George Allen on the Issues
George Allen is a Hard-Core Conservative.
I take issues with the strongly oppose rating he is given on Abortion is a woman’s right. IMO, his past votes agree more with libertarian values. He opposes partial birth abortions, he voted against funding to reduce teen pregnancy by education & contraceptives (any libertarian will vote no on funding increases), and Voted yes on criminal penalty for harming unborn fetus during other crime.
Not sure what’s up with the gun control issue. I can’t see someone voting both NO on banning lawsuits against gun manufacturers for gun violence, and YES on prohibiting lawsuits against gun manufacturers (unless your name is Kerry). Here is what his campaign site says for some clarification:
I will remain committed to protecting our Second Amendment rights, including that of law-abiding citizens to own firearms. In the Senate, I voted against renewal of the toothless, cosmetic “Assault Weapons Ban” because facts have demonstrated that it has not reduced crime, but became a platform for taking away additional gun rights with more imagery. In addition, I have co-sponsored legislation to repeal the unconstitutional D.C. gun ban and an additional bill to allow pilots in the cockpit to be armed for the defense of the aircraft and their passengers.
I can’t see anything wrong with that.
On the Iraq war:
In Iraq, I believe our troops have done a tremendous job helping Iraqis begin to build a free society in a country formerly ruled by an oppressive, terrorist-friendly dictatorship. The notion of immediately withdrawing our military from Iraq would be forfeiting to the terrorists and I disagree strongly with those who suggest that we should leave precipitously. Right now historic progress is taking place as the vast majority of the Iraqi people have taken part in free elections. I believe we must stand with our troops as they continue their difficult but vital mission to help the tree of liberty take root in Iraq. And I feel certain that when our Iraqi friends are able to stand up, our brave men and women in uniform will be able to stand down and come back home as genuine heroes with satisfaction.
While the libertarian viewpoint is opposed to initially starting the war in Iraq, the majority viewpoint seems to be that since we are now in there, we have to finish the job. That said however, there needs to be agreement on what the JOB is. We need to have concrete goals that we are working toward, not platitudes every few months that we need to “stay the course”. Something like: “Build up Iraq’s military to 5 battallions, hold free democratic elections, and bring the incidence of terrorist attacks down to X number per week”. I don’t see much in Allen’s opinions other than the talking point of “stay the course”, neither stating what the current problems are nor offering any solutions to them.
Allen has a somewhat mixed record from my point of view, here is the list that I disagree with him upon. He voted YES on constitutional ban of same-sex marriage. He supports anti-flag desecration amendment. He voted YES on funding GOP version of Medicare prescription drug benefit, voted YES on $40 billion per year for limited Medicare prescription drug benefit, supports the death penalty, supports mandatory “Three Strikes” sentencing laws. He appears to be willing to give up all our civil liberties as he voted YES on reauthorizing the PATRIOT Act. He is also for expanding military spending. He also hasn’t figured out that the war on drugs has been lost, voting for tougher sentencing for drug crimes. He voted NO on giving Guest Workers a path to citizenship, and NO on establishing a Guest Worker program. He supports continuing Foreign Aid to Russia, Israel, & others.
That said, here is the list with which I agree. He opposes requiring companies to hire more minorities. He voted NO on adding sexual orientation to definition of hate crimes. He supports privatizing Social Security. He supports parents choosing schools via vouchers. He voted NO on $5B for grants to local educational agencies. He supports making income tax flatter & lower, and authored the Balanced Budget Amendment plus lower taxes. He voted NO on allowing illegal aliens to participate in Social Security. He appears to be for Free Trade, having voted for a number of free trade agreements. He voted NO on banning drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He supports allowing churches to provide welfare services (I would support any private group doing this instead of government)
All in all, I agree with him more on economic issues than social ones. While he does have some pluses like being for free trade, pro-gun rights, and moving in the right direction for taxes, I think he is a bit to right-leaning for my tastes, being too much in favor of big government intrusions like the PATRIOT act, medicare, military expansion, and the drug war.