IAmA Democrat Who Fights, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY). AMA.

Why do you unconditionally support the state of Israel? Why have you insisted in the past that the Palestinian Liberation Organization is a terrorist organization, but you let Israel slide when it kicks Palestinians out of their homes to build new settlements?

I thoroughly appreciate your hard-hitting style on the issues I agree with you on, but to me this is one of the primary unrecognized (by the U.S.) human rights crises of our day.

Thank you for your time, as I know you are a busy man. Take care.

i dont think i let anyone slide - including my own beloved nation. but i proceed with a set of values that leads me to support Israel strongly: i support democracies. i support nations that have thriving debate and press freedoms. i support nations that respect women. and i support nations that support the rule of law.

Israel is not perfect. but they are surrounded by violent enemies.

the plight of the Palestinians is untenable. i pray for two states living side by side in peace. but that can happen only through negotiation.

Gigantic edit:

My original post asked why you voted for the extension of "The Patriot Act" because several voting records websites list you as having voted for it. Further research is showing that other websites say you voted "NO".

So if you voted against it, thank you.

If you voted for it, please explain your reasoning.

i am against a long term extension of the thing and certainly against a permanent extension.

What's going on with Campaign Finance Reform? Is there any hope we'll see an attempt at it any time soon?

i am happy that so many people care about this issue. it is the foundation of so much of what ails the nation today. the supreme court has become an outgrowth of the pro business wing of the gop. we need a couple of things fast : transparency and improved rights of investors to stop public companies from crash landing on political campaigns.

im a middle class guy. if we dont have public financing soon, congress will have no more weiners. uh, let me rephrase that...

First off, thank you for fighting so hard for all of us. If there were more Democrats like you, we wouldn't be in the shit we are.

As a congressional Democrat who is putting up a solid fight, you have a better understanding than any of us how this process works. A lot of us on the outside are getting pretty disappointed by President Obama's actions, but we have no understanding of the process or the give and take that accompanies those actions.

• Given that you have a much better vantage point than us, how do you feel about Obama's performance so far?

• Have you ever voted against your conscience because of the politics involved? What votes were they?

the president is doing a great job leading the nation and an average job leading our fight. i think when the president looks out his window he sees a cacophony of disparate voices shouting at each other and feels the need to quietly pursue the best deal for the american people.

however, we also need someone to fight for progressive values. we need a leader of our vision of the world. i try to do that, he rarely does.

as for my compromises, i was wrong to vote for the iraq war. i trusted the president. i shoulnt have

Hey Anthony, I live in Brooklyn and ride my bike daily in NYC. I constantly use the bike lanes in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens and those bike lanes have provided me a safer commute. Without the bike lanes, I would be at a much higher risk for accident. I'm also one of the people that follows the laws, signals all turns, and has front and rear lights.

Why did you tell Bloomberg that if elected mayor the first thing you'd do is rip out the bike lanes?

Can you please provide some information as to why you think it would be a good idea? If you mention facts about why bike lanes are bad, it would be nice, because there are plenty of them supporting keeping bike lanes.

Until you can reverse your opinion, or at least provide legitimate justification for your stance, I will not be able to vote for you, and would encourage others not to either. It's a shame, because I've followed your career and you've done some great things.

Edit: I forgot to say thanks for doing this!!

Edit 2: As for the voting comment: It's in reference to a rumored potential mayoral bid in NYC, not for any federal level position. If it was for the House, Senate, or anything else in the federal government, I wouldn't really care that much about his stance on the issue beyond wanting more people to support bike infrastructure.

first it was a joke. but it make the story because we now have open and unnecessary warfare over bike lanes.

its a false choice : bike lanes and true civic planning.

Why are you (one of) the only Democrat(s) with a spine? How have you been trying to get others to follow suit?

there is nothing in the middle of the road but yellow lines and dead possums.

The Gentleman is correct in posting!

EDIT: It looks like I've memed my way to the top so I better take this opportunity to bring up a really important issue, namely Click and Clack. Now that these abhorrent grease fetishists have been put in their place can we focus on defunding Sesame Street as well? It just simply doesn't promote American Values®. Last time I checked, it was a show about street hoodlums and cookie junkies. It's time to bring down the bird!

I am so with you brother. do we really think that thing that lives in a trash can isnt a freak out to our children? and the vampire that counts stuff?! im scared just talking about it.

Do you support the actions taken in Libya?

the president should have come to congress for our approval.

but i do believe in using our might to protect innocent people from violent dictators.

i think the European and arab states must take primary ownership of this.

Hi Mr. Congressman!

• What are your thoughts about farm subsidies and the impact the industrial food chain has on health?

• What about farm subsidies and the flood of cheap corn from the US to Mexico?

