[Imc-newsroom] Alan Keyes Statements on Issues

[ColonelDan]

>Keyes, on Keyes
>
>
>
>* "I will labor to: abolish the income tax; liberate
>entrepreneurial and charitable initiative; honor marriage and the
>family; respect the equal dignity of all human beings, born and unborn;
>reclaim American sovereignty from global bureaucracy; and show, by word
>and deed, the role of statesmanship in a free republic."
>(www.renewamerica.us/keyes/issues
><http://www.renewamerica.us/keyes/issues> )
>
>
>
>* "America's most pressing problems are rooted in the decline of
>our moral identity. Crime, rampant illegitimacy, the deteriorating
>environment in many of our schools, and especially the spectacle of
>national shame that unfolded in the Clinton White House, all these can
>be traced to lack of respect for moral principle. Since we are in the
>throes of a national moral identity crisis, we can no longer follow
>leaders for whom the moral challenge facing this nation is an
>afterthought. We need leaders who can articulate a principled vision of
>who we are and aspire to be." (www.renewamerica.us/keyes/issues
><http://www.renewamerica.us/keyes/issues> )
>
>
>
>* "Through the imposition of the income tax, we have surrendered
>our economic sovereignty--the control of our money. Through the
>acceptance of a government-controlled school system, we have surrendered
>our educational sovereignty--the control of our future. And through the
>acceptance of a moral relativism that rejects the most basic premise of
>our way of life [i.e., the belief in divine truth], we have surrendered
>our personal and individual sovereignty, which is the foundation of our
>discipline, and our freedom." (www.renewamerica.us/keyes/issues
><http://www.renewamerica.us/keyes/issues> )
>
>
>
>* On his extreme views, "I feel proud sometimes when people say
>things like ["Oh, but Alan, you're exaggerating.  You are an alarmist,
>you're an extremist"] about me, because I remember they used to say it
>about Ronald Reagan when he was decrying communism and such.  I think to
>myself, well, that's where you have to be.  It doesn't matter what they
>say, it just matters what the truth is."  (July 5, 2004 speech at "One
>Nation Under God" rally in Orem, Utah, as reprinted at
>www.renewamerica.us <http://www.renewamerica.us/> )
>
>
>
>
>
>Residency
>
>
>
>* FOX NEWS has learned that Thursday a top aide in Buchanan's
>campaign called the chief of staff for Republican presidential candidate
>Alan Keyes, asking if Keyes would consider dropping his presidential bid
>and running instead as a right-to-life candidate in the New York Senate
>race. So far, Keyes says he's not interested.  ALAN KEYES, (R),
>PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I deeply resent the destruction of
>federalism represented by Hillary Clinton's willingness to go into a
>state she doesn't even live in and pretend to represent people there. So
>I certainly wouldn't imitate it."   [Fox Special Report with Britt Hume,
>3/17/00]
>
>
>
>
>
>* "I come from Maryland. I live in Maryland, I stay in Maryland.
>Interesting. And actually whether I'll get home to Maryland or not is a
>big question." [FDCH, 1/7/96]
>
>
>
>Economy Not an Important Issue
>
>
>
>* Keyes criticized Buchanan and the other candidates for focusing
>on "money worship." They place undue emphasis on economic issues, Keyes
>said, adding that social problems are America's most serious concern.
>[St Louis Post Dispatch, 2/26/96]
>
>
>
>* Keyes has no interest in economic issues, only social ones. [New
>Republic, 1/29/96]
>
>
>
>* Keyes, addressing 3,000 congregants at Calvary Cathedral
>International in Fort Worth, declared that the United States is in a
>moral, not an economic, slump.  He urged listeners to become "keepers of
>this nation's moral flame.   We don't have a problem that is caused by
>jobs and economics," Keyes said, citing a national unemployment rate of
>about 6 percent. "We have moral problems," he said, adding that he
>believes absent-father households are linked to increasing crime,
>poverty and educational failure among teen-agers.   "Put the family back
>together and you put the nation back  together," Keyes said. [Fort Worth
>Star Telegram, 3/11/96]
>
>
>
>Jobs
>
>
>
>* "I think it would be (dillusory?) to suggest to the American
>people that anything government does is going to prevent the ordinary
>frictional unemployment that occurs as companies adjust to their own
>situation and to changing times.  It's a lie.  The only thing we can try
>to do is, though the removal of excessive taxation and overregulation,
>create a business environment where new jobs will be available.  I also
>think it's a mistake, though, Pat, to suggest to people that we can wave
>some protectionist magic wand and stomp back into existence the
>industrial jobs that have disappeared from America.  That's not going to
>happen either.  Government is not the answer to these problems.  No
>government intervention, no government decree is going to be able to
>take the place of an effective, properly unregulated private economy.
>And it's that free enterprise in which we should put out faith."
>[Presidential Debate, FNS, 3/8/96]
>
>
>
>Iraq
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>
>
>
>*      Conservative firebrand Alan Keyes criticized the Bush
>administration's motives for entering the war in Iraq in a speech to
>about 200 undergraduates at Griffith Film  Theater on Tuesday.  Keyes --
>a former Republican presidential candidate who was host of "Alan Keyes
>Is Making Sense," a daily show on MSNBC until it was canceled -- defined
>the conditions in which he said war is legitimate. He argued that a
>known threat from a foreign country without an attack can be enough to
>justify military self-defense, but that the Bush administration has
>failed to pinpoint this as its main reason for its preemptive strike. He
>said that calling the offensive "operation Iraqi freedom" implies the
>U.S. is waging war in order to free Iraqi civilians, which he said would
>not be a legitimate cause.  "Even good causes don't make war
>justifiable." Keyes said. "There is only one justification for war and
>that is to defend yourself."  He said the creation of a democratic state
>in Iraq and the spreading of American values were also not a just reason
>to wage war. "If what we are engaged in is a crusade to spread democracy
>by means of fire and the sword then we are violating our own
>principles," Keyes said.  He claimed that attempts to create democracy
>in Iraq would not work, adding that establishing a democracy takes time
>and involves generations.  "Democracy will not happen when only
>despotism has come before," he said. [University Wire, 4/17/03]
>
>
>
>
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>*   "Those of you who know me, know that I am no particular friend of
>the United Nations," Keyes said.   He did, however, explain the
>importance of the United Nations as an institution created to foster
>peace. He faulted President Bush for taking the U.N. route in the first
>place by renewing the weapons inspection mandate last fall. He added
>that while it would be lawful according to U.N. resolutions for the
>United States to defend itself if it recognized a threat, it was wrong
>for the United States to attack on the basis that Iraq was not following
>U.N. resolutions. [University Wire, 4/17/03]
>
>
>
>*      Keyes argued that a preemptive strike is not necessarily wrong,
>"so long as it is in the context of a defensive war."    Relativism, he
>said, has caused people to no longer see terrorists as evil. He argued
>that terrorism is evil not because of its aims but because of the
>methods it uses to have its ideologies recognized. Keyes said their use
>of passenger planes as weapons showed a disregard for the lives of
>innocent non-combatants.  "We fight an evil that is characterized by
>disregard for human life," he said "You cannot aim to destroy innocent
>lives."  [University Wire, 4/17/03]
>
>
>
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>
>Abortion
>
>
>
>* Keyes is a religious conservative staunchly opposed to abortion,
> including in cases of rape and incest.  [Seattle
>Post-Intelligencer. 3/9/96]
>
>
>
>* Opposes abortion except to save the life of the mother
>[Washington Times, 10/22/92]
>
>
>
>* Favors parental and spouse notification. [Washington Times,
>10/22/92]
>
>
>
>
>*   "I don't have an open mind, no. The only thing I need to know about
>a candidate, and this is regardless of the label they wear, is where
>they stand on the issue of abortion. That's the first question I ask
>when people ask me to come support them, do fund raisers, do anything
>else. And this, by the way, is including people in the Republican party.
>I'm a Republican." [(O'Reilly Factor, 1/21/04)
>
>
>
>* "We have to have a human life amendment, yes. [The courts] have
>violated the very terms of the Constitution itself. They act as if the
>unborn are not mentioned in the Constitution, and again, they lie. In
>the preamble to the Constitution, regarded as an important and
>preeminent statement of the goals and purposes and principles of the
>whole form of government we have, the Constitution [says] that our aim
>is to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.
>Our posterity are those not yet born." (www.renewamerica.us/keyes/issues
><http://www.renewamerica.us/keyes/issues> )
>
>
>
>* "In the two years before Roe vs. Wade was passed, as I recall,
>there were referendum on the issue of abortion in almost every state in
>the country, and it was rejected!" (July 5, 2004 speech at "One Nation
>Under God" rally in Orem, Utah, as reprinted at www.renewamerica.us
><http://www.renewamerica.us/> )
>
>
>
>* "Our rights don't come from God if they are based upon our
>mother's choice," Keyes told supporters in Alabama. "And once we have
>banished God from the throne of that authority then we have no claim to
>liberty or dignity that cannot in the end be trampled down and destroyed
>by the superior power of force or wealth or ability." (AP, 3/18/00)
>
>
>
>* Keyes was "characterized by Rush Limbaugh as the candidate whose
>"pro-life message is profound... spoken from the heart." [1996
>Presidential Campaign Press Materials, 8/12/96]
>
>
>
>* In 1996, Keyes said he would support the presidential nominee if
>the party platform rigidly defends the rights of the unborn.  If,
>however, the GOP softens its anti-abortion plank at the national
>convention, "this party will go down to defeat, and it will deserve to
>be defeated," Keyes said. [Kansas City Star, 5/19/96]
>
>
>
>* Keyes compared the abortion battle to the debate over slavery in
>the
> 1860s: "It was thought to be too divisive of an issue. That's
>what
> the Whigs said. That's what the Democrats said. That's what
>everyone
> said. But it's not what Abraham Lincoln said." [Kansas City
>Star, 5/19/96]
>
>
>
>* Outlawing abortion should be the first step in restoring God's
>place in government, Keyes said. God creates human beings, he said, and
>human beings have no right to put their desires above God's.  "It can
>either be God's choice or a woman's choice, but it can't be both, "
>Keyes said. [Omaha World Herald, 2/9/96]
>
>
>
>*   "I would have [opposed Guiliani]. Because I will never again cast my
>vote for any pro-abortion candidate, I don't care what label they
>wear... Any self-respecting moral conservative who votes for Arnold
>Schwarzenegger is betraying the heart and soul of the Republican Party.
