Fred Thompson - 2008 Presidential Candidate

Presidential Candidate
Synopsis 3

Fred Thompson - Republican

For a man who hasn't even declared, Fred Thompson has garnered a tremendous amount of respect and support. It's a little difficult to find written informion regarding Fred Thompson's stances but I have done my best. He now has an official website, thank goodness. Here's a little more about Fred Thompson:

“Occasionally, doors have opened to me,” Senator Fred Dalton Thompson told Chris Wallace of Fox News Sunday in a recent interview, “and I had sense enough to see that they were opening, and I would walk through them.” Senator Thompson’s uniquely American life has been marked not only by recognizing opportunity when it arose, but by answering the call to public service and leadership.

It started in Sheffield, Ala., where he was born to Ruth and Fletcher Thompson on August 19, 1942. Soon after his birth, the tight-knit family moved just across the state line to nearby Lawrenceburg, Tenn., which embraced Thompson as a native son. There, he learned the importance of family, hard work, faith and education. He attended school, including Lawrence County High, during the week and the First Street Church of Christ on Sundays.

Even then, Thompson’s sharp sense of humor and knack for the dramatic had begun to show. Friends and coaches recall a football game in which Thompson lay at midfield, recovering from a particularly hard hit. When the coaching staff ran out to check on the prone Thompson, he looked up at them and asked, “How's the crowd taking it?"

Thompson, married while still in high school and graduated in 1960, would be the first member of his family to go on to college. He earned his undergraduate degree in philosophy and political science from Memphis State University in 1964 and his law degree from Vanderbilt University in 1967, working his way through school.

It was at Memphis State and Vanderbilt, Thompson recalls, that he linked the kitchen table politics and issues he’d grown up hearing to the “First Principles” of America’s founding embraced by the conservative movement – freedom, free markets, and the rule of law. “I read Sen. Barry Goldwater’s book, The Conscience of a Conservative, and the ideas were as clear as a church bell on a cold winter night,” Thompson says.

Thompson campaigned for Goldwater and, after graduating from law school, returned to Lawrenceburg to hang his shingle. Along the way, he founded a Young Republican Club, the first in an area of a state that was decidedly Democrat, and earned a seat on the county's Republican Executive Committee.

In 1968, while running a congressional campaign in Tennessee, Thompson would again be influenced by a leader of the modern-day conservative movement, then-Gov. Ronald Reagan. “I was 26 years old when I met him in Jackson, Tennessee,” Thompson recalls. “Governor Reagan came to help my guy and some others, and I had the privilege to sit back stage with him one-on-one. He was the nicest man I’ve ever met in politics. He asked me a few questions about the audience, and went out and gave a stirring speech. He had me for life.”

A year later, in 1969, Thompson was named an assistant United States attorney in Nashville, where he earned the reputation as a tough prosecutor. Three years later, he would help manage U.S. Senator Howard Baker’s re-election campaign. In 1973, at the age of 30, he was off to Washington, where he served under the glaring spotlight of the Watergate scandal as minority counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee.

Thompson earned attention back home for his counsel work. Friends in Tennessee still recall seeing the boy they’d grown up with on TV, sitting at the Senate hearing-room dais. He gained national attention for leading the line of inquiry that revealed the audio-taping system in the White House Oval Office. Later, he documented his role in the hearings, writing the book, At That Point in Time: The Inside Story of the Senate Watergate Committee.

Thompson would return to Tennessee, where he maintained law offices in Nashville and Washington. His practice varied from pro bono work to representing the state of Tennessee and large corporations, such as Westinghouse.

In 1977, Thompson walked through another door that would change the arc of his career forever. Marie Ragghianti turned to him after being fired from her position as chairman of the Tennessee Parole Board during the administration of Gov. Ray Blanton. Thompson confirmed that her firing was due to her refusal to release from prison felons who had bribed Blanton aides to buy their freedom. Blanton additionally set his media friends on her, smearing her reputation.

