| OnTheIssues.org excerpts: (click on issues for details)
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Abortion
Tom Smith: Pro-life, period, but not for rape.
Tom Smith: No abortion under all circumstances, including rape & incest.
Marc Scaringi: Pro-life.
Tom Ridge: Allow abortions, with limits; no partial-birth.
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Budget & Economy
Tom Smith: Stagnant economy due to over-regulation & complex taxes.
Marc Scaringi: We need a balanced budget amendment.
Joe Sestak: Auto & bank bailouts were to clean up Bush's mess.
Pat Toomey: We can't borrow and spend our way to prosperity.
Joe Sestak: Deregulation of banks led to the economic meltdown.
Pat Toomey: Real threat to economy is billions on bailouts.
Pat Toomey: Strengthen economy via lower taxes & less spending.
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Civil Rights
Bob Casey: Right ongoing wrongs in college admissions.
Tom Smith: Equal pay for equal work.
Barack Obama: Apply affirmative action to poor white college applicants.
Ed Rendell: Recognize civil unions.
Ed Rendell: Affirmative action in state contracts and colleges.
Arlen Specter: Oppose gay marriage but support civil union.
Betsy Summers: Support gay marriage.
Jim Clymer: Oppose gay marriage and also oppose civil union.
Joseph Hoeffel: Oppose gay marriage but support civil union.
Tom Ridge: Opposes Affirmative Action.
Tom Ridge: No special gay laws; no gay marriage.
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Corporations
Tom Smith: Compliance with regulations is strangling business.
Steve Welch: Current tax code punishes small businesses while GE pays 0%.
Joe Sestak: The plaque says 'We the People,' not 'We the Corporations'.
Hillary Clinton: Take back $55B in Bush’s industry give-aways.
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Crime
Arlen Specter: Toughen sentences for career criminals.
Ed Rendell: Supports the death penalty.
Ed Rendell: End parole for repeat violent offenders.
Tom Ridge: More prisons; more death penalty.
Tom Ridge: Stricter penalties; less parole.
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Drugs
Ed Rendell: Strengthen penalties for drug-related crimes.
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Education
Tom Smith: Get rid of the Department of Education.
Hillary Clinton: End predatory student college loan rates over 20%.
Joseph Hoeffel: Voted to increase funding for No Child Left Behind 4 times.
Tom Ridge: Teacher-led voluntary prayer is OK.
Tom Ridge: State-wide student testing; teacher re-certification.
Tom Ridge: Vouchers for private & religious schools.
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Energy & Oil
Tom Smith: Fossil fuels are key to reasonable energy prices.
Tom Smith: Former coal company executive; ease up on coal mining.
Marc Scaringi: Make Pennsylvania energy independent via Marcellus Shale.
Joe Sestak: Offshore drilling moratorium; oversight of Marcellus Shale.
Joe Sestak: Championed cap-and-trade; market forces to reduce emissions.
Joe Sestak: Global warming is principally man-made; regulate CO2.
Pat Toomey: We need oil from deep water wells despite the Gulf spill.
Pat Toomey: Increase domestic supply instead of cap-and-trade.
Pat Toomey: Global warming exists, but not necessarily due to humans.
Barack Obama: Raise fuel efficiency standards to reduce long-term demand.
Hillary Clinton: Investigate gas price manipulation; add windfall profits tax.
Ed Rendell: Promote alternative fuels & also traditional domestic fuels.
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Environment
Marc Scaringi: Our children will inherit debt from Cash for Clunkers.
Sam Rohrer: Eliminate Department of Energy; scale back EPA.
Tom Ridge: Let industries audit themselves & then clean up.
Tom Ridge: More flexibility in environmental regulation.
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Foreign Policy
Joe Sestak: China is a threat by holding so much of our reserves.
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Free Trade
Joe Sestak: Tax companies who fire US workers & import goods from China.
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Government Reform
Steve Welch: Term limits instead of a road to riches.
Ed Rendell: Limit campaign contributions but not campaign spending.
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Gun Control
Marc Scaringi: Pro-second amendment.
Joe Sestak: Extend the ban on assault weapons.
Barack Obama: Ok for states & cities to determine local gun laws.
Hillary Clinton: Balance lawful gun ownership & keeping guns from criminals.
Hillary Clinton: Give local police access to federal gun tracking info.
Hillary Clinton: Let states & cities determine local gun laws.
Ed Rendell: Strengthen existing gun laws; add background checks.
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Health Care
Bob Casey: Shift $700B from Medicare to ObamaCare, but no senior funds.
Marc Scaringi: ObamaCare is profoundly unconstitutional.
Steve Welch: Lunacy that consumers don't know real prices.
Sam Rohrer: ObamaCare is big government mentality.
Joe Sestak: Ban denying coverage due to pre-existing conditions.
Pat Toomey: Allow purchasing insurance across state lines.
Joseph Hoeffel: Voted against a sweet deal for pharmaceutical companies.
Tom Ridge: Guaranteed medical care is not a government responsibility.
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Homeland Security
Pat Toomey: Economic viability is most important national security issue.
Joe Sestak: 2005 Navy reassignment: personnel change or morale issue?
