Live Blog with Terri Bonoff

Welcome Thanks everyone for joining me here today. I look forward to hearing from you about what is most important in the upcoming race for congress in the 3rd Congressional District. I look forward to your questions.

Welcome Sen. Bonoff, and thanks It’s really great that you’re able to take the time to talk with us this evening. 

My first question is a general one:  in a regular-sized paragraph or less, what’s the most important issue to you in this race, and what do you want to do about it?

What role does the federal government have in… …education at the PreK-12 level?  Funding? School/state requirements? NCLB?

Fairly open question, but just looking for your guiding principles and specific priorities in this area…

Thanks!

Global Warming There are so many pressing issues that we face today, yet when we look down the road 20 years from today we can see that doing what we need to do to address the global warming crisis will have the most far reaching, positive effects on our nation and our world. Taking care of our environment is our moral responsibility, doing so has many benefits; we will reduce our dependency on foreign oil thus making our nation safer, investing in the renewable energy market creates high paying jobs in Minnesota, this strengthens our economy and our communities. Being a global leader on this issue gives us the opportunity to restore and repair our reputation around the world.

Campaign lessons Hi Terri,

Thank you for allowing us this opportunity.

How have your campaigns in district 43 prepared you for this congressional campaign?

Early Childhood Education We have an educational crisis when it comes to our ability to deliver consistent high quality early childhood education in this country. The states are tackling this issue with little to no leadership from the federal government. As a member of Congress, and hopefully the education committee, I am committed to playing a leadership role in establishing standards and providing the resources for our youngest children so they come to kindergarten prepared and ready to learn.

Early Childhood Education With regard to funding the federal government should keep its promise of funding  40% of special education costs.

So does NCLB need to be scrapped altogether? Or are there pieces that should be kept?  Teacher performance pay?  Vouchers?  What types of similarities are there between the national education system and Minnesota’s?

Education I would repeal the No Child Left Behind unfunded mandate, and would focus federal funding on providing states with the necessary resources to ensure every child is attaining educational excellence.

As a former constituent, this is a good one for me too Does SD43 match CD3 as a whole?  If not, what differences are you seeing among DFLers in Bloomington and, say, Brooklyn Center?

Campaign Lessons I have experience in building a grassroots effort, raising money, generating public enthusiasm and support and even dealing with the assault of negative tactics. I have learned that investing in people and letting the community spirit be the engine of the campaign is the secret recipe for success. I have found that our strongest campaign advocates are coming from the constituents I currently represent and am working hard for everyday. My track record and ability to attract swing voters will be key in November.

$ Strategy? Senator Bonoff,
First, thanks for running, its much appreciated to have a strong woman candidate in this race. What I’m wondering however is what your plan is to counter or deal with the large amount of money that’s being raised by the Republcian candidate, as well as the fairly large sum of money that Jim Ramstad still has stashed away and could possibly use against any democrat.
Thanks and good luck!

Global Warming Do you support raising the federal tax on gasoline?  If so, by how much?  Would you favor implementing carbon taxes on US businesses?

Is Global Warming really a bigger issue than the economy, health care, national security, education, infrastructure?

Be careful here Master of None is one of our more cantankerous commenters, Sen. Bonoff.

why the warning? Isn’t this open to everyone?  Why the warning, those were fair questions to ask any candidate

Which is why I allowed the question to stand

NCLB I would scrap No Child Left Behind I appreciate the focus on the achievement gap that has resulted from No Child Left Behind. I would provide states with the necessary resources to continue attacking that problem while also insisting on the accountability for the success of each and every child. There are several national models that focus on increasing teacher and student performance without excessive testing that are worth studying. With regard to teacher performance pay Minnesota is seeing some very positive results with their alternative compensation program; in order to attract and retain the best students as our future teachers we must increase teacher pay. 

Education As a “education candidate” what is your feeling about the reason that Ed Minnesota is not endorsing anyone in the 3rd CD? Does it bother you that they have endorsed elsewhere?

But, you felt the need to warn her.  I wonder how that effects my chance of getting an answer.

SD43 I have found that there are a higher percentage of independent voters in Senate District 43 than in the district as a whole. If a Democrat can win in SD43 they can win anywhere in the district.