Thompson filed a suit challenging Marie Ragghianti’s dismissal. Later, she recalled for a reporter, “He told me that it was a real pleasure to represent someone that was the good guy. Which didn't mean that he was convinced we were gonna win. But anyway, he did a fine job, to put it mildly.”

In fact, a jury found in July, 1978, that Gov. Blanton had fired her “arbitrarily and capriciously” and ordered her reinstatement with an award of $38,000 for back pay. Ragghianti’s case would garner national attention, along with the publication of a book titled, simply, Marie. The book was later made into a film by the same name, in which Thompson was asked by the producers to portray himself.

Marie launched Thompson’s longstanding film and television career. Over the years, he’s appeared in more than 18 films, including No Way Out, In the Line of Fire, Die Hard II, Days of Thunder and The Hunt for Red October. Recently, he has become known for his portrayal of New York District Attorney Arthur Branch on the hit NBC show, Law & Order.

Between roles, Thompson continued his work as an attorney and public servant. He served as special counsel to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1980 and the Senate Intelligence Committee in 1982. As an attorney, the founding “first principle” of the rule of law had shaped his life. In 1994, however, an opportunity arose that would enable him to utilize his full understanding of the founding principles for the American people.

Thompson ran to fill the remaining two years of an unexpired Senate term. It was a tough race; his Democrat opponent was a 6 term Congressman. Thompson refused to play by the establishment’s political rules. Down 20 points in the polls, Thompson undertook what has become a legendary campaign. Driving a red pickup truck, he took to the highways and back roads of the Volunteer State, talking to Tennessee citizens from the back of what became the symbol of his campaign. He said it made him comfortable—taking him back to the days of his Dad’s used car lot in Lawrenceburg.

Thompson spoke about the need for a competent and ethical federal government, reminding voters of the importance of self-government and lower taxes. His effort paid off, and the message took. He moved from 20 points down to winning by 20 points. Thompson’s margin of victory and his independent approach to campaigning was not lost in a year where the GOP was swept into leadership in “Contract with America” sweep that year.

Two years later, in 1996, the people of Tennessee returned him to office with more votes than any candidate for any office in the state’s history. Voters seemed to like the lawmaker they’d elected who had an independent streak that seemed to go with “towering 6-foot, 5-inch frame, basso voice and commanding presence,” that the Austin American-Statesman recently described.

His overarching philosophy, was clear from the beginning. “He believes in limiting the jurisdiction of the federal government – and that there are adequate local laws to take care of that problem,” a former Thompson chief of staff told a reporter. Thompson recently laid his Federalism ideas out in a long post on the popular, grassroots site, RedState.

During his time in the Senate, Thompson focused on three key areas: lowering our taxes, strengthening national security, and what the American-Statesman called “the unglamorous work of trying to expose waste” and to change the federal government. All have taken on even greater importance today than they had back then. In each of these areas, Thompson accomplished a great deal.

Reforms

• As Chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, Thompson enacted a law that required federal agencies to calculate and report the cost of regulations on taxpayers and businesses.
• Press reports stated: “He put heat on federal agencies by holding hearings on mismanagement and by asking them to tote up the improper payments they made each year.” That added up to about $20 billion in taxpayer dollars. His efforts saved taxpayers more than $2 billion in 2005-06 along at the the Department of Health and Human Services.
• He published a two volume report, “Government on the Brink,” detailing the waste, fraud, and abuse of federal agencies as well as the management challenges facing the incoming Bush Administration. Paul Light, a New York University professor and leading expert on government, said, “I consider him to be one of the most dedicated overseers of the executive branch of the last 25 years.”
• Twenty-five years after he’d gained national prominence as hard-charging counsel on the Watergate committee, Thompson again stepped into the investigation spotlight. In 1997, as chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, he opened an investigation into attempts by the Chinese government to influence America policies and elections through, among other means, financing election campaigns. The investigation identified at least six Democrat donors and fundraisers, with ties to the Clinton Administration, who had laundered or aided in the laundering and distribution of foreign money into Democrat political party coffers. The investigation also exposed two Democrat Party donors with “a long-term relationship with a Chinese intelligence agency," according to the Senate committee’s report.

