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A Conversation With David Bonior - An In-Depth Interview with the Democratic Leader That Seeks to become Michigan's Next Governor By Robert E. Martin
Bonior volunteered and served in the Air Force for four years from 1968 to 1972. In 1976 he was elected to the United States Congress and became a champion and establishing figure for Vietnam-veterans' rights. While in Congress, Bonior has been a staunch defender of Michigan's environment and led the fight against NAFTA. Currently living in Mount Clemens, Bonior and his wife Judy have three children. In a full decade as the Democratic Party's chief head counter in the U.S House of Representatives, Bonior played the role of prodder, confidant and guide, without managing to ever sink into the murky waters of self-promotion. Known for defining issues and presenting an agenda, at one point during the first Bush Administration, when Democrats were still in the House majority, Bonior led Democrats in an all-night vigil intended to pressure the White House to extend unemployment benefits during what was then an economic recession. The House was kept in session throughout the night for only the second time in its history so that Democrats could call votes on a series of measures that would highlight the issue. But David Bonior is about much more than politics. Indeed, last year he wrote a book entitled Walking to Mackinac which chronicles a decision Bonior and his wife made to walk from the door of their home in Mt. Clemens all the way north to the Mackinac Bridge, without the use of maps, in what can be truly called a modern day 'On The Road' experience. Recently the Review had the opportunity to speak with David Bonior in an exclusive interview prior to his Town Hall meeting at the Saginaw Enrichment Center. We trust you will find our discussion both substantive and informative. Review: You've had a long and impressive record as Congressman and Democratic Whip. Was their any 'defining' moment that solidified your desire to get into politics? Bonior: It was an evolution. My father was involved in politics and I was active in campaigns from the age of six. One of the campaigns I worked in was for State Representative when I was a teenager, and the candidate I was working for lost that race. Afterwards, I went up to Lansing to see what I was trying to get this guy elected to. I saw the legislature firsthand and it always stuck in my mind about how wonderful that type of job would be. I had that in my head as a teenager, went away to college, and trust me, if you couldn't get involved in politics back then, with the anti-war movement and the civil-rights movement galvanizing everything together in this country, there was a problem. It was the competitiveness of the political arena that attracted me, but issues are what solidified my interest. Review: I know its difficult being in the 'minority' and accomplishing a legislative agenda, but what are the things you are most proud of during your tenure in the United States House? Bonior: When I first came to the Congress I worked on Vietnam Veterans issues. Nobody else was doing that. I put ideas and legislation together and originated that whole arena of representation for Vietnam Vets and worked it for six or seven years. I was also the front person on many wage, health, and pension issues and have a very long career in the environmental movement. I wrote one of the first bills in the country to ban PCBs, put together the state bottle bill, banned Great Lakes drilling, and addressed the arsenic standard in our drinking water and pushed for a higher standard, to insure the quality of our drinking water. 800,000 trees have been planted throughout my district as a symbol of my commitment to the environment. Issues involving workers, the environment, and social and economic justice form the crux of my efforts. From a leadership standpoint, the fact I was able to bring women and minorities into the Democratic leadership is something I take great pride in. When I started out they were all white males. Review: How would you contrast yourself and your record to that of your key opponent, which most pundits believe to be Jennifer Granholm. Many feel that she is the only electable choice, given the fact that she was the only Democrat to secure a major statewide race in the last election, coupled with the fact that your base is pretty much centered around Detroit. Bonior: I have a couple of thoughts on that subject. First, Jennifer Granholm has only had one race in her career for Attorney General that she barely won in a 51 to 49 percent margin against a second-tier candidate from the Republican Party. I've been running every two years for 29 years and have won every race. Republicans have spent a lot of money to try and beat me. I've beat Candace Miller and I've beat four state senators. I've had stiff competition and have been able to survive and win. Statewide I think I can appeal to more Independents, Democrats and Republicans on the issues of education and the environment. Jennifer and I are different people. She's a corporate attorney and was corporation counselor for Wayne County for four years during a time in which many scandals surfaced. I represent working people. That is my base. I'm more in touch with Democrats in this state than I think she is. Review: You are big on the environment and Governor Engler has done much to set the state back during his tenure by splitting up of the DNR, politicizing the DEQ and stopping citizen input. In Saginaw County a few weeks ago, The Lone Tree Council unveiled documents regarding dioxin levels 80 times higher