My Op-Ed and your response

Hi everyone -

I would like to share with you an Op-Ed I wrote for the Stockton Record on Sunday. It addresses what we have accomplished together in the first 100 hours of Congress as well as what we can accomplish in the future to steer America and our district in a new direction.

As I write below, this is only the beginning. Your input -- whether it be on our blog, via email, or at various local events -- has helped inform and guide me through my first weeks in office.

I value your feedback very much and would like to hear from you again. By posting a comment below, please let me know your thoughts on this Op-Ed as well as what you think Congress should be doing -- and what you are willing to do -- to address our nation's most important priorities in the coming weeks and months.

STOCKTON RECORD
Op/Ed
'A new direction' for the country

By Jerry McNerney
January 21, 2007

As I traveled around San Joaquin County and the 11th Congressional District during the 2006 election campaign, I heard from many members of our community.

Some expressed deep concern at the multitude of ethical scandals in Congress.

Some were frustrated by what they saw as an inability of elected representatives to work together to address important issues.

Many people felt let down, disheartened and ready for change.

That's one reason I ran for Congress. I stood up to say enough is enough.

I'm proud to report that in just the first few weeks, the 110th Congress has been able to address many of the concerns I heard during the campaign.

From Day One, we have worked together to deliver on an agenda that offers a new direction for our country.

This isn't a partisan agenda. It's an American agenda, with much bipartisan support.

The first order of business was the adoption of new ethics rules - the most sweeping since the post-Watergate era.

This is a first step in ending the pay-to-play link between lobbyists and legislation, by banning gifts and travel from lobbyists, and ending the abuses connected to privately-funded congressional travel.

During the campaign, I heard many times from people who said they simply wanted to be able to believe their representative and know their member of Congress was looking out for their constituents, not special interests.

I feel the same way and we acted on it.

We restored tough pay-as-you-go budget rules to stop passing on trillions in debt to our children and grandchildren - and voted to end the abuse of special interest pet projects.

Having passed rules to restore fiscal responsibility, ethical standards and civility in the House, we moved to focus on meeting the everyday needs of Americans.

We're making America safer, and passed a bill that implements unfulfilled recommendations of the bipartisan 9/11 commission.

We voted to increase the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour over the next two years.

That brings the federal minimum wage closer in line with California's, making our businesses more competitive nationwide.

By passing a revision of the Medicare prescription drug bill, we saved money for millions of seniors by allowing Medicare to negotiate with drug companies for lower drug prices.

Importantly, we gave millions with debilitating diseases a brighter future by expanding federal funding for life-saving embryonic stem cell research.

We also have worked to make college more affordable for over 5 million students and families by cutting in half the interest rate on subsidized student loans for undergraduates.

We set America on the path to energy independence by passing a bill that repeals $14 billion in corporate welfare for profit-rich oil companies and invests those funds in clean, renewable energy sources.

As someone who has spent 20 years working in new energy technology, I'm especially proud of that last accomplishment.

We must diversify our energy sources and end our dependence on foreign oil, which puts our economy and our national security at risk.

By investing in new energy technologies, we also will create an entire spectrum of good-paying jobs here in San Joaquin County and throughout the United States.

Some estimate this effort will produce nearly 1 million jobs in the next three years, generating $30 billion in new wages.

Last week, I also launched an energy and climate working group for all newly elected members, Democrats and Republicans, to discuss ways to promote our energy independence.

Many of my colleagues have good ideas about how to wean the U.S. off of foreign oil and encourage the use of sustainable energy.

We need to have an open and frank conversation about how to do it.

While it's been a whirlwind of activity, it's only the beginning.

I'm excited about the work that lies ahead and promise I'll continue to work every day to serve the people of California's 11th District.

McNerney, D-Pleasanton, represents the 11th Congressional District in the House of Representatives. He wrote this for The Record.

Thank you for taking the time to read my Op-Ed. If you have a minute, please post a comment below and let me know your thoughts. I read the comments and usually make time to post a response.

From Stockton to Pleasanton and Morgan Hill to Danville -- and all the way to Congress -- we're in this together. I am looking forward to hearing from you!