Taxes

• In his eight years, Thompson, who served on the Finance Committee, supported and worked to enact three major tax-cut bills, reducing the federal tax burden on all of us.

National Security

• As a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Thompson focused on the threat of nuclear proliferation and technology transfers that could damage American industrial nd national security.
• While a vocal supporter of free trade, Thompson has also fought to link free trade to our national security interests. For example, when voting to grant full-trading status to China, Senator Thompson fought unsuccessfully to include an amendment in the bill that would have required the president to impose sanctions against China if it violated nuclear-nonproliferation agreements.
• Thompson also served on the Intelligence Committee at a time when it examined the failings in intelligence and analysis leading into the September 11th terrorist attacks, as well as the reforms needed to better prepare for future threats.

In March 2002, in the aftermath of the loss of his adult daughter, Senator Thompson announced that he would not seek re-election to the Senate. He has two sons who live in Nashville. He retired with an 86% American Conservative Union rating and a 100% rating from National Right to Life.

Divorced in 1985, he remarried in 2002. He and Jeri have a three-and-a-half year old daughter, and a seven-month old son.

In the tradition of President George Washington, a leader Thompson had admired growing up, he walked away from an easy reelection victory to seek new challenges. He joined the American Enterprise Institute as a visiting scholar, traveled the country as speaker and served on a Wall Street advisory board.

In 2005, Thompson was named by President Bush as an advisor to Supreme Court Chief Justice nominee John Roberts, helping to move his nomination through the Senate confirmation process. Thompson continued his public service as chairman of the State Department’s International Security Advisory Board.

In all this, Thompson has been a man of the times and a man for the times, adapting his unique abilities and leveraging today’s communications technologies to speak to the American people about issues he feels are important to the nation. Whether it’s on the radio, filling in for Paul Harvey on the ABC Network with news and commentaries, on his own “Fred Thompson Reports” commentaries and broadcasts, online blog posts or TV appearances, Thompson has focused on the issues of the day viewed through the “first principles” he’s stressed throughout his career.

He’s talked about big issues and challenges our nation is facing now, and will face tomorrow:

• The ongoing threat of Islamist terrorism
• The unresolved economic threat of entitlements
• The need for lower taxes to ensure our nation remains economically competitive and innovative
• The need to secure our borders
• The need to support families and to protect our children from the harder edges of culture
• The need to remain engaged in the world while remaining true to America’s principles

In early 2007, Thompson embarked on what he calls a “dialogue” with the American people, through his various venues, to determine whether there was a desire among American voters for him to enter Republican Presidential race. Along the way, sites such as “Draft Fred Thompson,” “Fred Head” and “Fred Facts” proliferated online. In June, Thompson filed papers that would allow him to raise funds to further explore a presidential run.

One can’t help but see that Thompson again might be hearing the call to serve. As he discussed less than six months ago, a door is opening and this time Fred Dalton Thompson may lead all of America through it." Official Bio pulled from here.

Here is Law and Order's tough District Attorney's stance on the issues of the day:

Abortion: In a NewsMax report dated June 19, 2007, Fred Thompson stated: ""When I was in the Senate a lot of people would come to see me and it usually would have to do with business matters or financial matters, or something pertaining to their financial welfare. When you came to see me," Thompson said to the crowd of pro-life activists, "I always knew it was about something much more important than that, the most important thing of all in this world, and that is life."

"I must say that those issues are even more profound to me as the years go by. Jeri [his wife] and I have truly been blessed," he added.

"Thompson then went on to highlight his pro-life record, and made explicit his stance on a number of contentious life and family issues. "In 1994 I made my first run for the US Senate and I was proud to receive the National Right to Life endorsement," said Thompson. "I've been with you ever since, and you've been with me ever since."

"On abortion related votes I've been 100 percent…On stem cell research, I'm for adult stem cell research, not stem cell research where embryos of unborn children are destroyed. It looks to me like there is a lot of promising developments as far as adult stem cell research is concerned anyway and we don't need to go down that other road."

"Thompson also added that so-called partial birth abortion is more like "infanticide."

"According to a NewsMax report, in 1994 Thompson stated that he was not in favor of criminalizing abortion on an Eagle Forum survey, while in 1996 he said on a Christian Coalition questionnaire that he was "opposed" to a constitutional amendment that would have protected the sanctity of human life. He also stated in a campaign policy, the date of which NewsMax does not specify, that he did not believe that the government should legislate on early term abortions, saying "the decision to have an early term abortion is a moral issue and should not be a legal one." And perhaps most worrisome for conservative voters, is Thompson's statement to a Tennessee newspaper that, "The ultimate decision on abortion should be left with the woman and not the government."

"Nevertheless, compared to the various other GOP front-runners, Thompson does appear to have a solid record, and has always voted on the side of pro-life and pro-family. As such, many conservatives are enthused about the possibility of a man with apparently solid convictions on matters of life and family who is willing to fill the void of truly conservative, high-profile GOP candidates."

Summary: While Thompson's statements seem to be all over the board here, his voting record clearly shows that he is a pro-life candidate. I read several newspapers and interviews and opinion is varied on his true stance.

Budget and Economy: Other than what was in his bio, literally, all I could find was his voting record on this topic, which speaks for itself:

• Voted YES on prioritizing national debt reduction below tax cuts. (Apr 2000) -- Vote to table [kill] an amendment that would increase the amount of the budget that would be used to reduce the national debt by $75 billion over 5 year. The debt reduction would be offset by reducing the tax cut in the budget framework from $150 billion.
• Voted NO on 1998 GOP budget. (May 1997) -- Approval of the 1998 GOP Budget which would cut spending and taxes.
• Voted YES on Balanced-budget constitutional amendment. (Mar 1997) -- Approval of the balanced-budget constitutional amendment.

Summary: I just don't know what to think about Fred Thompson in this arena. While it is wise to reduce the budget, I would have started cutting pork from all the bills to reduce the debt rather than taxing the hell out of the American people. I would have voted Yes on the 1998 GOP Budget -- assuming the pork wasn't out of control, which it may have been. And I would have voted with Fred on the balanced budget amendment although why we need an amendment to stop being stupid I couldn't begin to tell you. Everywhere else I looked for information on this topic was too biased one way or the other, so I didn't feel good about putting any of it in this blog. Hopefully Fred will cover this on his website soon.

Education: Again, information is sparse, so I'm going with his voting record one more time:

• Voted NO on funding smaller classes instead of private tutors. (May 2001) -- Vote to authorize a federal program aimed at reducing class size. The plan would assist states and local education agencies in recruiting, hiring and training 100,000 new teachers, with $2.4 billion in fiscal 2002. This amendment would replace an amendment allowing parents with children at under-performing schools to use public funding for private tutors.
• Voted NO on funding student testing instead of private tutors. (May 2001) -- Vote to pass an amendment that would authorize $200 million to provide grants to help states develop assessment systems that describe student achievement. This amendment would replace an amendment by Jeffords, R-VT, which would allow parents with children at under-performing schools to use public funding for private tutors.
• Voted NO on spending $448B of tax cut on education & debt reduction. (Apr 2001) -- Vote to reduce the size of the $1.6 trillion tax cut by $448 billion while increasing education spending by $250 billion and providing an increase of approximately $224 billion for debt reduction over 10 years.
• Voted YES on Educational Savings Accounts. (Mar 2000) -- Vote to pass a bill that would permit tax-free savings accounts of up to $2000 per child annually to be used for public or private school tuition or other education expenses.
• Voted YES on allowing more flexibility in federal school rules. (Mar 1999) -- This vote was a motion to invoke cloture on a bill aimed at allowing states to waive certain federal rules normally required in order to use federal school aid. [A YES vote implies support of charter schools and vouchers].
• Voted YES on education savings accounts. (Jun 1998) -- This Conference Report approved tax-sheltered education savings accounts.
• Voted YES on school vouchers in DC. (Sep 1997) -- This legislation would have amended the DC spending measure, imposing an unconstitutional school voucher program on the District.
• Voted YES on $75M for abstinence education. (Jul 1996) -- Vote to retain a provision of the Budget Act that funds abstinence education to help reduce teenage pregnancy, using $75 million of the Maternal and Child Health Block Grant Program.

Summary: Okay, I admit it. My head is starting to hurt. I would have voted yes on funding the increased hiring of teachers and smaller classrooms. It wouldn't hurt parents to become involved in their children's education a little more and take advantage of the tutoring programs available at libraries and boys and girls clubs. I'm with him on the student testing issue. I agree with him on the tax cut issue. Definitely with him on the Educational Savings Accounts, both votes. I stand with him on the federal school rules. Definitely support him on the school vouchers vote. And I 100% support him on the abstinence education. So, to sum all that up, I agreed with him on all but one vote. That's not a bad record.

Energy and Oil: 3rd Verse, same as the first. Thank Goodness for the On the Issues website.

• Solar system is warming, not earth. (Apr 2007) -- Some people think that our planet is suffering from a fever. Now scientists are telling us that Mars is experiencing its own planetary warming: Martian warming. It seems scientists have noticed recently that quite a few planets in our solar system seem to be heating up a bit, including Pluto. NASA says the Martian South Pole's ice cap has been shrinking for three summers in a row. Maybe Mars got its fever from earth. If so, I guess Jupiter's caught the same cold, because it's warming up too, like Pluto. This has led some people, not necessarily scientists, to wonder if Mars and Jupiter, non-signatories to the Kyoto Treaty, are actually inhabited by alien SUV-driving industrialists who run their air-conditioning at 60 degrees and refuse to recycle. Silly, I know, but I wonder what all those planets, dwarf planets and moons in our SOLAR system have in common. Solar? I wonder. Nah, the science is absolutely decided. There's a consensus. Ask Galileo. Source: Thompson's blog on ABCradio.com, "Plutonic Warming" Apr 13, 2007
• Voted YES on drilling ANWR on national security grounds. (Apr 2002) -- Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Murkowski Amendment No. 31323; To create jobs for Americans, to reduce dependence on foreign sources of crude oil and energy, to strengthen the economic self determination of the Inupiat Eskimos and to promote national security. Would allow gas and oil development in a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge if the president certifies to Congress that production in the area is in the nation's security and economic interests (which Prsident Bush would). If the cloture motion is agreed to, debate will be limited and a vote will occur. If the cloture motion is rejected debate could continue indefinitely and instead the bill is usually set aside. A yea vote for this bill was one in favor of drilling in the reserve. Three-fifths of the total Senate (60) is required to invoke cloture.
• Voted YES on terminating CAFE standards within 15 months. (Mar 2002) -- Levin Amendment No. 2997; To provide alternative provisions to better encourage increased use of alternative fueled and hybrid vehicles. Vote to pass an amendment that would remove the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standard (CAFE) and instead establish a new automobile efficiency standard in 15 months. Congress could veto any CAFE increase and would be allowed to increase the standard if no changes are made with 15 months. The bill would overhaul the nation's energy policies by restructuring the electricity system and providing for $16 billion in energy-related tax incentives.
• Voted YES on preserving budget for ANWR oil drilling. (Apr 2000) -- Vote to preserve language in the Fiscal Year 2001 Budget Framework that assumes $1.2 billion in revenue from oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge [ANWR] in Alaska.
• Voted NO on ending discussion of CAFE fuel efficiency standards. (Sep 1999) -- Senators Feinstein (D-CA) and Bryan (D-NV) introduced a resolution expressing the sense of the Senate towards ending CAFE Standards. Senator Gorton motioned to table this amendment. [A YES vote is considered pro-business].
• Voted YES on defunding renewable and solar energy. (Jun 1999) -- In June of 1999, Senator Jeffords (R-VT) was prepared to offer an amendment which would have added $62 million to the Energy Department solar and renewable energy programs. This action was blocked by Senator Reid (D-NV).
• Voted YES on approving a nuclear waste repository. (Apr 1997) -- Approval of the interim nuclear waste repository. The repository would be located at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, with an integrated management system for storage and permanent disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. Voting YES would authorize the President with sole and unreviewable discretion to determine the suitability of the Yucca Mountain site.

