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"Issues are an important part of any campaign. Please be a part of helping to develop our positions by posting on issues you care about or suggesting new ones"
Protecting the environment and preserving our natural resources for future generations of Americans is a critical priority. Honoring our responsibility to our natural heritage is a matter of personal and collective integrity. My approach is centered on standing up for the environment by initiating and supporting policies that emphasize sustainability through innovation and collaboration. Rejecting the false dilemma that pits economic growth against environmental stewardship, we should focus our efforts on solutions that achieve both of these important goals. Cleaning our air and water, securing wildlife habitat and open space, safeguarding the health and safety of our children, and promoting economic opportunity can be achieved through fair policies that are based on cutting-edge scientific and technological advances and a spirit of working together.
This framework should replace the Bush administration’s attempts to roll back decades of bipartisan progress in protecting our environment, and stop catering to the oil and gas industry and its army of lobbyists. Restoring the vital regulations of the landmark Clean Air Act and defending the Clean Water Act; expanding community-based recycling and reducing pollution; and standing up to special interests’ exploitation of woodlands and wetlands are essential elements of a common sense strategy to protect our environment.
After years of politically-motivated denials that hurt our nation’s international image and worsened the problem, the Bush administration is reluctantly abandoning its “the verdict is not out yet” mantra. The verdict is out: Global warming is the most urgent environmental issue facing our planet. Instead of walking away from international cooperative efforts to reduce greenhouse gases, America must engage in global dialogue and move beyond regional agreements on carbon emission trading systems. Instead of inaction, America needs to participate in global action and provide strong leadership and a bold vision.
At home, now is the time for Congress to pass effective carbon emission reduction legislation, despite the relentless efforts of oil and coal lobbyists to derail bills with teeth. We should increase investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy research and technology, including the expansion of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden. But we also have to help move the ground-breaking technology into the market, through market-based incentives, university-industry collaboration and other public-private partnerships. I believe that the development of alternative fuels, such as biofuels, as well as energy efficient products, such as hybrid vehicles and Zero-Energy Homes, hold the key for both energy independence and addressing global warming. In addition, renewable energy can foster entrepreneurship, capitalize on American ingenuity and create jobs.
Just as a high school diploma was essential for getting a good job a generation ago, in a global knowledge-based economy, higher education such as a college degree or vocational training is more important than ever. But skyrocketing tuition costs, inadequate preparation, and high college loan interest rates are preventing many students from accessing and succeeding in higher education. Cutting interest rates on subsidized student loans and stopping deceptive marketing practices are essential for making college more accessible and affordable. Providing relief to low- and moderate-income families from rising tuition costs through federal financial aid grant programs, such as the Pell Grant which currently covers just a third of tuition at an average public college, is also essential for ensuring that college is within reach for all, regardless of economic background. In addition, we must reform federal tax credits for higher education and make them available to the vast majority of low-income students who currently cannot benefit from them, by making them refundable and offsetting costs other than tuition and fees (books, room and board, or transportation). To open the doors of opportunity, we must also invest in college preparation and outreach programs in high schools for underrepresented student populations.
While we continue to lead the world in technological innovation, we are losing ground because our educational system does not offer adequate preparation to all of our children and youth. Technology education is of critical importance for the future of our nation. By engaging the IT community in developing and implementing innovative methods to improve postsecondary access and success, we can increase enrollment in science, technology, computing and engineering studies for women, minorities, and people with disabilities. We particularly need to make sure that women and minorities are represented in information technology by highlighting role models and providing mentorship opportunities.
A college education is the best investment that students and their families can make for their success and prosperity and it is also the best investment our nation can make for America’s future.
I strongly believe that access to quality, affordable health care is a right and not a privilege, and it is imperative that we take action to meet the pressing health care needs of our nation. Controlling the ever-growing medical costs and health insurance premiums that account for the majority of bankruptcies; providing access to 47 million uninsured Americans, including more than 750,000 Coloradans; improving the failed Bush prescription drug program and strengthening Medicare through a fair, simple, reliable and affordable prescription drug benefits; and putting patients above special interests, are among my priorities for meaningful health care reform.
Among the various proposals being considered to ensure affordability, I support fixing the prescription drug program by putting seniors and persons with disabilities ahead of special corporate interests, enabling the government to negotiate lower drug prices, preventing drug plans from increasing co-payments during the year when beneficiaries are not allowed to change plans, eliminating wasteful subsidies and investing in cutting-edge medical research.
Expanding existing programs, such as Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), to cover additional population groups is also critical. These programs have well-established claims-processing procedures, low administrative costs and are the key to long-term comprehensive reform to benefit all Americans. I oppose the Bush administration’s proposed deductions that provide the largest tax benefits to high-income individuals who can already afford health insurance and add substantially to already-large budget deficits.
It is crucial to transcend ideological lines and political boundaries in order to achieve meaningful health care reform that serves the needs of all families and simultaneously strengthens the competitive advantage and secures the financial health of U.S. companies and their employees.
Facing exploding medical costs, skyrocketing tuitions, and record-breaking gas prices, families are struggling to meet their needs, let alone adequately saving for retirement. At the same time, several company pension plans are at risk, making a comfortable retirement even more difficult to achieve. To minimize these risks, we must enact real pension reform to protect employees from CEO corruption and mismanagement.
To strengthen the integrity of Social Security, I oppose Bush’s efforts to privatize Social Security in whole or in part and instead support securing social security’s long-term stability and solvency. The Bush plan to create private accounts in Social Security for younger workers will further retirement uncertainty. Instead, we should stop raiding the Social Security Trust Fund and stop mortgaging our future. The most important step for strengthening Social Security is restoring fiscal responsibility.
