Welcome Congressman Brad Miller,live blog

Is everyone ready with their questions?

Robin Hayes lied. Nobody died, but thousands of folks lost their jobs.

I noticed that you are a member of the Autism Caucus, and as such I was wondering whether you would be willing to cosponsor bills like HR1107, To amend the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to provide full funding for assistance for education of all children with disabilities?

A commenter on Daily Kos had this question for you:

Miller's election is one small step for Democracy, one important step for America. Congrats

I cannot attend the live blogging, but I would like to hear Miller's ideas on getting out of Iraq and standing up to Bush if he proposes to do anything but start the withdrawal.

Rep. Miller, it's a pleasure to have you here. As I said in my announcement of this event at my home blog, it's shows grace and openness whenever an elected representative meets the electorate in this new medium. We're glad you're taking advantage of this event to dialogue with us.

You have been very supportive of Larry Kissell's campaign but, sadly, we fell just a few hundred votes short of the win.

What do you think we need to do to win this seat in 2008?

Larry Kissell is MY Congressman

By the way your presence here has put me on the Daily Kos rec list for the first time. Of course my title may have something to do with it:

Kos' gay lover has affair with other blog

Since 1994's Republican revolution and the political death of Hillary Clinton's ambitious health care proposals, Washington has fiddled while the health care crisis has deepened and widened.

Two proposals for reforming our broken health care system are out and available for consideration:

Center for American Progress' "Progressive Prescription for a Healthy America" and Senator Ron Wyden's "Healthy Americans Act".

Have you read either/both of these proposals? What specific parts do you favor? Do you have your own plan or are you working on a plan that you can give us insight into?

This comes from the question thread....

Will you sign on as a co-sponsor of House Resolution 676 by Rep. John Conyers, United States National Health Insurance Act?

On a scale of 1 to 10, where "1" means there's no chance you'll run, how would you rate the probability that you'll go after Elizabeth Dole's seat in 08?

If less than "5", who would you like to see run instead?

How many roads must a man walk down?

:)

PS I'm serious about those first two.

I know you are in favor of bringing the US troops home from Iraq sooner, rather than later. Dennis Kucinich has called for pulling the troops out of Iraq now. Would you support a Congressional measures to stop funding the war as a means of getting the troops out of harms way and letting the Iraqi's deal with the civil war themselves?

To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only UNPATRIOTIC and servile, but it is morally treasonable to the American public.

Rep Miller,
Your seat was awarded to NC after the 2000 Census, seat number 435 as divvied up after the big headcount. Some in Utah have disputed that action, claiming that they should have received the 435th seat.

Now there is a bill to increase the size of the House of Representative to 437, awarding one seat to DC and one to Utah. After the 2010 Census, DC would keep it's seat and Utah's would go into the big pot with the other 435 to be divvied up again. What is your position on this bill? What is your position on statehood for DC?

I read yesterday that the Pentagon is encouraging the White House to ask for an additional $99.7 billion for the Iraq war, this on top of the over $350,000,000,000 already wasted in this illegal war, will you vote for this ?

No matter that patriotism is too often the refuge of scoundrels. Dissent, rebellion, and all-around hell-raising remain the true duty of patriots.

n/t

I just received a few emails from friends who are having trouble getting in at all. Keep trying. Representative Miller will be here until 11:00. Thanks, everyone.

Robin Hayes lied. Nobody died, but thousands of folks lost their jobs.

I'm cross posting these powderpuffs mainly b/c I like you Rep. Miller and everyone else gets softballs, so why can't you? ;)

First let me say I'm very sorry I did not give more time to you and your campaign. My girlfriend and I live in Five Points, that lovely little Blue bastion, and decided however to help out more with Larry Kissel's campaign. However I am so glad I don't have to regret my decision other than we could not help Mr. Kissel win in the end.

Now I have 2 questions for you!

1- What are you going to do about Net Neutrality? Now that Democrats control both the House and the Senate (for today) are we going to see laws enacted to help permenently protect the freedom of having equal and fair access to the Internet? I would encourage you, as one of the orginal blogger/internet politicans to embrace the goodness of the Web, to take a lead in this issue as we control Congress and as the Telecom Co.'s strike back against it.

