Positions and Views of John Kerry
on Government
| Previous Candidate for U.S. Senate, Massachusetts |
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| Government |
Positions and Views |
| Government Reform |
If we're going to get the deficit under control and get Washington in line with the priorities and values of the American people, we've got to be willing to take on wasteful spending.
We need to start with corporate welfare.
Not long ago John McCain and I introduced legislation to end corporate welfare as we know it. Congress didn't lift a finger to pass it.
We need Americans to take the case against wasteful spending to the public directly.
Americans should know that today mining companies buy up public lands for five dollars an acre -- and companies like Halliburton dodge taxes with offshore havens while receiving billions of dollars in no-bid government contracts. Is this how your tax dollars should be wasted?
Why not freeze the federal travel budget, reduce oil royalty exemptions for drilling on federal lands, and cut 100,000 contractors now employed by the federal government? We could streamline government agencies and commissions and reduce out-of-control administrative costs by five percent. If we did, we'd make the federal government smaller but smarter, more effective and less expensive.
Here's where we can start: By going after corporate welfare, we can save tens of billions of dollars a year.
We should start by dusting off the old Kerry-McCain legislation that called for a Corporate Subsidy Reform Commission to recommend cuts and submit them to Congress for an up or down vote -- with no amendments.
And the American people should get the first pen when an American President signs this bill into law -- it'll take a citizens' movement to change the way Washington wastes your tax dollars.
Source: Candidate Website (10/02/2004) |
| Influence of Special Interests |
John Kerry has fought for reform for decades because he believes people, not money, should decide our elections. Our government should work for all Americans, not just a powerful few. That means we need to make sure that campaign contributions from wealthy interests and lobbyists don't drown out the voices of regular Americans.
Source: Candidate Website (10/02/2004) |
| These are available issue topics for which there were no responses. |
| Government, a General Statement |
| Regulations |
| Government Accountability |
| Senate Filibuster Rule |
| Government Agencies |
| Bureaucracy & Regulations |
| State Block Grants |
| States' Rights |
| Lobbying Reform |
| Reporting of Lobbyist Contacts |
| Government Ethics |
| Government Officials Becoming Lobbyists |
| Executive Branch Employees Accepting Corporate Gifts |
| Earmarks |
| Privatization |
| Sunset Clauses |
| Freedom of Information Act |
| Citizen Participation |
| Availability of Government Information |
| Live Broadcasts of Agency Deliberations |
| Single 6 Year Term for US President |
| Term Limits for Supreme Court & Federal Justices |
| Term Limits for US Representatives and Senators |
| FEMA and Hurricane Katrina |
| New Orleans |
| U.S. Postal Service |