>I would never do it.  I have made it very clear throughout. I will never
>again cast a vote [for a pro-choice candidate]. The issues of crime, the
>issues that are concerning us with health, the issues that concern us
>with family. All these things on which we spent trillions of dollars are
>traceable to the moral decay of this country, abandonment of our
>fundamental moral principles, and that's what Schwarzenegger represents.
>That argument is what saddles us with these evils. The lesser of evils
>is evil still. My philosophy is very clear. If evil is to succeed, it
>must do so without my help. If good is to fail, it will do so despite
>110 percent of my effort. McClintock is the choice in this race with
>Arnold Schwarzenegger, not Gray Davis.  And to argue otherwise is to
>force us into a position where we once again have to do battle with one
>of these extreme liberals pretending to be a Republican." (Hannity and
>Colmes, 9/19/03)
>
>
>
>* "We don't have money problems; we have moral problems," he says.
>"Do you think young people are raping and robbing and killing . . .
>because they have to pay a progressive income tax?"   Keyes blames
>crime--and a host of other social ills--on the disintegration of
>two-parent families and on abortion.   But to the surprise of some
>Christians, his chief argument isn't the Bible. It's the Declaration of
>Independence, which Keyes applies to the unborn in much the same fashion
>President Lincoln applied it to slaves.   The argument isn't easily
>boiled down to a pithy quote--and Keyes admits the logic might not even
>fly outside the United States--but the gist is this: Slavery and
>abortion are about treating human life like property, which violates the
>Declaration's assertion that all men are created equal and endowed with
>rights by God.   If those rights come from someone other than God--such
>as Congress or the courts--then by definition they can also be taken
>away, he reasons. Find enough votes to repeal the 13th Amendment and
>slavery is again legal. So Keyes, like Lincoln, turns to the nation's
>founding document. According to the Declaration, he says, no person can
>ever claim authority to own, define or abort a human life.  "Maybe we
>can't agree about God in the details, but we can agree that wherever we
>get our rights, it's from a source beyond ourselves," he explains.  When
>TV's Larry King tried to point out that "we live under a Constitution,
>not that Declaration," Keyes shot back: "The Declaration of Independence
>is higher than any law. . . . The Constitution was written in light of
>its principles."    Keyes, who wears a gold lapel pin designed in the
>shape of a 10-week-old fetus' feet, also contends that lack of respect
>for life in the womb has poisoned the culture at large. He says it fuels
>everything from rudeness to violent crime: It sends a message to people
>"that they are God and that they get to decide . . . what the worth of
>another person is." [LA Times, 4/26/96]
>
>
>
>* Two things could drive Keyes from the Republican Party, said
>Keyes spokeswoman Connie Hair: if George W. Bush, the presumptive
>nominee, chose a running mate who was not anti-abortion, or if the party
>weakened its call for a constitutional amendment banning abortion.
>[Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 5/24/00]
>
>
>
>Education
>
>*
> Supports vouchers for private schools; wants businesses to give
>scholarships that could be paid back through work. [Washington Times,
>10/22/92]
>
>
>
>Health Care
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>
>
>* Favors a system of tax credits and vouchers [Washington Times,
>10/22/92]
>
>
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>Stem Cell Research
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>
>
>*      Keyes said the continued existence of abortion, embryonic stem
>cell research, cloning, and euthanasia in this country is reminiscent of
>Nazi Germany, when human lives were sacrificed at the behest of those in
>power.  "Hitler was all about good for some people at the expense of
>others," said Keyes, a former Republican presidential candidate. "That's
>where we are going." (Boston Globe, 1/20/03)
>
>
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>Taxes
>
>
>
>* Keyes proposed abolishing the federal income tax and replacing
>it with a retail sales tax. [Houston Chronicle, 3/9/96]
>
>
>
>* Vows never to support a tax increase; supports the balanced
>budget amendment and line-item veto; would eliminate the long-term
>capital gains tax and reduce the short-term tax. [Washington Times,
>10/22/92]
>
>
>
>* On Bush's tax plan:  "Mr. Bush's plan may be this. It may be
>that. What are we supposed to do - get down on our knees and thank
>master Bush?" [UPI, 8/4/00]
>
>
>
>Crime
>
>
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>* Favors the death penalty [Washington Times, 10/22/92]
>
>
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>Gun Control
>
>
>
>* "The Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms is in jeopardy
>these days--dangerously so. The purpose of the Second Amendment is to
>ensure that we will remain an armed people, able to defend our liberty.
>
> In our defense of firearm rights, we must emphasize this
>fundamental purpose of the amendment. If we leave the impression that we
>think that the right to keep and bear arms concerns hunting and sports
>shooting, and making sure Americans have the right to entertain
>themselves with guns, we will actually contribute to the false view that
>the Second Amendment is an historical curiosity, hardly deserving the
>effort it would take to officially remove it from the Constitution.
>
> The right to keep and bear arms derives from our duty to retain
>the basic means necessary to defend our country and our liberty.
>Certainly it is true that the actual defense of our national borders is
>normally delegated to the professional military. But we must never think
>that this revocable delegation of responsibility for national defense is
>a transfer of ultimate responsibility. We, the people, are responsible
>for the defense of country and liberty, and the Second Amendment is
>crucial to our performance of that duty."
