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Under the heading of "Sunlight in the Senate," she showed up on DailyKos primarily to say a few words about the importance of openness in the Senate, and then take questions. One of the highlights for us is that there's now a date attached to the previously discussed agriculture hearing in Batavia: August 27th.
The thing that struck me most about the exchange was the fact that the Senator wasn't at all afraid to admit uncertainty, or ask for suggestions from the crowd when it came to sticky issues like campaign finance.
You can sift through the DailyKos thread if you want, or I've compiled all the Senator's statements below. |
On public healthcare:
I think we are all working hard to get the not-for-profit public option on the table and keep it there. Im also fighting to keep the healthcare tax off the table.
I oppose the trigger option -- we need a not for profit public option now -- health care is too unaffordable for most families now, and having the competition of the public option will be the quickest way to reduce costs for everyone. as some have said, "the public option has already been triggered"
Co-ops... Dont like that idea.
On Don't Ask, Don't Tell and gay rights:
No new info on timing -- we are working with Senator Kennedy's office to build support for repeal leg in the Senate. Congressman Patrick Murphy and I are working together to get a vote on both sides. I was really moved by my meeting with Lt Choi -- he said to me, "we are trained never to lie in the military, but they ask me to lie every day about who I am...." Pretty powerful.
I am also working on repealing DOMA -- i think that will come next year, after ENDA and hate crimes.
On campaign finance:
I agree that money in politics can undermine the publics confidence in elected leaders, and in fact, the 2006 election was a response to the public's perception that washington was for sale. I support campaign finance reform and publicly funded elections.
There are a lot of ideas on how best to do this. In NYC, they have matching funds and limits (like 250 per donor). i would consider many formulations -- if you have ideas, please send them to me
To a DKos poster who apologized for having disrupted the last live-blog:
Thanks so much for that very kind note. I look forward to working together with you and our on line community.
On agriculture:
I am very concerned about the low cost of milk reimbursements for our dairy farmers these days. A number of our farmers are even going out of business. I have some legislation to begin to address the crisis -- I want to double the rate under the MILC safety net. Second, i am holding a field hearing on August 27 in Battavia in Western NY to begin to develop testimony on why our milk pricing system is so incredibly broken.
About her sponsorship of the Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act:
I'm not sure how we get it passed, but i will look into it, and let you know my best strategy during our next blog
Trying to get other legislators to follow her lead in posting their daily schedules:
In the Senate, I know Tester posts. I will look into if anyone else does.
And in the end:
Thanks for blogging with me again -- i really do enjoy hearing your thoughts, feedback and trying my best to answer your questions. Sooo, I am on my way to White House for an important meeting. You can find out who I am meeting with on my sunlight report tonight!! I will be talking about many of the issues we brought up today -- thanks for your extraordinary advocacy -- it matters!
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