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Incoming Sen. Bennet kicks off on-the-job training

Appointee shares views on economy, Iraq in tour of state

By Sara Burnett, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published January 9, 2009 at 12:05 a.m.

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Michael Bennet answers questions at the Colorado Convention Center on Thursday.

Photo by Judy Dehaas / The Rocky

Michael Bennet answers questions at the Colorado Convention Center on Thursday.

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Michael Bennet doesn't have all the answers. But he's working on them.

In his first policy interview since being appointed to fill Democrat Ken Salazar's seat in the U.S. Senate, Bennet said Thursday there are some things he knows for sure:

* Digging the country out of the economic "ditch" will take a long time.

* The country must focus its military efforts on Afghanistan

* The federal government should listen more closely to people in Western states.

But on other issues - the expansion of the Army's Pinon Canyon site, for example - Bennet, the Denver public schools chief, conceded he needs to do more homework.

That will start in earnest today, as Bennet and Gov. Bill Ritter kick off a four-day tour of Colorado.

"I can't wait to spend time all over this beautiful state and to learn as much as I can," Bennet said. "(The tour) is just the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of what's going to be an almost two-year long conversation with Colorado."

The tour also will allow Ritter to introduce Bennet - who must run for re-election in 2010 - to parts of the state where he's not well-known.

What follows is an edited transcript of Thursday's interview:

President-elect Barack Obama talked about an $800 billion economic stimulus plan. There has been criticism that it's expensive and directs too many jobs to the public sector. Do you agree with his plan?

I can't say that I agree or disagree with every specific in the plan because I haven't read the plan. But as a general matter, I certainly agree with the approach. I'm completely supportive of the president-elect's efforts here.

(Obama's) plan appears to me to be a lot more focused on the needs of communities than President Bush's plan was. Part of what happened there was (Treasury Secretary) Henry Paulson got to basically unilaterally decide where to put the money, and where he put the money was in a bunch of New York bank vaults, and that hasn't helped the credit markets at all.

How do you feel about money going to the auto industry and would you support more money for it?

George Bush sent roughly $17.4 billion to the auto industry. It was in two tranches (slices), I think. And he said he needed to be convinced if they were going to do the second tranche that the industry was really serious about restructuring.

I'm not yet convinced of how serious the industry is. I think the U.S. auto industry is incredibly important to our economy. And I think we have every opportunity to reinvent it, and to be able to have Detroit become a leader in the design and manufacture of fuel-efficient vehicles and vehicles that run on alternative fuels. But I want to see that, and I think a lot of people want to see that.

I certainly would want to be much more convinced than I am right now that Detroit really was making huge efforts to restructure itself before I would be comfortable voting for additional resources.

Do you support a 16-month timetable for removing troops from Iraq?

We need to get out of Iraq, there's no question about that. It needs to be a phased withdrawal. It needs to be done, obviously, with the advice of the military commanders that are there. And we need to continue a political discussion that's been going on in Iraq with the leadership there, so that we don't leave anarchy behind us when we go, because we need to worry about things like what Iran will do when our troops are gone. And we've got to refocus our attention on Afghanistan.

Salazar got attention early in his term for being a member of the "Gang of 14" (a bipartisan group of senators that agreed to filibuster judicial nominees only in "extraordinary circumstances"). Would you agree with that pact, and how do you plan to approach confirmation votes on judicial nominees?

I believe under the Constitution, it's the president's prerogative to nominate and the Senate has the decision whether to confirm. I think that we get ourselves into real trouble when we treat that as a veto based on some sort of political litmus test. I'm much more interested in their competence, their integrity, and in the case of a judge, how good a judge they are.

If the president were of a different political party than mine, I think that if you win an election and you're the president of the United States you have the right to pick people whose views are more consistent with yours and more consistent with the direction you think the court ought to head.

I don't think a president should have a litmus test for judicial appointments either, but I have seen cases where senators have applied ideological litmus tests to candidates for the court, and I wouldn't do that.

Do you support the Employee Free Choice Act, which would make it easier for workers to organize by requiring employers to recognize a union if a majority of employees sign cards stating they want to unionize?

I support the right of workers to organize and collectively bargain free from intimidation. I don't have a position on EFCA. I think that legitimate points have been raised on both sides of the conversation, and I just want to hear from the constituencies, because I haven't. In my current role I have not had a direct conversation with anybody that's engaged in that policy discussion.

The Bush administration recently lifted regulations on oil shale leasing, which critics fear would negatively impact the environment. Where do you stand?

I'm right where (Sen.) Mark Udall and (Gov.) Bill Ritter are on that. I think that we need to be much more sure of the effect on our water and the effect on our communities and whether it's even economically viable before we start leasing.

How do you feel about the expansion of the Army's Pinon Canyon site in southeastern Colorado?

