For his third nominee to lead the Commerce Department, President Obama has turned to Gary Locke, who combines the gubernatorial experience and Democratic pedigree of first pick Bill Richardson with a fiscal conservative streak more reminiscent of second pick Judd Gregg.
Locke built a decidedly pro-trade record during his eight years as the nation's first Chinese-American governor in Washington state and then as a China trade specialist with an international law firm. Locke helped arrange deals in China for Microsoft, Boeing and Weyerhaeuser. He guided Washington through a serious budget shortfall, but he took some criticism for doing it in part by cutting services. He also helped push a successful ballot initiative that linked Washington's minimum wage to inflation.
A comparison of Locke's positions to those of his two predecessors for the Commerce job follows after the jump.
Gary Locke
Locke, 59, became the country's first Chinese-American governor when he won Washington's gubernatorial race in 1996. He was known during his time in office for building the state's trade relations with China and working with a narrowly divided legislature. He is now a lawyer with an international firm in Seattle.
| Bill Richardson | Judd Gregg | |
The 61-year-old governor of New Mexico is considered one of the most
influential Latino politicians in the country. He's earned a reputation for
being a tough negotiator and mediator, especially on foreign policy issues.
|
Gregg, 61, is known for his budget experience and enjoys the
respect of the business sector. For Republicans, he is often the "go-to
lawmaker" when it comes to education, health and labor. Gregg is also the first
person in New Hampshire's history to serve as
the state's executive councilor, governor, congressman and U.S. senator -- never losing an election.
|
Energy
Prompted by energy shortages in Washington in 2000, Locke called for the state to "diversify our energy sources beyond hydropower and fossil fuel" and "promote renewable energy and nurture our state's growing high-tech energy efficiency industries." He also signed a 2004 executive order directing state government to lower its petroleum use, increase recycling and reduce energy purchases.
| As a member of the House Energy and Commerce committee, Richardson proposed an amendment to the Clean Air Act and supported promotion of electricity and other alternative automobile fuels. The plan was partially included in the Clean Air Act re-authorization. Richardson also served on the Natural Resources Committee. | Voted in support of the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act of 2008, approving tax incentives for investment in renewable energy, carbon capture and conservation. New Hampshire's Sierra Club named him a Champion of Clean Air. Yet Gregg later voted in favor of oil drilling in Alaska's wilderness. |
Civil Rights and the Workplace
Locke extended health benefits to the same-sex partners of state employees and vetoed a bill banning gay marriage (his veto was overturned). He also publicly opposed Initiative 200, which proposed to ban racial and gender preferences in government hiring, contracting or education. It passed despite the governor's objections.
| On his presidential campaign Web site, Richardson promised to "go farther than any other candidate to support women and their families. I am out front on women's workplace rights, health, and stopping violence." In 2007, he added sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of New Mexico's civil rights. | Gregg voted against the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and against adding sexual orientation as a basis for hate crimes enforcement in 2002. Gregg also opposed a same-sex marriage ban in 2006 and spoke against legislation prohibiting job discrimination based on sexual orientation, saying it would create "a lawsuit heaven." |
Science and Technology
Locke helped grow Washington's high-tech industry, supporting funding for research centers and private-public R&D partnerships. He also fought to develop Washington's biotech industry and was a proponent of stem-cell research.
| Richardson takes pride in the title of Environmental Leader of the Year received from the National Environmental Trust, the National Wildlife Federation and Vanity Fair. Richardson also promised to lift President Bush's stem cell research ban to give "our scientists the funding they need and restoring hope to millions." | Gregg sponsored and co-sponsored several bills strengthening the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other environmental and research agencies. He missed the vote on the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2008, but in the early stages of debate called for reducing greenhouse gas "without passing the American taxpayers a bill which they cannot afford." He also favored expanding federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. |
No Child Left Behind
Delivering the Democratic response to President Bush's State of the Union address in 2003, Locke faulted the president for failing "to give communities the help they need to meet these new high standards." Locke helped to push measures to increase school spending and lower class sizes, but during a 2003 budget shortfall, he irked educators by suspending those spending measures. Later he fought (unsuccessfully) for a bill tying education funding to a sales tax increase.
