He was the Senate Majority Leader, and over his career chaired the Health and Human Services committee and the Education committee.  He currently works at the Muskie School as a policy associate for the Cutler Institute for Child and Family Development, as well as teaching the occasional course at the University of New England in the School of Social Work.  He is running for the Democratic nomination for First District Congressman, the seat being vacated by Tom Allen as he pursues a bid for the Senate in 2008.  As always, we provide a forum for the candidates to speak to the issues.  Here, then, is Michael Brennan on the issues.

Iraq:  In June of 2006, I worked with group of legislators called Legislators for Ending the War.  We were the first group to stand up and say we thought war should come to an end. Maine has lost $40 million in transportation funds, $40 million in national security funds, $40 in medical funds ... money that should have gone to help the people is instead going to waste in a war that should never have begun.  I will work toward ending war in Iraq.  I have seen the effect it has had on our national guard, lives lost, and the effect on the Iraqi people.  I have been against the war since the beginning. I support immediate withdrawal of troops.  At the same time, we have a moral obligation to work with the Iraqi people and with surrounding countries to rebuild Iraq.  To date, there has been almost $455 billion spent on Iraq, over $10 million an hour, and $1.2 billion dollars of Maine taxpayer money gone to support war.  This is all occurring at a time when 46 million people are without health insurance, there has been a 385% jump in college costs, and global warming has worsened.  Clearly, war has had a severe economic impact, as well as the impact on human lives. Even the generals don’t believe that Iraq has made Maine or the U.S. any safer, and we know our presence has increased terrorist activities within Iraq.  Our standing in the world has been damaged, and that will affect future generations.  The reason I believe we need to end the war and start the process of rebuilding is that this is the first step toward admitting that we made a mistake and and that our future foreign policy will be diplomacy.  We also have to do a much better job supporting our troops returning from Iraq and make sure they receive health care, mental health care, and all the tools they need to transition back to civilian life.

War on Terror: Iraq is not the place we should fight the war on terror.  The greatest step we can take is to create better working relationships between law enforcement officials in countries all over the world and the U.S.  When terrorism has been interrupted, it’s because people have been able to track activity and intervene at the appropriate time.  The more we can make sure there are appropriate resources to increase their ability to monitor terrorist activities, the stronger we will be in the war against terror.  We have to engage other countries in this discussion.  Very few nations support terrorism, yet, because of Iraq, we have fractured our relationship with other nations to have an effective response.  There have been some post-911 successes ... port security, better communications. We also need to address nuclear proliferation.  One of the more frightening aspects to terrorism is the potential availability of nuclear weapons to terrorist organizations. 

Oil:  There is no doubt that dependence on foreign oil led us into this war.  It will continue to be a serious problem.  In China and India, the need for oil has increased dramatically … we are on a collision course.  Thomas Friedman has written about the greening of the economy ... we need to develop an economy in the U.S. that is based on renewable energy. We need to look at how we can manufacture wind turbines, not only be involved in wind farms, but actually manufacture wind components.  I worked on a bill in 2006, which passed, then the governor sponsored, to increase renewable energy portfolio in Maine 30% right now, and 1% over the next ten years, so that by 2016, Maine is producing 40% green energy.  We need to be utilizing more renewable energy resources in Maine.  We as a nation are behind the curve on reducing dependency on oil.  We can increase CAFE standards, dramatically increasing mileage per gallon.  We should be working to take coal plants offline and replace them with cleaner alternatives.  Coal plants and cars produce the most carbon emissions.  I hope this is the last time we have any military intervention that is based on securing oil.

Global warming: We have to start acting as a good neighbor in international community.  We make up 5% of the population, but use 25% of the world’s energy.  We have a particular responsibility… we have to show we are serious in the mitigation of climate change.  The Kyoto Treaty should have been something we signed, and although it is a good first step for those countries that signed on, we all have to go further.  I have a goal of   reducing carbon emissions by 80% by 2050.  We have to be very aggressive on this.  If we do not take action immediately, our ability to reverse it will be lost.  I do think that carbon trading is a good first step for us to address carbon emission, but it is only one step.  Obviously we have to move toward renewable energy, higher CAFE standards and conservation.  Global warming is a very individual issue as well as international issue ... that old phrase, act locally and think globally.  Some powerful tools are decisions people make individually ... and we have to provide the tools to make those decisions ... grants and credits to weatherize, bike, bond for alternative transit options.  We are so far behind other industrialized nations in terms of mass transit.  This is the type of public investment we should be making.

