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The League of Women Voters of the Princeton Area is a nonpartisan, non-profit volunteer organization which works to promote active, informed participation of all citizens in their government. The League provides nonpartisan information on public issues, and takes action on issues after member study and consensus. In publishing this material, the League neither endorses nor rejects the views of any candidate quoted.
All candidate information in this guide was compiled from candidates' responses to questionnaires. Replies are printed in the candidates' own words, without editing or verification. Due to space limitation, the candidates were given a word limit for replies. Incumbents are indicated by an asterisk (*).
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Copyright 2000 by the League of Women Voters of the Princeton Area.
The League of Women Voters of the Princeton Area submitted the following three questions to all candidates for the 12th Congressional District:
1. Congress recently passed a repeal of the estates tax and marriage penalty tax. Are you in favor of these tax repeals? Why or why not? How would you define your funding priorities?
2. Are you in favor of or opposed to the U.S. immediately paying the backlogged dues owed to the United Nations? Do you favor any nation placing conditions on its annual payment of U.N. dues? Why or why not?
3. Are you in favor of or opposed to legislation that would require full disclosure by all political organizations which contribute money to political causes or campaigns?
4. Would you support gun safety legislation which would require such things as:background checks on all firearm purchases at gun shows, banning the importation of ammunition clips that hold ten or more bullets, and requiring guns to be sold with trigger locks?
| Vote for One | Term: 2 years |
John P. Desmond, NJ Conservative Party
Rush Holt*, Democratic Party
Carl J. Mayer, Green Party
Worth Winslow, Libertarian Party
Dick Zimmer, Republican Party
JOHN P. DESMOND
NJ Conservative Party
Address:10 Hanover Drive, Manalapan, NJ 07726-3615
Education: BS 1966 New York University; MBA 1972 Fordham University;
MS 1976 Fairleigh Dickinson University
Occupation: IP Network Security Consultant working at AT&T
Significant Community Activities in Manalapan:Served on Township
Committee to develop a Master Plan for Development; Served on
Township Committee to evaluate the purchase of Computer equipment;
Football Referee for Township football league; Cub Scout Pack
Business Administrator; Cub Scout Den Leader; Little League Baseball
Coach; Founder & President of Manalapan-Englishtown Right
to Life Committee; Board of Directors of NJ Right to Life Committee;
Past Grand Knight of Englishtown Knights of Columbus
Responses:
1. I support the repeal of the Estate Tax. The Estate Tax penalized
farmers and business owners because they have to buy expensive
insurance to cover the tax or pay for legal and accounting advice
to reduce or avoid the tax. The existing Marriage Penalty Tax
Code forced about 51 million two-income families to pay more taxes
than if they were single. I feel that this tax was blatantly unfair.
The Senate passed Bill S.2839 that cuts income taxes by about
$150 billion over 5 years. This Bill ends the "marriage penalty"
and I support it. Spending must be brought under control. A constitutional
amendment mandating a balanced budget will ensure discipline in
congressional spending.
2. I believe that the taxpayers of the United States should not
be required by Congress to pay an inordinate share of the costs
of the United Nations. Dues should be paid and were paid under
the Appropriations Bill for 2000. I believe that the US should
be able to hold back dues as bargaining leverage for other priorities
such as restrictive provisions on funding organizations that lobby
for more liberal abortion policies abroad. The Mexico City Policy
did just that and I support it. The U.S. should also withhold
payments:to pressure the U.N. to be "more efficient";
because "the U.N. actually owes the U.S." for voluntary
support to peacekeeping operations.
3. I am strongly in favor of legislation that would require full
disclosure by all political organizations, which contribute money
to political causes or campaigns. House Bill H.R. 4762 was passed
and then signed into law on July 1, 2000 by President Clinton.
I supported this bill.
It would end secret fund-raising and spending by groups under
Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code. So-called 527 groups
received a large degree of anonymity. This new law requires them
to identify themselves to the public, file periodic reports with
the IRS that identify contributors and disclose how they spend
their money in the political arena.
4. I am a long-time supporter of the Second Amendment, which explicitly
states that:"The right of the people to keep and bear arms
shall not be infringed." However, I also support mandatory
trigger locks, promoting the development of "smart gun"
technology, mandatory criminal background checks on all gun sales,
closing the gun show loophole, and requiring licensing and registration
of all handguns.
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Address:P.O. Box 782, Pennington, NJ 08534
Education:Carleton College, BS; New York University, MS, PhD
Occupation:U.S. Representative; Former Assistant Director, Princeton
Plasma Physics Lab
Significant Community Activities: Former Chair, Stony Brook-Millstone
Watershed Association Board of Trustees; Trustee, Family and Children's
Services of Central New Jersey; Trustee, Planned Parenthood Association
of Mercer Area; Co-Founder and Former Co-Chair, School Science
Advisor Program; Former Chair, American Physical Society's Forum
on Education;
Former Member, Federation of American Scientists Fund Board of
Directors
Responses:
1. I was one of the few Democrats in Congress who crossed party
lines to support a repeal of the estate tax and the marriage tax
penalty. The estate tax can exact a great penalty on small businesses,
family farms, and entrepreneurs. In central New Jersey, it has
also made it more difficult to
preserve open space. The marriage penalty is unfair and ought
to be eliminated. My priorities for funding include shoring up
Social Security, modernizing Medicare by adding a voluntary prescription
dug benefit, helping communities with the costs of school construction,
helping families afford the costs of college, and passing responsible
tax cuts.