FISA Debate Currently the U.S. Senate is debating an amendment to the Foreign Intelligence Services Act that would provide telecom companies with retroactive immunity for having assisted the Bush administration in allegedly breaking the law with warrantless wiretapping, blanket warrants, and a variety of other issues.  Granted, that debate is going on in the Senate, not the House, but I’m interested in your stand on retroactive immunity for the telecom companies in this case.

Hopefully it won’t I encourage all live blog subjects (or should we call them targets?) to answer tough questions from tough questioners like yourself, MoN.

Strategy Great question! We started by raising an impressive $300,000 in the 4th quarter plus the last 10 days of the 3rd quarter.  My support in the third district and in the Twin Cities runs broad and deep, leveraging these relationships will allow me to raise a substantial amount of money locally. I truly believe that the heart and soul of this campaign are the people of this district and their commitment to the change that we can bring when we come together.

EU blames US for economic troubles Now since the EU is blaming the US for the current economic troubles, what would your answer be for them and other foreign powers to help fix our current recession and give foreign markets faith that going forward we will have our ship in order and we will fix the Bush-era policies that put us here?

Then, why the warning? When Eric Paulsen is on here, will you be warning him also?

FISA Debate I am very concerned about the erosion of our civil rights that has taken place over the last 8 years. It is my belief that we ought not use the executive privilege of the Presidency or Congress to circumvent the judicial process. It is the job of the legislative branch to determine what is illegal in the future not what was illegal in the past. In short I oppose retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies. 

Absolutely My role is to set these things up and make sure that questions aren’t loaded, that’s all.

Let’s get back to the thread and see if Sen. Bonoff answers your question.

Yes, lets

Economic Troubles Given our current reputation in the world and our short sided approach to economic policy I am not surprised that countries are questioning our economic strength. I share their concern. I am committed to restoring fiscal responsibility to Washington. To deal with the immediate economic crisis we need to, in a bipartisan way, agree on an economic stimulus package that can be enacted quickly, targeting those who need it most. In addition we need a fair and progressive tax code and economic policies that invest in new technologies and industries to create high paying jobs. Lastly, investing now in education will ultimately provide us with the strongest economic future going forward. 

Tax rebates/rephrase Let me rephrase a bit:

Are the tax rebates being proposed by the White House a good or a bad way to get that stimulus going?

What components do you see adding up to a progressive tax code in America of, say, 2011?

economic stimulus package? What kind of economic stimulus package would you propose?  There is concern that any proposed package would not be implemented fast enough.  Most of the packages being thrown around out there, by Bush and some of the presidential candidates seem like they will be slow to enact and have hardly any effect.  What is the best answer here?

Question about tax cuts: Yes or no, do you believe we should repeal the Bush tax cuts to the wealthy?  Why or why not? (Thank you in advance).

Global Warming We have seen in Minnesota what happens when there aren’t the necessary funds invested in transportation and infrastructure. Yet in Minnesota only 42 cents of every dollar paid in federal taxes returns to the state. Before I commit to raising the Federal Gas Tax I would demand assurances that Minnesota gets its fair share. We should consider pricing carbon but we must move quickly into a cap and trade system to put market forces to work cleaning up our environment.

I think your second question raises a false choice. Of course the economy, health care, national security and education are all critical issues. Yet our survival and the survival of our children depends on our response to the global warming crisis. Addressing this problem provides solutions to the other stated challenges. Tackling global warming will create good jobs, a clean environment and a safer world for our children.

good answer – thank you

Economic Stimulus Today I spoke to the Minnesota Economist, Tom Stinson, to discuss his thoughts about the proposed economic stimulus package. I left that conversation thinking that to do something that would make a difference for the people who need it most we need to remember the three T’s; timing, targeting and temporary. We must move quickly to inject money into the economy, target it at those who need it most, and then move towards a long term strategy that puts this nation back on firm financial footing. 

Thank You Thank you so much Minnesota Monitor and all those who posted. I really appreciate the opportunity and I look forward to doing this in the future.

Many thanks We look forward to having you back, Sen. Bonoff.  Thanks.