>(www.renewamerica.us/keyes/issues
><http://www.renewamerica.us/keyes/issues> )
>
>
>
>* Opposes a waiting period for handgun purchases. [Washington
>Times, 10/22/92]
>
>
>
>
>
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>Social Security
>
>* Supports privatizing Social Security
>(renewamerica.us/keyes/checklist)
>
>
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>Medicare
>
>
>
>* Supports limiting Medicare for the wealthy. [Washington Times,
>10/22/92]
>
>
>
>Affirmative Action
>
>
>
>* "...today's civil rights groups have abandoned that principle in
>favor of preferential treatment for groups defined by race or sex. This
>is simply wrong. We cannot cure injustice with another injustice.
>
> Moreover, preferential affirmative action patronizes American
>blacks, women, and others by presuming that they cannot succeed on their
>own. Preferential affirmative action does not advance civil rights in
>this country. It is merely another government patronage program that
>secures money and jobs for the few people who benefit from it, and
>breeds resentment in the many who do not. It divides us as a people, and
>draws attention away from the moral and family breakdown that is the
>chief cause of the despair and misery in which too many of our fellow
>citizens struggle to live decently.
>
> In 1996, the voters of California adopted a simple and fair
>prohibition of preferences and repeated the principle of
>non-discrimination. The Federal government should follow California's
>lead immediately." (www.renewamerica.us/keyes/issues
><http://www.renewamerica.us/keyes/issues> )
>
>
>
>* Keyes:  "I actually feel sorry for people who talk as if
>affirmative action is the only way that any black person in America has
>succeeded. I think that's one of the problems with it. It degrades the
>performance of black people. It creates the presumption that no black
>American has gotten anywhere except on the backs of special preference
>and, in fact, it perpetuates the racial stereotypes that we have spent
>several decades trying to destroy." [CNN Crossfire, 7/2/96]
>
>
>
>Tort Reform
>
>
>
>* Would cap damages on malpractice suits [Washington Times,
>10/22/92]
>
>
>
>Improper Use of Campaign Funds
>
>
>
>* Keyes was accused of taking $100,000 per year out of his 1992
>Senate Campaign funds, and claimed that it was a salary, "not a welfare
>check." When the campaign owed debts, he denied responsibility for them.
>He was also accused of owing $200,000 to his 1996 presidential campaign.
>"In 1995, his campaign wrote over $20,000 in bad checks, which his
>spokesman blamed on a former campaign aide." (www.realchange.org
><http://www.realchange.org/> )
>
>
>
>Use of the Title "Ambassador"
>
>
>
>* Though Keyes is sometimes called "Ambassador Keyes," the title
>is a bit misleading: he served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
>Economic and Social Council, not as ambassador to the U.N. as a whole or
>to any individual nation.
>
>
>
>Separation of Church and State
>
>
>
>* The "separation of church and state" doctrine is a
>misinterpretation of the Constitution. The First Amendment prohibition
>of established religion aims at forbidding all government-sponsored
>coercion of religious conscience. It does not forbid all religious
>influence upon politics or society. (www.renewamerica.us/keyes/issues
><http://www.renewamerica.us/keyes/issues> )
>
>
>
>* Keyes claims that the Constitution bans Congress from making any
>law respecting the establishment of religion, and that the 10th
>Amendment gives all those powers not delegated by the Constitution, nor
>prohibited by it, to the States.  "That means that this power [to make
>laws respecting an establishment of religion], which was withheld from
>the federal government, resides in the hands of our state governments
>and the people of the states."  Therefore, "there can be no basis for
>the decision of these federal courts in federal law because Congress
>can't make law on the establishment of religion.  So, we know there's no
>federal law on this subject - it's forbidden by the Constitution - and
>we just discovered that there's no basis for it in the Constitution!"
>(July 5, 2004 speech at "One Nation Under God" rally in Orem, Utah, as
>reprinted at www.renewamerica.us <http://www.renewamerica.us/> )
>
>
>
>* On September 6, Keyes will run a marathon, and he calls it
>"running with the Lord."  He is raising money and awareness for the
>March for Faith rallies in Washington, DC in October, 2004.  "As the
>radical left's attacks on traditional marriage, the Pledge of
>Allegiance, the Ten Commandments, and the Boy Scouts have intensified,
>Alan's heart has become increasingly convicted that people of faith MUST
>act boldly. We must counter the destruction by the courts of our
>religious liberty with overwhelming clarity, unity and energy of
>purpose, and INCREASE our free and public expressions of faith -- NOT
>RETREAT from them!" (www.renewamerica.us/marathon
><http://www.renewamerica.us/keyes/issues> )
>
>
>
>* Insisting that a tour guide at Independence Hall quote the
>Declaration of Independence correctly, and state that "all men are
>created equal," not simply that they are equal, Keyes explained the
>difference as: "It means that if we are a people of the Declaration,
>then we are a people who must acknowledge the existence and authority of
>God.  For, if God does not exist, we have no rights, and if His
>authority is not respected, then we cannot demand respect for those
>rights.... When we act as part of the sovereign body of the people of
>this country, we have a right to acknowledge God in our actions. We have
>a right to appeal to Him in our Constitutions and our laws." (July 5,
>2004 speech at "One Nation Under God" rally in Orem, Utah, as reprinted
>at www.renewamerica.us <http://www.renewamerica.us/> )
>
>
>
>* "I can't believe that Christian people, born into a country that
>was founded on a principle that respects the fundamental tenets of our
>faith, including the sovereignty of God: 'all men are created equal,'
>not made equal by law, not made equal by the president, not made equal
>by judicial fiat, made equal by the will and authority of the Creator,
>God!  As God and His authority was invoked when this nation was founded
>on the basis of our rights, so we shall only keep those rights if we
>hold on to the right to appeal for God's authority when they are
>violated."  ("Ten Commandments Texas Revival Rally," April 3, 2004,
>Dallas Texas.  As reprinted at www.renewamerica.us)
>
>
>
>* "The doctrine of 'separation of church and state' is a
>misinterpretation of the Constitution. First Amendment prohibition of
>established religion aims at forbidding all governmentsponsored coercion
>of religious conscience. It does not forbid all religious influence upon
>politics or society. The free exercise of religion means nothing if, in
>connection with the ordinary events and circumstances of life,
>individuals are forbidden to act upon their religious faith." [USA
>Today, 3/7/00]
>
>
>
>*   '96 and '00 GOP WH candidate Alan Keyes "strongly encourages" U.S.