Bob Casey: Keep the wiretaps and keep the intelligence programs.
Rick Santorum: War against Islamic fascism will be won or lost in America.
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Immigration
Marc Scaringi: Secure America's borders.
Steve Welch: Secure America's borders.
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Jobs
Sam Rohrer: Washington does not create jobs; but it can destroy jobs.
Marc Scaringi: Lack of right-to-work harms the people of Pennsylvania.
Steve Welch: National right-to-work make us globally competitive.
Pat Toomey: Taxes & spending have a chilling effect on creating jobs.
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Local Issues
Ed Rendell: Use casino tax to reduce homeowners’ property taxes.
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Principles & Values
Bob Casey: Optimistic there will be debates; but won't say so on record.
Tom Smith: Optimistic there will be a debate; but nothing finalized.
Bob Casey: Declined to respond to League of Women Voters questionnaire.
Tom Smith: Declined to respond to League of Women Voters questionnaire.
Steve Welch: Voted Democratic in 2008; but renounced support of Obama.
Tom Smith: Elected as Democrat as township supervisor for decades.
Steve Welch: Switched party from Democrat to GOP in 2005.
Joe Sestak: TV ad: Toomey's record is same as Sen. Rick Santorum's.
Pat Toomey: TV ad: Sestak served well in Navy; but not on Congress.
Arlen Specter: In 28 years in GOP, stood with Dems on their top priorities.
Barack Obama: In hard times, people take refuge in traditions, God & guns.
Barack Obama: I am a person of faith; and I reach out to people of faith.
Barack Obama: Blacks are angry; but I dissociate myself from Rev. Wright.
Barack Obama: I revere the American flag; I don’t refuse to wear flag pins.
Hillary Clinton: Faith is not just something to cling to in hard times.
Hillary Clinton: Visited Bosnian war zone, but mistake to call it sniper fire.
Bob Casey: We need an independent voice; not a rubber stamp for Bush.
Rick Santorum: I agree with Bush 98% of the time, but I say when I don’t.
Betsy Summers: Specter and Hoeffel are both big-government candidates.
Jim Clymer: Both major parties are liberal on the major issues.
Arlen Specter: I’m in the center in this campaign.
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Social Security
Bob Casey: Stop these crazy proposals to put benefits in stock market.
Tom Smith: Let Social Security payroll tax reduction expire in January.
Tom Smith: AdWatch: divert payroll tax into privately managed accounts.
Barack Obama: Raise $97K cap on payroll tax exempting earnings under $250K.
Barack Obama: Must capture new revenue; no new Social Security Commission.
Hillary Clinton: No lifting cap on payroll tax; that taxes middle class.
Hillary Clinton: Bipartisan commission, like in 1983, to address crisis.
Arlen Specter: Considered Social Security privatization but saw it unwise.
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Tax Reform
Tom Smith: Supports flat tax; remove loopholes but keep exemptions.
Sam Rohrer: High taxation comes from ignoring the Constitution.
Joe Sestak: No flat tax; focus on the working family, not Wall Street.
Barack Obama: No tax increase if earning under $250K; tax cuts under $75K.
Barack Obama: Raise capital gains tax for fairness, not for revenue.
Hillary Clinton: Absolutely no tax increase on people earning under $250K.
Hillary Clinton: Perhaps raise capital gains tax, but at most to 20%.
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War & Peace
Marc Scaringi: Proceed with caution with Iran; they have no nukes.
Sam Rohrer: Threats by Iran should not be taken lightly.
Steve Welch: Everything needs to on the table with Iran, but not publicly.
Arlen Specter: Unwise to ally with an untrustworthy Afghan President.
Joe Sestak: Put pressure on al-Qaida safe havens in neighboring Pakistan.
Barack Obama: President sets Iraq mission; give generals a new mission.
Barack Obama: Take no options off the table if Iran attacks Israel.
Hillary Clinton: Remove a brigade from Iraq every month, no matter what.
Hillary Clinton: Massive retaliation from US if Iran attacks Israel.
Bob Casey: Iraq: No deadline, no timeline, but replace Rumsfeld.
Bob Casey: Would have voted for Iraq War, but based on false evidence.
Bob Casey: No withdrawal deadline in Iraq; but we must change course.
Bob Casey: We need more Special Forces and better body armor.
Bob Casey: Sanctions against Iran, but in a tough and skilled way.
Rick Santorum: Iraq: We have a great game plan, and Rumsfeld does fine job.
Rick Santorum: War in Iraq is one front in war on Islamic fascism.
Rick Santorum: Iran is at the heart of the Iraq war.
Rick Santorum: Saddam had no new WMDs, but did have old WMDs.
Rick Santorum: Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11, but still a necessary war.
Rick Santorum: My Iraq plan, and my opponent’s plan, is same as Bush’s.
Rick Santorum: Needed exit strategy & objective in Kosovo, but not in Iraq.
Rick Santorum: Sanctions against Iran, despite Administration disagreement.
Betsy Summers: Get soldiers out of Iraq as quickly as possible.
Joseph Hoeffel: There was plenty of money for the troops in the pipeline.
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