.
- No Answer
5. Offer tax credits to individuals and small businesses to offset the cost of insurance coverage.
- X
6. Support expanding child healthcare programs.
- No Answer
7. Providing healthcare is not a responsibility of the federal government.
- No Answer
8. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Decrease the number of legal immigrants allowed into the country.
- No Answer
2. Establish English as the official national language.
- X
3. Support a temporary worker program.
- X
4. Support harsher financial punishments for those who knowingly employ illegal immigrants.
- X
5. Support amnesty for illegal immigrants already working in the United States.
- No Answer
6. Illegal immigrants should have to return to their countries of origin before being considered for citizenship.
- X
7. Illegal immigrants should be given a pathway to citizenship.
- No Answer
8. Support merit-based visas over family-based visas.
- No Answer
9. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Support the United States granting aid to countries when extraordinary circumstances cause disaster and threaten civilian lives.
- X
2. Support the United States granting aid to countries when it is in the security interests of the United States.
- X
3. Eliminate United States aid for any nation with documented human rights abuses.
- No Answer
4. Aid granted by the United States should be scaled back and eventually eliminated.
- No Answer
5. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
6. Should the United States continue to provide leadership in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process?
- Yes
7. Should the United States support the creation of a Palestinian state?
- No
8. Should the United States impose greater international sanctions on Iran if it continues to defy United Nations mandates?
- Yes
9. Should the United States support the Lebanese government against insurgent forces?
- Yes
10. Should the United States maintain its troop levels in Iraq?
- No
11. Should the United States withdraw its troops from Iraq?
- No
12. Should the United States apply greater economic and diplomatic sanctions against North Korea if it fails to abide by its agreement to suspend its nuclear program?
- Yes
13. Should the United States increase financial support for Afghanistan?
- Yes
14. Should the United States increase military support for Afghanistan?
- Yes
15. Should the United States trade nuclear fuel to India for civilian purposes?
- No Answer
16. Should the United States decrease financial support for Pakistan?
- No Answer
17. Should the United States decrease military support for Pakistan?
- No Answer
18. Should the United States be involved in bringing an end to the violence in Darfur, Sudan?
- Yes
19. Should the United States be involved in bringing an end to the violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo?
- Yes
20. Should the United States provide economic and military support to the Transitional Government of Somalia?
- No Answer
21. Should the United States use sanctions to encourage the government of Zimbabwe to end its human rights abuses?
- Yes
22. Should the United States support the creation of an independent nation of Kosovo?
- No Answer
23. Do you support the United States imposing economic sanctions on China?
- No Answer
24. Do you support the United States imposing trade sanctions on Venezuela?
- No Answer
25. Do you support the United States involvement in free trade agreements?
- Yes
26. Do you support the United States involvement in intergovernmental organizations dedicated to trade?
- Yes
1. Do you support using military tribunals to try suspected terrorists when ordinary civilian courts are deemed inappropriate or impractical?
- Yes
2. Should law enforcement agencies have greater discretion to monitor domestic communications, to prevent future terrorist attacks?
- Undecided
3. Should the United States hold foreign states accountable for terrorists who operate in their country?
- Yes
4. Should the federal government increase funding to states and cities for homeland security?
- Yes
5. Do you support pre-emptive military strikes against countries deemed to be a threat to United States national security?
- Undecided
6. Do you support the creation of a federal identification card system?
- No
7. Do you support long-term use of National Guard troops to supplement the armed forces in assignments overseas?
- Yes
8. Should the United States expand its missile defense shield?
- Yes
1. Should same-sex couples be allowed to marry?
- No
2. Do you support a federal constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman?
- Yes
3. Do you support federal funding for research on existing embryonic stem cell lines?
- No
4. Do you support federal funding to create lines of stem cells from new embryos?
- No
5. Should the federal government consider race and gender in government contracting decisions?
- No
6. Should the federal government continue affirmative action programs?
- No Answer
7. Should the federal government regulate internet gambling?
- No Answer
8. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Allow workers to invest a portion of their payroll tax in private accounts that they manage themselves.
- X
2. Ensure the viability of Social Security by increasing the payroll tax.
- No Answer
3. Decrease benefits paid to retirees.
- No Answer
4. Support proportional increases of Social Security benefits based on the cost of living index.
- X
5. Raise the retirement age for individual eligibility to receive full Social Security benefits.
- No Answer
6. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Require welfare recipients to spend at least 40 hours a week in a combination of work and training programs.
