League of Women Voters of New York State Voters Guide 2006 – U.S. Senate Questionnaire
Name (as it will appear on the ballot): Howie Hawkins
1. The American occupation in Iraq continues to be enormously costly in dollars and in lives. What is your position on how our government should proceed?
Bring the troops home now. Withdraw immediately and unconditionally. The mission of installing a puppet Iraqi government to secure US military bases and control the oil undermined US national security by draining the treasury and generating worldwide hostility toward the US. The US should pay reparations to Iraq for reconstruction.
2. What is your impression of the roll-out of the Medicare Prescription Drug program so far, and what changes would you propose to make it better?
The 2003 Medicare Prescription Drug Bill is corporate welfare for the giant drug companies and a shameful attempt to privatize Medicare. We should universalize Medicare through publicly financed, universal health insurance for all. This system would bulk purchase drugs to achieve a 40 percent discount, as the Veterans Administration does.
3. Where do you stand on the current balance between security and civil rights?
National security should protect democratic rights, not compromise freedoms in the name of security. We should: Repeal the Patriot Act. End government surveillance of law-abiding citizens and civic groups. End secret detentions, arrests without charges, secret “evidence," no access to attorneys, military tribunals for civilians, and renditions for torture.
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