2- What are we, as intelligent open minded people, going to do about this rash of Anti-Muslim attacks against US elected officals we saw two weeks ago? Recently we've seen Mr. Ellison elected to Congress as our 1st Muslim American Representative. And we well probably see Barack Obama run for President, who has Hussien as a middle name. We've seen attacks from US Congressmen/women, Media talking heads such as Glen Bleck, and other citizens on these people solely b/c they have Muslim ties.

What, as the real Big Tent Party, can we do about this? This is not so much a policy question, but one of our nation's soul.

I feel that we are living in a new age of bigotry and hate after 9/11 that will change the course of our country forever, if we do not act. How would you have us move diplomatically in our international relations with Muslim nation-states to improve sentiments abroad and at home?

Our children need to know that some people fought back, when others collaborated.

Another question from a Kos commenter:

I know a while back he asked for any accounts from scientists who were feeling pressured from their superiors to supress findings if they didn't match up with what the Bush administration was trying to force down our throats.

How's the progress on that? Has he gotten complaints that he can take action on in the new Congress that will help protect scientists and researchers from political intimidation?

(I plan to be one of those researchers in a couple years, so this concerns me.)

Thanks again for being here, Rep. Miller. It's exciting to watch democracy happen like this. Your ability to juggle disparate topics while exercising your hurried typing skills is admiarble and appreciated.

Blue South left this question in an earlier thread:

There was a big discussion about payday lending on here a while ago. Do you have any plans or introducing legislation aimed at curbing these disgusting predators now that we have a Democratic Majority to get the bill passed?

The 2.3 trillion dollars of Pentagon money that is unaccounted for or "dissappeared" ... what happened to the investigation? ($1billion plundered from Iraq'a defense ministry alone, according to Patrick Cockburn.) Does anybody know where the money went? Did the Bush Administration succeed in getting rid of the investigator who was on that case? Can you tell us anything about this?

Robin Hayes lied. Nobody died, but thousands of folks lost their jobs.

Much has been made of the Republican culture of corruption. The Democrats are now in a great position to do meaningful ethics reform in Congress. There are two key initiatives that are necessary for genuine reform. I would like to know how you stand on each of these proposals...

1. The establishment of an Independent Office of Public Integrity that would sit outside the House Ethics Committee. The powers of the Independent Office of Public Integrity would at best be advisory to the House Ethics Committee, but its words would carry great weight and ensure that, at a minimum, the American public would have a trustworthy yardstick by which to judge the actions of its representatives.

2. Action on the use of earmarks which divert funding to a Congressman's pet projects, or the pet projects of those who contribute to the Congressman's campaigns. Are you for the outright elimination of earmarks? If you aren't, would you support legislation that would not only disclose the sponsor and recipient of an earmark, but also limit the number and amount that can be spent on earmarks?

Robin Hayes lied. Nobody died, but thousands of folks lost their jobs.

Representative Miller,
Thanks for joining us today.

The GOP Congress squandered the budget surpluses left by the Clinton Administration. The national debt has risen by $3 trillion in just 6 years, with no end in sight. How will the Democratic Congress restore some semblance of balance to the federal budget? What changes to tax policy do you support?

Mental Health Parity has been discussed for over a decade in D.C., especially since Tipper Gore threw her support behind the idea.

Will you support mental health parity legislation?

Congressman Miller,

Thank you for taking the time to participate in this forum!

I want to ask you about one of the ways we can work on the energy concerns and the environment at the same time- making our transportation system more energy efficient. There are numerous pieces of research that demonstrate that rail travel is much less energy-intensive and emits less CO2 than plane travel and auto travel. This is especially true when the trains are well patronized, as is the case with high speed rail services such as the Eurostar overseas or the Acela/Metroliner trains in the Northeast Corridor, which command over 50% of the air-rail market between Washington DC and New York.

The Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor project, currently under environmental review, extends Acela-type service from Washington DC to Charlotte via Richmond VA, Henderson, NC, Raleigh, Durham, and Greensboro. If built, trains would reach top speeds of 100-110 miles per hour, and could complete runs from Charlotte to Washington, DC in a little over 6 hours and Raleigh to Washington, DC in roughly 4 hours.

With concerns about climate change and Peak Oil, it seems to me that we should be looking for opportunities to protect economic activity and mobility by moving travel to more energy-efficient travel methods, that if necessary, can ultimately be electrified.

In 2005, a bipartisan group of Senators passed S. 1516, the Passenger Rail Investment & Improvement Act of 2005, by a 93-6 vote. This legislation never emerged in the House due to the short-sightedness of the Republican leadership.

