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District #9 - Joe Leibham (R)

Wisconsin State Senator

See the State Elections Board and new candidates HERE

On the issues - 2008 (See the legislator's 2006/2007 positions on health care, ethics and campaign reform below)

F - Public funding of judicial campaigns

(SB171) Incumbent voted AGAINST passage of public funding of campaigns for judges. In a recent study by Citizen Action, in 75% of the cases reaching the Supreme Court level there was a campaign contributor on one side or the other. Campaigns for judges are being financed by attorneys and business leaders. How's that for justice? ALL Supreme Court Judges came out in support of this bill. 2/19/08 Sequence No. 200

On the issues - 2007 (See the legislator's 2006 position on health care, ethics and campaign reform below)

F - Healthy Wisconsin

Incumbent OPPOSED the Healthy Wisconsin amendment to the state budget. All Democrats voted for it and all Republicans voted against it. Healthy Wisconsin was opposed by the insurance industry and business associations (though not the business members themselves). To understand your representatives vote see Follow the Money (upper right). For more on the benefits of Healthy Wisconsin see Sen. Joe Leean's article HERE

A+ Ethics Reform

(SB1) Incumbent voted to pass an Ethics Reform bill (and also supported it in 2006).

F - Healthcare - HSAs

Incumbent supports Health Savings Accounts, which as a tax subsidy benefit the wealthy. But they are detrimental to the low- and middle-income population who face high health care costs, or have them imposed by employers. See more HERE. HSAs are supported by the insurance industry, bankers, credit card companies and bankruptcy attorneys, all of whom have given campaigns significant contributions to this legislator. See Follow the Money (upper right)

Many politicians refuse to answer the questions in the Project Vote-Smart solicitation because they don't want voters knowing where they stand on the issues! They like being able to fudge and evade when being asked about an issue, and having it on record and posted on the web is the last thing they want. Especially when it can be compared to their voting record while in session.

Wisconsin Conservation Voters Rated Incumbent at 11% acceptance

Conservation Scorecard on your state senator at: http://www.conservationvoters.org/Public/scorecards/sc05-06.pdf (Newly elected members will not be listed yet.) Vote Tracker -- SB1 Ethics Bill http://www.conservationvoters.org/Public/voteTracker.php?billID=47 (Includes 2007 session) Past Scorecards: 2003-2004 http://www.conservationvoters.org/Public/scorecards/sc03-04.pdf 2001-2002 http://www.conservationvoters.org/Public/scorecards/sc01-02.pdf

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Who won the Fall 2006 Government Ethics Voter Guide Questionnaire distributed by League of Women Voters, Wisconsin Democracy Campaign and Common Cause? See all survey questions at the WDC web site. (I) = Incumbent

(Many of those who did not reply simply do not want to go on record as supporting reforms they know they will vote against, and do not want to be held to their word. Others will say Yes and not mean it, or will vote as dictated by their party. It is up to constituents to hold their representatives to their word.)

Senate, District 9	Question 1	Question 2	Question 3	Question 4	Question 5	Question 6
Joe Leibham (Republican) (I)	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes

Leibman: Over the last four years, I have worked hard to represent the views of the voters of the 9th Senate District by working to reduce taxes, eliminate wasteful spending, make health care more affordable and accessible, promote strong family values, and reform our election system by working to pass the most comprehensive election reform package in the last 30 years. Over the next four years, one of my top priorities will be to work to remove Wisconsin from the list of the “Top Ten Highest Taxed States” in the nation. For more information on where I stand on the issues, I encourage voters to visit my virtual headquarters at www.leibham.com.

On the issues

Incumbent's record on Ethics Reform: Good

Republicans voting against reform were Grothman, Lasee and Reynolds, Democrats voting against reform were Decker and Taylor