P.S. Thank you so much for your generous support last week in reaction to the attack mailers from the National Republican Congressional Committee. I am heartened to know that your commitment to my campaign for change continues to be so strong and so deep. Again you have shown that the grassroots and netroots are fundamentally shifting the political landscape and our district is ground zero for that change. (If you are unfamiliar with the NRCC attack mailers, please click here to read more about it).

Comments

[Todd]

Great job, Jerry!

What I will I do? I will do everything in my power to support you over the next two years and beyond!

Your candidacy has restored my hope in our democracy. Whether it's my money or my time, I'll do what it takes to keep you in DC -- god knows we need more congressmen like you.

[Chris Joy]

It is great to see something finally getting done in Washington D.C. The issues now being addressed by the Congress are, to me, not controversial, and dealing with these issues is abolutely essential to California's and the Nation's future. Bipartinship is the only way we can get any of these meritorious and necessary programs passed and all elected officials of whatever party should realize it is the only way to work for the American people.

[Ormond Otvos]

Jerry, you managed, like Hillary, to get through your entire editorial without mentioning single payer.

NOT subsidies for insurance companies so they can cherry pick us to death.

SINGLE PAYER. I you can't say it, and work for it specifically, you don't understand your voters, and you will last one term exactly.

Not kidding. The go/no go issue.

If congress doesn't act, not wiggle, on single payer, the congress goes back to the Republicans. Guaranteed.

My bona fides? I donated to 13 candidates. Every one won. Including you.

Ormond

[W R Evans]

Great start Jerry,
I am very pleased that you are working to restore ethics in DC and will work for a congressional agenda that will better our great nation. I am VERY concerned about global temperature changes and hope that you and other leaders will make this issue paramount to the 110th congress. Congratulations on your election.
W R Evans

[Tricia Spiegel]

GREAT letter. District 11 is so lucky to have someone who has demonstrated integrity and concerns about everyday citizens. God speed in Congress!!!

[Ralph Occhipinti [Morgan Hill]]

Jerry, here's a good news story:

After parking my car in the supermarket lot, a guy came running after me. I thought, "what now"? Well he saw my McNerney bumper sticker and my Yosemite Volunteer license plate bracket. With a big smile he said, "now I know why you voted for McNerney"!

Jerry, the park service is doing some exciting things with respect to energy conservation in Yosemite. The new Curry Village employee housing is using state of the art geothermal equipment for heating and cooling. Along those lines you need to see what's going on first hand. Visit Yosemite, meet the Park Superintendent, Mike Tollefson, you'll like him and know more about what dedicated public service is all about.

Jerry, you're one of us, keep up the good work!

[Alec Bash]

Superb Op-Ed piece, an impressive list of accomplishments, a tremendous start for the new Congress and a wonderful new Congressman. A great beginning, living up to all the work, hope and promises of your campaign and supporters.

[Barbara Fukumoto]

Thank you so much for launching the energy and climate working group.

I have just watched "An Inconvenient Truth" for the second time and I am scared for our children and myself. Information developed since the movie was made and included on the DVD makes the case stronger still.

We need strong and urgent action on global warming. Thank you for being just the leader we need at this time.

[Wayne Moore]

Thanks Jerry, all good things.

However as Nancy Pelosi mentioned the 800 pound gorilla in the room is still Iraq (and unfortunatly Iran). I know congress can't simply wave a magic wand and have it be gone but the congress does have a role.

Please make your voice heard.

Wayne

[Peter Petroski]

I am disappointed that the college loan reform did NOT include all college students. The ones receiving the unsubsidized loans are already paying the most- to cut the interest rate % to the students already being subsidized is a slap in the face to those who are already trying their hardest to achieve the most with the LEAST amount of assistence.

[Dr. James Barker]

Dear Congressman McNerney,
An increase in the minimum wage is long overdue. One item that needs to be urgently addressed is a healthcare safety net for those who have lost health insurance because they have retired, changed jobs or lost jobs (and for the millions who simply do not have health care insurance). The Bush proposal is inadequate and does not address this.