I have no first-hand involvement with Pinon Canyon. I think that I want to go down and spend some time with the ranchers down there and hear what they have to say. The Government Accountability Office is releasing a report in January about it. I want to see that and read it. I'm glad that the moratorium has been in place. So let me read the GAO report and let me hear from people that are really affected by this, and then I'll give you an opinion.

Would you allow President Bush's tax cuts to expire?

I think the right idea now is not to repeal them. With this kind of economy the last think anybody needs to see is their taxes go up.

I do think allowing them to expire consistent with the original statute is the right thing to do. But I think it's also the right thing to do to put in their place tax cuts for the middle class that are going to affect many more people across the country than the Bush tax cuts ever did.

The Congressional Budget Office is estimating the federal deficit will hit $1.2 trillion this year. How are we going to both revive the economy and not grow the deficit?

I'm a huge believer in balanced budgets and in conservative fiscal management. But this is an extraordinary time, and we are going to have to deficit spend to get out of where we are.

There are a lot of crummy policies that got us to this place and we need to correct those. As we deficit spend we need to be completely transparent with the American people about what that money is being spent on. But nothing short of the federal government's intervention here is going to put us in the position to unfreeze these markets and get the economy out of the ditch that (the Bush) administration has left it in.

Do you think that people are going to look back at you a year from now and say that you are more or less liberal than Sen. Salazar?

I think they'll look back at me a year from now and say I'm about the same.

Yea and Nay

On some questions, Michael Bennet gave a simple yes or no:

Would you vote to lift President Bush's ban on embryonic stem cell research? Yes.

Did you support the invasion of Iraq? No.

Do you support the death penalty? No.

Do you support Roe vs. Wade? Yes.

Would you vote for a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage? No. That is not something to be legislated in the United States Constitution.

Comments

  • January 9, 2009

    6:08 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    cfarmer writes:

    It is obvious that Mr Bennet will do exactly what Harry Reid tells him to do and rural Colorado loses.

  • January 9, 2009

    6:26 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    LOUIE writes:

    No sir CFARMER, this man is his own man, more than willing to challenge the existing status quo in the most unconventional and brilliant manner, that has become his hallmark not only in business but in public service as well. He's no man's puppet, he has shown he is more than willing to strike out on his own and break with tradition to bring about success for the overall good of the people concerned. You don't know much about Bennett, you have to understand where he came from and who he once served. The man who found the greatest value in him, suffers no fools in his employ. I think Ritter made an excellent choice in stepping out of the party favorites for this kid from Yale, he's got a lot on the ball in economic and leadership abilities. I'm conservative, but I recognized this man's ability long ago. I have yet to see him fail or except the status quo when striving for excellence. Unorthodox yes, but he is a cut above many.

  • January 9, 2009

    6:46 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Domino writes:

    cfarmer writes:
    It is obvious that Mr Bennet will do exactly what Harry Reid tells him to do and rural Colorado loses.

    As if any Republican senator deviated from the Bush line.

  • January 9, 2009

    6:56 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    brownman writes:

    It is obvious that Mr. Bennet is a more informed and intelligent person than a recently failed candidate for vice president...

  • January 9, 2009

    7:48 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    LesterGovernment writes:

    From his answers, I don't see that he's anything but a lock-step Democrat. He parsed his words but didn't reveal his position on Card Check. Ritter would not have appointed the guy if he wasn't a sure thing on union issues. Just like Obama, he'll do his best to tell you what you want to hear but vote in his own interests anyway.

  • January 9, 2009

    8:53 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    solar_satellite writes:

    "With this kind of economy the last think [sic] anybody needs to see is their taxes go up." -- I doubt Mr. Bennet said that. If the Democratic Party has decided not to repeal Bush's insane tax rebates to the rich, it does not represent me. I am sorry to read that Mr. Bennet fails to understand the need of government for tax revenue -- at a time when the criminal outgoing administration and our incompetent Congress have donated $700,000,000,000 we don't have to bankrupt banks and insurance companies, and with President-elect Obama proposing to engage in somewhat more rational deficit spending, it is way past time for us to consider how to fund our government by means other than printing money and borrowing against the earnings of future generations (without the slightest concern about how our successors will be able to repay the loans). If the Democrats don't even have the gumption to repudiate the Republicans' most idiotic and disastrous economic policies, then there is no reason to hope that they can fend the Ship of State off the reef we are rapidly approaching.

  • January 9, 2009

    9:10 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Willy writes:

    Domino writes:

    cfarmer writes:
    It is obvious that Mr Bennet will do exactly what Harry Reid tells him to do and rural Colorado loses.

    As if any Republican senator deviated from the Bush line.

    Yep that is one of the things wrong with our system. Like Washington and Jefferson warned, our representatives represent their parties, not their constituents.

  • January 9, 2009

    1:25 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    MrJim writes:

    Nothing against Bennet personally, but can anyone really believe he was the best pick for this seat? A DPS administrator becomes senator to represent the whole state? No, there were better candidates out there, who know the issues, and wouldn't need ridder to give them their talking points. My guess is he will be more Ridder's puppet than Reid's.