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Ted Stevens on Principles & Values

Republican Sr Senator (AK)


Calls secretly recorded by FBI played at corruption trial

Begich and Steven’s haven’t debated face-to-face yet, and two debates are scheduled for later this month. But with Stevens’ trial underway in Washington, D.C., it’s uncertain if they will meet in-person to debate. And while he is away at trial, Stevens’ own words are being used against him in the battle for the Senate.

A new attack ad from Democrats uses some of the FBI’s secret recordings that have been played at Stevens’ trial. “Worst that can happen to us is we run a bunch of legal fees and we might have to serve a little time in jail,“ said Stevens to former VECO CEO Bill Allen in a phone call recorded by the FBI.

At the Stevens’ headquarters, they aren’t too happy about the tone of the ad and are annoyed the Democrats are spending about $1 million here to get Stevens out of office. ”Alaskans are rejecting the ads,“ said a Stevens campaign spokesman. ”If Mark Begich wants to keep this about the issues, he would stand up to these groups and say pull them off the air.“

Source: 2008 Alaska Senate Debate reported on KTUU News Oct 16, 2008

Uncle Ted voted “Alaskan of the century”

Begich was just six years old when his opponent, Ted Stevens, was appointed to the Senate and began to shower money on his home state. Some years ago Stevens was voted “Alaskan of the century”. In the run-up to the primary, Stevens’s supporters put up more and bigger signs than Begich’s, even in Anchorage. It is a measure of “Uncle Ted’s” popularity that Begich has so far tiptoed around the federal indictment, issuing bland statements of regret. Stevens’s opponents in the Republican primary were much harder on him, and he beat them handily.

A day after Stevens’s indictment on July 29th, polls put Begich 13 points in the lead. Astonishingly, it also revealed that two-thirds of Alaskans believe Stevens to be at least as ethical as most politicians. This seems to prove that Alaskans do not care much about corruption, as long as their representatives keep the dollars flowing.

Source: 2008 Alaska Senate Debate reported in The Economist Sep 4, 2008

Under investigation by IRS; home searched by FBI in 2007

Stevens is currently under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for possible corruption based on his relationship with an oil service company executive who has pled guilty to bribing Alaskan legislators, including Stevens’ son, former State Senator Ben Stevens. On July 30, 2007, the IRS and the FBI searched Stevens’ home in Alaska.

On May 29, 2007, the Anchorage Daily News reported that the FBI and a federal grand jury were investigating an “extensive” remodeling project at Stevens’ home in Girdwood. The remodeling work, which more than doubled the size of the modest home, was organized by VECO Corporation, an oil-field service company that has long been a strong lobbying presence in Juneau. Earlier in May, two top Veco executives pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy, bribery and tax charges. Stevens had hired “Washington’s most powerful and expensive lawyer”, Brendan Sullivan Jr., in response to the investigation.

Source: Wikipedia.com article, “Ted Stevens” Jul 2, 2008

Voted with Republican Party 81.6% of 310 votes.

Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), was scored by the Washington Post on the percentage of votes on which a lawmaker agrees with the position taken by a majority of his or her party members. The scores do not include missed votes. Their summary:
Voted with Republican Party 81.6% of 310 votes.
Overall, Democrats voted with their party 88.4% of the time, and Republicans voted with their party 81.7% of the time (votes Jan. 8 through Sept. 8, 2007).
Source: Washington Post, “US Congress Votes Database” Sep 8, 2007

Voted YES on confirming Samuel Alito as Supreme Court Justice.

Vote on the Nomination -- a YES vote would to confirm Samuel A. Alito, Jr., of New Jersey, to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Reference: Alito Nomination; Bill PN 1059 ; vote number 2006-002 on Jan 31, 2006

Voted YES on confirming John Roberts for Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Vote on the Nomination (Confirmation John G. Roberts, Jr., of Maryland, to be Chief Justice of the United States )
Reference: Supreme Court Nomination of John Roberts; Bill PN 801 ; vote number 2005-245 on Sep 27, 2005

Religious affiliation: Episcopalian.