I and told that over 50% of all bankruptcy filings are by people who have lost their health insurance and then have a catastrophic and costly health issue in their family. Americans need to be protected in the event of such occurances.

James Barker

[Steve Geller]

No more pay-to-play? Good.
Will grassroots political contributions replace corporate and PAC funds? We'll see.

Reduce oil dependence? Good, but Bush can and does say this too. Who really means what they say? We need to resurrect the electric car, reduce parking, get more people riding the bus, stop spewing greenhouse gases.

And yes, WE NEED SINGLE-PAYER NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE. If the new Congress is going to continue to stall on that one, then we're little better than under the Republicans.

[Thomas W Lamb]

I just stopped at the Toyota dealer in Stockton. The salesman informed me that an engineer found that adding additional standard battery to the car would boost the mileage of a Prius to over 100 MPG! If so, why can't the technology be mandated for all domestic autos?

[Thomas W Lamb]

I just stopped at the Toyota dealer in Stockton. The salesman informed me that an engineer found that adding additional standard battery to the car would boost the mileage of a Prius to over 100 MPG! If so, why can't the technology be mandated for all domestic autos?

[Lise Pearlman]

I am so proud to have walked precincts for you and helped restore Congress to its rightful role. As a new board member of the Democratic Lawyers Club of Alameda County, I have recommended that they invite you to be one of our speakers this year. I hope we can make that happen. Best wishes. Lise Pearlman

[Juliette Anthony]

Wonderful beginning. Now you have to help stop the Bush Administration from pushing CORN ethanol, since the dairy and cattle ranches can no longer easily afford their feed because the demand for corn from ethanol has raised the price from $2.00 to $4.00 a bushel in just six months. Our agriculture in California is threatened by this over demand for corn, and the SF Chronicle noted that poorer Mexicans can no longer afford their tortillas either. Archer Daniels Midland and friends have pushed this ethanol agenda. We have to stop it!!! Many thanks for your hard work.

[George Bajor]

Great job, I agree with everything you said, especially making alternative energy a top priority. Regarding health care, which is becoming a topic we can finally discuss, I urge you to oppose the President's tax deduction approach and ask that you support and co-sponsor HR 676, the single party payer universal health coverage bill. Although I do not live in your district, I am a great fan of yours because you were able to defeat your anti-environment opponent in the last election.

[iwantcleanair]

Dear Jerry -

Great work! Thank you, and thanks to all the hard-working Members of Congress who are taking on the tough issues that we face as a democracy.

I pledge to continue my support for progressive, honest and effective leaders like yourself.

I pledge to continue to work for cleaner air through my website... www.iwantcleanair.com.

Our region has some of the worst air. Year-round, our children and our elderly have their health undermined by pollution in the air.

We must face this fact, and move toward cleaner fuels so that our children can see a day where the outdoors does not pose a health threat.

Thanks again for your hard work on these issues.

[Art Goldberg]

I thought the Op-Ed was very good but covered too many subjects. I know you wanted to show an agenda was adopted, but future Op-Eds would be more effective is devoted to one or two issues only, like Medicare and Social Security, or stem-cell research.

[Melanie Speir]

Jerry, you're a modern day hero. You restore faith in the potential for wise & ethical leadership in this country. That alone is a major accomplishment. People feel very disenfranchised and helpless about how to make a difference right now. I don't live in your district, but you can count on my support indefinitely.

[Ken]

Yes, the House has moved forward well on these items and so quickly it shows the pent up demand for something to happen. You are such a wonderful change from the anti-environment, actually, dare I say, Anti-American representative we had before you. Keep up the great work. But you neglected to mention that Congress is still confronted by an Executive Branch that somehow imagines it is above the Constitution, and, in addition, above the will of the people in its pursuit of a totally failed foreign policy and occupation of Iraq. This is the main reason we all worked so hard for you and others like you, to change this NOW. Please let us know what you are going to do about these elephants in the room.

[Ann Pfaff-Doss]

Congratulations to you and the rest of the Democratic majority in Congress who were able to complete this commitment to the American people.