>Catholic bishops to "meddle in politics," especially w/r/t "Catholic
>politicians and the abortion issue." Keyes, on their influence: "It's
>long overdue in American life and politics. ... Churches have an
>enormous, special responsibility in this day and age in American life.
>It seems to me it's the responsibility of the church to speak truth to
>power." Keyes said "politicians who wear the 'Catholic label' for votes
>but don't follow Catholic teaching must be held accountable by church
>leaders": "I don't see why they should be allowed to have it both ways."
>(Hotline, 3/8/04)
>
>
>
>*      Former presidential candidate Alan Keyes then delivered a fiery
>speech, saying the efforts of courts and government to stifle religion
>must end.  "This must end or freedom will end with it," Keyes said. "No
>longer can we tolerate this crime that is being done against our
>movement for almighty God." (AP, 8/21/03)
>
>
>
>
>
>School Prayer
>
>
>
>* "If they tell us that we cannot pray in the classroom, we should
>pray. If they tell us that we cannot pray in the hallways, we should
>pray. If they tell us that we cannot pray at the graduation ceremonies,
>we should pray. Because what they are doing fundamentally violates
>probably the most important of our God-given rights, which is the right
>to appeal for aid to our Almighty God.
>
> When the tyrants who seek to oppress you tell you that you
>cannot even appeal to God for His aid, you know that they have in mind a
>tyranny without limit. We are allowing ourselves to be put in a
>situation in which that which actually provides the foundation for the
>most reliable courage against tyranny is interfered with, and in which
>our children and others are given the feeling that there is some place
>in American life--indeed, a growing number of places--where they must
>feel fearful and hesitant to call upon and to speak the name of God. And
>in my opinion the proper recourse against this is not to wait upon the
>courts, legal procedures and so forth, but simply to do what we
>unequivocally have the God-given right to do--to pray WHEREVER and
>WHENEVER we feel that it is necessary for us to pray."
>(www.renewamerica.us/keyes/issues
><http://www.renewamerica.us/keyes/issues> )
>
>
>
>* During a nationally televised "God and Country Service" at San
>Antonio's Cornerstone Church, Keyes railed against those trying to
>eliminate prayer in public schools and the American Civil Liberties
>Union for efforts to separate church and state.  "We didn't put God in
>and they don't have the right to take God out," Keyes said to thunderous
>applause from the crowd of about 3,700.  "It is not a battle, although
>we must battle those things destroying our morale and family life,"
>Keyes said.  [San Antonio News, 3/11/96]
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>School Choice
>
>
>
>* "I support school choice. Parents should be able to send their
>children to schools that reflect their faith and values, schools of
>their choice, where they can have an influence over a curriculum that
>goes beyond just what information kids are given and that affects how
>their consciences will be shaped, how their character will be
>developed." (www.renewamerica.us/keyes/issues
><http://www.renewamerica.us/keyes/issues> )
>
>
>
>Sales Tax vs. Income Tax
>
>
>
>* "The income tax in effect makes us vassals to the government. No
>mere "reform" of this slave tax, such as flattening the rate, can
>correct its fundamental denial of control over our own money. Only
>abolition of the income tax will restore the basic American principle
>that our income is both our own money and our own private business--not
>the government's.
> Replacing the income tax with a national sales tax would
>rejuvenate independence and responsibility in our citizens. [It] would
>also put the American citizen back in control of fiscal policy. The best
>way to curtail government spending is to cut taxes, because they can't
>spend what they don't get. With a sales tax, we could deny funds to a
>spendthrift government--and give ourselves a tax cut--whenever we make
>the private choice to alter our spending and saving habits."
>(www.renewamerica.us/keyes/issues
><http://www.renewamerica.us/keyes/issues> )
>
>
>
>Gay Marriage
>
>
>
>* Keyes is opposed to the "homosexual rights agenda."
