VoteMatch Responses (Click here for VoteMatch quiz)
VoteMatch Question & Answer (Click on question for explanation and background)	Based on these stances: (Click on topic for excerpt & citation)
Strongly Favors topic 1: Abortion is a woman's right (10 points on Social scale)	Individual freedom should apply to abortion decision: Strongly Favors topic 1 Abortion is none of the government's business: Strongly Favors topic 1 Partial birth abortion ok to protect the mother: Strongly Favors topic 1 Favors abortion rights: Favors topic 1
Strongly Favors topic 2: Require companies to hire more women & minorities (0 points on Economic scale)	Affirmative action counters built-in hiring biases: Strongly Favors topic 2 Reduce minority unemployment by investing in small business: Favors topic 2 Support principles embodied in the Equal Rights Amendment: Favors topic 2
Strongly Favors topic 3: Sexual orientation protected by civil rights laws (10 points on Social scale)	The Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional: Strongly Favors topic 3 Gays deserve equal rights under the law: Strongly Favors topic 3 Gay rights are a matter of principle: Strongly Favors topic 3 Supported civil unions for same-sex couples: Strongly Favors topic 3
Strongly Opposes topic 4: Teach family values in public schools (10 points on Social scale)	Don't let Congress dictate definitions of school prayer: Strongly Opposes topic 4
Strongly Favors topic 5: More federal funding for health coverage (0 points on Economic scale)	No single payer system, since it won't pass Congress: Opposes topic 5 Build senior Rx program on Vermont program: Favors topic 5 Subsidize health care for small businesses, not corporations: Favors topic 5 96.4% of Vermonters are covered; deliver that to America: Strongly Favors topic 5 Guarantee health ins. like other industrialized countries: Strongly Favors topic 5 Patient Bill of Rights is hot air: get people insured: Favors topic 5 Full access first, then tackle reform afterwards: Strongly Favors topic 5 Universal access for all Vermonters; insure the last 6%: Strongly Favors topic 5 Keep “community rating”: insure older people at same rates: Favors topic 5 Protect state tobacco settlement funds from federal seizure: Neutral on topic 5
Opposes topic 6: Privatize Social Security (2 points on Economic scale)	Reverse Bush tax cuts to shore up trust fund-don't privatize: Strongly Opposes topic 6 Maintain federal Social Services Block Grant funding: Favors topic 6 Maintain long-term solvency of Social Security and Medicare: Opposes topic 6
Strongly Opposes topic 7: Parents choose schools via vouchers (0 points on Social scale)	Vouchers undermine public education: Strongly Opposes topic 7 No diversion of taxpayer funds to private schools: Strongly Opposes topic 7 Under no circumstances abandon the public schools: Strongly Opposes topic 7 Apply VT's limited standards for failing schools, not GOP's: Opposes topic 7 Improve and invest in public schools: Opposes topic 7
Favors topic 8: Death Penalty (2 points on Social scale)	Death penalty for extreme and heinous crimes: Favors topic 8 Apply death penalty fairly & strengthen protections: Favors topic 8 Supports death penalty for terrorism: Favors topic 8 Replace overzealous capital crime trials with fair trials: Opposes topic 8 Re-evaluate and reform federal and state death penalty: Opposes topic 8
Opposes topic 9: Mandatory Three Strikes sentencing laws (7 points on Social scale)	Invest in social programs to avoid investing in prisons: Opposes topic 9 Supports flexible federal block grants for crime programs: Neutral on topic 9
Favors topic 10: Absolute right to gun ownership (7 points on Social scale)	Different states need different gun laws: Favors topic 10 Background checks for gun shows: Opposes topic 10 Endorsed by NRA eight times as VT governor: Strongly Favors topic 10 Supports assault weapons ban and Brady bill: Opposes topic 10 Get guns off the national radar screen: no new federal laws: Favors topic 10 No more federal gun laws; leave them to states: Favors topic 10
