Harris Wofford Issues Box

Wofford helped found the Peace Corps and served as president of Bryn Mawr College and most recently served as the state's secretary of labor and industry. Wofford is touting the election as a referendum on the policies of President Bush. His stances on the issues are: · Health Care -- Wofford supports a national health insurance program which would allow citizens to choose their own doctors. He says this would control costs and particularly would help cities, which are bearing the burden of unpaid medical bills. · Taxes -- Wofford favors a middle-income federal tax cut and says he is the only candidate who has never raised taxes. He favors lower capital gains taxes for smaller businesses only. · Urban Problems -- Wofford says it is necessary to change the federal policies which mandate that states and cities take over programs but don't give the localities the resources to deal with the programs. Wofford also supports the death penalty. · Abortion -- Wofford says he supports abortion rights, but he supports limits for legal abortions to the first two trimesters, and supports requirements of parental permission for minors and opposes public funding. · Congressional Reform -- Wofford has threatened to cancel Congress' free medical benefits until it enacts a national health care plan. He has promoted himself as a populist candidate with an almost anti-Washington bent. Former Pennsylvania Governor Richard Thornburgh is fighting one of the biggest battles of his life. Thornburgh, who resigned as U.S. Attorney General to run for Heinz's Senate seat, is facing stiff competition from outsider Harris Wofford. But Thornburgh was a popular governor and is well-known across Pennsylvania. He has recently stressed his support of business, his creation of jobs during his term as governor and his commitment to safer streets. His stances on the issues are: · Health Care -- Thornburgh says he wants to work to reduce the costs of health insurance for those citizens who already have it, and work to make affordable insurance available for those people who currently do not have it. Thornburgh says he will accomplish this by relaxing mandates on insurance providers to cover "non-essential services." · Taxes -- Thornburgh supports giving tax credits to families with children and reducing the cost of welfare by getting more able-bodied people into the workforce. He also supports a balanced budget amendment to the constitution. · Urban Problems -- Thornburgh says he wants to increase mandatory sentences for criminals who use firearms and supports the death penalty as a method of preventing crime. · Abortion -- Thornburgh opposes abortion except in cases involving incest, rape or the health or life of the mother. · Congressional Reform -- Thornburgh says he wants to eliminate perks and force politicians to pay the full cost of all services they receive. He would try to stop exemptions from anti-discrimination laws and restructure the confirmation process.