But while protecting Social Security is critical, it is not enough for ensuring that every American has a secure retirement. Instead, we need to encourage saving and provide working families with the tools they need to achieve their financial goals for retirement. I fully support new personal savings incentives, such as the House Democrats’ AmeriSave Plan, which expands retirement accounts and combines the benefit of compound interest with Social Security’s guaranteed benefit, and offers a dollar-for-dollar match for the first $1,000 contributed to a retirement plan for more than 100 million eligible families under the “AmeriSave Match.”
My great-grandparents found hope and opportunity on the shores of this great nation in the late 19th and early 20th century. America offers the same promise to millions of people across the world. Hard-working, tax-paying, law-abiding immigrants renew our great nation and add to our diversity and strength, and should not be treated in a way that creates a massive underlcass – such an approach is against our values and hurts all working families. Instead, we should establish a path for them to earn full participation in the America their work helps to build.
The current immigration system no longer works. Comprehensive immigration reform that secures our borders and enforces the rule of law, respects the dignity and dreams of immigrants, reflects our values, and recognizes the needs of our communities and businesses, is necessary. We must effectively address both the security and economic interests of our nation.
That is why I support the bipartisan compromise reached through the leadership efforts of Senator Salazar that provides a transitional pathway to citizenship for qualifying immigrants, boosts the number of border agents, tightens border security and work-site enforcement, establishes an identity verification system, and sets aside 40% of future visas to be allocated on a merit-based system that awards points for education and skills that are needed in the U.S., including high-tech skills as well as low-tech talents that are in demand. This reform is fair, tough, enforceable and realistic, and brings millions of people who play by the rules out of the dark shadows and into the American mainstream.
The invasion of Iraq was a colossal mistake. I opposed the invasion when it occurred, and I believe that we now need to define success so that we can end this conflict as quickly as possible. After Bush's blunder, there aren't easy solutions that will rapidly improve the situation, but I do believe that we should focus on:
Americans are fed up with corruption. A growing number of scandals at all levels of government and across the nation are having a devastating impact on citizens’ faith in the integrity of government and the democratic process. Trust in government is at alarmingly low levels and continues to erode as a result of serious and well-publicized instances of improper and unethical behavior by public officials, as well as reports of the ever-increasing power and influence of lobbyists and special interests.
In order to restore trust in government and protect our democracy, it is crucial to have in place common-sense, meaningful restrictions that prohibit unethical behavior and protect the public interest from the excessive influence of special interests. That is why I strongly support efforts to enact the most stringent ethical standards yet to prevent incidences of corruption that plagued the previous Congress: no more lobbyist gifts, free meals, and private jets.
Ending the culture of corruption and gift-giving and restoring accountability in Washington is of critical importance for the nation and our democracy. In addition to banning various freebies, meaningful ethics reform includes increased disclosure of lobbyists’ contributions to lawmakers, more stringent penalties for violations and additional restrictions to close the revolving door between public service and lobbying shops. Americans deserve an ethical government and I will fight hard for the highest standards of transparency and accountability.
By providing opportunity while stressing personal responsibility, we can lift more than 37 million Americans out of poverty. Let’s do it. While a strong economy and real job growth is the best remedy for fighting poverty and raising the real income of working families, as demonstrated under President Clinton, we need to implement common sense policies that give a helping hand to hard-working, but low-skilled, Americans who cannot make ends meet, living paycheck to paycheck, and going deeper in debt.
Expanding vocational training programs for unemployed workers, including former welfare recipients; raising the minimum wage; using enterprise zones and redevelopment in depressed areas; investing in economic development programs, such as job-creating and relocation incentives for companies in underserved urban neighborhoods and rural areas; restoring workers’ freedom to choose a union; supporting affordable housing and cracking down on predatory and payday lending and unfair mortgage practices; expanding access to banks and credit, and encouraging saving; and increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit, are among the many policies that can help strengthen our middle class – our nation’s backbone.
The war on America’s middle class is an urgent problem facing our nation: families are working harder than ever but struggle to fulfill their dreams. To reverse this trend, we need to create good jobs that pay good wages. Restoring fiscal responsibility by returning to “Pay As You Go” budgeting and getting back to the balanced budgets of the Clinton era is an essential first step for securing long-term economic growth and creating good-paying jobs. Tax cuts for the wealthy and transferring income from the middle class to big corporations means lower investments in areas with high returns - education, research and development and infrastructure. What we need is tax relief for middle-class families: permanently ending the marriage penalty, extending the lower-income tax rates, making tuition fully deductible, and providing refundable child tax and adoption credits.
Job creation also requires that we continue to maintain our leadership and economic competitiveness in a rapidly changing global market through innovation, entrepreneurship and technological breakthroughs. America needs to build a skilled workforce in science, engineering, and information technology for “jobs of the future”; invest in federal research and development; guarantee access to broadband technology; modernize and permanently extend a globally competitive research and development tax credit; protect the intellectual property of American innovators worldwide, improve the patent system; end tax breaks that promote moving jobs overseas; and expand markets for our products.
We have become less engaged and more isolated, and have lost more allies while our image to the rest of the world has rapidly deteriorated. The Bush administration believes that leadership in the international community can be achieved through military strength and unilateralism. Our long and proud history of helping others and fighting for freedom has been replaced by a series of foreign policy blunders that have taken a toll of innocent lives. In order to regain the world’s respect and restore our credibility, we need a foreign policy that reflects American values and ideals. We need to demonstrate leadership by respecting international law, human rights and civil liberties, and joining the global community to fight poverty, stop the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, end genocide, promote global environmental stewardship; and combat terrorism. America should not only be an example of human rights, it should also be a champion worldwide by rewarding countries that practice the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and taking the lead to stop genocide.