2. I support the paying of our UN dues in full. I believe that
our nation's position of global leadership entails a responsibility
to provide strong support to international bodies like the United
Nations. The U.N. provides the world with a vital forum for the
peaceful negotiation of international conflicts. As a permanent
member of the Security Council, the U.S. is in a strong position
to accomplish its foreign policy objectives through the U.N. While
I support some reform of the U.N., I do not believe that placing
conditions on dues is appropriate by any country.
3. On my first day in Congress, I agreed to cosponsor legislation
to reform the way our nation funds campaigns. I strongly believe
that we need to enact reforms like those contained in the McCain-Feingold
reform bill. I also support and have voted for legislation to
require full disclosure of so-called 527 ads -- the political
attack ads that are becoming a disturbing way of life in politics
today. These ads are the latest scheme to get around campaign
finance laws and keep citizens in the dark about who is trying
to influence elections. People deserve the right to know who is
contributing money to elections. Full disclosure helps citizens
to make more informed judgments about issues and elections and
is a necessary step toward returning to people a sense that they
run their government.
4. I strongly support and have voted for gun safety legislation
that includes requiring background checks on all firearm purchases
at gun shows, banning the importation of large ammunition feeding
devices, and requiring trigger locks on all handguns. I have also
introduced legislation requiring the licensing and registration
of all handguns. I am proud that Handgun Control, Inc. and Ceasefire
New Jersey have endorsed me for my strong record on these issues.
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Address: 58 Battle Rd., Princeton
Education: Princeton University, BA; University of Chicago Law
School, JD; Harvard Law School, LLM
Occupation: Attorney; Author, "Shakedown:The Fleecing of
the Garden State"; Founder of the website www.evoiceofthepeople.com
Community Activities: Mercer County Big Brother/Big Sister; Susan
Koman Foundation Race For The Cure; Jerusalem Foundation.
Responses:
1. I do not favor repealing the estate tax because only 2% of
all estates in the country are now taxed; these families should
pay their fair share. My funding priorities are for education,
eliminating child poverty, and improving health and safety. I
would fund these by ending corporate welfare and slashing the
military budget. . Because I don't want to pander or provide simplistic
answers to voters, all my positions are detailed in my book Shakedown:The
Fleecing of the Garden State, which is available on my web site
www.evoiceofthepeople.com or on my campaign website www.CarlMayer.com
2. I favor the US paying backlogged UN dues; a nation should not place conditions on the dues because this is price of international peace and cooperation.
3. I favor legislation requiring full disclosure by all groups that contribute money to political campaigns. There is too much corrupt money in politics. I favor full public funding of campaigns to get this dirty money out of politics. Our campaign takes no corporate PAC money and I have a real record of fighting for reform. 60 Minutes asked me to help them expose corruption in New Jersey politics and because of that show we achieved real reform in New Jersey; more needs to be done. As a former Nader Raider I have fought my entire career for more honest, open and fair elections. The Green Party and my campaign accept no soft money, corporate PAC money or money from the Tobacco, Insurance, Banking and other lobbies that fund the Democratic and Republican candidates. I know I have the most comprehensive record and platform on campaign financing in this race.
4. Yes I support background checks, mandatory trigger locks and banning large ammo clips. We should ban handguns like every other western nation; handguns are used for crime not for sport. I have never owned or used a gun and I have a real record of achieving gun control. As Special Counsel to the New York State Attorney General I worked on litigation against the gun companies. This litigation forced one company - Smith and Wesson - to put trigger locks on all of its guns. The cases against the other gun companies are ongoing. The Green Party takes no money from the NRA, which gives freely to Democrats and Republicans alike. I know I have the most comprehensive record and platform on gun control in this race.
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WORTH WINSLOW
Libertarian Party
Address:P.O. Box 1299, Princeton, NJ 08542
Education:2 years college
Significant Community Activities:None
Responses:
1. I am in favor of repeal of the estate tax because I favor reduction
in all taxes. Also, taxes were already paid on the money earned
in the estate. I favor repeal of the marriage tax because people
should not pay more or less taxes because of their marital status.
We're all supposed to be treated equally in this country, remember?
2. The American taxpayer, as usual, is being soaked to finance
the United Nations. If individual taxpayers want to donate to
world causes, there are many charities that can do a much more
efficient job, and be more reflective of the donor's wishes (not
encouraging abortion, for example). Therefore, I favor a drastic
reduction in payments to the U.N.
3. I am opposed to "full disclosure" of all contributors
to campaigns. This represents an infringement of free speech,
which is guaranteed by the Constitution. Full disclosure also
hurts alternative parties since donors might fear reprisals from
elected officials from the established parties.
4. I support legislation that promotes gun safety, as long as its real purpose is not to infringe on the right of responsible citizens to protect themselves.
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No response received.
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