Follow up on earlier question: I heard that you do not support repealing the Bush tax cuts to the wealthy–  I just wanted a bit of clarification. Thank you:)

Welcome Thanks everyone for joining me here today. I look forward to hearing from you about what is most important in the upcoming race for congress in the 3rd Congressional District. I look forward to your questions.

Welcome Sen. Bonoff, and thanks It's really great that you're able to take the time to talk with us this evening. 

My first question is a general one:  in a regular-sized paragraph or less, what's the most important issue to you in this race, and what do you want to do about it?

What role does the federal government have in… …education at the PreK-12 level?  Funding? School/state requirements? NCLB?

Fairly open question, but just looking for your guiding principles and specific priorities in this area…

Thanks!

Global Warming There are so many pressing issues that we face today, yet when we look down the road 20 years from today we can see that doing what we need to do to address the global warming crisis will have the most far reaching, positive effects on our nation and our world. Taking care of our environment is our moral responsibility, doing so has many benefits; we will reduce our dependency on foreign oil thus making our nation safer, investing in the renewable energy market creates high paying jobs in Minnesota, this strengthens our economy and our communities. Being a global leader on this issue gives us the opportunity to restore and repair our reputation around the world.

Campaign lessons Hi Terri,

Thank you for allowing us this opportunity.

How have your campaigns in district 43 prepared you for this congressional campaign?

Early Childhood Education We have an educational crisis when it comes to our ability to deliver consistent high quality early childhood education in this country. The states are tackling this issue with little to no leadership from the federal government. As a member of Congress, and hopefully the education committee, I am committed to playing a leadership role in establishing standards and providing the resources for our youngest children so they come to kindergarten prepared and ready to learn.

Early Childhood Education With regard to funding the federal government should keep its promise of funding  40% of special education costs.

So does NCLB need to be scrapped altogether? Or are there pieces that should be kept?  Teacher performance pay?  Vouchers?  What types of similarities are there between the national education system and Minnesota's?

Education I would repeal the No Child Left Behind unfunded mandate, and would focus federal funding on providing states with the necessary resources to ensure every child is attaining educational excellence.

As a former constituent, this is a good one for me too Does SD43 match CD3 as a whole?  If not, what differences are you seeing among DFLers in Bloomington and, say, Brooklyn Center?

Campaign Lessons I have experience in building a grassroots effort, raising money, generating public enthusiasm and support and even dealing with the assault of negative tactics. I have learned that investing in people and letting the community spirit be the engine of the campaign is the secret recipe for success. I have found that our strongest campaign advocates are coming from the constituents I currently represent and am working hard for everyday. My track record and ability to attract swing voters will be key in November.

$ Strategy? Senator Bonoff,

First, thanks for running, its much appreciated to have a strong woman candidate in this race. What I'm wondering however is what your plan is to counter or deal with the large amount of money that's being raised by the Republcian candidate, as well as the fairly large sum of money that Jim Ramstad still has stashed away and could possibly use against any democrat.

Thanks and good luck!

Global Warming Do you support raising the federal tax on gasoline?  If so, by how much?  Would you favor implementing carbon taxes on US businesses?

Is Global Warming really a bigger issue than the economy, health care, national security, education, infrastructure?

Be careful here Master of None is one of our more cantankerous commenters, Sen. Bonoff.

why the warning? Isn't this open to everyone?  Why the warning, those were fair questions to ask any candidate

Which is why I allowed the question to stand

NCLB I would scrap No Child Left Behind I appreciate the focus on the achievement gap that has resulted from No Child Left Behind. I would provide states with the necessary resources to continue attacking that problem while also insisting on the accountability for the success of each and every child. There are several national models that focus on increasing teacher and student performance without excessive testing that are worth studying. With regard to teacher performance pay Minnesota is seeing some very positive results with their alternative compensation program; in order to attract and retain the best students as our future teachers we must increase teacher pay. 

Education As a “education candidate” what is your feeling about the reason that Ed Minnesota is not endorsing anyone in the 3rd CD? Does it bother you that they have endorsed elsewhere?

But, you felt the need to warn her.  I wonder how that effects my chance of getting an answer.

SD43 I have found that there are a higher percentage of independent voters in Senate District 43 than in the district as a whole. If a Democrat can win in SD43 they can win anywhere in the district.

