Rudy Giuliani

Rudy Giuliani

Occupations
Security Consultant
Mayor of New York City (1994-2001)
US Attorney (1983-1989)

Websites
Campaign: http://www.joinrudy2008.com/
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudy_Giuliani

Notable Quotes
"According to the Rudy Giuliani of 1992, Nelson Rockefeller represented 'a tradition in the Republican party I’ve worked hard to rekindle — the Rockefeller, Javits, Lefkowitz tradition.'"

"What we don't see is that freedom is not a concept in which people can do anything they want, be anything they can be. Freedom is about authority. Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do. You have free speech so I can be heard." (source: New York Times)

Abortion
Giuliani is pro-abortion. He supports government funding of abortion. He believed that partial-birth abortion should be legal, but now says that it should be illegal. He opposed requiring parental notification, but now says that he supports it with judicial bypass. He has praised Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger. He has stated that he would appoint judges in the mold of Scalia, Alito, and Roberts. As Mayor of New York, he appointed mostly Democrats as judges. He donated $900 to Planned Parenthood, the largest performer of abortion.

Foreign Policy
Giuliani takes a hawkish neoconservative line on foreign policy. He is a strong supporter of the Iraq war.

Gun Rights
Giuliani is a supporter of restrictive gun control laws. He supports New York City's law that requires a permit to own a handgun, and only the rich or politically connected are issued permits. Average citizens cannot carry concealed weapons in New York City. He supported the "assault weapons ban" when it was passed in 1994, and as recently as 2004; he now says that he opposes it. He has advocated national gun registration. He has advocated mandating that trigger locks be used on guns, which would mean that they could not be used quickly. He sued gun manufacturers as part of an effort to blame them for crime. He has stated that gunmakers produce too many guns.

Immigration
Giuliani advocates high levels of immigration. He has demanded that the federal government provide Social Security, Medicaid, food stamps, and welfare to illegal immigrants. He supports the diversity visa lottery program. He has declined to support building a fence on the border. He supports creating a "guest worker program" for illegal immigrants already in America. This amounts to amnesty and a reward (citizenship) for lawbreakers. The Senate bill would allow in more than 100 million immigrants in the next 20 years. It would also cost $500 billion in welfare payments within 20 years.

Giuliani defended New York City's sanctuary laws, under which city employees cannot report immigration violations. After the policy was ruled illegal, he vowed to ignore the law. Fred Siegel states that "Giuliani's lax policy on immigration helped allow several of the [9/11] hijackers to operate comfortably in Brooklyn only a few blocks from my house." He opposed the 1996 welfare reform because it was "anti-immigrant" and threatened the sanctuary policy.

Marriage
Giuliani supports "civil unions", which are the same as "gay marriage" in all but name. As Mayor of New York, he pushed the City Council to create special benefits for homosexual partners.

Regulation
Giuliani supports "campaign finance reform", which significantly restrict freedom of speech. It bans groups from running advertisements that mention a candidate for federal office within sixty days of an election. Critics contend that the goal of the legislation was to silence criticism of Congress.

Sovereignty
Giuliani has said that the United Nations "provides a crucial forum for international debate and cooperation". He opposed efforts to cut UN funding.

Giuliani's law firm represents a foreign company building the quarter-mile wide Trans-Texas Corridor, a part of a planned network of North American superhighways. He opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1993, but may have changed his position since then.

Spending
Under Giuliani, New York City increased spending by an average of 2.9% per year. He increased spending by 25% during his second term. The number of people employed by the city declined by 3.1%. He privatized some municipal assets.

Taxes
Giuliani has refused to pledge not to raise taxes. In 1994, he endorsed Democratic governor Mario Cuomo over his Republican challenger George Pataki. He attacked Pataki's proposal to cut taxes by 25%, calling it "irresponsible" and a "shell game that would hurt everyone in the state." He cut some particular taxes as mayor, while opposing other tax cuts.

Character
Giuliani has been married three times. He had his first marriage annulled. His second marriage ended in a very messy divorce after he had an affair.

He promoted and was closely linked to Bernard Kerik, who was involved in multiple scandals and has been convicted of corruption.

Relevant Articles:
Rudy Giuliani On the Issues
The Conservative Case Against Rudy Giuliani
Calling Giuliani on His Many Lies
Giuliani Shifts Abortion Speech Gently to Right
Giuliani gave to Planned Parenthood
Judging Giuliani
Giuliani Judges Lean Left
Rudy's Gun-Control Agenda
Law and Order and Guns
Rudy Giuliani on Immigration
Giuliani Opposed Welfare Reform in Order to Protect Illegals
Mr. Security's Amnesty
Forget It, Rudy
Giuliani, at U.N. Opening Ceremony, Assails New Isolationist Mood in Congress
Rudy Giuliani tied to 'superhighways'
Rudy's Parochialism Problem
Giuliani's Pre-9/11 Record Should Erase Conservative Doubts
Rudy Giuliani: Supply-Sider-in-Chief
Rudy Giuliani, No Fiscal Conservative
Rudy’s Taxing Problem
Rudy Giuliani's Economic Record
Rudy's Irrelevant Record
Rudy Giuliani, Running Against Hamlet