Are you looking for a nonpartisan voter guide to the Pat Roberts vs. Greg Orman Senate race? One that will give you an unbiased, no-spin comparison of candidate positions on key issues? That's what our Campus Election Engagement Project guide will give you! We are a national nonpartisan initiative working with college and university administrators, faculty, and student leaders to increase student participation in America's elections. For the 2014 elections we have created and distributed voter guides to campuses in more than 20 states so they can provide their communities with accurate information for informed voting. Because these guides have been so well received and are useful for all voting citizens who want to be better informed, we are also posting them here.
We developed our guides by analyzing information from trusted resources such as www.votesmart.org, www.ontheissues.org, www.ballotpedia.com, www.politifact.com, www.factcheck.org, www.vote411.org and from candidate websites, public debates and interviews, and statements in major media outlets. We also showed them to groups like campus Young Republicans and Young Democrats at the schools we work with to verify their fairness and lack of bias.
So here are the issue-by-issue stands for Pat Roberts and Greg Orman, with additional links at the bottom for each candidate if you'd like to dig deeper. (You can also find the Kansas Governor's guide here.)
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Budget: Did you support raising the Federal debt ceiling with no strings attached?
Roberts: No
Orman: Believes debt ceiling debate hurt US credit
Budget: Do you support a Constitutional Balanced Budget Amendment?
Roberts: Yes
Orman: Yes
Campaign Finance: Do you support the DISCLOSE Act, which would require key funders of political ads to put their names on those ads?
Roberts: No
Orman: Supports--Strong disclosure of political spending is a prime campaign focus
Campaign Finance: Do you support the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, which allowed unlimited independent political expenditures by corporations and unions?
Roberts: Yes
Orman: No--supports constitutional amendment to overturn it
Economy: Do you support raising the minimum wage?
Roberts: No
Orman: Supports tying federal wage to inflation. Believes areas with higher cost of living should have higher minimum wages
Economy: Do you support extending unemployment benefits beyond 26 weeks?
Roberts: No
Orman: Unknown
Economy: Do you support the Dodd-Frank Act, which established the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and sought to increase regulation of Wall Street corporations and other financial institutions?
Roberts: No
Orman: Supports regulation of "two big to fail" banks, concerned about over-regulation of smaller local banks and credit unions
Economy: Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth?
Roberts: Supported initial $192 billion of 2009 stimulus, opposed additional stimulus funding
Orman: Ambiguous. Believes it is the Government's responsibility to create environment conducive to job growth
Education: Do you support refinancing of student loans at lower rates, paid for by increasing taxes on income over a million dollars?
Roberts: No
Orman: Unknown. Believes should cap tuition increases at inflation rate
Environment: Do you believe that human activity is a major factor contributing to climate change?
Roberts: No
Orman: Yes
Environment: Do you support government action to limit the levels of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere?
Roberts: No
Orman: Unclear
Environment: Do you support government subsidies for renewable energy?
Roberts: No
Orman: Supports investment in wind energy and alternative fuels, ran energy efficient lighting company, but unclear on subsidies
Foreign Affairs: Should the US return troops to Iraq to counter the insurgency?
Roberts: Unknown
Orman: US should be cautious about committing more troops
Gay Marriage: Do you support gay marriage?
Roberts: No
Orman: Government should not prohibit gay marriage
Gun Control: Do you support enacting more restrictive gun control legislation?
Roberts: No
Orman: Supports gun show background checks to prevent sales to felons or mentally ill
Healthcare: Do you support repealing the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare?
Roberts: Yes
Orman: Believes the ACA expanded "a broken system" with insufficient focus on reducing health care costs. So opposed originally and would support plan to reform, but not pushing for repeal
Healthcare: Did you support shutting down the federal government in order to defund Obamacare in 2013?
Roberts: Yes
Orman: No
Immigration: Do you support the comprehensive immigration plan passed by the Senate in 2013, which includes a pathway to citizenship and increased funding for border security?
Roberts: No
Orman: Supports comparable approach
Marijuana: Do you support efforts to decriminalize and/or legalize marijuana?
Roberts: Believes this should be decided at the state level.
Orman: Wants to evaluate the results in states where legalization has occurred
Social Issues: Should abortion be highly restricted?
Roberts: Yes
Orman: No
Social Issues: Should employers be able to withhold contraceptive coverage from employees if they disagree with it morally?
Roberts: Yes
Orman: No
Social Issues: Should Planned Parenthood receive public funds for non-abortion health services?
Roberts: No
Orman: Unknown
Social Issues: Do you support the Violence Against Women Act?
Roberts: No--Voted against it along with others who considered it federal overreach to include specific new protections for immigrants, gays, and Native Americans
Orman: Yes
Social Security: Do you support partial privatization of Social Security?
Roberts: Yes--Supports option of private investment accounts for younger workers
Orman: No--Would look at benefits of high earners
Taxes: Have you signed the Americans for Tax Reform Pledge to oppose any tax increases to raise revenue? ( from the database of signatories of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, created by Americans for Tax Reform. Signers promise to oppose "any and all tax increases" meant to generate additional revenue.)
Roberts: Yes
Orman: No
Taxes: Would you increase taxes on corporations and/or high-income individuals to pay for public services?
Roberts: No
Orman: No
Learn more about the candidates:
For more extensive comparisons, see articles in the Wichita Eagle and Lawrence Journal World
Roberts: Pat Roberts Vote Smart pages and Pat Roberts On the Issues pages
Orman: Greg Orman Vote Smart pages and Greg Orman On the Issues pages
Other senate candidates include Randall Batson (Libertarian) http://batson4senate.weebly.com, Aaron Estabrook (Moderate) http://ballotpedia.org/Aaron_Estabrook, and Scott Barnhart (Independent) http://ballotpedia.org/Scott_Barnhart. Due to limited space, we can't include their positions, but invite you to check out their websites.