Summary: I agreed with right down the line until the last one. I didn't agree at the time and I'm glad things changed. I'd say the man knows his energy crises, created by the government's allowal of the EPA to run completely wild, and what to do about them. He's got a big A+ from me on this.

Illegal Immigration: On the Pew Forum Religion and Public Life website, it was reported that "Thompson said there is "no good solution" to the problem of illegal immigration but that border enforcement must come before any other legislation. He criticized Mexican President Philipe Calderon's leftist economic policies for contributing to illegal immigration. While he was a member of the Senate, Thompson voted to allow more temporary immigrant workers and more highly skilled immigrants. He also voted to limit welfare benefits for legal immigrants."

Summary: I'm with him all the way on that. He wants solid border enforcement and has attempted to find reasonable solutions to the illegal immigration problem. I know Chris Cannon says we just can't round up all up and send 'em back . . . but somebody, somewhere has got to find a solution and amnesty is not it. Thompson is not for amnesty!

Right to Keep and Bear Arms: Fred Thompson is very pro 2nd Amendment, much to the dismay of the liberal across the nation. In the National Review, Thompson stated, "The statistics are clear. Communities that recognize and grant Second Amendment rights to responsible adults have a significantly lower incidence of violent crime than those that do not. More to the point, incarcerated criminals tell criminologists that they consider local gun laws when they decide what sort of crime they will commit, and where they will do so. . .

"In recent years, however, armed Americans — not on-duty police officers — have successfully prevented a number of attempted mass murders. Evidence from Israel, where many teachers have weapons and have stopped serious terror attacks, has been documented. Supporting, though contrary, evidence from Great Britain, where strict gun controls have led to violent crime rates far higher than ours, is also common knowledge.

Summary: Thompson is clearly pro 2nd Amendment, as I stated, and knows the value of the Constitution as it was written by our founding fathers.

Tax Reform: In the Opinion Journal it was reported, "Mr. Thompson says those tough choices shouldn't include the tax increases contemplated in the new budget released by Senate Democrats this week. "The phony static accounting the government uses has obscured just how successful the 2003 tax cuts have been in boosting the economy," he says. "Lower marginal tax rates have proven to be a key to prosperity now by Kennedy, Reagan and Bush. It's time millionaires serving in the Senate learned not to overly tax other people trying to get wealthy."

His voting records stand as this:

