Q & A with Democratic Senate Candidate Jim Martin
As a United States senator, the first would be to change our economic policies in this country to make sure there’s adequate regulation of the financial sector and adequate consumer protection laws to prevent this crisis from ever happening again. And the second is to a foreign policy that’s based on an effective war against terror, effective response to the terrorist attacks against this country, to end the war in Iraq with honor, and to bring our troops home. We can no longer afford the $10 billion a month that we’re spending in Iraq. We need that money in this country.
Q: Given the likelihood of a sustained economic decline, what would you do to help further the in-state job prospects for Georgia’s college students?
I think that getting a higher education is going to be critical, and so encouraging people to stay in college and to get degrees and advanced degrees, that’s the first step. And then, secondly, we need to look at, as Senator Obama has described, a green economy. Moving quickly to innovation and technology and alternative fuels, then we generate manufacturing jobs that would make us a leader in the world. I think that that would do a lot to provide jobs in this state. And deal with a very difficult problem, our dependence on foreign oil.
Q: There is a consensus that education provides the best opportunity to escape poverty, secure employment, and provide for family economic security. How would you as a senator improve the federal government role in education, especially as it applies to our state?
Well, I think that obviously Pell Grants need to be adequately funded, so that a student who is economically deprived can go to college and receive assistance in doing that. The student loan program needs to be operated in a fair way that provides resources that students could pay back, with reasonable terms, over time, to encourage people to get advanced degrees. And frankly, some of those programs need to be targeted towards the jobs that we really need in our economy, teaching and other things. And some special grants on top of that, to fill nursing positions and other healthcare positions, and teaching positions that we know we’ve got a demand for that’s not being met.
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Oct 31 2008. Filed under News.
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