5 questions for Peter Welch

Forgive me if this seems rushed, I'm sandwiched between video journalists and facebook revolutionaries, and the card reader on this laptop isn't working. I'll probably get around to that when I go home, like all the photos I've promised to post ever HAR HAR HAR.

So I'd like to take this time to welcome the congressional staff and pages from Peter Welch's office! If you see any bad words or objectionable content, pretend you saw something different. It's what my mom does.

Yeah, that's right! I had a quick little sit-down with one of my reps while I'm over at Take Back the Capitol, raising caine and suchlike. Completely forgot to ask if I could record his responses, so here's a rough summary of what transpired. If the esteemed representative takes offense, corrections can be scribbled on to the back of $20 notes and thrown into my window.

To the question "What have you done to spur job growth in Vermont and the nation", he replied that he supported the Dodd-Frank bill, which would split investment and savings banks and help stop the "casino economy" which is an appropriate term if one has ever been said. He also supports credit unions, which lend money to the part of the economy that's actually productive. He also supports public healthcare with a single-payer solution, and he supported bills that would have helped re-establish veterans with jobs. Veterans, mind you, have some of the highest unemployment and homelessness rates in the country. I failed to ask which bills, because I am terrible at journalisms.

When asked the question "What do you think of sequestration?" (a process that would immediately cut 6% off the budget of every national program) he said he considered it "a failure of the congressional process" and that he'd rather pass a budget that had spending on infastructure, netgotiated perscription drug prices, and made the rich pay their fare share.

When told that the Stopping Online Piracy Act would give a 5 year prison sentence to someone who uploaded a Michael Jackson video, compared to the 4 year sentence given to the doctor who killed him, he said he "didn't know enough" about online piracy to suggest feasible alternatives, but he did say he'd support a bill that respected the right of intellectual property creators (like me!) while still maintained an open internet. I sent him an e-mail about it before, so hopefully the voice of the people helped win him to our side.

When asked "Should we be able to arrest Americans & hold them in prison indefinitely?" he said no, because that's a stupid-obvious question. Still a good response, though.

When asked if he would support criminal charges against the banking executives who signed off on fraudulent forecloseures in Vermont and the nation, he said he'd support them in any case when illegal actions were taken. Fraudulent foreclosures "should be prosecuted and punished", which is just awesome mixed with a big honking slice of yes.

Honestly? Peter Welch is the sort of democrat we need more of. Give him a call and let him know you've got his back. Also, keep following up on these questions and more, make sure he sticks to his guns. Democracy only happens so long as we keep vigilant.