Congressional Candidate Employment Questionnaire

by Gary W. Callahan

INSTRUCTIONS

This Questionnaire derives from the premise that taxpayers are the actual employer of a Congressperson, and that Congressional, national, and international issues are complex. To that end, we, as the taxpayers - employers, have a right to know whether the person we are employing is qualified for the position, and have a right to know and understand a candidate’s background, education, experience, beliefs, and the foundation for his or her beliefs. We have a right to know a candidate’s employment history, his or her ability to substantively explain a political, philosophical, religious, scientific, or economic position or belief. We have a right to know how a candidate will spend our taxes, and what will be his or her concerns and emphasis as a legislator and as our employee.

A candidate may have no more than 14 days to answer the questions. Once completed, the entire Questionnaire and answers are to be posted online or printed in a local or state-wide newspaper. Questions are to be answered fully; generally, a “yes” or “no” response is not acceptable. Please respond to the employment questions by explaining the basis of a statement or answer. The questions are not intended to be judgmental, but are intended to be difficult and probing, and are structured to prevent obfuscation or circumvention. Your potential employers will recognize a failure to answer completely as an evasion. You may, and are, expected to consult any sources, writings, or persons, but you are to list the sources you reviewed and the persons with whom you consulted.

Full Name _______________________________________________

Birth Place _______________________________________________

State and County of Present Residence _______________________________________

How long have you lived in the state? ________________________

How Long have you lived in the county? ________________________________

In what state(s) were you primarily raised? _________________________________

when were you born? ____________________________

where did you go to high school? ________________________

what sports did you play in high school? [if any] _______________________

Where did you attend undergraduate college? _______________________

did you graduate? ______________ year? _____________

what was your major? ________________________

what was your gpa at college graduation? ______________________

did you complete an accounting course? ________________________

did you complete a finance course? ________________________

list your science courses _____________________________

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what academic or athletic honors did you receive? _________________________________

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do you have a graduate degree(s)? _____________________________

what degree(s) and from what institution(s)? __________________________________

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if you are a lawyer, doctor, or cpa, have you ever been disbarred, disciplined, or had a professional license suspended or revoked? ______________________________________

If yes, please explain ________________________________________________________

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have you ever had your driver’s license suspended or revoked? ____________________

Were you in U.S. Armed Forces? ____________________

If yes, what Branch?_______________________________

places of service _____________________________________________________________

Dates of duty: From ______________________ To ______________________

present rank, if any _______________________________

Rank at discharge _________________________________

do you read or speak a foreign language, and if yes, what language? ________________

to what magazines do you subscribe? _________________________________

to what periodicals do you subscribe? _________________________________

do you have a passport? _______________________________

what countries have you visited, and unbder what circumstances (e.g., business or pleasure)?

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what is your current employment, title, and duties? ___________________________________

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list all of your places of employment since you were 16, the employer, your duties, hours per week of employment ___________________________________________________________

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have you ever been terminated from a job? ___________________

if yes, explain _________________________________________________________________

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have you ever hired or fired anyone? _____________________________________

have you ever prepared a budget? if yes, under what circumstances? _____________________________________

have you ever been a union member? if so, what union, what time period, and what union, and where?
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have you ever owned a business (solely or in part)? __________________________

if so, what was the name of the business and where was it located? _________________

what is / was the nature of the business? _________________________________________

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do you have any publications or publically available writings (books, articles)? ___________

if yes, what writings (title), and in what publication(s)? _____________________________

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do you own a home? _____________________

if yes, is this your residence? _________________________

how long have you lived in this residence? __________________________

do you own any property, buildings, or homes other than your residence? _______________________

if yes, in what state(s) [is it] [are they] located? ___________________________________

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do you prepare your own tax returns? _______________________________________________

if no, when was the last time you prepared your own tax returns? _________________

are you subject to the alternative minimum tax (AMT)? _____________________________

are you married? ________________________________

do you have children? _____________________________________

what volunteer work have you done in the last 10 yars? _____________________________

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have you ever filed bankruptcy, and if yes, when and chapter 7 or chapter 11? _____________________________________________________

have you ever been convicted of a crime? if yes, when, where, and under what circumstances. _________________________________________________________________

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what elected postions, and where, have you held? ___________________________________

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to what associations do you belong, and for what period of time? _______________________

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what vehicles do you own? [make and year] ________________________________________

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do you own an airplane? ________________________________________

if elected, do you agree not to take more than 1 taxpayer funded foreign trip per year?
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if no, explain the reason _________________________________________________________

