Honest, Responsible, Accountable Government
I believe in accountable government, honest voting and real campaign finance reform.
Accountability
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I support —
- creation of a nonpartisan commission to investigate and document actions, intelligence, policies and decisions that led the Administration to seek, and the Congress to approve, the invasion and occupation of Iraq.
- a full, nonpartisan investigation of events that led to the failure to properly evacuate New Orleans and the Gulf South prior to Hurricane Katrina, and the subsequent failure to properly rescue or supply survivors of that storm.
- a nonpartisan investigation of government contract mismanagement during the Iraq Occupation, the Post-Katrina response and the War on Terror.
- continuing the 9-11 Commission or forming a new independent Commission to investigate the Administration's and Congress's response to 9-11, the “War on Terror,” and the formation of the Department of Homeland Security.
- creation of an Office of Public Integrity. The OPI will be an independent agency charged with overseeing congressional and senatorial financial disclosure statements and ethics rule compliance. Suspected violations will be referred to the Justice Department.
- disallowing any Congressional funding not completely and openly vetted in the committee process.
- reestablishing the Office of Science and Technology to report to Congress the results of unbiased research on questions vital to our wellbeing.
- full compliance with international treaties signed and ratified by the United States. The Constitution states, “. . . all Treaties made, or which shall be made . . . , shall be the supreme Law of the Land.”
Honest Voting: A Government of the People, elected by the People
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I support —
- federal legislation that amends the Help America Vote Act to create a standardized ballot, voting method, vote-counting procedure and permanent, auditable records for all elections that include federal office. Voting processes and ballots must be stored in paper form and be auditable by anyone who wishes to examine them.
- HR 550, championed by Congressman Dr. Rush Holt, mandating paper copies of all votes affected by the Help America Vote Act.
- mandated provisional voting for federal elections, allowing a seven-day period after an election for provisional ballots to be verified by the supervisors of elections.
- fifteen days of early voting for the entire nation, mandating and standardizing early voting procedures similar to those enjoyed in Florida.
- I will not support “sunsetting” the Help America Vote Act.
Real Campaign Finance Reform: A Government For the People, Not Just Special Interests
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I support —
- legislation creating responsible campaign finance reform.
- requiring any organization using the name of a candidate in any communication, negative or positive, to adhere to the same Federal Election Commission rules that apply to campaign committees. Americans deserve to know the identities of, and the facts about, those who try to influence an election.
- stopping corruption and limiting the influence of special interests by finding constitutional methods that would limit PAC contributions.
- creation of a Public Election Finance Committee. The states of Arizona, Maine, Connecticut, New Mexico, North Carolina and Vermont have proven that public financing works.
- legislation that will limit the amount of money a candidate's campaign committee can keep after an election. I propose that 85 percent of any federal candidate's unspent funds be donated to the Public Election Finance Committee to fund fact-finding and research for the development of Real Solutions for public finance.
