Statesman

Issue date: 10/15/08 Section: News

Independence Party of Minnesota Senatorial candidate Dean Barkley

As Senator, is there anything you will do to stop the rising costs of education?

"I'm not going to sit and pander and promise tax credits and new programs because we're basically $11 trillion in debt. We have a new reality sinking in, we can't keep on promising things that we can't deliver."

The government needs to ensure that there's an adequate supply of additional low-cost loans, and should the money become available, he would not be opposed to creating educational grants, Barkley said.

Where do you stand on the economic bailout?

"I would have reluctantly voted for it ... Until faith can be restored in the financial system, we are not going to see an economic turn-a-round. We need to start being honest with the people so they can start trusting these institutions. It's not going to be an easy thing to do."

Where do you stand on the war in Iraq?

"I think it was the biggest mistake in our foreign policy since Vietnam, but we are there. We have spent five years there, hundreds of billions of dollars rebuilding Iraq, and we've lost 4,300 American lives in this effort … I think we can get our troops out safely within six months to a year."

What's your stance on energy independence?

Barkley said that our dependence of foreign oil has caused the dollar to be greatly devalued.

"We can become energy independent and stop sending $750 billion a year off shore ... I think that is the problem."


Source: Phone interview with Dean Barkley

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools