On the record with Wisconsin's candidates for governor

	Jim Doyle		Scott McCallum
	Ed Thompson		Jim Young

MILWAUKEE -- This year's race for governor is touted as the closest since Tommy Thompson was elected in 1986. It has also become one that even political aficionados don't like.

Neither major party candidate seems to generate much enthusiasm. Conservative Milwaukee commentator Mark Belling wrote that Republican Gov. Scott McCallum, seeking his first full term after succeeding Thompson, "is politically awkward, and his staff has a staggering ability of stepping in the only puddle in a two-acre parking lot."

Atty. Gen. James Doyle won the Democratic nomination despite failing to carry the state's largest Democratic strongholds, Dane and Milwaukee counties, in the primary. The state AFL-CIO made a point of delaying its post-primary endorsement of Doyle, in a show of displeasure over Doyle's pledge to roll back state employment by nearly 12,000 workers.

Both major party candidates have mastered the fine art of being studiously noncommittal. Their onslaughts of television commercials are mostly devoted to trashing each other, rather than offering their own solutions to problems like the billion-dollar state deficit.

Observers have noticed this omission. A Chicago Tribune article on the race observed that "McCallum and Doyle have been mired in a cautious, one-size-fits-all campaign with both men invoking broad, sound-bite themes. Largely left unsaid is ... what should be done to balance the budget."

A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial warned that "straight talk in this gubernatorial campaign will be at a very high premium. Both men need to better spell out how they intend to deal with the state's fiscal mess."

Election articles ... from the 11/01/2002 Compass: • Right to Life continues fight • Editorial: Time to vote • Eye on the Capitol: Let's debate state job cuts before election from the 10/25/2002 Compass: • Part seven -- Environment and agriculture from the 10/18/2002 Compass: • Part six -- Criminal Justice and Corrections • Eye on the Capitol: Faithful Catholic citizens called to get involved in elections from the 10/11/2002 Compass: • Part five -- Budget Shortfalls and Taxation from the 10/04/2002 Compass: • Part four -- Health Care from the 9/27/2002 Compass: • Part three -- Help for Families from the 9/20/2002 Compass: • Part two -- Human Life and Dignity from the 9/13/2002 Compass: • Part one -- Intro. and overview • Helping faithful Catholics decide

As part of its ongoing effort to provide information in anticipation of the upcoming vote, the Catholic Herald sought specific answers on 18 issues from Doyle, McCallum, Libertarian candidate Ed Thompson and Green candidate Jim Young. Only Thompson and Young agreed to interviews. McCallum's campaign provided written answers. After several requests, Doyle's campaign refused to respond. In the interest of completeness, Doyle's stated positions, drawn from various public documents, are included where they could be determined.

Issue: Laws to restrict abortion to the greatest extent possible allowed by current court rulings.

Doyle: Told the Madison weekly Isthmus that "I probably more than any single human being in Wisconsin have helped people exercise their right [to abortion]. We've gone to court many times against people who have blocked access to clinics. I have done a lot to make sure people can exercise what is clearly their constitutional right."

McCallum: "I am pro-life, with exceptions."

Thompson: "I'm against abortion, but I don't think it should be illegal. I would not seek to change Wisconsin's (existing) laws against abortion. They're some of the strictest in the nation."

Young: "I support choice."

Issue: Assisted suicide and euthanasia.

McCallum: "I don't believe this is an issue for state government."

Thompson: "I would support legalizing physician-assisted suicide in extreme circumstances with strong constraints against abuse, (requiring) two, maybe even three doctors to agree there's no hope of recovery. It should only be an option in cases of severe pain and no hope of recovery."

Young: "I'm not sure. I'm open to discussion from elderly individuals who are facing those decisions."

Issue: The death penalty.

Doyle: Opposed.

McCallum: "Wisconsin currently has no death penalty and there has not been much movement to change that. However, in my state senate days, I did support a bill to require the death penalty in certain instances, but that bill never became law."

Thompson: Opposed.

Young: "No way."

Issue: Human embryo research and human cloning.

Doyle: His campaign Web site states, "Jim Doyle would veto any attempts to outlaw, criminalize or limit the vital research being conducted at Wisconsin's universities."

