OCF Candidate Survey 2006

Candidate: Kevin Zeese
Party: Green Party
Running For: US Senate
State: Maryland

1

QDo you think organic agriculture should receive a fair share (at least 2.5%) of government resources spent on agriculture?

A Yes

Comment: We need to shift to locally grown, organic produce. So, 2.5% is probably not enough, but only a start. Just removing the support for agribusiness would be a good step toward creating a level playing field for family, organic farms.
2

QDo you support strict standards for processed foods, dairy, and body care products that are labeled or marketed as organic?

A Yes

Comment: Let's keep the standards meaning something. I don't want to see the phrase "organic" to mean anything other than organic!
3

QDo you support more aggressive government action to assess the harms of pesticides, take harmful pesticides off the market, and hold companies responsible for diseases and environmental damage caused by pesticides?

A Yes

Comment: We need to make the 21st Century the environmental century -- where we clean up the mess from the 19th and 20th Centuries. The big focus needs to breaking our addiction to fossil fuels and substituting clean, renewable energy sources, but cleaning up the pollution caused by herbicides and pesticides is also essential.
4

QShould people have the right to pass consumer safety laws at the state or local level that require food labels to include information on dangerous ingredients?

A Yes

Comment: Let's not let the federal government -- corrupted by special interest money -- pull down standards. People need more information, not less, regarding the dangers of products/foods they buy.
5a

QDo you support Country of Origin and labeling that helps consumers choose local products?

A Yes

Comment: We need to encourage locally grown-locally sold as the model for food and other products. This is part of breaking our addiction to fossil fuels as well as undermining the need for preservatives and other additives.
5b

QDo you support government action to help US farmers develop local and regional markets and to reduce non-renewable energy use on their farms?

A Yes

Comment:
6a

QDo you support mandatory labeling of foods containing genetically engineered ingredients?

A Yes

Comment: Knowledge -- from testing -- and sharing of knowledge -- through labeling -- are the best things for the consumer.
6b

QDo you support mandatory pre-market safety testing for all genetically modified foods and crops?

A Yes

Comment:
7

QDo you support universal testing for Mad Cow disease and a ban on feeding slaughterhouse waste to farm animals?

A Yes

Comment: See comment above in #6.
8

QDo you support a restructuring of trade-distorting US farm subsidies?

A Yes

Comment: Our so-called "free" trade agreements are really corporate trade agreements that empower corporations at the expense of the environment and human rights. We need trade agreements that empower workers, consumers and protect the environment -- and that do not undermine US sovereignty by making corporations more powerful than government.
9

QDo you support a significant shift in US farm subsidies to help family farmers and ranchers make the transition to organic?

A Yes

Comment:
10

QDo you support a significant shift in subsidies to help US farmers adopt conservation and renewable energy practices on farms?

A Yes

Comment: We especially need this transition in Maryland where the Chesapeake Bay is threatened by farm pollution (among other sources of pollution).
11

QDo you support increases for WIC (Women, Infant and Children), the Farmers Market Nutrition Program, and other programs to help low-income Americans buy organic food?

A Yes

Comment: The poorest need health food as much as anyone else. We need to transition to an organic marketplace.
12

QDo you support universal health care with a preventive focus and a major emphasis on better nutrition?

A Yes

Comment: The phrase "universal health care" is one that is used to cover the real issue. The real issue is we need a National Health Car Plan and a single payer system. Until we challenge the health insurance industry, whose duplicative and uncessary bureaucracy is 25% of the cost of health care. We cannot build a universal system on top of the system we currently have. We already spend more per person than any other nation in the world - that is because the special interests (health insurance industry) dominate policy making in this area.
13

QDo you support 80%-by-2050 reduction in climate destabilizing greenhouse gas pollution?

A Yes

Comment: Global warming needs urgent attention. Your answer even provides to slow a solution. We have the technology to shift away from 19/20th Century dirty fossil fuels to clean, sustainable, renewable energy sources. We have the ability to dramatically increase efficiency of cars, homes, buildings. We need to act with urgency on this critical issue or there will not be an environment for future generations. Make this the environmnetal Century!
14

QDo you support ending the Iraq war and redirecting funds from the $500 billion annual military spending in the U.S. toward greening the U.S. economy, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and converting U.S. agriculture to organic practices?

A Yes

Comment: Definitely. And we need to stand against future wars of aggression (see www.VotersForPeace.US and sign their voters pledge!). We also need to reduce, dramatically, the U.S. defense budget which is half of our discretionary federal spending and as much as the whole world combined. I am director of a national anti-war group, DemocracyRising.US.
15

Q Do you support requiring electronic voting machines to produce voter-verified paper records and election officials to use these records to conduct mandatory audits of election results?

A Yes

Comment: Definitely. I've worked on this issue for three years in Maryland as a co-founder and co-leader of TrueVoteMD.org. I'm also a co-founder of VoteTrustUSA.org - a national organization working for this issue. This is only a first step in saving our democracy. Many reforms are needed to make it work -- it is currently failing.
16

QDo you support eliminating the distorting effect of special interest money on our elections and politicians by requiring full public funding for all federal, state, and local elections?

A Yes

Comment: While I disagree with John McCain on many issues, he is right when he says that our electoral system is "nothing less than a massive influence peddling scheme where both parties conspire to sell the country to the hightest bidder." We need to make politics for the people not the special interest funders. This is one of the reasons I am not running with either of the two old parties.
17

QDo you support legislation to prevent internet companies from rigging the system to serve only the highest-paying users and discriminate against users they don’t like?

A Yes

Comment: The Internet is America's Main Street. It is where ideas are discussed in freedom. I do not trust the telecom or cable companies to continue that freedom. The telecom companies cooperated with the NSA warrantless wiretapping program -- what will they do to protect Internet privacy.

 

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