- No Answer
2. Continue to give states and local governments flexibility in and responsibility for welfare programs through federal block grants.
- X
3. Support housing assistance for welfare recipients.
- No Answer
4. Abolish all federal welfare programs.
- No Answer
5. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
Please explain in a total of 100 words or less, your top two or three priorities if elected. If they require additional funding for implementation, please explain how you would obtain this funding.
- No Answer
The details were too horrific to ignore. At least, for some. Authorities were called to the Illinois home of the late Indiana abortionist Ulrich “George” Klopfer on Friday evening. There, according to the local sheriff's department, law enforcement discovered more than 2,000 fetal remains. Each was medically preserved. The coroner took charge of the evidence. The Will County Sheriff’s Office released a statement noting the discovery. National and local press ran the gruesome story. In the aftermath, however, the leader of one of the cities where Klopfer performed thousands of abortions -- who also happens to be running for president -- has not said a word. Emails and calls to South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s campaign have gone unanswered since Saturday. When RealClearPolitics contacted the municipal office of the mayor on Monday, an aide directed RCP back to the campaign where even more requests for comment received no response. Not all Indiana lawmakers were so tight-lipped. Rep. Jackie Walorski first demanded a federal investigation as soon as news of the discovery broke Saturday morning. “There could be Indiana aborted babies in those jars in this guy’s house,” the Republican who represents South Bend told RCP. “This is sick." Rep. Jim Banks, whose district includes Fort Wayne -- where the abortionist also operated -- joined the push for an investigation. “We need to determine how Dr. Klopfer was able to get away with this for so long,” he told RCP, “and how we only know about it now that Dr. Klopfer is deceased.” That call rippled through the Indiana congressional delegation with both Sens. Todd Young and Mike Braun getting on board. And by late Monday evening, as RealClearPolitics was first to report, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb had turned to federal authorities for help. “I am deeply disturbed that more than 2,000 fetal remains were found at the Illinois home of a deceased former northern Indiana abortion doctor,” the Republican governor wrote. “I support calls for a federal investigation.” Eventually, word reached the White House. After meeting with Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa on Monday and after monitoring the attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities over the weekend, Mike Pence turned his attention back to Indiana. In a tweet, he said the discovery is “appalling & should shock the conscience of every American. While I was Governor of Indiana we took [Klopfer’s] medical license away & passed a law requiring fetal remains be treated with dignity.” The White House echoed that sentiment, confirming to RealClearPolitics that the administration will call for a full federal investigation. Deputy Communications Director Judd Deere said in a statement that the White House was “horrified” and compared the gruesome discovery “to the atrocities of Dr. Kermit Gosnell” – who was convicted in 2013 of murdering three infants that were born alive during attempted abortions. “Murdering thousands of innocent babies is one thing, but preserving and hoarding their bodies like trophies is a new level of sickness,” Deere said. “The radical left now defends late-term abortions, including infanticide, while President Trump protects our most innocent and vulnerable, and defends the dignity of life. A full investigation is needed to determine whether crimes were committed and if anyone else was involved.” But Buttigieg has remained silent. While the mayor has previously left the campaign trail to address crises in his city, he spent Monday in South Carolina opening a new campaign headquarters. Klopfer, who died Sept. 3, was the most prolific abortionist in Indiana, performing the procedure throughout the state for decades until the Indiana Medical Licensing Board stripped him of his operating license in 2016. He was cited for failing to exercise reasonable care by withholding pain medication from some women. By his own admission, he also violated several notice and documentation requirements. Klopfer once performed an abortion for a 10-year-old Illinois girl who had been raped by her uncle. The parents of the girl knew about the sexual assault. They chose not to prosecute. The abortionist never called the police. Only in death has Klopfer escaped further legal trouble. Indiana law requires burial or cremation of fetal remains following abortions. It was signed by Pence in 2016 and upheld by the Supreme Court in 2019. All of this is an argument for increased government regulation, argue local and national anti-abortion groups. But Buttigieg has been more laissez fair on this issue. When the Indiana State Department of Health denied Whole Woman's Health of South Bend a license, citing a lack “of reputable and responsible character” and a failure to disclose “information related to additional clinics,” Buttigieg rallied to the facility’s cause. “The mayor is deeply concerned by what he views as a new and extreme assault on Roe v. Wade in legislatures across the country,” Buttigieg spokesman Chris Meagher told the Chicago Tribune in August. “He believes that the truly radical idea in this debate and around abortion care is one of banning abortion outright.” With the support of the mayor and a court injunction, the