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if elected, do you agree to hire no more than 5 taxpayer-funded staffers for your washington congressinal office? ___________________________

if no, explain the reason _________________________________________________________

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if elected, do you agree not to spend more than $10,000 per year on franking privileges? ___________________________

if no, explain the reason _________________________________________________________

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if elected, do you agree to disclolse on your congressional web site the salaries, positions, educational background and duties of your hired staffers? _____________________

if no, explain the reason _________________________________________________________

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if elected, do you agree to publish on your congressional web site all BILLS THAT you vote for or against? _____________________

if no, explain the reason _________________________________________________________

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if elected, do you agree to publish on your congressional web site the content of all bills which you sponsor for at least 36 hours before you vote? __________________________________

if no, explain the reason _________________________________________________________

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if elected, do you agree to limit the number of terms you will serve? _______________

if no, explain the reason _________________________________________________________

if elected, what committees do you expect to be appointed and why?
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if elected, do you agree to fly only commercial airlines, coach class, (or drive) to and from your state / district to washington [in normal circumstances]? ___________________________

if no, explain the reason _________________________________________________________

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if elected, what will be your living situation in dc? _______________

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what is your interpretaion of Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965), a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the Constitution protected a right to privacy? What is the scope of Griswold? do you agree with the decision, why or why not?

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what is your understanding of roe v wade 410 U.S. 113 (1973), a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the Constitution protected a right to an abortion, based on a Constitutional right to privacy emanating from the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment? [overturning texas’ statute criminalizing a doctor’s services in terminating a pregnancy] do you agree with the decision, why or why not? Do you agree or disagree with the strict scrutiny analysis in this case, and why or why or why not?

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Do you hunt? __________________________

should there be a limit on what kinds of guns an individual may possess? _______________

If yes, why and what should be the limitatons? If no, why not? ________________

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on what basis should a federal judge be appointed? Should a prospetive federal judge be merely well qualiified for an appointmentment to the bench, or should the candidate have demonstrated a philosiphical and legal perspective? For example, President obama has stated that nominees to the us supreme court should be justices who will be “empathetic” to ordinary people. do you agree or disagree with president obama? why or why not? explain the purpose of the supreme court. _________________________________________

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do you believe that the make up of the supreme court should reflect the diversity of the us population? why or why not? _____________________________________________________

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to what extent should a state be able to enact its own laws and regulations in contravention to the us government? _______________________________________________

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in civil law suits, should there be a cap on “pain and suffering” damages? why or why not? ___________________________________________________________________________________

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do you believe that china is a merchantalist economy, particularly vis-a-vis the us? why or why not? _______________________________________________________________________

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what is the optimum national debt to gdp ratio, and why? ____________________________

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what do you believe is the highest percent federal tax of adjusted gross income that an individual, or a couple filing jointly, should pay? and why? ______________________

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what do you believe is the highest percent federal income tax that a corporation should pay? and why? (do not state that a corporation should pay x percent, but eiminate certain deductions, unless you are able to articulate the precise deductions and the result). _____________________________________________________________________________

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where does the us rank in terms of percent paid on federal corporate income tax? (list the top ten in terms of percent of income). _____________________________________________________________________________

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do you believe that corporate income tax rates correlate in any way to job creation? why or why not?
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Would you favor the re-implementation of a manufacturing investment tax credit? why or why not? what would be the result of a re-implementation?

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should the federal government permit the estate tax to revert to the 2001 rates? why or why or why not. if yes, at what tax rate.______________________________________________________________________

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do you believe that the us should provide to its citizens a nearly equal financial and economic outcome, or to provide an opportunity to have an equal financial and economic outcome? why or why not? if yes as to equal outcomes, by what mechanism? ______________________

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do you believe that the us should inflate its way out of debt? why or why not? and what is an acceptable inflation rate? ____________________________________________________

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are you a believer in keynesian economics? [explaint keynesian economics]. why or why not?

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What is meant by monitizing the debt? Should the Federal Reserve monitize the debt? Why or why not? What are the consequences, if any, of monitizing the national debt? __________________________________________________________________________________

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what do you believe is the role of the federal reserve? ____________________________

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do you believe that the us should enact a vat tax? why or why not? ________________

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what is the vat tax rate in great britian? ___________________________%

how can the us achieve a lower than 9% unemployment rate? by what economic mechanism?

