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| Gary H. Knutson, Libertarian |
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| Candidate: State Representative, |
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| Gary H. Knutson |
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District 34, Position 1 |
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| Age: 61 |
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| Residence: Vashon |
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| Occupation: |
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Retired airline pilot |
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| Education: |
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B.S. in math and chemistry, University of Minnesota |
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| Political history: |
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Local Republican delegate |
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| Endorsements: No response |
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| Campaign Web site: http://go.to/gary2000 |
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| Campaign theme: |
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Reduce government to its historic functions. |
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| 1. |
What is your position on the initiatives proposed on this year's November ballot? |
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I-713 - Animal trapping |
no |
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I-722 - Property taxes |
yes |
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I-728 - School district financing |
no |
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I-729 - Charter schools |
yes |
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I-732 - Teacher raises |
no |
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I-745 - Transportation funding |
no |
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| 2. |
Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has declared blanket primary elections like Washington's violate political parties' constitutional rights, what form of new primary election system would you propose adopting? |
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Each individual who votes in the primary should declare his choice of party and be able to vote only for the candidates running in their chosen party. |
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| 3. |
Would you continue the trend of recent years and support tax cuts for businesses? Which ones specifically? If not, why? |
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I support tax cuts for both business and individuals. These cuts should be across the board. They should be funded by dramatically reducing the role of government in the state of Washington. |
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| 4. |
Would you support a Constitutional amendment that would allow tax breaks for homeowners but not for business or commercial property? Why or why not? |
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I would not support such a amendment. All taxes are eventually paid by the consumer. To pretend that they are paid by business is to give politicians the excuse to raise the other guy's taxes but not mine. A raise in business taxes is an increase in my taxes paid at the retail counter. |
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| 5. |
What privacy legislation would you support? Would you exempt financial institutions? Why or why not? |
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Each individual should be able to indicate the information about themselves they wish to keep private whenever a transaction takes place. Failure to meet a contractual obligation should not be required to be kept out of the public record. I would not exempt financial institutions unless contractual obligations have not been kept. |
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| 6. |
A commission studying transportation funding says a new financing mechanism is needed to keep Washington transportation projects on track. How would you propose financing future transportation projects? |
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New turnpike construction and maintenance should be funded by tolls. All mass transit should be privatized and thus privately funded. |
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| 7. |
With some states reconsidering the death penalty, what is your position and what changes, if any, do you think are needed in Washington's law? Under what circumstances would you support a moratorium? |
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A prosecutor gets a feather in his hat when he secures a death sentence. His motive is not only to seek justice, but to further a career. A few years ago a coroner was found to have falsified testimony in a series of cases spanning many years. His lying was discovered by accident. The probability of sending an innocent person to his death is too large to ignore. Instead, murderers should spend their lives giving restitution to the survivors of their victims. |
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| 8. |
A judge struck down Initiative 695's provision that would have required a public vote for all tax and fee increases. Would you support a Constitutional amendment that would require the public vote? Why or why not? |
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My understanding was that the provision was overturned because Initiative 695 included two separate items, which was not permissible. A new initiative with a single provision that would require a public vote for all tax and fee increases would have my support. If this was found unconstitutional, I would then support such an amendment. |
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