Dirk Kempthorne on VoteMatch

VoteMatch Responses (Click here for VoteMatch quiz)
VoteMatch Question & Answer (Click on question for explanation and background)	Based on these stances: (Click on topic for excerpt & citation)
No opinion on topic 1: Abortion is a woman's unrestricted right (0 points on Social scale)	(No votes on which to base response)
Opposes topic 2: Legally require hiring women & minorities (+2 points on Economic scale)	Support principles embodied in the Equal Rights Amendment: Favors topic 2 YES on banning affirmative action hiring with federal funds: Strongly Opposes topic 2 YES on ending special funding for minority & women-owned business: Strongly Opposes topic 2 NO on prohibiting same-sex basic training: Favors topic 2 YES on setting aside 10% of highway funds for minorities & women: Favors topic 2
Strongly Opposes topic 3: Comfortable with same-sex marriage (-5 points on Social scale)	YES on prohibiting same-sex marriage: Strongly Opposes topic 3 NO on prohibiting job discrimination by sexual orientation: Strongly Opposes topic 3
Strongly Favors topic 4: Keep God in the public sphere (-5 points on Social scale)	YES on requiring schools to allow voluntary prayer: Favors topic 4 YES on $75M for abstinence education: Strongly Favors topic 4
Opposes topic 5: Expand ObamaCare (+2 points on Economic scale)	More federal funding for rural health services: Favors topic 5 Protect state tobacco settlement funds from federal seizure: Neutral on topic 5 NO on blocking medical savings acounts: Opposes topic 5 YES on Medicare means-testing: Opposes topic 5
Favors topic 6: Privatize Social Security (+2 points on Economic scale)	Maintain federal Social Services Block Grant funding: Favors topic 6 Maintain long-term solvency of Social Security and Medicare: Opposes topic 6 YES on deducting Social Security payments on income taxes: Favors topic 6 YES on allowing Roth IRAs for retirees: Favors topic 6 YES on allowing personal retirement accounts: Favors topic 6
Strongly Favors topic 7: Vouchers for school choice (+5 points on Economic scale)	YES on school vouchers in DC: Strongly Favors topic 7 YES on education savings accounts: Favors topic 7
Opposes topic 8: Society bears cost of pollution (+2 points on Social scale)	States’ rights: no grizzly bears; no roadless forests: Strongly Opposes topic 8 More state autonomy on brownfields & Superfund cleanups: Favors topic 8 Focus on prevention and states for Endangered Species: Strongly Opposes topic 8 State primacy over water quantity & quality issues: Favors topic 8 NO on continuing desert protection in California: Strongly Favors topic 8 NO on reducing funds for road-building in National Forests: Opposes topic 8
Favors topic 9: Stricter punishment reduces crime (-3 points on Social scale)	No new prisons; warehousing people is not the solution: Opposes topic 9 Supports flexible federal block grants for crime programs: Neutral on topic 9 Zero tolerance for violence against government employees: Neutral on topic 9 YES on rejecting racial statistics in death penalty appeals: Favors topic 9 YES on mandatory prison terms for crimes involving firearms: Strongly Favors topic 9 YES on limiting death penalty appeals: Favors topic 9
Strongly Favors topic 10: Absolute right to gun ownership (+5 points on Economic scale)	YES on maintaining current law: guns sold without trigger locks: Strongly Favors topic 10
Opposes topic 11: Higher taxes on the wealthy (+2 points on Economic scale)	Return $140M of surplus to taxpayers: Strongly Opposes topic 11 No national sales tax or VAT: Neutral on topic 11 Federal tax incentives for energy, with state decisions: Neutral on topic 11 YES on Internet sales tax moratorium: Opposes topic 11 YES on requiring super-majority for raising taxes: Opposes topic 11
No opinion on topic 12: Pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens (0 points on Social scale)	Share costs of legal immigration between states & federal: Neutral on topic 12 Federal government should deal with criminal repatriation: Neutral on topic 12 YES on limit welfare for immigrants: Strongly Opposes topic 12 YES on visas for skilled workers: Favors topic 12 YES on allowing more foreign workers into the US for farm work: Favors topic 12
Favors topic 13: Support & expand free trade (+2 points on Economic scale)	YES on renewing 'fast track' presidential trade authority: Favors topic 13
Opposes topic 14: Support American Exceptionalism (-3 points on Economic scale)	YES on $17.9 billion to IMF: Opposes topic 14
Strongly Favors topic 15: Expand the military (-5 points on Social scale)	Participate in military funerals for soldiers killed in Iraq: Favors topic 15 YES on 1996 Defense Appropriations: Favors topic 15 YES on considering deploying NMD, and amending ABM Treaty: Favors topic 15 YES on favoring 36 vetoed military projects: Strongly Favors topic 15
Opposes topic 16: Make voter registration easier (-3 points on Social scale)	NO on favoring 1997 McCain-Feingold overhaul of campaign finance: Opposes topic 16
No opinion on topic 17: Avoid foreign entanglements (0 points on Social scale)	Include states in anti-terrorism planning: Neutral on topic 17
Opposes topic 18: Prioritize green energy (+2 points on Economic scale)	Supports expanding oil and gas leases: Strongly Opposes topic 18 Need to work on US-based oil and gas development: Strongly Opposes topic 18 Supports salmon recovery without breaching Snake River dams: Neutral on topic 18 States’ rights: no grizzly bears; no roadless forests: Strongly Opposes topic 18 Voluntary partnerships reduce greenhouse gases economically: Neutral on topic 18 Kyoto Treaty must include reductions by all countries: Opposes topic 18 Create block grants for Agricultural Stewardship: Neutral on topic 18 Collaborative, incentive driven, locally-based solutions: Neutral on topic 18 YES on do not require ethanol in gasoline: Opposes topic 18
Favors topic 19: Marijuana is a gateway drug (-3 points on Social scale)	Drug treatment & education opportunities for inmates: Opposes topic 19 Target meth with more manpower: Strongly Favors topic 19 More federal funding for all aspects of Drug War: Favors topic 19 States should make drug policy, not feds: Neutral on topic 19 YES on spending international development funds on drug control: Strongly Favors topic 19
Favors topic 20: Stimulus better than market-led recovery (-3 points on Economic scale)	Reluctantly proposed higher taxes to close Idaho deficit: Favors topic 20