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March 19, 2024

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2008 Elections

Alan Keyes on the Issues

Abortion
With respect to the Declaration of Independence, Keyes asserts that abortion is not only wrong, but incompatible with America's foundation. According to Keyes, the Declaration gives every human unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness but that the Declaration gives no such power to humans to decide who is human and who is not human. Not only would Keyes seek to overturn the ruling of Roe v. Wade, but he would put into place a human life amendment that would better reflect the view of life as stated in the Declaration of Independence ... more

Environment and Energy
Keyes believes that Americans should be wary of giving the government total and complete control in regards to global warming. He does not address the issue of environment and energy on his Web site, but in an article that Keyes wrote for more

Foreclosures
Having never served in an elected office, Alan Keyes has not had a chance to voice his opinion on congressional record or vote on any issues regarding subprime mortgages. Similarly, he has not gone on record with any definitive plan or opinion on the mortgage industry. Instead, Keyes focuses generally on how economics should be based on family household management. ... more

Health Care
When it comes to the issue of health care, Keyes does not believe government control is the solution. He supports a plan similar to one proposed by the Bush administration, in which people set up tax-deductible medical savings accounts and combine them with catastrophic insurance. He says such a plan will give consumers greater freedom, control and rewards by empowering them to be effective policemen of the relationships between price and quality in the health care marketplace. During his run for the presidency in 2004, Keyes stated he supports sensibly capping awards on malpractice lawsuits as a way of helping stop doctor shortages in many states. He also said the country needs to use free market principles and support the importing of cheaper prescription drugs from places like Canada and Europe ... more

Immigration
Keyes believes that America's borders must be secured to stop illegal immigration but maintain and encourage legal immigration. Regarding illegal immigrants that are already in America, Keyes opposes any law that would extend the same rights to illegal immigrants as legal immigrants. Keyes, enforcing already existing laws is fundamental in ending illegal immigration ... more

Iraq
Keyes was never a proponent of the Iraq war, but supports at the larger war on terror. He believes that there were, and still are, much better ways in which the war could have been handled. Keyes believes that after the military victory in Iraq, the U.S. should have transfered the political portion over to the United Nations. According to Keyes, a former ambassador to the United Nations, nation building and encouraging self governance is something that the United Nations is supposed to be heralding. At the core of Keye's plan for the war in Iraq is putting into action this call to the United Nations. ... more

Taxes
Keyes believes that the tax system that is in place today, specifically the income tax, is contrary to America’s freedoms. He states on his Web site that the income tax funds a “spendthrift” government and takes control away from the American people. He would end the income tax and establish a national sales tax that would redirect fiscal responsibility into the hands of the people. According to Keyes this would be the first step toward ending government spending because, “They [government] can’t spend what they don’t get.” Keyes also believes that the national sales tax is more progressive than the system in place today because those that spend more would get taxed more. During his campaign in 2004 for the U.S. Senate in Illinois against Democratic candidate Barack Obama, Keyes touted a plan that would exempt African-American descendants of slaves from income taxes for at least a generation for all of the years in which their work was being exploited ... more

Yucca Mountain
In 2000, Alan Keyes completed a survey given to then-presidential candidates by the Washington-based Sustainable Energy Coalition. Keyes responded that he supports establishing a high-level nuclear waste facility at Yucca Mountain. Additionally, Keyes noted support for new plant construction, as well as the relicensing of existing plants, but "not as a mandatory requirement [and] provided the nuclear plants are not built with tax dollars." Regarding a proposed plan to recycle radioactive waste from nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants into consumer products, Keyes voiced support. "These metals have no more radioactivity than the background environment, and hence pose no human health risk," he said. "Allowing private companies to acquire these materials would save the U.S. Treasury and the American taxpayer half a billion dollars in avoided disposal costs." ... more

— Las Vegas Sun interns Jenna Kohler and April Corbin compiled this report.

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