Health Care:  When I was in the legislature, I chaired the Health and Human Services committee, then the joint select committee that created Dirigo Health, and we looked at ways to expand coverage for Mainers and ways to make that coverage more affordable and accessible.  We rank second in health care for kids.  We rank in the top five in people covered by health care.  In Maine, 8% are not covered, as opposed to a national average of 18% not covered.  We did it with MaineCare and Dirigo.  What I believe is that for economic and moral reasons we should provide coverage for 46 million who are uninsured.  Not long ago, I was at a meeting where a group of executives said “We can’t compete in the global marketplace because of health care costs”.  Need to move toward universal health insurance to address these economic issues.  We are the richest country in the world, every other industrialized nation found a way to do it.   One way we can get there quickly is to expand eligibility for Medicaid and Medicare.   90 million already receive Medicare/Medicaid.  Using these plans, we can very quickly get to universal coverage, without disturbing commercial plans.  At some point, I think we have to look at possibly having universal single payer medicare plan for everybody.  We can’t allow health care policy to be written by insurance and pharmaceutical companies.  Medicare Part D was clearly written by pharmaceutical companies to benefit them - not seniors.  Government can’t bargain for best price, and seniors fall into a donut hole after the plan pays $2500.  Those are two things we need to fix immediately. I still support reimportation of drugs from Canada.

Immigration:  Immigration is clearly a very difficult issue.  I don’t support deporting 12 1/2 million people.  I do support their being able to work toward citizenship as a documented person.  I think we should have strong border enforcement, and strong enforcement of employment law.  But the really underlying issue is that we need to work with Mexico and Latin America to promote their economic well being, so that people have the choice to stay in their own country.  I believe they would stay home if they could survive there.  This country has always been a country of immigrants, and Maine in particular I think has benefited tremendously from our immigrant and refugee population.

Social Security:  Social Security becomes political fodder every election cycle.  Who is the most supportive of Social Security?  The simple fact is that I believe Social Security will be around for those who need it in the near future and the long run.  It has proved to be enormously successful for keeping seniors out of poverty.  It has played a critical role for those who are handicapped, disabled, or orphaned.  That being said, I don’t want to downplay the financial concerns facing Social Security.  Fewer workers will be paying in, as more workers become eligible to retire.  Congress has to have a meaningful discussion to keep Social Security viable.  What type of support will be necessary to keep it solvent? I don’t anticipate any major changes in either benefits or eligibility.  There are a number of different issues that are looked at regularly … increasing retirement age, a means testing … at this point, I don’t feel those are the only or the best options.

Free trade versus fair trade:  I support free trade if we can have fair trade.  I am not an isolationist.  I believe in free trade and fair trade with other countries.  NAFTA and other trade agreements have not worked in the ways they were promised in 1990s.  They resulted in fewer jobs for Americans, and we didn’t get the environmental safety and worker safety issues we agreed to on the side.  We have to look very closely at any future trade agreements, to make sure they are fair trade, with appropriate environmental and labor protections.  Items imported into the U.S. must meet our standards.  This speaks to larger problem with the FDA and other public safety agencies … they are not being a good watchdog for public.  Pharmaceuticals are being recalled, because they were never properly monitored or even tested by FDA.  We  should promote policies that support local businesses and locally produced products.  I like what people are doing in Maine to encourage people to buy locally.  One of the things that I think is important is the growth and demand for organic products, clothing and agricultural products.  There is a growing niche market in organic products. 

Education:  I feel strongly about the role that education plays in Maine and across the country.  Our economic well being will rest on how well we can educate our people.  The founders were clear about the importance of strong public education as a cornerstone of democracy.  I spent eight years on the education committee ... I have had a hand in learning technology, helped rewrite school funding and the school construction formula. I have been involved in funding of higher education, including the community colleges.  In the last 20 years, tuition alone has gone up 385% ... that’s twice the rate of health care costs.

Under the past Congress, Pell Grants remained flat funded, and loan rates increased.  To make matters worse, there were scandals between lenders and colleges ... sweetheart deals.  If elected, I propose a program based on the the Hope Scholarship in Georgia, which would be a national block grant for staes to grant money for every student who wants higher education.  In Maine, such a grant could send every Maine student to community college for free.  Unless you have post-secondary education, your ability to make it in today’s economy is limited.  We also have a huge challenge to address the quarter of all students who don’t even graduate from high school.  We need lifelong education, so as the economy changes, people can retrain themselves.

I helped write legislation that authorized the governor to sue the federal education department to keep Maine from having to absorb the costs of No Child Left Behind.  It was an unfunded mandate.  It was not written for, nor has worked, in Maine.  We should have received a waiver allowing us to continue the good work we were doing with our Learning Results.  I also feel strongly that the federal government should pay its promised share of 40% for Special Education.  We are currently getting between 20-22%. 

I believe the work I do with families and children with mental illness and substance abuse is valuable in the context of setting policy.  One thing that has been discouraging is that the federal government has turned its back on the mentally ill and those struggling with substance abuse.  In each of the last five years, poverty increased in the U.S.  This is an anomaly during a period of economic prosperity.  We live in the wealthiest country in the world. The very least we can do is make sure that people aren’t hungry, have a home to live in, and adequate access to health care, mental health and substance abuse services.