Michael Bennet in 2022 CO Senate race
On Crime:
Community policing frees police to focus on violent crimes
Sen. Michael Bennet has introduced a bill to support community policing programs, like the STAR Program in Denver and the Co-Responder Unit in Grand Junction "Community policing is an essential part of our response to the rise of crime in our country.
It allows law enforcement to focus on violent crimes and lets local responders respond to people experiencing mental health crises or drug addiction," Bennet said in a statement.
Source: Colorado Public Radio on 2022 Colorado Senate race
Jul 13, 2022
On Environment:
Fought for drought funding in Inflation Reduction Act
When the Inflation Reduction bill came out and Bennet saw that it did not include drought funding, Bennet fought for it and led other Western senators on doing the same, according to two sources close to the negotiations but who
were not authorized to speak publicly on the discussions. Bennet at one point said he would not vote for the bill if drought provisions included didn't work for the Upper Basin of the Colorado River, according to one of the sources close to negotiations.
Source: Colorado Public Radio on 2022 Colorado Senate race
Aug 6, 2022
On Tax Reform:
Reverse Trump tax cuts; restore expanded child tax credit
He vehemently rejected the idea that the expanded child tax credit caused rising prices as it lifted families out of poverty: "It is a ridiculous statement to say $100 billion investment in working people on a $23 trillion dollar economy is going
to drive inflation." Bennet would like to extend those tax credits. Bennet said a bill reversing the Trump tax cuts for the rich, extending tax credits and fighting climate change would be "helpful to me, helpful to the country and helpful to my state."
Source: Politico.com on 2022 Colorado Senate race
May 24, 2022
On Abortion:
Proud that Colorado codified right to choose
JOE O'DEA (R): I believe, for the first five months, that decision should be between a woman and her doctor. After that, for rape, incest, life of the mother, medical necessity, I believe that decision should also be between a woman and her doctor.
Michael Bennet voted for a bill that supports abortion up to and including the moment of birth. And he wants taxpayers to pay for that. That's excessive.SEN. MICHAEL BENNET (D):
He has said that he would have voted for all three of Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominees, notwithstanding the fact that he knows that they overturned Roe vs. Wade.
He opposes Colorado's law codifying a woman's right to choose. I'm proud to live in a state is one of the first states to codify that law. And he opposes it. He voted for a ballot issue that banned abortion and had no exceptions for rape or incest.
Source: CNN SOTU interviews on 2022 Colorado Senate race
Oct 16, 2022
On Budget & Economy:
Stopped 30,000 evictions & cut childhood poverty in half
JOE O'DEA (R): This inflation has been caused by the $1.9 trillion reckless spending bill that got put in place by Michael Bennet. He cast the deciding vote back in March of last year. It's caused record inflation. They have dumped over $5 trillion in
the last year-and-a-half. In addition to that, the war on energy has caused the price of diesel to go through the ceiling. And it's still there today.
We have got a Fed that's been asleep at the wheel, big government in our way. SEN. MICHAEL BENNET (D): I believe that the bill that we passed kept
30,000 Coloradans from being evicted. I think that it has funded law enforcement all over the state, mental health services that we desperately need. It cut childhood poverty in half last year because of a bill that I wrote.
Source: CNN SOTU interviews on 2022 Colorado Senate race
Oct 16, 2022
On Budget & Economy:
Inflation is a global problem caused by supply chain issues
In response to a question about America's role in ensuring equitable education for women and girls internationally, [Republican challenger Joe] O'Dea said America's economy and the related "war on energy" meant the nation had to step back
internationally. It wasn't the first time he'd linked an issue back to energy, and Bennet pointed it out."His answer for everything is fossil fuels, fossil fuels, fuels," he said.
O'Dea's argument about energy--from the price of diesel to the
issuance of drilling permits under Biden--was that energy policy was helping to drive inflation. Natural gas policy could also addressed foreign policy issues like, he argued, the war in Ukraine and concerns about global emissions. "Even a carpenter
like myself can figure out once we move the energy cost down," he said, "inflation will subside."
Bennet, unsurprisingly, disagreed. Inflation is a global problem caused by supply chain issues, he said, not one confined to the United States.
Source: Denver Post on 2022 Colorado Senate race
Oct 26, 2022
Page last updated: Feb 14, 2023