• Progressive tax redistributes wealth without helping economy. (Jun 2007) -- While serving in the US Senate, Fred Thompson was a consistent proponent for lower taxes and a more simplified tax system. He hasn't changed his mind.Thompson says, "We need to reject taxes that punish rather than reward success. Those who say they want a "more progressive" tax system should be asked one question: Are you really interested in tax rates that benefit the economy and raise revenue--or are you interested in redistributing income for political reasons?"
• Taxes burden production; keep rates as low as possible. (May 2007) -- Taxes are necessary. But they don't make the country any better off. At best they simply move money from the private sector to the government. But taxes are also a burden on production, because they discourage people from investing & taking risks. Some economists have calculated that today each additional $1 collected by the government, by raising income-tax rates, makes the private sector as much as $2 worse off. To me this means one simple thing: tax rates should be as low as possible.
• Tax cuts stimulate the economy. (Apr 2007) -- There is reason to smile this tax season. The results of the experiment that began when Congress passed a series of tax-rate cuts in 2001 & 2003 are in. Supporters of those cuts said they would stimulate the economy. Opponents predicted ever-increasing budget deficits and national bankruptcy unless tax rates were increased, especially on the wealthy. In fact, Treasury statistics show that tax revenues have soared and the budget deficit has been shrinking faster than even the optimists projected. Since the first tax cuts were passed, when I was in the Senate, the budget deficit has been cut in half.Critics claimed that across-the-board tax cuts were some sort of gift to the rich but, on the contrary, the wealthy are paying a greater percentage of the national bill than ever before. The richest 1% of Americans now pays 35% of all income taxes. The top 10% pay more taxes than the bottom 60%. Because of lower rates, money is being invested in our economy instead of being sheltered from the taxman.
• Voted NO on reducing marriage penalty instead of cutting top tax rates. (May 2001) -- Vote to expand the standard deduction and 15% income tax bracket for couples. The elimination of the "marriage penalty" tax would be offset by reducing the marginal tax rate reductions for the top two rate bracket.
• Voted NO on increasing tax deductions for college tuition. (May 2001) -- Vote to increase the tax deduction for college tuition costs from $5,000 to $12,000 and increase the tax credit on student loan interest from $500 to $1,000. The expense would be offset by limiting the cut in the top estate tax rate to 53%.
• Voted YES on eliminating the 'marriage penalty'. (Jul 2000) -- Vote on a bill that would reduce taxes on married couples by increasing their standard deduction to twice that of single taxpayers and raise the income limits on both the 15 percent and 28 percent tax brackets for married couples to twice that of singles.
• Voted YES on across-the-board spending cut. (Oct 1999) -- The Nickles (R-OK) Amdendment would express the sense of the Senate that Congress should adopt an across-the-board cut in all discretionary funding, to prevent the plundering of the Social Security Trust Fund.
  
• Voted YES on requiring super-majority for raising taxes. (Apr 1998) -- Senator Kyl (R-AZ) offered an amendment to the 1999 budget resolution to express the sense of the Senate on support for a Constitutional amendment requiring a supermajority to pass tax increases.

Summary: There's not really any other way to say this. Fred's in our corner on this. He's opposed to taxing the American people into bankruptcy.

War on Terror: "I listen to the Democratic congressional leaders and I hear them talking about how many (House and Senate) seats they're going to pick up because of this war.... I listened to one of their presidential candidates talk about that this is a phony war, the war on terror. This is what passes for policy today in the Democratic Party." Thompson was quoted as saying on the American Thinker website.

From The Fred Factor: How Fred Thompson May Change The Face Of The '08 Campaign by Steve Gill Thompson said: "We've got to rectify the mistakes that we've made. We went in there too light, wrong rules of engagement, wrong strategy, placed too much emphasis on just holding things in place while we built up the Iraqi army, took longer than we figured.

"Wars are full of mistakes. You rectify things. I think we're doing that now.

"Why would we not take any chance, even though there are certainly no guarantees, to not be run out of that place? I mean, we've got to take that opportunity & give it a chance to work."

Also from the same book we read: "The strategic center of gravity for this war is American willpower. Our enemies know that they cannot defeat us in any conventional military contest, so instead, their aim is to demoralize us, to shake our resolve. They know that their only hope is in gruesome, made-for-TV atrocities to undermine the confidence of the American public. Their purpose is not to win, but to convince us that we can't win, to break our will, to convince us to cut and run. Unfortunately, that strategy is not illogical. We have run before.

"Past failures of will are among the main reasons we are under siege today. Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990 because he believed that Americans couldn't take casualties. He looked at Vietnam & Lebanon and concluded that the Americans didn't have the guts for a really tough fight. America's failure to confront Saddam during the 1990s, as he thwarted weapons inspectors and economic sanctions and corrupted the oil for food program, only spurred him further."

Summary: Fred Thompson completely understand the wears, whys and what fors of the War on Terror.

This was a "not so brief" summary of Fred Thompson. I had to pull from many, many sources in order to gather this information. His official website, while still be added to, is the best place to learn more about this presidential candidate.