Kobach on the issues

Iraq and the war on terrorism

FOR. Says the United States is seeing signs of success in Iraq, with increasing rates of vaccinations and clean drinking water use.
"When it comes to terrorism, I have direct experience fighting this war as counsel to the Attorney General (2001-2003). I am running for Congress because there is much more to be done to close the gaps in our laws that the terrorists continue to abuse. I have led the enforcement of these laws, and I know what statutes must be fixed.
For example, under current U.S. law, membership in a terrorist organization is not a basis for deporting an alien from the United States. This is one of many legal flaws in our system that terrorists have already exploited. I will propose legislation to remove these vulnerabilities when I am elected to Congress.
I will also vote to authorize the deployment of the National Guard to our borders. After 9/11, we were able to accomplish a great deal in making it more difficult for terrorists to enter the country through our ports of entry. The terrorists realize this, and many are changing their tactics and attempting covert overland entry across our borders. The only effective response is to deploy the National Guard."

Tax cuts

FOR. "I will fight for rate reductions in all tax brackets. Uncle Sam takes too big a bite out of the American paycheck, and I am committed to reining in the appetite of the federal government."

Abortion rights

AGAINST. "I favored waiting periods, parental consent requirements, viability tests, bans on certain abortion procedures, and any other legally sustainable measures to make abortion more difficult."

Gay marriage amendment

FOR. "I am firmly in favor of the Federal Marriage Amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman." He is also against federal protections for other forms of gay unions.
"The lack of a Federal Marriage Amendment means that gay marriages recognized by Massachusetts will have full legal effect here in Kansas. This is due to the fact that the "Full Faith and Credit Clause" of Article IV, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution requires Kansas Courts to recognize the legal effect of marriages in other states.
The dangers that the legal recognition of gay marriage pose are numerous, but here are two of the most significant consequences:
(1) Out-of-wedlock births will skyrocket. We have seen this happen in the countries of Scandinivia, which de facto recognized gay marriage in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Now, more than half of all Scandinavian births are outside of marriage. This is what happens when marriage is "defined down" so that it means nothing in particular. If marriage can mean anything, marriage means nothing.
(2) Adoption. Once courts are compelled to recognize gay marriage as the legal equivalent of traditional marriage, then gay couples will be able to adopt children on equal footing with traditional couples. Sociological and psychological studies demonstrate conclusively that this is bad for the children. Children raised by gay couples are more likely to become involved in drugs or crime, less likely to graduate from high school and are exposed to all kinds of psychological stress."

Health care reform

FOR. "There are two things that we must do if we are to expand the availability of health insurance to all workers.
First, we must pass tort reform to limit the frivolous lawsuits that are driving up doctor's costs. For many doctors, their yearly insurance premiums are now over $400,000. Those costs are passed on to the health care consumer, resulting in massive increases in health care costs. It is estimated that if the HEALTH Act (which imposes reasonable caps on punitive damages) were passed by Congress, more than 4 million additional Americans would be insured. . . . Second, Congress must pass legislation allowing small businesses to take advantage of "Association Health Plans." These plans allow small businesses to gather together and pool their risk, so that they can offer affordable insurance to their employees.

Patriot Act

FOR. He says the law allows feds to look at book and library library records only when someone suspected of terrorist activities is involved.
"A platoon of "civil rights" groups have launched a lobbying offensive for the passage of local resolutions that denounce the Patriot Act and call for its repeal. In hysterical terms, these resolutions scream that civil liberties have been violated. Eager protesters, their beards graying with age, pack city council chambers to tell of the horrors they have read on the Internet. They never cite any case law or specific instances of lost liberties. But they've duped more than 200 credulous city councils across the country into passing these resolutions. And now it's hit a dangerous extreme - crossing the line from denunciation to non-cooperation."