>(www.renewamerica.us/keyes/checklist
><http://www.renewamerica.us/keyes/checklist> )
>
>
>
>* "We are now seeing an assault on the fundamental institution of
>all our social and civilized life, the marriage-based family.  We are
>seeing an assault that has as its objective, not, as some would argue to
>you, the liberation of this or that sexual minority; no, what they have
>as their objective is in fact the destruction of the institution of
>marriage.  And they mean to achieve that destruction by defining it in
>such a way that it no longer has any claim to respect."  (July 5, 2004
>speech at "One Nation Under God" rally in Orem, Utah, as reprinted at
>www.renewamerica.us <http://www.renewamerica.us/> )
>
>
>
>* There is "an acknowledgement that homosexual relations exclude
>the possibility of procreation, which means that if we accept homosexual
>couples as married couples, then we have defined marriage in such a way
>that procreation is no longer essential to it.  And once we take that
>step, we have, as I said, destroyed marriage, itself." (July 5, 2004
>speech at "One Nation Under God" rally in Orem, Utah, as reprinted at
>www.renewamerica.us <http://www.renewamerica.us/> )
>
>
>
>* "... we talk about amendments like the Federal Marriage
>Amendment (which, by the way, I think is very necessary, and we ought to
>be supporting it)..." (July 5, 2004 speech at "One Nation Under God"
>rally in Orem, Utah, as reprinted at www.renewamerica.us
><http://www.renewamerica.us/> )
>
>
>
>*   I think issues that are coming to the fore now, including, by the
>way, the issue of homosexual marriage and the push for it around the
>country, are, in fact, wedge issues that will wake up a lot of the
>Democratic base to the fact that they are part of a party that does not
>believe in their moral values and that is seeking to destroy fundamental
>moral institutions to which they are committed, including a lot of
>people in the black community, in the Hispanic community, who, in fact,
>I think, have not been paying attention over the years to how far the
>Democrats have gone in abandoning the moral traditions of this country."
>(FOX Hannity and Colmes, 7/12/04)
>
>
>
>*   "The purpose of marriage is to produce children, something
>homosexuals are physically incapable of, said Keyes, who ran
>unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000.  "To
>say it's between a man and a woman doesn't discriminate against same-sex
>couples anymore than it would be discrimination for the government to
>say I can't offer to fly people to the moon without benefit of a rocket
>ship," Keyes said. "And being as how I'm not physically equipped to fly
>to the moon, telling me I can't carry passengers there is not
>discrimination, it's common sense." (AP, 5/22/04)
>
>
>
>*   "The conservative Declaration Alliance, headed by Alan Keyes, began
>airing $40K worth of ads on Boston talk radio 5/10, "challenging Romney
>to support an effort to replace" the four MA Supreme Court justices
>whose 11/18 ruling legalized gay marriage in MA. The group also plans to
>air TV ads beginning today. Keyes, in the 60-second spot: "Governor Mitt
>Romney promised us that he would fight for traditional marriage and not
>leave any stone unturned in resisting the powerful homosexual lobby.
>It's time to speak up, Mitt." The ad "urges listeners to call" Romney's
>office. Romney spokesperson Eric Fehrnstrom said that by 4 pm 5/10, the
>office had received 160 calls. But Fehrnstrom said: "We don't think the
>answer is to impeach the justices responsible for the Goodridge
>decision. That goes too far." (Boston Globe, 5/11/04)
>
>
>
>Gay Rights
>
>
>
>* Keyes complained about the prime-time speaking slot given
>Tuesday night to Arizona Rep. Jim Kolbe, an openly gay congressman.
>Keyes, and the Republican Party in general, oppose homosexuality. ''I
>think it is a mistake for anyone to try to project to the people of this
>country the notion that somehow or another we can legitimize things that
>are not legitimate,'' he said. ''Our platform understands that and I
>think the party will have to act with consistent integrity on all of
>these issues. To do otherwise in the name of some phony popularity is a
>misguided mistake.''  [AP, 8/2/00]
>
>
>
>
>
>Labor
>
>
>
>* Opposes Family and Medical Leave Act [Washington Times,
>10/22/92]
>
>
>
>
>
>
>Environment
>
>
>
>* GOP presidential hopeful Alan Keyes said that in most cases,
>private interests can be more effective in protecting the environment
>than strong governmental controls.  Speaking at a forum sponsored by the
>New Hampshire Wildlife Federation (GREENWIRE 1/29), he said
>environmental laws should strike a "common sense" balance between
>conservation and over-regulation.      Keyes acknowledged that there are
>some areas where the US EPA is needed, but he said the agency goes too
>far when it tells landowners what they can do on their own property
>(Christopher Williams, Nashua (NH) TELEGRAPH, 1/29/96]
>
>
>
>
>
>Defense
>
>
>
>* Favors Strategic Defense Initiative [Washington Times, 10/22/92]
>
>
>
>* Supports the nuclear test ban. [Washington Times, 10/22/92]
>
>
>
>
>
>
>Trade
>
>
>
>* Supports the North American Free Trade Agreement. [Washington
>Times, 10/22/92]
>
>
>
>
>
>
>China
>
>
>
>*     "Well, I think, sadly, the Bush administration chose a course that
>refused to acknowledge that the Chinese had, in fact, committed a
>provocative act. And I think it was aimed at testing the administration
>in the early days, seeing whether they would respond to this provocative
>act in a way that showed our will and resolve or whether they would put
>such value on the U.S.-Chinese relationship that they would knuckle
>under to Chinese demands.   At the end of the day in the first stage of
>this, I think they sent the wrong signal. The Chinese now have the
>impression that when push comes to shove, if our assets are in danger,
>if our personnel are in danger, we will bow to their demand in order to
>reduce that risk. And I think that was a mistake." (Hannity and Colmes,
>4/17/01)
>
>
>
>Civil Liberties
>
>
>
>*   "The greatest threat is not from the external foe, but the things
>that we will do to ourselves in response to [terrorism]," Keyes said,
>referring to legislation such as the USA Patriot Act. (University Wire,
>11/6/03)
>
>
>
>*   He referred to the USA Patriot Act in conjunction with earlier
>legislation he opposes such as hate crimes laws "which (try) to restrict
>and coerce thought." ... Keyes, who also opposes on philosophical and
>ethical grounds such things as affirmative action and abortion, said he
>understands the need for the Patriot Act, in perhaps "the most
>insidious" war in American history, but that it still worried him.
