Michael Bennet in Interviews during 2018-2020
On Principles & Values:
Family includes Mayflower descendants & Holocaust survivors
One fun thing about Michael Bennet:
Bennet is the son of Mayflower descendants on his father's side and Holocaust survivors on his mother's.
Source: Axios.com on 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 22, 2019
On Principles & Values:
Most Democrats are not socialists and should say so
He warns that Democrats shouldn't make it easy for Donald Trump to write them off as socialists (he jumped up and applauded when the president said "America will never be
a socialist country" in his State of the Union address, realizing only later that Bernie Sanders was right behind him, scowling in his seat).
Source: The Atlantic, "Stop the Rage" on 2020 Democratic primary
Mar 2, 2019
On Health Care:
Make public plan optional; others can keep private insurance
There are two big projects for America on healthcare. One is covering everybody. It is a disgrace that we are the only industrialized country in the world that doesn't cover everybody. And the other thing we need to figure out how to do is not spend
twice as much on healthcare as we spend -- as any other industrialized country spends on healthcare to get worse results. That's what we're doing as a country. We've got to figure out how to do those two things.
And I actually would give the Nobel Prize to whoever can figure out how to do those two things. I think we'd be much better off with a bill like the one I have with Tim Kaine called Medicare X, that creates a public option. It helps finish the work
of ObamaCare. It says to America, "If you want to be in a public plan, you can choose to be in a public plan. If you want to keep your insurance, you can keep your insurance."
Source: Meet the Press 2019 interviews for 2020 Democratic primary
Feb 10, 2019
On Drugs:
Let states experiment with marijuana; address racial issues
What we're having right now is a tremendous experiment in federalism, and that's what we should continue to do. The states should look at this and ultimately we should decide as a country what we want to do, but I don't know that we're there yet.
I think the sentencing disparities suggest important issues that have to be addressed.
Source: The Atlantic, "Immigration," on 2020 Democratic primary
Jan 24, 2018
On Immigration:
Trump is anti-immigrant; immigrants are a positive force
Q: Are Trump's immigration policies driven by racism?A: I think they're driven by a profound anti-immigrant sentiment and a complete misapprehension of the contribution that immigrants and immigration has made to the United States of America.
They see it as a negative force, immigration and immigrants as a negative force. I think the history is that it has been a positive force.
Source: The Atlantic, "Immigration," on 2020 Democratic primary
Jan 24, 2018
On Immigration:
America is a unique place for refugees to succeed
There is not an immigrant in Colorado that has a thicker accent than my grandparents had. And there was nobody I ever met who were greater patriots than my grandparents. They loved this country. And they were astonished by our political system, by our
commitment to pluralism, by their ability to rebuild their shattered lives in the United States, and they truly believe they could never have done it anywhere else. I think a lot about them when we're having these immigration conversations.
Source: The Atlantic, "Immigration," on 2020 Democratic primary
Jan 24, 2018
On Health Care:
Single payer would lead to massive tax increase
[Some Democrats oppose single-payer plans]. Nancy Pelosi recently told frustrated town hall attendees that "if you want to move to single payer, what you should do is support state options," referring to state-level campaigns for single payer.
Democratic senator Michael Bennett told a local paper that single payer wasn't "the right approach to solving our health-care problems," partly due to the "massive tax increase" involved.
Source: Jacobin Magazine, "Single Payer," on 2020 Democratic primary
Mar 29, 2017
Page last updated: Dec 01, 2021