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what are the us terrif rates on imported lumber from canada, tires from china, portland cement from mexico, drilling steel from china, and steel from any other country? lumber________________________

tires ____________ steel ____________________ cement ____________________.

do you believe there is a benefit or detriment to imposing tariffs on any of these goods? why or why not? ________________________________________________________________

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Explain the economic result of the smoot hawley act. _____________________________

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will you vote for the card check employee free choice act? why or why not? __________

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should public school teachers be compensated as a result of length of service and tenure or by the quality of student learning outcomes? explain. _____________________________

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should persons in congress and in the administrative brance be required to send their children to public schools if they live in the dc metropolitan area? ______________________________________

if elected, and you send your school age children to private school, do you agree that the dc school system should fund charter schools, and will you vote for such funding? _____

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should enemy combatants / soldiers, without uniforms, captured in a foreign country be given the same rights as us citizens, including the right to counsel and habeus corpus rights? why or why not?
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do you believe in the death penalty? why or why not, and if yes, in what circumstances? is the death penalty violative of the eighth amendment as cruel and unusual punishment?

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what role should international law play in or impact us legal court decisions, if any? and why or why not? [should us courts look to international law as a source for guidance in making decisions?] _________________________________________________________________

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how do you propose to increase the number of physicians over the next 10 years? [do you assume that there will be a shortage of treating physicians?] _______________________

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if elected, do you agree to spend 40 hours in one week in a level one trauma center in a city in another state? ____________ why or why not? ___________________________________

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if elected, do you agree to spend 40 hours in one week with a primary care physician in a city in another state? ____________ why or why not? ___________________________________

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explain your understanding of federalism as it applies to the us governmental – state structure, and do you agree or disagree in the principle of federalism? _________________

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what should be the limits of fereral power, if any, and under what circumstances should federal law over-ride state law? Please expalin the limits of the commerce clause, if any. give 2 examples. __________________________________

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should a government have the authority and power to require an individual to purchase health insurance? If an individual fails or refuses to purchase such health insurance, should the federal governmwent have the power to levy a fine on that individual? Why or why not?_________________________________________________________________

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should immigrants in the us illegally for more than 10 years be granted citizenship? why or wht not, and if “yes,” under what circumstances? ___________________________________

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should all laws enacted by conress and signed by the president also apply equally to congress itself and to the executive branch? _________________________________________

why or why not? _________________________________________________________________

do you know as to whether all congressionaly-passed laws are equally applicable? are wage and hour laws applicable to congress? ___________

should congress enact a cap and trade law? _________________________________________

explain why or why not, and explain the economic impact, if any, of such a policy. _____

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should congress restrict the use of coal as a source of energy? _________________________________________

explain why or why not, and explain the economic impact, if any, of such a policy, and how it would be achieved. (what percent of us electricity is coal powered?)___________________

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do you favor an extensive use of wind and solar power as alternative energy sources, and if yes, to what extent as a percentage of replacing fossile fuel energy sources, and why or why not? _______________________________________________________________________

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do you favor an extensive use of biofuels such as corn ethanol as an alternative energy source, and if yes, to what extent as a percentage of replacing fossile fuel energy sources, and why or why not? __________________________________________________________

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do you favor maintianing the tariff on the importation of biofuels, and why or why not? what is the tariff on imported biofuels? ______________________________________________

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what is your understanding as to whether corn produced biofuels are btu neutral, and does it matter? explain the economic effect of tariffs on imported biofuels. ___________

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explain your position on earmarks, and do you intend to use earmarks as a method of acquiring funds for your state or district, and for what use? _______________________

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should the federal government have the right to intercept communications from non-us citizens, wherever they are located, and without a warrant? _______________________

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should the federal government have the right to intercept communications from us citizens, not located in the us, and without a warrant? _______________________

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what is the fisa court and what is its purpose, and do you agree with its existence? ____

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should enemy combatants who are held by the us be permitted to obtain all exculpatory evidence in a trial, whether civil or military cpirts? why or why not? __________________

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do you consider “waterboarding” to be “torture” under either us law or the geneva convention? _______________________________________________________________________

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should Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (ksm) be tried in a civil or military court? why or why not? __________________

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should the glass stiegal act be re-enacted? why or why not? ______________________

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should nafta be eliminated or curtailed? why or why not? ______________________

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should the us agree to the doha development round [or subsequent rounds] of wto trade negotiations? why or why not? ____________________________________________________

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should the us agree and ratify to the kyoto accord? why or why not? what does the kyoto accord require? ________________________________________________________________

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should the us agree to the proposed bi-lateral trade treaty with columbia? why or why not? ____________________________________________________________________________

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should congress ratify the new “start” treaty with russia? why or why not? ___________

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sources and persons consulted

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