College graduates are right to worry about entering a job market that just isn’t creating enough new jobs. Reviving our economy and creating opportunity for the next generation has to be job one, and that’s what I’m focused on.

In the short term we’ve got to get credit flowing and boost lending for small business, because they create two-thirds of all new jobs. That’s why I pushed so hard to pass a small business and jobs bill, which cuts taxes for small businesses and creates a fund to support up to $300 billion in new lending. And that’s why I’m pushing a bold new plan, that will do more to spur small business growth.

We also need to prioritize energy independence, because Colorado’s job growth on clean energy has been 18% since 1998, double our job growth in other areas. Finally, we need to create an economic climate to discourage the movement of jobs overseas, encourage innovation across the board, and transform our public education system into one that prepares students for higher education so that our kids can take advantage of the jobs of the future

Higher education is becoming increasingly important. Nearly eight in ten new jobs require some advanced training. However, the cost of college is skyrocketing-up over 50% in Colorado. Students who do attend college are saddled with enormous debt. We need to be doing more to help ensure that every student who is qualified can afford college-not less.
That’s part of why my opponent's suggestion to get rid of federal student loans is so hard to understand. Ken Buck said earlier this year that “we have to wean the American public off” of federal student loans. Federal loans help millions of struggling Colorado and American families pay for college. Under Ken Buck's
plan, interest rates would likely be more than twice as expensive.

I think we should be expanding options to help students afford college, not limiting them. I worked hard to help pass the Student Affordability and Financial Responsibility Act (SAFRA) that ends wasteful student loan subsidies to banks, and instead invests those savings in college affordability – expanding Pell Grants to nearly 9,000 additional Colorado students to help cover tuition costs, improving the Income Based Repayment program to make it easier for graduates to repay their loans, and investing in community colleges and minority serving institutions.

We can’t stop there. I’m going to keep fighting to make college accessible and affordable for every child in this country.

Our public schools are falling behind the rest of the world. A decade ago, we led the world in the percentage of young adults with a college degree; now we are 12th, and falling fast, with countries like South Korea, Canada and Russia taking the lead. 69% of our 8th graders aren’t proficient in math, 70% of our 8th graders aren’t proficient in reading, and across America, over 1.2 million kids drop out of high school every year. These results are unacceptable. We need to make fundamental changes in our public education system if we are going to remain a country that provides more opportunity for future generations--not less.

That is what motivates me to run for the United States Senate. As superintendent of Denver Public Schools for 3 years, I worked closely with parents, students, teachers and principals to strengthen our schools and safeguard opportunities for our kids. Washington needs more people who understand what our teachers and our students are up against, and who are willing to talk about those challenges honestly and openly.

I’m fighting to fix failing schools, keep great teachers in the classroom, use federal resources to spur innovation in our school districts, and end inequality in public education. I introduced bills to expand the Troops to Teachers Program and to recruit and train top-quality principals, – because we know that good teachers and good principals are crucial. I’m working with the other party to expand proven programs to improve school safety, boost student achievement, and prevent over-identification of students for Special Education. However, mostly I am committed to pushing a conversation in Washington that puts kids before politics and pushes us to try things differently, because the status quo is not an option.

Washington has failed to make tough decisions on our budget for too long, and now we’re leaving a $13 trillion debt for your generation to pay off. And you have every right to be furious about it. As my daughter Caroline recently told me, “just to be clear, dad, I’m not paying for that.” And she’s right. She shouldn’t have to.

The experiences that I bring to the table – turning around bankrupt companies, working in Denver to balance a budget deficit – can help me make a difference in getting us back on track.

I have been leading the movement in Congress to address our mounting debt, including: 1) Leading on bills to cap the deficit and cap spending, 2) Passing a bill I introduced that will use paid back bank bailout funds to reduce the deficit, and 3) Introducing and voting for measures to make sure Congress has to find a way to pay for any new spending or tax cuts. And we need to put all the options on the table for review by a bipartisan debt commission with real teeth, to take some of the politics out of this process.

