Alan Keyes in 2000 National Political Awareness Test

On Budget & Economy: More $ for defense, NASA, parks; less for Ag, educ, arts

Keyes supports the following spending levels:
• Greatly Increase Funding
  • Defense
• Slightly Increase Funding
  • NASA
  • National Parks
  • Scientific research
• Maintain Funding Status
  • Law enforcement
  • Medical research
• Slightly Decrease Funding
  • Transportation and Highway Infrastructure
• Greatly Decrease Funding
  • Agricultural programs
  • Arts funding
  • Education
  • Environmental programs
  • International aid
  • Welfare

On Budget & Economy: Enforce spending limits to balance the budget

Keyes’ priorities for spending any anticipated federal budget surplus:
• Defense - Highest Priority
• Education - Not a Priority
• Federal debt reduction - Medium Priority
• Medicare - Medium Priority
• Social Security - Medium Priority
• Tax cuts - High Priority
• Keyes supports enforcing the spending limits agreed to in 1997 by the President and Congress to balance the budget

On Crime: Stricter penalties; truth in sentencing

Keyes supports the following principles concerning crime:
• Impose stricter penalties for violent felons.
• Impose “truth in sentencing” for violent criminals so they serve full sentences with no chance of parole.
• Support programs to provide prison inmates with vocational and job-related skills and job-placement assistance when released.
• Support programs to provide prison inmates with drug and alcohol addiction treatment.

On Drugs: Stricter drug penalties; more border security

Keyes supports the following principles concerning drugs:
• Support capital punishment for convicted international drug traffickers.
• Increase border security to stop the flow of illegal drugs into the US

On Education: Pro-voucher; gov’t out of K-12 education

Keyes supports the following principles concerning K-12 education:
• Allow parents to use vouchers to send their children to any participating school: public, private or religious.
• Support tax-free savings accounts to send their children to any participating school: public, private or religious.
• Keyes says, “Federal K-12 Education Policy should respect the authority of parents, communities, and the States. The Federal Government should cease funding & regulating K-12 education.”

On Energy & Oil: Against Kyoto Treaty; for market-based solutions

On Environment: Supports marketable pollution credits; against regulations

Keyes supports the following principles concerning the environment:
• Waive environmental review requirements for grazing permits
• Increase the fees charged to mining companies using federal lands
• Require states to fully compensate citizens when environmental regulations limit uses of privately-owned land
• Promote the selling of pollution credits between nations to encourage industries to decrease pollution levels
• Reduce current federal regulations on the environment.

On Free Trade: Separate naturalization (legal) from border patrols

Keyes supports the following principles concerning immigration:
• Increase the immigration quota for computer & technology workers
• Establish English as the official national language
• Separate the INS into two bureaus: one for naturalization and one for border patrol
• Keyes says, “Continuing America’s generous reception of new citizens from all the peoples of mankind will require that we show an enlightened resolve to form these new Americans in our heritage of ordered liberty.”

On Government Reform: “Dollar vote” only if you can “ballot vote”

Campaign finance law should be governed by two principles:
1. No “dollar vote” for anyone not legally able to cast a “ballot vote”
2. Immediate comprehensive disclosure of all campaign contributions.

On Social Security: Supports privatization & Lock-box

Keyes supports the following principles regarding Social Security:
• Allow workers to invest a portion of their payroll tax in private accounts which they manage themselves, or which are managed by private firms contracted by the government.
• Invest a portion of Social Security’s assets collectively in stocks and bonds instead of US Treasury securities
• Support a lock box measure, limiting Congress’s ability to spend Social Security and Medicare surpluses.