than that of EPA recommendations, yet DEQ Director Russell Harding still says all is well and we may have to wait six months for a federal report to be issued. What can be done and what money is available for cleanups of this nature? Bonior: I am meeting with Terry Miller of the Lone Tree Council to review the documents you reference. I've had to deal with this dioxin issue over the years. It was a big issue in my district and stemmed out of Agent Orange. We need to test and ascertain how high the levels actually are. If they exceed EPA standards, then we need to clean it up. We have to make the polluters pay and if we can't then we need to spread it across the state, but it must be dealt with. For example, they have 2000 acres of brownfields in the City of Detroit, which is the size of the city of Inkster. If you don't clean it up, you can't develop it for commercial purposes. Those who created the problem should be the ones that pay for it. Review: How do we address joblessness in the state? The manufacturing sector has been in recession for 17 months. We've seen major layoffs by Ford, and in the Saginaw area, manufacturing is almost at a standstill. The University of Michigan estimates 73,000 jobs will be lost by the end of next year, and the state's unemployment benefits are among the lowest in the Midwest - about 88 percent below the poverty level. Yet the state's unemployment insurance trust fund is the country's most solvent. What action needs to be taken? Bonior: We need to do a couple of things. Number one, we need to raise the benefit. Right now it's at $300 a week or $1200 per month and that is a level that makes it impossible for families to live. We also need to replace the law with an escalator for cost-of-living adjustments. For years Michigan set the standard on this issue, and now we don't. Review: Do you think much of the projected $1.4 billion budget shortfall that the State faces can be traced to the phasing out of the single business tax and the increase in the state sales tax from four to six cents? Bonior: I'm not a big supporter of the sales tax because it falls regressively on working people, but that's where everybody decided to go in terms of raising revenue. It raised the revenue this way to solve the school crisis and generally it's been successful because we closed the gap between richer and poorer districts. But I would pause on the Single Business Tax until we get our economic house in order. Review: What about auto insurance? A couple years ago there was a surplus, Democrats managed to negotiate a refund for insurance companies overcharging customers, but now the Catastrophic Claims Association says its used a $3 billion surplus it had accumulated. Officials thought it would last until 2004, and now auto insurance is going up once again. Bonior: We've got to look at the whole auto insurance piece. You can't get insurance in some sections of our state at a reasonable price, and about 1/3 of the people in the City of Detroit don't have automobiles. A lot of people can't get insurance because the cost is so astronomical, so we need to review this whole area and make it affordable and accessible. That's not happening right now. Review: On the issue of 'out-of-state' trash, the US Supreme Court several years ago said that trash was interstate commerce and therefore the state couldn't stop the flow. How would you propose reversing it? Bonior: The U.S. Supreme Court did say that in a 1991 decision. That case came out of my district. I have a bill to reverse the Supreme Court decision. If we had a majority in Congress, I could get it done. My bill passed in the House and then Bob Dole and the garbage companies killed it in the Senate. As a result of that we've had almost 9 years of this garbage dumped into our state from New Jersey and New York and now Canada. We're not a dumping grounds. This is a beautiful state. As Governor I'll have inspectors at the border to inspect every truck coming into Michigan. Other states and countries can take care of their own trash. Review: Should the state freeze the tax cuts for 2002? The impact on income tax is about $187 million and the full year impact for the Single Business Tax would be about $112 million, which would equal $297 million in savings for a full year. Bonior: Yes, both the SBT and the income tax cuts should be frozen, because we have a real key priority here in terms of education. Health care, the roads, we have to have the resources to deal with these issues. The income tax reduction is about $40 - $50 dollars a year, but the needs of our children and school system are worth that. Between the SBT and income tax together you can cobble important revenue sources together until at least the economy starts to come back. Review: What about anti-terrorism measures at the state level? Do you think they've gone too far? Bonior: What we must do is balance the security of our country against the civil liberties of our people. Americans fight and support this country based upon our most cherished values and freedoms. There is no question that a lot of the 'War on Terror' is being used as a subterfuge to alter and change these long cherished rights. Even at a state level Granholm has been supportive of legislation that couldn't get through for years like expanded wiretapping provisions. I think they've gone way overboard in some of these areas. Ashcroft has taken this a step too far and is locking up people that have not been engaged in any criminal activity whatsoever. It's an area that is very delicate and has to be dealt with in a fair and constitutional way. |
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