| Richardson supports eliminating the "punitive approach of No Child Left Behind and replacing it with a fairer, more comprehensive and more supportive system of measuring progress." | Gregg worked on compromising and drafting No Child Left Behind and introduced the NCLB Reauthorization Bill in 2007. |
Labor and Trade
As governor, Locke went on 10 trade missions in eight years. After leaving office, he specialized in China trade as a partner with the law firm Davis Wright Tremaine; the Obama administration has dismissed talk that his work for high-profile clients and industries could complicate his candidacy. During his tenure, Boeing moved its corporate headquarters from Seattle to Chicago, but Locke did induce the aerospace giant to assemble its new 787 airliner in Everett. Locke supported a successful ballot initiative to link the minimum wage to inflation in 1998 and signed a bill that expanded collective bargaining in 2002.
| As a presidential candidate, Richardson proposed raising the minimum wage to $7.50/hour. His governor's Web site says he "consistently supported a balanced budget amendment." Richardson supported NAFTA and other free trade agreements, but told unions during his presidential bid that he wanted worker protections built into future trade deals. | Gregg filed an approval vote for a minimum wage increase to $7.25. He voted yes, as well, to renew the president's "fast track" trade authority in 1997. That year he also approved a resolution to propose a Constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget. Gregg supported NAFTA and other free trade agreements. |
Health Care
To help make up a steep budget deficit in 2003, Locke proposed nearly halving the number of people covered by state's Basic Health Plan, insurance for those who don't qualify for Medicaid. In 2003, he signed a bill reducing the threshold for a married couple's assets if one of them is on Medicaid long-term coverage.
| Richardson wrote on his presidential campaign site that he has "Americans are tired of big pharmaceutical companies that rake in profits while they struggle to pay for basic, lifesaving medicines. The Federal government should negotiate prescription drug prices through Medicare." Richardson promotes the idea of universal health care -- "no matter who you are." | Gregg sought to limit the cost of the Medicare to $400 billion over 10 years -- the price tag predicted at the time of the legislation's passage. In 2006, he asked the Senate to strive for a "standard, vanilla budget" and to slow the growth of entitlements. In 2008, Gregg sponsored an amendment to create a reserve fund for legislation to "provide access, coverage, and choice for every American to quality and affordable care." He voted twice against an expansion to the Children's Health Insurance Program. "Rather than addressing the health care struggles of lower-income children," he said in a press release, "it expands the federal health insurance to the upper middle class, hides its true cost and is a step on the road to nationalizing our health care system." |
Immigration
In 2003, Locke fought for a bill allowing children of illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition and attend state-supported colleges. However, budget-savings Medicare cuts approved by Locke a year earlier undermined health care options for the state's illegal immigrants. Locke also had to apologize to outraged crowds of immigrants who showed up at the state capitol for proposing to cut aid to immigrants preparing for the citizenship test.
| Richardson downplayed immigration during his presidential run, but as a governor of a border state, he has been an outspoken proponent of immigration reform and expanding government services to immigrants. On his campaign Web site, Richardson wrote that "building a fence will not increase security, just as attempting to deport 12 million illegal immigrants is not feasible or reasonable." | In 2006, Gregg voted in favor of building a fence along the Mexican border. He has also opposed illegal aliens' participation in Social Security and welfare programs. |
Candidate Obama
Locke served as a co-chair of Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign in Washington before shifting his support to Obama.
| Richardson's bid for presidency ended on Jan. 10, 2008, and despite deep-rooted ties with the Clintons, the governor endorsed Obama over Hillary Clinton. | Gregg was a part of a team that combed through Obama's campaign program proposals, estimating their price tag at $300 billion annually and labeling the plan an "Obama spend-o-rama." |
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