Passage of this legislation would be good for the country, but also very good for NC. Due to thoughtful, strategic investment by NCDOT and the work conducted already on the Southeast High Speed rail, NC stands to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the passage of this legislation which would chart a vision-driven course for passenger rail policy, rather than an annual politics-driven tempest over Amtrak.

So thanks for reading my background, HERE IS MY QUESTION: would you be willing to sponsor or co-sponsor a version of S 1516 in the House this year? Also, do you think that other members of the NC delegation (such as Bob Etheridge or GK Butterfield, who both represent the Henderson area) would get on board with you to help advance more energy efficient rail transport in NC and the US at large?

Rep Miller...what are your thoughts on Every No Child Left Behind and are there any changes you'd like to make in this legislation?

Larry Kissell is MY Congressman

Dear Congressman Miller,

I wanted to thank you for taking the time out of your schedule to do things like this.

I am the executive director of the Muslim American Public Affairs Council(MAPAC) here in the triangle. After we endorsed you in November we were attacked publicly on many fronts by frothing at the mouth Republicans. As much as we enjoyed the free publicity paid for by Mr.Robinson in one of his campaign ad's this constant attack on the Triangle Muslim community is getting very old. My question to you is what do you think groups like MAPAC & CAIR can do differently to try to break down these stereotypes and basically racist lies put forwards by the right wing elements in our society. How can we become more active in grassroots politics?

As always keep up the good fight.

Marc

Do you think E85 is a long-term viable solution to our energy dependence?

Robin Hayes lied. Nobody died, but thousands of folks lost their jobs.

I've got to head to work now.

Thank you so much for giving your time and energy to visit with us. It's good to know that the progressive community has an ally in the House.

When can we do this again?

Stan is tied up fielding questions on the Edwards thread, but left this for today's session:

It is stunningly clear that George Bush and many in his administration LIED to the American people about the need to invade Iraq. It's also clear this administration and many of it's corporate supporters are engaged in either war profiteering or gouging the American taxpayer.

I'd like to know your thoughts on impeaching George Bush and Dick Cheney, and sending them to prison for a long stretch.

What can Congress do to grow a biobased economy in North Carolina? We have all the parts. Agriculture, biotech, biomass, engineering skills, research facilities, manufacturing capacity, growing markets. We have the needs, renewable energy, jobs, sustainable growth, clean air and water. How can you help to put it together?

The GOP controlled Congress recently gave the banking and credit industry a present with the Bankruptcy givaway capulitation Reform Act. By all accounts, this was for the benefit of the banking and credit industries and has hurt the American people, many of which are the victims of George Bush and his disastrous economic policies. Would you support legislation to revisit the Act and correct the giveaways and make the Bankruptcy Act more fair to those forced into this situation?

To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only UNPATRIOTIC and servile, but it is morally treasonable to the American public.

Questions, Questions, Questions (not to be confused with the Nasdaq Index stock QQQ)

I hope you will have time to revisit the questions here and the other questions that were posted earlier on the Brad Miller Question Thread

Speaking of Nasdaq, any thoughts on the economy, shifting from manufacturing to service, changing tax structures to keep pace?

Congressman Miller has said he will stay beyond the hour to finish answering questions. Again, sorry for the slowness of the site. Thank you for stopping in and leaving questions. Please check back in for answers if you have to leave.

Congressman Miller, thank you for taking the time to answer so questions. I don't want to keep you from your shows and bon bons. Enjoy your time in the majority. We plan to help extend that beyond two years.

Robin Hayes lied. Nobody died, but thousands of folks lost their jobs.

I know this is a little late Rep. Miller, but if you happen to check this again I have a question about this quote from earlier:

"I'm also working on legislation, not just hoping for hearings, to encourage the development of alternative energy and energy efficient technologies. We actually have technologies that would help that we aren't using. The term is "state of the shelf" technology. I got an amendment into the energy bill a couple of years ago to encourage the use of energy efficient technolgies, but I have not been able to get the proposal the necessary funding. I think I can change that next year."

Do you think that the federal government would be able to prescribe a renewable/alternative portfolio standard, mandating that a specific amount of energy in each state comes from specific sources, or would that not be possible for the federal government to do?

I missed this entire thing. I hate being busy in the middle of the morning. its so...absurd.

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