Stevens : religious affiliation:

The Adherents.com website is an independent project and is not supported by or affiliated with any organization (academic, religious, or otherwise).

What’s an adherent?

The most common definition used in broad compilations of statistical data is somebody who claims to belong to or worship in a religion. This is the self-identification method of determining who is an adherent of what religion, and it is the method used in most national surveys and polls.

Such factors as religious service attendance, belief, practice, familiarity with doctrine, belief in certain creeds, etc., may be important to sociologists, religious leaders, and others. But these are measures of religiosity and are usually not used academically to define a person’s membership in a particular religion. It is important to recognize there are various levels of adherence, or membership within religious traditions or religious bodies. There’s no single definition, and sources of adherent statistics do not always make it clear what definition they are using.

Source: Adherents.com web site 00-ADH5 on Nov 7, 2000

Member of the Republican Main Street Partnership .

Stevens is a member the Republican Main Street Partnership:

The Republican Main Street Partnership was founded in 1998 to promote thoughtful leadership in the Republican Party, to serve as a voice for centrist Republicans and to partner with individuals, organizations and institutions that share centrist values.

The Partnership pursues public policies that reflect a limited, but responsible role for government and that are designed to achieve fiscal responsibility, economic growth, improvements in the human condition and a nation that is globally competitive and secure. Partnership members include individuals who are interested in moderate Republican policies, focusing on governance and on finding common sense solutions to national problems.

The Republican Main Street Partnership is an organization of party members and public officials committed to building America's principled but pragmatic center within the Republican Party and throughout the nation. The Partnership contributes to the nation's governance through developing and promoting creative public policies for implementation at appropriate levels of government.
Source: RMSP web site 01-RMSP0 on Jan 1, 2001

Rated 0% by the AU, indicating opposition to church-state separation.

Stevens scores 0% by the AU on church-state separation

OnTheIssues.org interprets the 2006 AU scores as follows:

About the AU (from their website, www.au.org):

Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom. AU is a nonpartisan organization dedicated to preserving the constitutional principle of church-state separation as the only way to ensure religious freedom for all Americans.

Americans United is a national organization with members in all 50 states. We are headquartered in Washington, D.C., and led by the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director. AU has more than 75,000 members from all over the country. They include people from all walks of life and from various faith communities, as well as those who profess no particular faith. We are funded by donations from our members and others who support church-state separation. We do not seek, nor would we accept, government funding.

Source: AU website 06n-AU on Dec 31, 2006

Other candidates on Principles & Values: Ted Stevens on other issues:
AK Gubernatorial:
Sean Parnell
AK Senatorial:
Lisa Murkowski
Mark Begich

Newly elected in 2008 & seated in 2009:
AK:Begich (D)
CO:Udall (D)
ID:Risch (R)
MN:Franken (D)
NC:Hagan (D)
NE:Johanns (R)
NH:Shaheen (D)
NM:Udall (D)
OR:Merkley (D)
VA:Warner (D)

Newly appointed in 2009;
special election in 2010:

DE:Kaufman (D)
CO:Bennet (D)
IL:Burris (D)
NY:Gillibrand (D)

Announced retirement as of 2010:
DE:Kaufman (D)
FL:Martinez (R)
KS:Brownback (R)
MO:Bond (R)
OH:Voinovich (R)


Up for 6-year term in 2010:
(13 Democrats; 15 Republicans)
AK:Murkowski (R)
AL:Shelby (R)
AR:Lincoln (D)
AZ:McCain (R)
CA:Boxer (D)
CT:Dodd (D)
GA:Isakson (R)
HI:Inouye (D)
IA:Grassley (R)
ID:Crapo (R)
IN:Bayh (D)
KY:Bunning (R)
LA:Vitter (R)
MD:Mikulski (D)
NC:Burr (R)
ND:Dorgan (D)
NH:Gregg (R)
NV:Reid (D)
NY:Schumer (D)
OK:Coburn (R)
OR:Wyden (D)
PA:Specter (R)
SC:DeMint (R)
SD:Thune (R)
UT:Bennett (R)
VT:Leahy (D)
WA:Murray (D)
WI:Feingold (D)
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Page last updated: Nov 23, 2009