McCallum: "I am in agreement with President Bush's guidelines on stem cell research. I am proud of the work being done at the University of Wisconsin and have met with them on numerous occasions to discuss the ethical guidelines. I do not want to see a marketplace created."

Thompson: "Banning human embryonic research is too drastic. The potential for abuse does concern me, and I support a full review of Wisconsin law in this area."

Young: "I don't like either, and wouldn't support funding that kind of research."

Issue: Providing financial assistance to low-income families.

McCallum: "I am very proud of the work of the Thompson-McCallum administration to move people from welfare to work. We have numerous programs in place to assist individuals and families as they make the transition. It is my hope that all citizens have the opportunity to move up the economic ladder."

Thompson: "The best assistance to low-income families is a good, family-wage paying job. I do worry about building state aid bureaucracy that loses track of the human aspect." He would emphasize involving local and private organizations.

Young: "We should be providing assistance to people in need, instead of profits to private providers of W-2 services," whom Young said increase their profits by denying aid to the needy.

Issue: Policies that address the high social and public costs of failed marriages and lack of marriage, especially as it impacts children.

McCallum: "My wish for all children is that they have two parents who love them and raise them. That said, divorce is a reality in our society and when children are involved it can be extremely painful and frightening. I would like to see children coming first in divorce cases, not property or money issues."

Thompson: "I support a full review of Wisconsin divorce law. I know a lot of children are suffering because of divorce."

Young: "There needs to be that vehicle of divorce for people to get out of abusive marriages. There needs to be much more money for children for counseling." He also sees the need to "keep both parents involved in parenting after a divorce."

Issue: The right to just wages, to affordable housing, to organize and join unions, to economic initiative, and to private property.

Doyle: He told Isthmus, "I support raising the state's minimum wage. We need to provide working men and women with a livable wage that enables them to provide for their families."

McCallum: "My goal is to raise the per capita income of all Wisconsin citizens by $8,000 a year by 2006. We are well on our way of reaching that goal."

Thompson: "The UAW saved my job at the Janesville auto plant. I've been a member of four unions. I would oppose right to work laws or any other attempt to weaken unions." He called affordable housing "a problem that must be solved locally," and opposed increasing the minimum wage as "symbolic."

Young: "We need to have a living wage, a family-supporting wage. I would make sure that any state contracts would go to in-state companies that provided family-supporting wages." He supports requirements to include affordable housing in new developments, and said "all workers have a right to organize and form unions."

Issue: Educational choice for low-income families.

Doyle: "I would not abolish it and I would not have it expand," he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "I would keep the program as it is in Milwaukee," citing a "responsibility to make sure that those kids are able to pursue their education, those families don't live with that constant disruption" of threats to cut the program.

McCallum: "I have been a strong supporter of school choice. I vowed to save school choice when Senate Democrats tried to kill the program."

Thompson: Would expand vouchers statewide because "that's worked so well in Milwaukee."

Young: Opposes the Milwaukee program.

Issue: Ensuring that basic health care is available to all persons, especially poor families and children, the elderly, persons with disabilities and the mentally ill.

Doyle: Called for letting farmers and small businesses join state employees in a health-care purchasing pool.

McCallum: "Wisconsin is currently the top state in the nation for the number of citizens with health insurance coverage. BadgerCare has become a national model for how to provide quality, affordable coverage to working families. I increased funding for it in my last budget. Additionally, we are making strides in many areas to bring the cost of health insurance down."

Thompson: Said he backs "innovative ways to help the disabled and elderly" and making health insurance more affordable. "I want to make it easier to buy catastrophic health insurance" by encouraging medical savings accounts. Would include farmers in small-business insurance pools.

Young: "That's one of our basic human rights. We need to get the profit motive out of health care delivery." He backs "some type of universal or single-payer coverage."

Issue: Respecting the right of conscience of religious health care institutions and workers to carry out their ministry without compromising their religious convictions.

Doyle: He told Isthmus that "I believe that hospitals should make emergency contraception available to rape victims."

McCallum: "People should not be required by the state to perform services or tasks to which they are morally opposed."

Thompson: "Government should not interfere with a private health care institution's policies." However, "If an employee finds a job is morally objectionable, he shouldn't have taken the job."

Young: "If institutions are getting federal and state funds, I don't believe they should be able to deny care options to individuals." He feels the same way about individual employees.

