31
Oct
2000
What are the three most pressing issues likely to face your government body during your term, and what specifically would you support to address them?
Madden: Eliminate any spending, programs, and agencies not authorized by the Constitution.
Restore respect for the Bill of Rights - all our rights.
Increase freedom of individuals.
Differentiate yourself from your opponent(s) on three issues you think are important that you also expect your governmental body to consider during your term.
Madden: I will leave people alone to make their own decisions, be responsible for themselves, keep their own money, and recognize that their lives belong to them.
List three specific programs or projects for which you would support increasing funding, even if it required reducing funding to other programs or projects.
Madden: None. The purpose of government is to defend our rights from criminals and enemies, not to take money from one group of people and give it to another group.
List three specific programs or projects for which you would support decreasing funding, regardless of whether the budget required it.
Madden: Let people keep their own money and decide for themselves how to spend it. Their money should not go to programs they do not support. Voluntary actions only, not force, are how a just society operates.
If it were clear that a large majority of people in your district opposed a proposal that you strongly favored, what decision would you make and how would you justify it to your constituents?
Madden: I would base decisions on the enumerated powers of Congress detailed in the Constitution and whether a proposal violates individual rights. We are a republic, not a pure democracy.
What specific proposals would you support to bring genuine economic growth - new jobs that pay well, companies committed to the community - to the Quad Cities?
Madden: Cut taxes and regulations, and allow the experts - businesspeople and individuals - to create wealth. Government can only make matters worse when it intervenes.
List specific proposals that would improve cooperation and reduce competition among government bodies in the Quad City area.
Madden: If it's a local body, Congress has no authority to interfere. If it involves a federal agency, I would need to know precisely which agency and what the problem is.
List any specific proposals you would support to improve the integrity of your legislative body, including in the areas of campaign-finance reform, lobbying reform, sunshine laws, and ethics legislation.
Madden: Reducing the authority of Congress to proper levels will reduce lobbying; lobbyists can't "buy" what Congress does not control. Full disclosure of funds received. All laws should be sunset every five years.
List and justify your top five legislative priorities.
Madden: I can't fully do so in 50 words. Overall, reduce government to proper boundaries; cut spending to match that level then cut taxes; defend the Bill of Rights; get government out of our private lives (education, health care, retirement income, self-defense, drugs); and protect private property.
In the wake of welfare reform, what specific initiatives would you support to address poverty, including in the areas of affordable housing; transportation; education and job-training; and access to health and child care?
Madden: Let people keep their own money and set their own priorities. Remove burdens like licensing, taxes, and regulations. Your property does not belong to me nor mine belong to you.
Increase freedom of individuals.
Differentiate yourself from your opponent(s) on three issues you think are important that you also expect your governmental body to consider during your term.
Madden: I will leave people alone to make their own decisions, be responsible for themselves, keep their own money, and recognize that their lives belong to them.
List three specific programs or projects for which you would support increasing funding, even if it required reducing funding to other programs or projects.
Madden: None. The purpose of government is to defend our rights from criminals and enemies, not to take money from one group of people and give it to another group.
List three specific programs or projects for which you would support decreasing funding, regardless of whether the budget required it.
Madden: Let people keep their own money and decide for themselves how to spend it. Their money should not go to programs they do not support. Voluntary actions only, not force, are how a just society operates.
If it were clear that a large majority of people in your district opposed a proposal that you strongly favored, what decision would you make and how would you justify it to your constituents?
Madden: I would base decisions on the enumerated powers of Congress detailed in the Constitution and whether a proposal violates individual rights. We are a republic, not a pure democracy.
What specific proposals would you support to bring genuine economic growth - new jobs that pay well, companies committed to the community - to the Quad Cities?
Madden: Cut taxes and regulations, and allow the experts - businesspeople and individuals - to create wealth. Government can only make matters worse when it intervenes.
List specific proposals that would improve cooperation and reduce competition among government bodies in the Quad City area.
Madden: If it's a local body, Congress has no authority to interfere. If it involves a federal agency, I would need to know precisely which agency and what the problem is.
List any specific proposals you would support to improve the integrity of your legislative body, including in the areas of campaign-finance reform, lobbying reform, sunshine laws, and ethics legislation.
Madden: Reducing the authority of Congress to proper levels will reduce lobbying; lobbyists can't "buy" what Congress does not control. Full disclosure of funds received. All laws should be sunset every five years.
List and justify your top five legislative priorities.
Madden: I can't fully do so in 50 words. Overall, reduce government to proper boundaries; cut spending to match that level then cut taxes; defend the Bill of Rights; get government out of our private lives (education, health care, retirement income, self-defense, drugs); and protect private property.
In the wake of welfare reform, what specific initiatives would you support to address poverty, including in the areas of affordable housing; transportation; education and job-training; and access to health and child care?
Madden: Let people keep their own money and set their own priorities. Remove burdens like licensing, taxes, and regulations. Your property does not belong to me nor mine belong to you.