Social Security is one of our nation’s most stable and successful retirement programs. It provides a stable source of income for a majority of Americans over 65 years old. I support protecting 100% of benefits for those who are currently receiving Social Security. Without Social Security, millions of additional seniors would live below the poverty line. We have to ensure Social Security is properly maintained for future generations.

Currently, Social Security is not susceptible to crashes in the stock market or economic recessions. We cannot risk the future of this program in the stock market, as my opponent has repeatedly proposed. We must have an honest conversation about reforming the program in a sustainable way for the next generation of Social Security recipients – so we can strengthen the program – not weaken it – and so we can be sure that it continues to serve as a foundation for the retirement needs of generations to come.

Yes. I believe we should focus on goals we all share, like reducing unintended pregnancies by offering comprehensive sex education and increasing the access and affordability of safe birth control and family planning services. I want my three daughters to have the information they need to make responsible choices. It’s unfortunate that this issue has got both sides of the culture war engaged in a pointless shouting match. I think we need to be focused on solving problems for our kids and giving them tools to make safe, healthy and responsible choices.

As a father of three girls, I understand that decisions about when to start a family are some of the most personal a woman and her family can make; and I believe these are decisions for a woman, her family, her faith and her doctor to make – not the federal government. I think Roe. V. Wade was correctly decided and there is a constitutional right to privacy that protects these deeply personal choices.

We should continue to provide women with the resources they need to have better quality health care, including access to all forms of family planning. While the state of Colorado determines the exact Medicaid benefit for women on reproductive rights, the federal role should be one that continues to allow women access to their own health care choices.

On the other hand, my opponent would deny women to make these personal decisions, even when women are raped, or in cases of incest. These extreme positions are out of step with Colorado.

I think it’s a bad decision that should be overturned. I support federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, as long as scientists carry out this research carefully, responsibly and ethically. This research holds the potential to unlocking the cures to some of the most wide-spread diseases in our society, from cancer, to Alzheimers, to reversing the damage that causes spinal cord and brain injuries. There are a number of times over the last 20 months when people have come up to me in the reddest parts of the state with tears in their eyes, and told me about the conditions that their child has, or the conditions that their mom or dad has, and asks me to please support embryonic stem cell research. This is not a partisan issue. It’s wrong to let partisan politics interfere and stop critical scientific research that could save lives.

On the other hand, my opponent opposes embryonic stem cell research, even when it could lead to lifesaving medical breakthroughs. That’s extreme, and it’s wrong.

I support a comprehensive energy policy that creates jobs, breaks our reliance on foreign oil, makes a bold commitment to the development of our clean energy resources like wind, solar and natural gas, prioritizes conservation and efficiency; and takes a balanced approach to responsible development of our other resources.

In Colorado we know that more renewable energy development means good things for our economy. We have seen job-growth of nearly 20% in the renewable energy sector over the last decade - twice the rate of growth we’ve seen across Colorado’s economy as a whole, and far ahead of renewable growth in most other states. And, as a country, we know that our dependence on oil from some of the world’s most hostile nations is a dangerous policy.

So, it is time to get serious about this. I have fought for changes that will transform our energy policy, including a national requirement to draw 25% of our electricity from renewable energy sources by 2025, permanent tax incentives to spur renewable energy growth; and expanded responsible development of Colorado natural gas.

I have stood up to special interests over and over; I support getting rid of wasteful tax subsidies for big oil companies and raising the liability cap for oil spills, and I’m pushing a clean energy plan so that we can generate more of our energy from renewables and natural gas, rather than coal.

More broadly, I’m also fighting for a historically bold plan to reform Washington that will ban earmarks for private for-profit companies, and ban members of Congress from ever becoming lobbyists. I’m a cosponsor of the DISCLOSE Act, which would require corporate CEOs to stand by their political ads on screen, just like candidates have to. And I’m supporting the Fair Elections Now Act, which would create federally funded clean elections, limiting the influence of corporate money in politics. All of these steps will help us clean up Washington and reduce the power and influence of the special interests.