Feingold In Omro: Tells Sheriff Brooks Republican Officials Need To Support Prison Alternatives
February 5, 2001
(Omro) Winnebago County Sheriff Mike Brooks, a key player in the development of the proposal for a $33 million county jail, told Senator Russ Feingold at the Senator's Omro Listening Session today that "we can't keep building jails," and that "we need help with programs for kids at risk." Feingold, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told Brooks that the Republicans on that powerful committee all support prisons above other alternatives, but that they may change their views if they hear from Republican elected officials at the grassroots level. Feingold agreed that the United States has reached its limit on prison expansion, but in response to a question about President Bush's "Faith Based Initiative" as a possible solution, he said that he was "a little nervous" about the constitutional questions surrounding the proposal. However, Feingold said he would give the measure "a fair hearing."
Other Listening Session Highlights:
*In a brief opening statement, Feingold said that he would spend much time in this year's session fighting for agriculture policy reform, especially a bill that would give the department of agriculture the power to oversee corporate farm mergers. On taxes, Feingold said he would only support cuts that do not threaten the government's ability to reduce the debt, protect Social Security, and keep the Medicare program solvent. He said the Bush tax cut proposal is too large and would not allow for these protections.
*In response to a question about whether he voted to support John Ashcroft's nomination as Attorney General so as to gain Republican support necessary to pass the McCain-Feingold-Cochran campaign finance bill, Feingold offered a firm "NO" and said that he does not believe in making deals for votes. He said that his vote for Ashcroft was an attempt to get over the fierce partisanship in Washington by offering an "olive branch" to the Republicans. But the Republicans should be clear, he said, that the olive branch is not a "white flag."
*Responding to a constituent about unnecessary government spending, Feingold reminded the audience that the fiscally conservative budget watchdog group The Concord Coalition last year rated him as the number one most fically responsible Senator in Washington.
*Winnebago County Supervisor and Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce International Trade specialist Stan Kline asked the Senator if the Bush administration will try to get "fast track" authority from the Congress. Feingold expressed concerns about fast track, which was defeated by the Congress during the Clinton administration, but said that the new trade representative is talking about bringing it back. Feingold said that fast track may come back "under a new name" and that he would try to listen fairly to all arguments in support of it.
*Tony Palmeri asked Feingold if the recent election of Terry McCauliffe--whose main qualification was that he had raised millions of dollars of soft money for President Clinton--as chair of the Democrat National Committee meant that the Democrats would be a barrier to passing McCain-Feingold. Feingold said that he was the only Senator to support former Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson's attempt to win election as DNC head, and that if McCain-Feingold was to pass then Mr. McCauliffe would be barred from raising soft money. Feingold said that grassroots Democrats "need to take the Party back."
*Oshkosh pundit Dan Rylance asked Feingold to comment on the power of the Federal Elections Commission to block serious electoral reforms in America. Feingold said he supported Ralph Nader's right to be included in the Presidential debates, and that he will be a strong advocate of Senator Schumer's Bill offering federal support to place updated voting technology in all of America's counties.
*Winnebago County Board Chair Joe Maehl expressed appreciation for Feingold's Ashcroft vote on the grounds that the vote tried to move the Senate beyond partisanship. He also said that Winnebago was one of the first counties to spend the money to put in modern voting machines and also one of the first to express support for the Wisconsin Counties Association referendum on campaign finance reform. Feingold said that the WCA referendum has been "very helpful" in building support in the Senate for McCain-Feingold. He also said that the bill will be debated on the Senate floor March 19-26 so citizen interested in its passage should e-mail, call, or write their representatives now. On voting reform, Feingold reminded the audience that in his first race for State Senate, he initially conceeded defeat by 19 votes out of more than 47,000 cast, but after 3 weeks of recounts and 1,500 votes changing hands, he eventually won by 31 votes.
*On prescription drug reform, Feingold said this is the "number one" issue he is hearing about across the state. He said he supports creating a medicare benefit to help pay for the drugs, and that a tax cut must not get in the way of such a proposal.
*Local environmentalist Frank Zuern asked Feingold how he felt about the Supreme Court's recent 5-4 vote that removed a significant amount of wetlands protection. Zuern called Bush, Cheney, and new Interior Secretary Gale Norton "fanatics" and asked Feingold what he would do when the Republicans try to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil drilling. Feingold expressed regrets about the court decision and said he would work to see how the legislature could restore the wetlands protection. On the wildlife refuge, he said that opposition to it would be bipartisan, and that since an act of congress is needed for such drilling, he would lead a filibuster to prevent its passage.
*Omro citizen Charles Beyer said that Herb Kohl opposed Ashcroft probably because Ashcroft is honest, Colin Powell is an affirmative action hire, Gale Norton is an environmental butcher, Bill Clinton should have rented an apartment in a sewage system, Clinton's pardon of Marc Rich was a disgrace, and that Feingold should give Joe Maehl some pointers on how to balance a budget. Feingold said that he was "appalled by the appearance alone" of the Rich pardon, and he thanked Beyer for the bipartisan nature of his criticisms.
*In response to a question about the marriage penalty, Feingold said he opposed the bill last year because there was too much pork in it. He said he would support less expensive bills this year on both the marriage penalty and the estate tax if the Republicans agree to make them less expensive.
*An elderly man asked Feingold if he thought that President Bush "bows" every time he passes the Supreme Court Building. Feingold said that the Supreme Court opinion in Bush v. Gore was a "ridiculous" one in which the court reached a "weird, political conclusion." Feingold said that he will ask judical nominees their view on this decision, and how they answer will be a "factor" in whether or not he votes to approve the appointment..
*Omro Police Chief Larry Wright asked if the Bush administration supported the "Clinton cops" program that allowed funding for placing more police officers in small towns. Wright also offered suggestions for how to improved the program. Feingold said the program was one of the most successful of the Clinton administration, and he hoped that Bush would support it.
*Lee Burke of Omro asked Feingold if he supported a new missile defense system and for his general views on foreign policy. Feingold said he supports Colin Powell and thought his appointment was a good one, but he is skeptical of the missile defense system because "it doesn't work." Feingold said he likes the fact that Bush and Powell are concerned about the United States being "over committed" in the world; United States forces should not be involved in "nation building" as they are in Bosnia. Feingold said that the United States should have a bigger concern with global human rights, and we should not sell weapons to human rights abusers like Indonesia.
*Department of Public Instruction Candidate Tony Evers said that he was concerned with two parts of the Bush education reform agenda: vouchers and national testing. Feingold agreed with Evers that vouchers will have a negative effect on the public school system and that national testing will intrude on state and local control of education. Feingold said that he was the only Democrat who was against Clinton Administration Education Secretary Richard Riley's call for federal testing.
*In response to a question about the Supreme Court, Feingold said he will require that any Bush choices for Chief Justice stand for "fairness."
The Listening Session lasted from 7:15 - 8:30 a.m. and was attended by approximately 40 people.
--Reported by Tony Palmeri