Congressional Race 2004 (Colorado)
...abortions, but slightly leans toward the separation of church and state.. However, he shows libertarians tendencies because he does believe that the government should not impact citizens lives as much. Harkins is hard to define because his party would want to bring about an incredible amount of change in the government, which seems more liberal. But he is a libertarians that is also quite conservative. He strongly believes in separation of many government agencies and citizens, and he also strongly opposes abortion.. D. Top 5 Issues: 1) Economy/Jobs: In comparison with other states, Colorado has experienced the largest unemployment rate. The unemployment rate has usually steadied just around the national average. 25,404 households have filed for bankruptcy in the past year, that is a 61% increase from 2000. Colorado’s economy has been struggling, just as the rest of the country.(Kerry/Edwards, Dave Thomas) 2) Education: Issues of the amount of spending on elementary, and secondary education. A lot of the families in the seventh district have to send their children to schools that are under funded, and have poorly trained teacher. Teacher quality, and staffing shortages are a concern in Colorado’s seventh district. (Public Issues Education, Dave Thomas) 3) Energy: Energy issues factor into the lives of Coloradans in a few different ways. Similarly to the rest of the country, the high gas prices which have risen make things difficult for low-income families, but the drilling endangers Colorado’s wildlife as well. Also, Colorado uses coal and natural gas as a source of 98% of their energy. This source endangers health because of its high level of mercury, and other toxins. (Dave Thomas, Bob Beauprez) 4) Water: “Another dry winter in the West left the Colorado River with just half of its normal supply of water” (Review Journal).A major issue in Colorado is drought. This is the regions sixth year of drought; there is an especially severe drought in the third Colorado river basin. The water levels in the Colorado River are record low. The drought causes issues with water quality, temperature, and sedimentations patterns. (Review Journal, Dave Thomas) 5) Health Care: There are 720,000 Coloradans without health coverage, 169,000 of them are children. A lot of families can not afford the coverage; in the last year health premiums went up by 13.9%. Other concerns are the cost of prescription drugs, and coverage for children. (Dave Thomas, Bob Beauprez) E. Issue 1) Bob Beauprez focuses on a smaller tax burden for citizens. He has supported tax-cuts, and eliminations on existing taxes. Dave Thomas also proposes tax-cuts, and wants to target outsourcing. Harkins’s party would want to alter the current tax system for a “state rate tax” which would call upon less federal spending.(Beauprez,Thomas The Constitution Party) Issue 2) Bob Beauprez has supported acts such as the No Child Left Behind act, Teacher Recruitment and retention act, and the Ready to teach act. These all are aimed toward teacher quality, and training. Thomas supports more control by school districts and the state. He also promises teacher education, and more educational funds. Harkins’s party believes that the government should not be involved in teacher certification, and learning standards. (Beauprez,Thomas The Constitution Party) Issue 3) Beauprez is an advocate for a national energy policy to help prices of gas. He also supports incentives for cleaner fuels and tough environmental standards. Thomas is a major supporter of renewable energy in Colorado, especially wind power. He wants policies that will reduce our demand for oil through focusing on arising technologies. Harkins’s party also believes there are other potential energy sources to be focused on.(Beauprez,Thomas The Constitution Party) Issue 4)Beauprez has shown interest in ways to capture, store, and conserve Colorado’s water. Thomas proposes that there should be repairs to the current water system, reservoirs should be better managed, and water should be recycled. Issue 5) Beauprez supports Health Savings Accounts, which would let citizens save tax free money for health care. He also supports Association Heal...