clinic was allowed to open and operate without a license. According to Buttigieg, the facility was critical needed hub for women, especially those of low income. According to Texas officials, however, the abortion franchise that operates in several states was a public health risk. Medical inspectors in the Lone Star State reported dozens of health and safety violations at Whole Woman’s Health clinics in Austin, Beaumont and McAllen, including failing to keep a registered nurse on staff and inadequately sterilizing equipment. While the Trump campaign declined to speak to the specifics of the Klopfer case, Buttigieg might not escape criticism for long. The abortionist operated in his city, and Buttigieg has opposed increased regulation of the industry. Most recently, he pointed to Scripture to say that there are “a lot of parts of the Bible that talk about how life begins with breath.” Pence and the administration take issue with that interpretation. And for good political reason: Trump solidified the evangelical vote in 2016 by embracing an anti-abortion stance on the debate stage, accusing then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton supporting late-term procedures. “Based on what she is saying and based on where she's going and where she's been, you can take a baby and rip the baby out of the womb,” Trump said. “In the ninth month, on the final day and that's not acceptable.” Trump echoed that message in his last State of the Union address, and his campaign is fond of telling his supporters that this administration is the most “pro-life” in history. Should Buttigieg find himself on stage across from Trump, or across from Pence to compete for the vice presidency, the mayor will likely have to explain his opposition to abortion regulations and break his silence on the infamous abortionist who operated in his city for decades. Source: https://www.realclearpolitics.com/
As the coronavirus spreads across the United States, how extensively are the media covering it, what is it displacing and who are journalists turning to for authoritative information? Just a few months ago, the 2020 presidential race was becoming the story of the year, as seen in the “steamgraph” timeline below showing mentions of the Democratic candidates over the last three months on CNN, MSNBC and Fox News, using data processed by the GDELT Project from the Internet Archive’s Television News Archive. (Click to enlarge. A steamgraph is an area chart where the data series are stacked on top and below of each other around a central axis; positioning above/below is not meaningful -- only the relative height of each series.) Yet mentions of the race collapsed tenfold from March 11 to March 12 and again from March 18 to March 19 and have not recovered since. From a peak of almost 4,000 mentions on March 4, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden today accounts for just a few dozen mentions a day. In the race’s place, explicit mentions of the coronavirus by name have grown to account for at least 20% of the daily airtime on the three television channels, with CNN covering it the most from late February through March 12 and Fox News taking the lead since then, with MSNBC paying the least attention to the virus the last three months. (This counts only mentions of the words “coronavirus” and “COVID-19” and “virus” and so likely dramatically undercounts total airtime that focuses on the virus’ impact without mentioning those terms specifically.) Globally, as much as half of worldwide online news coverage monitored by GDELT in the past week has mentioned the virus in some way, capturing the sheer scale of its impact on everything from sports and leisure to technology and the economy. Mentions of racist attacks against Asians, Italians and others from global virus hotspots have surged, accounting for as much as 1.2% of global news coverage, using the keywords “racist OR racism OR discrimination OR discriminate OR racial OR stereotypes OR xenophobia OR hate” alongside “Coronavirus OR COVID-19 OR virus.” Who speaks for the U.S. government in this time of crisis? Despite his historic sway over the media since June 2015, President Trump has largely taken a back seat of late. In his place, other government leaders and experts including Alex Azar, Anthony Fauci, Deborah Birx and coronavirus czar Mike Pence have become the pandemic spokespersons on television news, as seen in the timeline below. Pence was the initial go-to media sound bite, along with Azar (the mentions of Pence in January relate to Zelensky 2019 inauguration-related reports), but he quickly receded, replaced by Fauci and, increasingly, Birx. Fauci’s star has risen as his public statements on the virus have changed. On Jan. 13 he reassured the nation that the new virus did not readily transmit between people and that it was not spreading internationally, as did SARS. A month later he again dismissed the virus’ domestic impact, offering that its danger to the American public was “just minuscule” and that people should instead focus on the “real and present danger” of the flu. As his rhetoric shifted over the following days from minimizing the virus’ impact to warning of enormous disruptions to American life, he became a fixture of television news programming, reaching almost half as many mentions as the president himself over the past week. Putting this all together, as the coronavirus pandemic has become the story of the year, it has displaced the presidential race and stripped Trump of some of his media luster. Meanwhile, the same experts who just weeks ago cautioned the nation against worrying about a disease with a “minuscule” risk of spreading now find themselves the newfound, and heroically portrayed, focal points of the media.Source: https://www.realclearpolitics.com/
