On Monday, we introduced a new feature here at Show Me Progress, a question and answer series with the Democratic candidates for Attorney General. The deadline has passed, and the answers are in. I want to thank the candidates for responding politely and in a timely fashion.
The question was, “What would be the first issue you would tackle as Attorney General? Why and how?”
The answers, in the order received, are below the fold.
As promised, I’m putting up a link to the ActBlue pages of the candidates who responded according to the rules. Only Jeff Harris has an ActBlue page at this point, so he’s the only one that gets the link. If you like what Rep. Harris had to say, consider dropping him a few bucks here. When the others have an ActBlue page up, we’ll link to them.
Representative Jeff Harris (D-Columbia):
Thanks for the opportunity to respond to your survey. I look forward to any feedback your readers will give me. As the House Democratic Leader, I have led the fight to stop the Blunt agenda, which has caused so much harm to so many Missourians. I want to continue to fight for progressive values as your next Attorney General. I have a detailed list of my policy positions at my website: http://www.electjeffharris.com/issues/.
I will make Internet safety and the protection of personal information a top priority, including establishing a statewide task force to fight Internet crimes against children. As a soon-to-be parent, I am committed to protecting our youngest citizens from pedophiles who prowl the Internet. Several Attorneys General have established these task forces to successfully coordinate and assist with investigations and provide training and assistance to law enforcement and prosecutors. I will advocate for model legislation to protect our privacy and create a special unit in my office to combat cyber crimes and protect Missourians’ privacy. For instance, at the University of Missouri, a number of student and employee Social Security numbers were compromised. In addition, Missourians have a right to have their medical records protected from disclosure.
I welcome comment on any of my initiatives. Please contact me at info@electjeffharris.com. And, please support my progressive vision as we work to move our state forward.
Representative Margaret Donnelly (D-St. Louis):
I will strengthen the role of the attorney general’s office in protecting the public against the sale of unsafe products.
Almost every product we consume has materials produced in countries where oversight and regulatory controls fall far short of our expectations in this country. Clearly, the federal government has not effectively handled the problem. So the state must take a more active role.
Even before being elected as attorney general, I will sponsor legislation next session to enact the Missouri Children’s Product Safety Act. The act would prohibit the sale of all unsafe children’s products, force companies to remove products from shelves, and empower the attorney general to enforce the law. Seven other states are effectively using similar laws to stop unsafe products from distribution and sale.
I will also offer a resolution that calls on Congress and the President to enact the Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act. This act would increase product safety inspections, toughen enforcement and increase penalties for violations.
As attorney general, I will increase the efforts of the Consumer Protection Division in identifying and stopping unsafe products being sold in our state. I will actively enforce Missouri’s Merchandising Practices Act to halt the sale of all unsafe products in Missouri. This act currently empowers the attorney general to investigate and prosecute unlawful practices in trade and commerce. I will introduce legislation next session to make clear that these unlawful practices include the sale of unsafe products.
Missouri must act because the federal government has failed.
The first response we received was actually a very polite reply from Chris Koster’s spokesperson, informing me that although he appreciates our website, he has not announced yet his intention to run for Attorney General, and as such, it would be inappropriate to participate in our Q & A series at this time.
What do you think? Who had the best answer, and why? Vote in our poll, and discuss in comments.
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But do people have reasons for voting that way? Comments?
Both of them have laudable goals, but neither is a topic I know much about.
with respect to haveing my mail openned, my phone calls tapped, and the phone companies just saying “here are the records you asked for.” I am much more concerned about being poisoned by my tooth-paste.
I really like both Jeff Harris and Donnelly but I am supporting Jeff Harris because I think he is a much stronger general election candidate than Donnelly. If I thought Donnelly could win I wouldn’t care too much about who wins the primary. I think the only Democrat from St. Louis to win a statewide election in the last 20 years or so is Nancy Farmer. The outstate candidates that have won include Mel Carnahan, Holden, Wilson, Maxwell, Cook, Moriarty, Montee and Robin Carnahan. The last thing we want is Hanaway to be attorney general. Jeff is a progressive, well-respected by his colleagues, smart (Cornell law school), works hard, squeaky clean, and most importantly he has absolutely made Matt Blunt’s life miserable.
Warning: an imposter is maybe trying to join this race. Support Jeff Harris or Donnelly but please ignore him. He has done nothing but support Matt Blunt’s agenda and will be no different than Hanaway. However, if he decides to stay in the Senate for four years and does a good job I could support him for a future office.
Rep. Harris highlights a very important issue that any AG should add resources to, but I believe the AG’s office and the Department of Public Safety already have a Computer Forensics Unit.
More Americans have the knowledge to make safe decisions regarding products than do to make decisions regarding Internet safety. The current technology gap between parents and children is probably the biggest in the history of mankind and will probably never be matched again, as children today will have a working knowledge of the technology their children use. Plus, protecting information is also something that the average citizen has virtually no control over, and should be able to depend on the government to do.
I really like Jeff’s background fighting for Progressive causes in the House. He has done very well in a Legislature dominated by wild eyed neocons in leading the opposition.
Both were good answers and most likely need addressing. It would be difficult to pick one over the other. The State of Missouri could help reduce the spread of our names by not selling our names from our driver’s registration. I receive mail with my name addressed using my maiden name as my middle name. The only place it is like that is on my driver’s license.
… University of Missouri students/employees whose information was leaked, identity theft concerns me greatly. I’d rather not have my finances wrecked before I even get on my own two feet. This is a crime that is becoming easier and easier to pull off. Like Jeff said, it needs to become a higher priority for Missouri.
I voted for the answer from Jeff Harris. My browser on my laptop was hijacked a couple of years ago. It was not fixable and I had to buy a new laptop. The person at the computer store told me that one of the sites my child went to had caused the problem. He explained that there is a big issue of security when people surf the net. I love the net but I want to feel that my personal information is not at risk while I am surfing the net.
I heard Mr. Harris speak at the University a couple of years ago. He did a great job. I really liked both the answers but I voted for Mr. Harris because I think he is a great leader for this state.
Patrick you are right there is a computer forensic unit in the AGO. Their job is to aid law enforcement in a technical manner for criminal prosecutions. What Harris is establishing here looks to be more geared towards prevention of cybercrimes and protection against privacy violations. I don’t really thing the AGO is doing that now.
I voted for Margaret Donnelly because I think that with globalization and with the decrease in regulation and oversight coming from the federal government it is going to be incumbent on states to spend more time monitoring consumer products.
This is not to minimize the issues raised by Jeff Harris, especially the concerns with privacy and identity theft. Those are very important.
I have to say though that I did pause for a moment over his emphasis on internet crime against children because often when an emphasis is placed on making a world safe for children it ends up limiting the perfectly legal activities that adults can engage in. I’d want to know more about the types of actions he would take in that regard before I’d feel completely comfortable with his answer.
I just received an email from the Harris campaign publicizing his answer to the Show Me Progress question, and providing a link. Should bump up the site’s numbers and be good exposure. Great idea to start this Q&A series!
But, I will vote for Jeff just because I feel he is the strongest candidate. Sorry Margaret, you are all that, but not all over MO.
https://secure.actbl…