Candidate Positions

Original source: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1052/is_n9_v112/ai_10737686/pg_5

As the 21st century dawns, change has become a way of life. Coping with change has become part of the definition of our jobs as governors. We have many tools at our disposal. Through promoting trade and investment, improving America’s education system, enhancing the nation’s basic infrastructure, encouraging innovation, and taking advantage of specific opportunities around the world, governors can shape an effective state response to changes in the state, national, and global economies.

Original source: http://www.kron.com/Global/story.asp?S=6307737&nav=menu130_2_7

“Thompson believes America must become independent in its energy needs, breaking reliance on foreign and often unstable governments for oil. Thompson wants more meaningful investments in ethanol and other alternative energy sources, providing greater incentives for industry to shift to these sources. America also must aggressively take on global warming - a goal that can be accomplished in a manner that doesn’t provide false choices between environmental stewardship and economic progress. American industry and environmental interests must come together in the common interest of restoring global health.”

Original source: http://conservativetimes.org/?p=361

Tommy Thompson is hitching his candidacy to the idea of school vouchers, which some movement conservatives take as a panacea for all the ills with public education.

Original source: http://www.tommy2008.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=8161&mname=Article

Republican presidential candidate Tommy Thompson rejects the idea that more stringent gun control standards would have stopped the massacre that took place at Virginia Tech this week. The former Wisconsin Governor and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary talked about the gun control issue with University of Iowa College Republicans today

“Instead of pointing the finger at guns, what you have to do is point at the finger at how do you spot individuals with mental problems, emotional problems that may go off and do a terrible thing like they did at Virginia Tech,” Thompson said. According to Thompson, the emphasis should be on the better monitoring students who show signs they could commit violent acts.

Original source: http://www.tommy2008.com/On_The_Issues.aspx

Immigration – Governor Thompson opposes amnesty and believes that America must enforce its immigration policies to the fullest extent of the law. People who are found to be in the country illegally should be returned to their home countries and should have to wait at the end of the line, behind people who are seeking to enter the country or become citizens legally.

Original source: http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2004pres/20040808.html

Statement by Tommy G. Thompson
Secretary of Health and Human Services
On the President’s Embryonic Stem Cell Policy

Three years ago, President Bush opened the nation’s laboratory doors for the first time to federal taxpayer funding for human embryonic stem cell research. The President remains committed to this groundbreaking policy that is advancing medical research into some of our most debilitating diseases. As we look forward to further progress on stem cell research, both embryonic and adult, it is important to keep in mind several important points.

President Bush provided — for the first time — federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. The President’s unprecedented decision allows for federal funding of research using existing stem cell lines that were derived before Aug. 9, 2001, with no limits on private funding of research. The President believes that federal funds should not be used to encourage or support further destruction of human embryos, a principle that has been part of federal law since 1996. The impact of the President’s decision was to open the flow of federal research dollars for embryonic stem cells and help accelerate work in this field.

The policy is working. Under President Bush, federal funding for embryonic stem cell research has grown from zero under previous administrations to $24.8 million in fiscal year 2003, with no limits on future federal funding of research on eligible lines. This investment has supported more than 500 shipments of stem cell lines to researchers around the world who are in the early stages of finding ways stem cells can be used to treat diseases such as neurological disorders, diabetes and heart disease. Additionally, in fiscal year 2003, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) provided $190.7 million in adult stem cell research, which continues to show exciting promise.

 Original source: http://www.candidatepositions.com/wp-admin/post-new.php
Governor Tommy G. Thompson issued the following statement on the U.S. Supreme Court upholding the ban on partial-birth abortion:

“I commend the United States Supreme Court for upholding the nation’s ban on partial-birth abortions. This decision sends a clear message that the United States values life and has no tolerance for this gruesome, abhorrent way to take a life. There is no place for partial-birth abortions in this country, and I am pleased the court upheld the law passed by Congress.”