Issue: Mandating insurance coverage of contraceptives.

Doyle: Favors such a mandate.

McCallum: "I do not support mandating insurance companies to provide birth control."

Thompson: Opposed.

Young: "I support that."

Issue: Policies to protect God's creation and promote good stewardship of natural resources.

Doyle: Has called for restoring the independence of the Department of Natural Resources, by allowing the DNR board to choose the agency's secretary, who is now a political appointee. He has also backed tighter restrictions on mining, and would explore state purchase of the proposed Crandon mine site. Environmentalists have opposed the mine.

McCallum: "I signed into law the first wetlands protection bill in the nation. I purchased one of the largest tracts of pristine wilderness in state history -- the Peshtigo flowage. My first budget received an 'A' from the Sierra Club."

Thompson: "We have to hold big polluters accountable. Nobody will pull my string."

Young: He called for tighter restrictions on mining, a constitutional guarantee of clean water, and urged that "all budget and legislative decisions consider the impact on future generations."

Issue: Farm policies that support small-to moderate-sized-family-owned and operated farms.

Doyle: Has called for expanded property tax breaks for farm property, grants to farmers to develop new products and expand into new markets, and tax credits for Wisconsin college graduates who go into farming.

McCallum: "I have worked hard for farmers. Land-use value assessment has saved farmers billions in property taxes and when it was challenged (Doyle) refused to represent the state and the farmers, saying we couldn't win. We hired our own attorneys and we won."

Thompson: "I'm sick and tired of state government telling landowners what they can and cannot do with their property. I'm particularly concerned with people who don't understand farming trying to control farming. If people don't want to be around farms, don't move next to one." He also supports property tax relief for farmers.

Young: "I support organic (farming.) That's the way to go, to support family farms and a sustainable agricultural economy. I don't support factory farms, they send money out of their communities. Family farmers reinvest in their communities."

Issue: Proposals to divert more non-violent criminals from incarceration to treatment.

Doyle: He told Isthmus that "the idea that our prisons are filled with first-time drug offenders is a myth. The people in our prison system have earned their way there. We need to fix a loophole in the law that undermines the purpose of truth in sentencing by allowing some inmates to petition the courts for reductions in their sentence."

McCallum: "We just recently passed the second part of the Truth in Sentencing bill, which changes the sentencing guidelines to better reflect the crime committed. That will save us about $25 million."

Thompson: "Wisconsin's inmate population is over 20,000, and it costs over $25,000 per year to keep one inmate in prison. Dramatic savings begin with placing non-violent prisoners in alternatives to incarceration." Speaking as a former federal prison guard, Thompson maintained that "non-violent offenders do not belong locked up with violent persons. Horrible things happen."

Young: "We need to end the war on drugs, and look on drug use as a social and health issue. We wouldn't have as many people to incarcerate. I don't think non-violent offenders should be placed with violent offenders."

Issue: Returning prisoners from placement in out-of-state prisons.

McCallum: "We are currently in the process of returning many out-of-state prisoners to Wisconsin and will continue to do so."

Thompson: "I'm sick of trying to help [other states'] economies. Bring those people back home."

Young: "That's the best thing to do. Removing prisoners from family contact isn't going to [help] them rejoin our communities."

Issue: Protecting prisoners' rights to religious practice.

McCallum: "Prisoners should be allowed to worship whichever religion they choose. Religion can be a wonderful tool in helping a prisoner cope and seek to better their life."

Thompson: "Respect for prisoners' right to religious practice is an important part of rehabilitation."

Young: "I'm a strong supporter."

Issue: Continuing the tax-exempt status of property owned by religious organizations.

McCallum: "I support it."

Thompson: He would veto any expansion of state taxes, including any trimming of such exemptions.

Young: "It needs to be reviewed. Services are provided to tax-exempt organizations, religious and non-religious."

Issue: Systems of taxation based upon ability to pay.

Doyle: Has been adamant against tax increases.

McCallum: Has made opposition to tax hikes his principal campaign theme.

Thompson: "You won't find anyone running more devoted to cutting taxes." He said he would explore freezing property taxes for elderly homeowners.

Young: Said he would eliminate certain business subsidies, and backs expanding the sales tax to include more services, allowing property tax cuts for elderly homeowners. "We don't have a system that's just."