>"Give someone the label 'terrorist,' and they can be flushed down some
>executive hole" without due process or the other protections of the U.S.
>Constitution, he said. (Austin American-Statesman, 12/6/03)
>
>
>
>US Interventionism (not specific to Iraq)
>
>
>
>* "I would want to renounce the idea that we have the right to
>interfere, in an aggressive way, with the affairs of other [nations]. I
>think we can play a constructive role in trying to bring about
>diplomatic solutions in different parts of the world, but I do not
>believe that when our ideas are rejected, we should resort to war in
>order to force people to accept a deal that's dictated on our terms."
>(www.renewamerica.us/keyes/issues
><http://www.renewamerica.us/keyes/issues> )
>
>
>
>
>
>AIDS:
>
>
>
>*      Responding to President Bush's appointment of  Scott Everts as a
>new AIDS czar - the first openly gay appointee in a Republican
>administration, Keyes wrote, "President Bush would have shown greater
>compassion for the victims of AIDS and their families by appointing
>someone who challenges the lies that help spread the disease rather than
>someone who legitimizes them."  Keyes said, "Unhappily, the logic of
>this appointment escapes me. AIDS is a disease very much contributed to
>by the kind of behavior that Scott Evertz champions, promotes,
>encourages. It represents a view of human nature that denies the kind of
>moral discipline and capacity that is a prerequisite for, in fact,
>stemming the tide of this disease not only in the United States but
>among heterosexuals in places like Africa, where a culture of
>promiscuity is promoting tragic death all over the continent. So to put
>somebody in charge of the fight against AIDS and to give them a platform
>when, in fact, they represent the understanding of human nature and the
>mentality toward human sexuality that most contributes to the ravages of
>the disease -- I think that this was all wrong. And if it was done for
>political expediency, it's even worse....The battle against AIDS
>requires, among other things, that you modify the behavior that spreads
>the disease. If you are a champion of that very behavior and of the
>understanding of human nature...The kind of behavior that is based on
>the notion that because we have sexual inclinations, we give in to them
>and that we don't, in fact, have the moral capacity to discipline our
>sexual actions and behavior in light of the prerequisites... both of our
>social obligations..and of our health. So I think that's the
>problem....You're not going to help anybody by contributing to the
>spread of a disease that has already ravaged the lives of millions and
>threatens to ravage the lives of millions more. And I think that the
>first thing that you have to do is establish the benchmark that is going
>to contain the problem instead of spread it. And if you don't do that,
>then, in point of fact, you're setting up even greater tragedy for the
>future, and that's hardly the objective, I would think...Sadly, the
>understanding that underlies the whole promotion of homosexuality, that
>somehow or another human sexuality is a condition, it's their by genes
>or by nature, we can't really control what we do, and therefore the
>concept of sexual responsibility, of responsibility for how we respond
>to the promptings of our animal nature and our passions, is somehow no
>longer within the grasp of human discipline and capacity -- of course
>this contributes to promiscuity! (Hannity and Colmes, 4/17/01)
>
>
>
>*   In Africa, AIDS is not a homosexual problem. It's a heterosexual
>problem directly
>
>    related to the same culture of promiscuity! And that I think proves
>my point.    (Hannity and Colmes, 4/17/01)
>
>
>
>Welfare Reform
>
>
>
>* Welfare, he says, "helps the wrong people a lot of the time" and
>leaves too many people "married to the government. "  In Keyes' view, a
>high school diploma, a job and marriage are
> the passports out of poverty. [Orange County Register, 3/24/96]
>
>
>
>
>
>Federalism
>
>
>
>* Keyes claims that the 10th Amendment of the Constitution gives
>all those powers not delegated by the Constitution, nor prohibited by
>it, to the States.  "That means that this power [to make laws respecting
>an establishment of religion], which was withheld from the federal
>government, resides in the hands of our state governments and the people
>of the states." (July 5, 2004 speech at "One Nation Under God" rally in
>Orem, Utah, as reprinted at www.renewamerica.us
><http://www.renewamerica.us/> )
>
>
>
>Term Limits
>
>
>
>* Supports a 12-year congressional limit. [Washington Times,
>10/22/92]
>
>
>
>Campaign Finance Violations
>
>
>
>*   Keyes is being sued for more than $ 100,000 by his former lawyer.
