League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Marin, Sonoma, Humboldt, Mendocino, Del Norte, Trinity Counties, CA June 5, 2012 Election
	Norman Solomon Answers Questions Candidate for United States Representative; District 2

The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of California Education Fund and asked of all candidates for this office.
Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Questions & Answers

1. In this time of high unemployment, what are the most important steps that should be taken to improve our nation’s economy?

We must reinvest in America's workers and families, to rebuild our economy and our social fabric. I support robust public investment in economic programs that create living-wage jobs. The government should invest directly in the nation's infrastructure, and in social services that help stabilize our communities.

Central to my campaign is support for H.R. 870 -- the "Humphrey-Hawkins 21st Century Full Employment and Training Act" -- introduced by Congressman John Conyers (who has endorsed me in this race), which provides for a federal policy of full employment. With a one-quarter of 1 percent transaction tax on Wall Street, the bill would generate roughly $150 billion per year in revenues, creating millions of new jobs.

I am the only candidate in this race who has publicly called for massive federal jobs programs on a scale comparable to the New Deal. Please see my Marin IJ op-ed article calling for a "New New Deal": http://www.marinij.com/opinion/ci_19108715?IADID

2. How should the federal budget deficit be addressed, now and into the future? How should budget priorities for defense and domestic programs be adjusted?

The budget debate is another example of how large corporations have dominated the public debate in our country. The false message that the rich need government support to rescue our economy, while middle class programs are unaffordable, has been forced upon us by mega-corporations and their ultra-rich CEOs who have bankrolled their own politicians, think tanks and media outlets. Wall Street gets bailed out, while Main Street gets shafted. It's one more reason why I have refused to take any corporate PAC money + not one penny. I will fight for fairness for the middle class and Main Street, and I will stand up to Wall Street.

As the only candidate in this race with significant foreign policy experience, I'm in a very strong position to challenge the excessive military spending that continues to boost the deficit and fuel endless wars. We can bring down the federal deficit responsibly (and with a prudent rather than hasty timeline) while cutting the Pentagon budget, eliminating the Bush tax breaks for the wealthy, ending tax loopholes for big corporations and imposing appropriate taxes on Wall Street speculation. At the same time, we must not blame middle-class Americans for the deficit -- and we must not try to balance the budget on the backs of working people or our senior citizens. The social compact requires that we honor our commitments to children, seniors and other vulnerable citizens.

3. What are your priorities with respect to our nation’s energy policy? Should there be an emphasis on clean energy and reducing carbon emissions, and/or on reducing our dependence on foreign sources?

We must put climate change back at the top of the agenda in Washington. It is unacceptable to kick the global-warming can down the road any longer; future generations and the planet's entire ecosystem are at stake. Rather than promote a "cap and trade" formula that can be easily manipulated and gamed by Wall Street, we need a tax on carbon (with revenues equitably distributed to the American people) to reverse global warming and bring greenhouse gases under control.

As former co-chair of the Commission on a Green New Deal for the North Bay, I am committed to developing sustainable energy sources that will move this country and the world away from the impending disasters of climate change. Fundamental changes are needed to utilize solar, appropriately sited wind and conservation -- while halting the destructive momentum of extreme overreliance on fossil fuels. I reject oxymoronic myths like "clean coal" and "safe nuclear power." It's time for our country to become a technological leader with green, clean energy.

4. What, if any, changes should be made to federal health care policies or programs?

The fact that the U.S. spends more on health care than most industrialized nations is a reflection of the unhealthy power of the insurance, hospital and pharmaceutical industries in our country. Our current system does not serve Americans equitably. It must be reformed and improved.

I strongly support single-payer health care (enhanced Medicare for all), and have done so for many years. I am co-chair of the Healthcare Not Warfare campaign along with Donna Smith of the California Nurses Association and Congressman John Conyers. This campaign advocates for ending the wars and redirecting the funds to pay for a national single-payer health care system. While the Affordable Care Act (ACA) brought expanded coverage to portions America's uninsured, it also brought a humongous transfer of power and wealth to the private insurance industry. Instead, single-payer health care would provide quality health care at a significantly reduced cost.

In lieu of a federal single-payer system, however, I would support legislation to make it easier for states to adopt a single-payer system. Such a system would create equitable coverage for people of all ages. In the meantime, federal legislation should curb the excessive profits of the insurance, pharmaceutical and hospital industries as well as protect the rights of all patients to treatment without price gouging of any kind.

5. What, if any, changes should be made to federal rules on campaign financing?

For decades -- as an activist, author and nationally syndicated columnist -- I have detailed how big money in politics promotes everything from war and environmental degradation to economic injustice and unfair trade treaties to media conglomeration and corporatization of health care. In my largely volunteer-driven campaign for Congress, I have implemented a grassroots approach to fundraising: raising over half a million dollars from more than 5,000 (mostly small) donors, while refusing to accept a penny of corporate PAC money. Principle is key to our strategy.

As a member of Congress, one of my top priorities will be to push legislation and a constitutional amendment aimed at removing money from politics. Among my plans: I will promote a constitutional amendment to end corporate personhood, and to affirm that campaign-related spending can be strictly regulated, thereby overturning the Citizens United decision.

I will immediately cosponsor the "Fair Elections Now Act" -- which would establish public financing of elections (sometimes called "clean money") and enable federal candidates to avoid large donations, big money bundlers and donations from lobbyists.

I will also cosponsor legislation banning elected officials from working as lobbyists after they leave office. Polls show that public financing and lobbying bans are popular with the U.S. public -- whether Democrat, Republican, some other party or independent. I pledge to go to Washington to fight to fulfill the public's desire to take money and corruption out of politics.

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Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' statements are presented as submitted. References to opponents are not permitted.

Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: May 10, 2012 15:43
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