STEVEN PORTER
Independent candidate.

Website: www.porter4congress.

IRAQ

LEAD has been calling for a timely withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, and we oppose any future attempts to substitute pre-emptive war for diplomacy. What is your position on the Iraq war and a timetable for ending it?

I have been against the war from day one. We need to get out as soon as possible, to internationalize the fight against terror, and to acknowledge the role which white western imperialism has played in creating the anger and despair which lead to terrorism.

HEALTH CARE

Are you in favor of single payer health care?

I have supported HR 676 for years and still do. Health is not a subject to be controlled by pharmaceutical and insurance lobbies.

EARTH

LEAD advocates preservation of our environment as vital to both the health and economic well-being of our families and future generations. Briefly, tell us your positions on energy conservation, climate change, protecting our water and air quality, building the proposed tire plant on the IP Industrial site, and on legislating more wilderness areas in the Allegheny National Forest.

I am for everything which will save the ecology of our planet. That includes developing non-fossil fuels, renewable energy, the increase of wilderness areas, and halting the expropriation of lands by industries for their profit without plans to restore equal amounts of lands to the wilderness for replenishment. We can start with my proposals for a Great Lakes Wind Farm and high-speed US rail system. Ultimately, we need to succeed in unlocking the secrets of non-polluting nuclear fusion.

TRADE

Fast Track and Free Trade now appear to have not only cost millions of American jobs and destroyed thousands of American workplaces, they have also caused capital flight and a decline in our nation's position in the world economy. What are you willing to do to reverse this trend and to move towards fair trade to protect our working people?

I am in favor of trade which is reciprocally beneficial. I have been against NAFTA and CAFTA for years. We need trade which does not cost us jobs, which does not exploit foreign labor markets, and which does not contribute to the degradation of the environment.

FREEDOM

LEAD values individual rights ensured by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, especially freedom of conscience and the principle of church-state separation. Do you affirm such rights? How will they guide your decisions on federal legislation?

I support the Constitution with all my heart. I am against the denial of rights to people based on gender, age, sexual orientation, religion, creed, physical condition or any other criteria which may be arbitrarily applied ex-post facto to the document. The first amendment is quite clear to me. It guarantees both that no law shall be made to restrict religious observance and that the government shall make no law to promote any given religion. Recent pronouncements that we must govern with the perspective of Christ or any other religious personage or creed is on the face of it a violation of the Constitution. For example, on the issue of gay marriage, the Constitution protects any religious institution’s right to perform or not perform such a union. It also unequivocally protects the rights of gays and lesbians to unite civilly and to enjoy every legal privilege that heterosexual couples enjoy.

REPRODUCTIVE ISSUES

What is your stand on abortion?

I am pro-choice because I do not believe that the government should have the power to make reproductive decisions for our citizens, particularly in cases where the conflicting civil rights of mothers, fathers, and fetuses may be in irreconcilable conflict. That said, I do not agree that abortion should be a means of birth control. Rather, I plead for both pro-life and pro-choice factions to unite in appropriate sex education so that unwanted or unintended pregnancies do not occur and thus the need for abortions is either eliminated or confined to medical purposes instead of reproductive ones.

DEATH PENALTY

Do you favor a repeal of the death penalty?

I have long been against the death penalty for several reasons. It is irrevocable in the event of mistake. It does not deter capital crime. It exists today in a legal system which inequitably applies it against people of poverty and color. What I favor is life in prison with no parole and with the chance to earn privileges.

MILITARY

In view of the marked deterioration of our armed forces in the past 6 years, and the resulting risk of terrorist attacks to the United States, would you favor a military draft?

I do not favor a draft per se, but rather a period of national service at some age appropriate time (after high school or after college, given the lack of hardship which might obtain). Our military burdens need to be internationalized so that we do not shoulder the world’s problems virtually alone. Today the U.S. spends more on the military and defense than EVERY OTHER NATION IN THE WORLD COMBINED. There is something very wrong with that picture. It has over-extended us and cast us in the role of planetary policeman, and when the role is abused, as it has been in Iraq, we are actually weakened by our own strength.

ECONOMY

What would you propose to correct the declining U.S. economy?

To improve our economy we need many, many things. First, we need to equalize the tax burden so that the wealthy and corporations pay their fair share. Most corporations pay far, far less than the 35% of profit mandated by law, and all people earning more than $100,000 pay less than the 6.2% of the required Social Security tax. Rescinding the Bush tax cuts, shoring up the corporation tax loopholes, and removing the earnings cap from Social Security will all help immensely. Second, we need to develop industries which cannot be outsourced. I have long recommended the development of “green” industries to create both jobs and to make us energy independent. Both would go a long, long way to restoring our economic health and to making us less susceptible to energy wars such as the one in Iraq which drain our economy needlessly. Third, we need to improve a crumbling infrastructure. Partnership between federal projects and private industry could create many jobs and make our land much safer and stronger. Fourth, we need to educate our people for skills needed in the 21st century and for ways of living which require more fiscal discipline and less unnecessary borrowing. And finally, there is a synergy between our economy and the passage of HR 676 and the ending of the Iraq War which should not be ignored.

OTHER

What else would you like to let people know about you?

CAMPAIGN REFORM - IN THE FINAL ANALYSIS THIS IS THE MOST CRUCIAL ISSUE. We have lost our democracy to the special interests which have taken control of both major parties. It is for that reason that I have left the Democratic Party, a party which I believed in all my life. It can no longer primarily serve the interests of our people because it is dedicated to serving the interests of the lobbyists in defense, real estate, energy, health, labor, and finance which thoroughly control it. I have written a book which painstakingly documents this. It is called AMERICA’S DYING DEMOCRACY, and it will be out by the end of this month. It is my hope that every voter reads it and acts on the suggestions within which will restore our democracy. There is little doubt in my mind that no issue above will be in any meaningful way dealt with by government until and unless the special interests which control both major parties are in some way mitigated.

POSITIONS - Finally, all of my positions have been posted on my website (www.porter4congress.com) for years now. I stand by them. I have given them much thought BEFORE I decided to be a candidate so that I would not waffle on them or pander to any group or donor by changing them. It is not that I am beyond change, but on the major decisions of our time, I don’t believe we should be electing liars or electing people who need to discover who they are on the job.

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