Political Biography

• Born July 18, 1947.
• Married, Sabina; five children.
• Director of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1985-1993.
• Editor and publisher, Forbes magazine, since 1990.

• Supports right to an abortion, except in late stages of pregnancy.
• Opposes any federal funding of abortions.
• Supports states' rights to regulate abortion.

• Opposes quotas and set-asides.
• Supports enforcement of current antidiscrimination laws.

Bosnia Intervention

• Opposes participation of U.S. troops in Bosnia peacekeeping mission.

• Supports a 17 percent flat tax on income in place of all current federal taxes. Plan would eliminate all tax deductions, including those for home mortgages and charitable contributions as well as the capital gains tax. Would exempt first $36,000 of income for family of four.
• Supports a constitutional balanced budget amendment that prohibits raising taxes.
• Supports cutting taxes to stimulate investment and create jobs.
• Supports privatizing Social Security by allowing workers to make contributions to Individual Retirement Accounts instead of to the government.
• Supports presidential line item veto.
• Supports fixing home mortgage rates at 4.5 percent.

• Supports term limits for federal and state officeholders.

• Supports death penalty for murderers and other violent offenders.
• Supports tougher prison sentences for first-time offenders to discourage recidivism.
• Supports improving state parole and juvenile justice systems.

• Supports charter schools and school choice vouchers.

• Supports state and local governments' having main authority for environmental regulation.
• Opposes elevating federal Environmental Protection Agency to cabinet-level status.

• Supports ban on assault weapons.
• Supports Brady bill, which imposes waiting period and background check for gun purchases.
• Supports mandatory jail sentences for people who commit crimes with guns.

• Supports active U.S. involvement -- diplomatic and military -- in resolving foreign conflicts.
• Opposes U.S. peacekeeping mission in Bosnia (but supported fall NATO bombing of Serbs).
• Supports development and deployment of an antiballistic missile system.

• Opposed Clinton Health Care Plan.
• Supports individual medical savings accounts, from which recipients would be refunded any money not spent on health care each year. Those with savings accounts would also receive full catastrophic coverage for medical costs greater than $3,000.

• Supports beefed-up border patrols.
• Opposes denying welfare and medical benefits to illegal aliens.
• Supports allowing children of illegal immigrants to attend public schools.

• Supports major international agreements such as NAFTA and GATT.
• Supports valuing the dollar against the gold standard.

• Supports replacing federal antipoverty programs with block grants to the states.
• Supports cutting off welfare benefits after two years for recipients who are able to work.

Much of the information in this report is derived from the official Steve Forbes for President home page and from a survey of periodical literature and interviews concerning Steve Forbes.