• Are there any members of Congress that you differ with ideologically but that you are able to work with, or that you have a deep professional or personal respect for?

edit: punctuation

yet newer edit: If Reddit so pleases, the first point can be "what do you think about farm subsidies" for the purposes of a sweet sweet video response. To elaborate on the second point, I am curious what you think about the interaction between farm subsidies, the subsequent flood of massively cheap corn into Mexico (via NAFTA), and the possible/probable action on increasing illegal/undocumented immigration into the US. I have heard it discussed, and I am inclined to believe, that NAFTA allows the US to flood Mexico with subsidized corn that is so cheap it becomes cheaper to buy subsidized American corn than to grow it locally, thereby shattering local supply chains and forcing farmers to go elsewhere for work. That "elsewhere" often is the US. The exchange then becomes cheap American corn into Mexico and cheap Mexican labor into the US. It may seem overly attenuated, but could corporate-welfare-style farm subsidies be a cornerstone of America's struggle with illegal immigration?

tough issue. there is an historic coalition between urban supporters of things like mass transit and rural farm guys. it is further made messy by the fact that food assistance for needy americans is included in the same legislation as farm subsidies.

but taken on their own many farm subsidies are just corporate welfare that dont make for good policy. expecially since subsidies drive some terrible food choices. do we really want to pay people to grow corn and make corn syrup?

How can we show the Tea Party crowd that they're not mad about taxes, they're mad about income inequality?

there are 3 tea parties. one is the actual human beings who are frustrated and feel disempowered and are livid we elected a kenyan president. we should try to win them over.

but beware the other two groups:

the political class who are stoking and exploiting the anger and the business interests who's bidding is being done. they must be stopped. not debating them.

Are you considering running as a Democratic Presidential candidate in 2012/16?

To a lesser degree of importance, when was the first time you heard someone tell you "This Weiner's Got Balls!"?

i heard my last original weiner gag in the 5th grade.

"vote for weiner, he'll be frank"

(thank you. please tip your waitresses)

do you think that the health care law would work more efficiently if it were a single-payer system like most countries in the first world have adopted?

uh, yes. but you dont need to look to other nations. take the american plan - medicare. expand it to all americans.

game. set. match.

Do you support Julian Assange, Wikileaks, and Bradley Manning?

Edit: Dear Rep. Weiner and everyone, I have expanded upon this hastily written question in a reply below. Here is a permalink to my expanded question. For convenience, here are the expanded questions copied to this edit:

Rep. Weiner:

Do you support Julian Assange's vision of government transparency?

Do you support Wikileaks' whistleblowing activities, and do you support them as a journalistic organization?

How do you feel about the conditions Bradley Manning is currently being kept in at Quanitco? Assuming Mr. Manning is the one who provided the information to Wikileaks, do you feel his actions were justified?

the leaks were damaging but many of them showed what our leaders and others around the world really thought. why is that a sercret?

i know we need to have secrets. what manning did or didnt do will be argued in a court.

Big Fan

If you could pass any one law/change any 1 thing in America what would it be?

I would change the policy on lobbyists. Withought knowing more i'd be for outlawing them completely. Insurance/banking/pharm lobbyists outnumber each congressman many times over. I often get the feeling of "we the corporations" instead of "we the people". How do you feel about the joke "Politicians should wear advertisers on their sleeves like nascar races so the people know who they are really voting for."?

Have you had any experience with lobbyists you'd like to share?

Any thoughts for running for a different political office?

id publicly fund campaigns and limit expenditures by candidates.

we need to end the constant money chase and the ability of corporations to distort the national debate.

Congressman, I am not one of your constituents, however, I have been a huge fan of yours since I saw you on Real Time with Bill Maher, and after that when you were defending health care on YouTube.

My question is this: When you met with your Republican colleagues, what was the most ridiculous defense of not voting for health care reform? We've all heard that it's "job killing" or that it raises the tax burden on everyone but there has to be one of those responses that makes everyone's jaw drop. Additionally, how difficult is it dealing with the other side when they deny science, i.e. climate change, etc.?

Thanks for doing this, and thanks for fighting the good fight in Congress. You have a lot of fans outside of NY-9!

my colleagues are mostly good and honorable people but the gop has a fundamentally different view of the world than I. i see the disparity of income and the pressures on the vanishing middle class and i line up to help those struggling. im a democrat.

they line up to defend the status quo and the winners in the deals. they are Republicans.

Why do you and other non-neo-cons continue to appear on Fox News? Doesn't that lend credibility to what many consider a farcical news source? Would it not be better to band together, boycott, and leave them to just interview each other?

ive done chats on facebook, twitter, kos and now here. in every venue people have been split on this question.

i go on because i want to fight for what i believe and i abhor bullies and especially dumb ones.

but i am not sure you arent correct that i lend credibility to an incredible outlet.

is there someway to do a Reddit vote on this Q?