>In a complaint filed last month in D.C. Superior Court, Washington
>attorney C. Michael Tarone claims the conservative polemicist and his
>Maryland company, Alan Keyes Enterprises Inc., owes him for legal work
>dating back to Keyes's 1996 presidential campaign, at a rate of $ 390 an
>hour. Tarone also alleges that longtime Keyes associate Mary Parker
>Lewis, the president of Keyes's company, sabotaged his relationship with
>Keyes and diverted legal work "to counsel she controlled" while
>withholding the money due him.    "Lewis acted with evil motive," he
>charges in the 15-page complaint. In addition to the suit against Keyes,
>he's suing Lewis for $ 100,000 in compensatory damages and $ 5,000 in
>punitive damages.   "This is tacky and disappointing," Lewis told us
>yesterday, adding that she wasn't aware of the action until our call.
>"The suit is without merit, and we're still waiting for him to render
>appropriate billing."   Tarone, for his part, declined to comment, and
>Keyes's St. Louis-based attorney, David Limbaugh, brother of Rush,
>didn't return our call. (Washington Post, Reliable Source, 8/7/02)
>
>
>
>* A private air charter service has sued Republican presidential
>contender Alan Keyes and his campaign for nonpayment of services.
>Qualiflight Training Inc., based at Meacham Airport in Fort Worth, filed
>suit Friday in state District Court in Tarrant County to recover $
>13,000 that the company maintains it is owed by Mr. Keyes and his
>campaign for providing air service for the candidate and his staff, said
>Qualiflight's lawyer, Paul H. Cross of Dallas. The company charged the
>campaign $ 22,300 for four flights last August and was paid only $
>9,300, Mr. Cross said. He added that the company has made repeated
>attempts to collect the debt without success. A campaign representative
>recently wrote the company that it was waiting for federal matching
>campaign funds in order to pay the debt. [Dallas Morning News, 2/20/96]
>
>
>
>African Americans
>
>
>
>*   FOXNews.com's Vlahos reports, "After years of butting heads with"
>the GOP, 2000 WH '04 GOP candidate Alan Keyes said "the GOP has no clue
>how to engage black voters, a key constituency that can be won over on
>the issues, but not with empty campaign promises or race-baiting."
>Keyes: "The Republican Party doesn't do enough to support black
>[candidates] time and time again. The Republicans tend to come in only
>when a candidate looks successful, and that's not good enough. They have
>to build networks, and gain the trust of the community." More Keyes:
>"You can't just show up on Election Day asking for the vote when you
>haven't been working to help the people build their communities." Keyes,
>the only black GOPer "ever to run a viable" WH bid, "has been trying to
>energize the black vote." A "staunch social conservative," Keyes said
>"his conservatism made himunpopular with African-Americans." (Hotline,
>6/16/03)
>
>
>
>Other Republicans
>
>
>
>* "Folks like Susan Molinari and Colin Powell, all these people
>who are so much sought after by those putting together the convention,
>are liberals." [Washington Times, 7/26/96]
>
>
>
>* USA Today's Squitieri reports that Alan Keyes "is ready to join
>the Constitution Party" if George W. Bush "chooses a running mate who
>does not oppose abortion or the GOP plank against abortion."  And
>Constitution candidate Howard Phillips
> "is ready to step aside" if Keyes does so.  Phillips, who is a
>"close" Keyes friend: "I'm open to discussing anything he would want to
>do. ... It is possible that Alan Keyes may come with us.  It's his
>natural home."  Until last year, the Constitution
> Party was called the U.S. Taxpayers Party.  Phillips adds that
>he and Keyes have had "several discussions about joining forces": "Alan
>Keyes is a hero to members of our party."  Keyes spokesperson Connie
>Hair said that Keyes is "firm in his
> intention to leave" the GOP if the party "backs away from its
>position calling for a constitutional amendment banning abortion."
>Phillips is currently the party's nominee, but says he would step aside
>for Keyes.  [The Hotline, 5/22/00]
>
>
>
>Other Issues
>
>
>
>* Keyes is for:
>
> * Returning government to its
><http://www.renewamerica.us/readings/principles.htm> Declarationist role
>
> * Parental choice in education
> * Free exercise of religion in public and private life
><aoladp://MA9713238-0028/clip_image003.gif>
> * Second Amendment rights
><aoladp://MA9713238-0029/clip_image004.gif>
> * Replacing the income tax with a national sales tax
><aoladp://MA9713238-0030/clip_image005.gif>
> * Privatizing social security
> * Eliminating disincentives to free enterprise
><aoladp://MA9713238-0031/clip_image006.gif>
> * Strengthening national security
><aoladp://MA9713238-0032/clip_image007.gif>
> * Preserving national sovereignty in world affairs
>
>* Keyes is against:
>
> * Abortion and euthanasia
><aoladp://MA9713238-0033/clip_image008.gif>
> * The homosexual rights agenda
><aoladp://MA9713238-0034/clip_image009.gif>
> * Affirmative action (racial quotas)
><aoladp://MA9713238-0035/clip_image010.gif>
> * Government-sponsored health care
><aoladp://MA9713238-0036/clip_image011.gif>
> * Tax-supported welfare
><aoladp://MA9713238-0037/clip_image012.gif>
> * The Federal Reserve system
><aoladp://MA9713238-0038/clip_image013.gif>
> * Judicial activism
><aoladp://MA9713238-0039/clip_image014.gif>
> * Expanded involvement in the U.N.
><aoladp://MA9713238-0040/clip_image015.gif>
>
>Trade agreements like GATT/WTO (www.renewamerica.us/keyes/checklist)
>

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