FISA Debate Currently the U.S. Senate is debating an amendment to the Foreign Intelligence Services Act that would provide telecom companies with retroactive immunity for having assisted the Bush administration in allegedly breaking the law with warrantless wiretapping, blanket warrants, and a variety of other issues.  Granted, that debate is going on in the Senate, not the House, but I'm interested in your stand on retroactive immunity for the telecom companies in this case.

Hopefully it won't I encourage all live blog subjects (or should we call them targets?) to answer tough questions from tough questioners like yourself, MoN.

Strategy Great question! We started by raising an impressive $300,000 in the 4th quarter plus the last 10 days of the 3rd quarter.  My support in the third district and in the Twin Cities runs broad and deep, leveraging these relationships will allow me to raise a substantial amount of money locally. I truly believe that the heart and soul of this campaign are the people of this district and their commitment to the change that we can bring when we come together.

EU blames US for economic troubles Now since the EU is blaming the US for the current economic troubles, what would your answer be for them and other foreign powers to help fix our current recession and give foreign markets faith that going forward we will have our ship in order and we will fix the Bush-era policies that put us here?

Then, why the warning? When Eric Paulsen is on here, will you be warning him also?

FISA Debate I am very concerned about the erosion of our civil rights that has taken place over the last 8 years. It is my belief that we ought not use the executive privilege of the Presidency or Congress to circumvent the judicial process. It is the job of the legislative branch to determine what is illegal in the future not what was illegal in the past. In short I oppose retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies. 

Absolutely My role is to set these things up and make sure that questions aren't loaded, that's all.

Let's get back to the thread and see if Sen. Bonoff answers your question.

Yes, lets

Economic Troubles Given our current reputation in the world and our short sided approach to economic policy I am not surprised that countries are questioning our economic strength. I share their concern. I am committed to restoring fiscal responsibility to Washington. To deal with the immediate economic crisis we need to, in a bipartisan way, agree on an economic stimulus package that can be enacted quickly, targeting those who need it most. In addition we need a fair and progressive tax code and economic policies that invest in new technologies and industries to create high paying jobs. Lastly, investing now in education will ultimately provide us with the strongest economic future going forward. 

Tax rebates/rephrase Let me rephrase a bit:

Are the tax rebates being proposed by the White House a good or a bad way to get that stimulus going?

What components do you see adding up to a progressive tax code in America of, say, 2011?

economic stimulus package? What kind of economic stimulus package would you propose?  There is concern that any proposed package would not be implemented fast enough.  Most of the packages being thrown around out there, by Bush and some of the presidential candidates seem like they will be slow to enact and have hardly any effect.  What is the best answer here?

Question about tax cuts: Yes or no, do you believe we should repeal the Bush tax cuts to the wealthy?  Why or why not? (Thank you in advance).

Global Warming We have seen in Minnesota what happens when there aren't the necessary funds invested in transportation and infrastructure. Yet in Minnesota only 42 cents of every dollar paid in federal taxes returns to the state. Before I commit to raising the Federal Gas Tax I would demand assurances that Minnesota gets its fair share. We should consider pricing carbon but we must move quickly into a cap and trade system to put market forces to work cleaning up our environment.

I think your second question raises a false choice. Of course the economy, health care, national security and education are all critical issues. Yet our survival and the survival of our children depends on our response to the global warming crisis. Addressing this problem provides solutions to the other stated challenges. Tackling global warming will create good jobs, a clean environment and a safer world for our children.

good answer – thank you

Economic Stimulus Today I spoke to the Minnesota Economist, Tom Stinson, to discuss his thoughts about the proposed economic stimulus package. I left that conversation thinking that to do something that would make a difference for the people who need it most we need to remember the three T's; timing, targeting and temporary. We must move quickly to inject money into the economy, target it at those who need it most, and then move towards a long term strategy that puts this nation back on firm financial footing. 

Thank You Thank you so much Minnesota Monitor and all those who posted. I really appreciate the opportunity and I look forward to doing this in the future.

Many thanks We look forward to having you back, Sen. Bonoff.  Thanks.

Follow up on earlier question: I heard that you do not support repealing the Bush tax cuts to the wealthy–  I just wanted a bit of clarification. Thank you:)