Issues

Fiscal Responsibility

Our national debt is $8.4 trillion: more than $28,000 for every man, woman and child in the United States. America has borrowed more than $1 trillion from foreign governments and investors over the last five years, more than the total we borrowed in the first 211 years of our nation’s history. This administration and the Republican-controlled Congress have raised the national debt ceiling 4 times in 5 years. Fiscal responsibility is essential to quelling runaway deficits. These deficits and our huge national debt are a tax on our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. We must restore fiscal restraint and accountability in our leaders.

Guard and Reserves

The ramifications of President Bush’s war of choice in Iraq can be clearly seen in the unprecedented number of mobilizations of Minnesota’s citizen soldiers in the Reserves and National Guard. These men and women in uniform, along with their families and civilian employers are now facing unprecedented strain. We need to ensure our citizen soldiers have the proper training and equipment, and receive pay, healthcare and other benefits, similar to their active-duty counterparts.

Iraq and the War on Terror

There are 4,314 Minnesota troops currently in Iraq. When President Bush and the Republicans sent these troops into Iraq, his administration misrepresented the facts and misled the Congress and the American people.

I did not vote for this war; I stood with 132 of my colleagues in vocal opposition to the untruths and misjudgments of this Administration. We must redouble our efforts to help the Iraqi people develop the ability to govern and protect themselves. We must bring our troops home, safely and soon, but we also must make sure that America’s legacy in the Middle East and beyond is one of freedom, economic stability, and respect for the rule of law, not corruption, and civil war, disarray and diminished respect for America.

Medicare Part D

As it currently stands, this program is woefully inadequate in meeting the needs of seniors and the disabled. Instead, pharmaceutical companies stand to profit $139 billion from the Republican’s Medicare bill passed in the last Congress.

I emphatically support legislation that would allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate lower drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries. I am also a proponent of legislation that would close the “doughnut hole,” a coverage gap beginning to affect many of my constituents. I opposed the Medicare Modernization Act because it fell far short of providing basic, necessary coverage for prescription drugs for America’s seniors and disabled.

Minimum Wage

The premise of the minimum wage is to give all workers the opportunity to earn a level of compensation that allows them to meet a basic standard of living. The median family income has dropped every year during the Bush Administration. While prices have risen with inflation, the minimum wage has remained the same since 1997. With fuel prices at record levels, a minimum wage earner has to work an entire 8 hour shift just to put gas in their car. I am in favor of a minimum wage increase that will sufficiently meet the needs of low-wage earners, while placing the least amount of burden on employers.

Veterans

After fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, our veterans, many of them suffering from physical and mental wounds, are now forced to fight for the benefits they have earned for themselves and their families while Republicans shovel out billions in tax breaks for their corporate friends.  This is wrong. Our veterans deserve a break from their government, not the CEO of Exxon.  Simply telling our troops they’ve done “A heckuva job” isn’t good enough.  We need to fully fund the Veterans Administration, cut the red tape and cut the long lines at VA hospitals.