Out seventh question is from Shirley Clawson-Thielen:
How would you approach this job? What would you do in your first 60 days?
Joan Fitz-Gerald:
I would approach the job with the greatest sense of urgency. Every day I served would be a gift of time to change the course of America. We have no time to lose. In the first 60 days I would read and absorb information on the committees to which I was assigned and learn House procedures. On the weekends I would be back in the district talking to constituents and bringing that information back to DC.
Jared Polis:
I will apply the same constructive energy that I am applying to this campaign, and that I have always applied in business and education, to serving in Congress. Many members are in "cruise" mode and don't work as hard as they could, but Washington DC is made for a ready-to-go, fresh from Colorado Representative who is ready to throw himself into the progressive intellectual mix. Just as I have in Colorado, I will continue to write opinion pieces, introduce new ideas both through legislation as well as through the hearing process, and work closely with my colleagues to build coalitions to turn ideas into reality.
Will Shafroth:
I would start out by creating relationships with other members of congress so that I would be in a position to get things done as the months and years proceeded.
I would then work to implement my plan that will:
- Establish a cap-and-trade system with benchmarks, including (1) stabilizing greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. within two years of enactment, (2) reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2020, and (3) reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2050.[i]
- Require carbon emitters to pay for carbon permits.
- Institute a carbon emissions fee to supplement a cap-and-trade system to cover areas a cap-and-trade program will miss.
- Reinvest in America: A cap-and-trade system would generate hundreds of billions of dollars. This money should go to at least tripling our investment in research and development for renewable energy and minimizing the impacts of the program on low income families.
I would also become a strong voice for getting the U.S. out of Iraq and fully funding the SCHIP.