Strongly Opposes topic 11: Decrease overall taxation of the wealthy (0 points on Economic scale)	"Bush tax": income tax cuts cause tax rises elsewhere: Strongly Opposes topic 11 Repeal every penny of Bush tax cuts & balance budget: Strongly Opposes topic 11 Middle class received no benefit from Bush tax cut: Strongly Opposes topic 11 Repeal Bush's tax cuts and invest in social programs: Strongly Opposes topic 11 Bush tax cuts were hooey; don't trust GOP with our money: Opposes topic 11 No national sales tax or VAT: Neutral on topic 11
Strongly Favors topic 12: Illegal immigrants earn citizenship (10 points on Economic scale)	Earned legalization for undocumented immigrants: Favors topic 12 If immigrants work & pay taxes, give them citizenship: Strongly Favors topic 12 Poor treatment of Muslim immigrants is ethnic profiling: Strongly Favors topic 12 Concerned about immigrants dying in desert crossings: Favors topic 12 No automated entry-exit control system; allow free flow: Strongly Favors topic 12 Share costs of legal immigration between states & federal: Neutral on topic 12 Federal government should deal with criminal repatriation: Neutral on topic 12
Favors topic 13: Support & expand free trade (7 points on Economic scale)	We ought to change NAFTA-globalization only halfway done: Opposes topic 13 We've globalized corporations; now globalize worker rights: Favors topic 13 I support NAFTA & WTO-but they need revision: Favors topic 13 Free trade must include environmental standards: Opposes topic 13 Trade tariffs to enforce labor & enviro standards: Opposes topic 13 Free trade is in our long-term national security interest: Strongly Favors topic 13 Free trade must equal fair trade: Opposes topic 13 Develop an open North American energy market: Favors topic 13 Foster globalization with New England & Eastern Canada: Favors topic 13
No opinion on topic 14: The Patriot Act harms civil liberties (5 points on Social scale)	(No votes on which to base response)
Favors topic 15: More spending on armed forces (2 points on Economic scale)	Redirect military spending rather than reduce defense budget: Opposes topic 15 Focus Pentagon budget on military personnel's needs: Strongly Favors topic 15
No opinion on topic 16: Stricter limits on political campaign funds (5 points on Economic scale)	First Democrat to opt out of campaign finance system: Opposes topic 16 Opts out of campaign finance system: Opposes topic 16 Our campaign IS campaign finance reform: Strongly Favors topic 16
Strongly Favors topic 17: Replace US troops with UN in Iraq (0 points on Economic scale)	Day 1: Visit international allies to undo damage: Strongly Favors topic 17 Repair relations with world by ending Bush arrogance: Strongly Favors topic 17 Let the UN handle the Iraq situation: Favors topic 17 Restore US dignity in eyes of people around the world: Favors topic 17 Intertwine into alliances, to create international stability: Strongly Favors topic 17 Embrace nation-building over isolationism: Strongly Favors topic 17 Afghanistan requires more than military victory: Strongly Favors topic 17 Include states in anti-terrorism planning: Neutral on topic 17
Favors topic 18: Replace coal & oil with alternatives (2 points on Economic scale)	Global warming is most important enviro problem we face: Strongly Favors topic 18 Help developing countries reduce greenhouse gases: Strongly Favors topic 18 Our energy policy is one of our biggest security threats: Strongly Favors topic 18 No need to poison ourselves in order to have growth: Favors topic 18 Voluntary partnerships reduce greenhouse gases economically: Neutral on topic 18 Kyoto Treaty must include reductions by all countries: Opposes topic 18 Create Regional Emissions Registry for GHG trading: Favors topic 18
Opposes topic 19: Drug use is immoral: enforce laws against it (7 points on Social scale)	Treat drug abuse as a medical problem, not a judicial one: Strongly Opposes topic 19 Evaluate marijuana & legalize for valid medical purposes: Strongly Opposes topic 19 Hammer the dealers; treat the casual users: Strongly Opposes topic 19 More federal funding for all aspects of Drug War: Favors topic 19 Rated C- by VOTE-HEMP, indicating an anti-hemp voting record: Strongly Favors topic 19
Favors topic 20: Allow churches to provide welfare services (2 points on Social scale)	Churches may provide social services if no discrimination: Favors topic 20 Promote the next generation of welfare reform: Opposes topic 20 Maintain flexibility & funding levels for TANF block grants: Favors topic 20