While it is pleasant to savor this accomplishment, it is also important to keep a watchful eye on the President and his plans. I hope to read that you are one of those who vote to oppose funding of the surge plan for Iraq. Also, that we begin to hear the flaws of the health care plan proposed by President Bush in the State of the Union speech. It is another case of trying to pass inadequate legislation instead of facing the realities of the problem.

Congratulations again, keep up the good work.

[Martha]

You're an inspiration Jerry! I'm looking forward to watching our energized new Congress take on global warming, and hoping to see more conservation in the next Farm Bill. You and the other Democrats are definitely putting our country back on the right track!

[Greg Katz]

Dear Jerry,

This seems like a crucial time for you to take a leadership role on alternative energy/energy independence/climate change, and I urge you to do so to the greatest extent possible. (I realize there may be one or two other issues kicking around DC.)The ground is clearly shifting on these issues, with some big corporations and investors coming on board as well as green evangelicals and conservatives concerned about the national security implications of our dependence on imported oil. Sadly, that doesn't mean that we'll end up with a good policy that helps us move forward towards a clean, economical and secure energy infrastructure.

This moment of apparent unity masks deep differences regarding the nature of the problem (is it carbon emissions? prolific spending on oil? insecurity of energy supplies? funding of terrorism?) and the viability and desireability of various solutions (nuclear plants? coal-to-liquids and oil shale? domestic drilling? energy efficiency efforts? renewable sources like solar, wind and wave?). We need a strong voice for a new energy policy that is smart, not just new. Not all solutions are equally viable, and they have very different positives and negatives. Efficiency is the cheapest way to "make" energy, and has no negatives that I can think of until you really begin to get down to the bone and cut into it, which we are far from now -- plenty of fat left to trim! Coal-to-liquids will emit huge amounts of CO2 and cost US taxpayers a ton of money -- there's a reason only Nazi Germany and apartheid-era South Africa ever got into this technology in a major way. Corn-based ethanol is a useful platform from which we may be able to develop an industrial-scale ethanol industry that is environmentally benign and economically rational -- but it is neither of those yet, and needs R+D funding right now more than it needs subsidies and scaling-up. Nuke plants only produce cheap power if you ask taxpayers to shoulder all the costs associated with security and waste disposal -- which is what would happen eventually regardless of what prospective nuke operators may promise us now.

To my mind, we need to focus on wind and solar as new energy sources, along with a big push on efficiency, both in cars and buildings. I'd like to see a new gas and non-renewable-generated electricity tax that would funnel monies into the slush fund created by the new bill to take back $14bb in royalties and taxes from the oil companies (nice work on that one) -- for gas, how about 1 cent per gallon in the first year, rising to 5 cents over the course of 5 years. That would generate roughly $4mm per day in the first year alone, which would help keep the energy transformation slush fund healthy as Congress begins to spend the funds. I'd like to see the first chunk of money go to NREL, since they already have programs and infrastructure in place and are in dire need of funds. Other steps would require more study and consensus-building, but I'd like to see stricter building codes, CAFE standards and appliance standards, as well as a giant push for effiency by the fed gov itself. Wind and solar subsidies should be locked in at gradually rising rates so that investors can be confident about longer term returns, and grid upgrades to make intermittent energy sources more economically viable would help these technologies maximize their contribution to our energy supply. I'd also love to see a DARPA-like agency created for energy tech, using grants and contests as DARPA has done very successfully.

Anyway, those are just some of my ideas and I'm sure you have plenty of your own. My point in this post is merely that I've supported you because I believed that you would help bring a rational and informed mind to bear on this fascinating mess of problems and solutions, and help guide our country towards a better energy future. I do realize that you're a freshman and that there is a war going on, but as a scientist and businessman with experience in this field, you may have enough credibility in DC to have a real impact on this area. I hope that you focus on it as much as you can. Thanks for your fine work so far, and good luck out there!

Sincerely,
Greg Katz

[Fran Moon]

I am delighted to see congress tackling much needed ethics reform. However if they are really serious about reform they will also create an independent ethics watchdog group to ensure the enforcement of these rules.

Thanks for all you're doing for us.