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Sat: Hagan at the AP Awards
posted at 2009-03-28 18:01 | Last modified 2009-03-28 19:28
Speaking at the AP Broadcast Awards at Elon today, Senator Kay Hagan said she still hasn’t decided whether she’ll support President Barack Obama’s budget proposal.
Hagan said she liked some of Obama’s proposals, but said she can’t support its cuts in farm subsidies and increases in agricultural user fees, or its deficit spending (up to $1.2B by 2019, according to the CBO). “To me, that’s completely unsustainable – and unacceptable.”
Hagan said the Senate budget proposal will cut the increase in non-defense spending from 12% to 6%, and will restore the cuts Obama made in the farm budget. She says she wants to see what other amendments are introduced this week before deciding whether she’ll support the spending bill.
You can hear her prepared remarks in their entirety below (15;23).
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Hagan’s Stand-up
Hagan started off her speech with some laugh lines about her grueling campaign last year to unseat former Senator Liddy Dole.
Looking back, there were probably easier ways to get into the US Senate, but I did not know Rod Blagojevich. And speaking of him, although he and I have completely different ethical standards, we’ve got a few things in common. One, we both pay a lot of attention to our hair. Probably too much. Second, we both have three initials for our first names. And third, we will both be serving a minimum six -year term. At least.
Hagan on Bank Bonuses Bill
When I asked the Senator whether she’d support the 90% tax on bailout bonuses approved by the House last week, Hagan dodged the question, saying the bill would never reach the Senate floor where cooler heads prevail, and adding she personally didn’t think AIG should’ve given the bonuses. But when pressed on her support for legislation to back that up, Hagan would only say she put in an amendment to the stimulus bill that would've limited bonuses at bailed-out banks to $400,000 – “the same amount the president makes.”
Her (non)answer is understandable to some extent – she spent a decade in the banking industry before entering the State Senate. But as a taxpayer, I'm not sure why bank execs ought to get even $400,000 of my money as a reward for running their banks into the ground. Just sayin'.
Hagan also addressed her federal appointments screening panel, non-profit proposals for newspapers, and how the Senate stacks up to what she expected. You can hear the full Q&A below (8:34).
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Hardware!
Aside from Senator Hagan's keynoter, of course, the main event at today's Associated Press luncheon was the presentation of state awards for reporting. I'm honored to have won two awards in Radio Div. 1 (big stations): Best General Reporting for this story on Larry Kissell's race for the 8th, and Best Use of Sound for this Thanksgiving story about the Food Bank. It's a real honor. Thanks, NC AP!
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