Each week, Editorial and Opinion Editor Jeanne Mariani-Belding hosts The Hot Seat, our opinion-page blog that brings in elected leaders and people in the news and lets you ask the questions during a live online chat.

On The Hot Seat last week was Congressman Neil Abercrombie, discussing the economy and other issues facing lawmakers in Washington.

Here is an excerpt from that Hot Seat session. To see the full conversation, go to The Hot Seat blog at hotseat.honadv blogs.com.

(Names of questioners are screen names given during our online chat.)

Diana: As a taxpayer who is struggling in this terrible economy, watching our government throw billions into trying to fix the economy is frightening. It seems there is no real plan that anyone agrees on. What is the plan? How do you know it will work and are you willing to take such an expensive chance?

Neil Abercrombie: The House of Representatives has a plan. We will put $92 billion into shovel-ready infrastructure projects decided upon at the local level. The decisions will not be made in Washington. People will get work immediately.

There will be an immediate increase in local business activity associated with these projects. Underfunded programs in education and healthcare will receive an immediate infusion of much-needed dollars.

This will provide relief to state and county treasuries and provide for vital services without having to raise local taxes.

Mattchu: What is your opinion about availability of federal funding for the Honolulu High Capacity Transit Corridor Project? Council member (Romy) Cachola has brought up concerns that project cost is too high, funding is questionable, and so the council members should vote for the Salt Lake route. What do you think?

Abercrombie: Federal funding for the transit project is not in question or in danger. What is required is clear decisions at the county level.

The Congressional delegation is not seeking to impose these decisions from Washington. The council and the mayor must act in concert. Therefore, federal funding should be and is the least of our concerns.

Nanakuli Bill: How do you justify your supportive comments of protesters opposing our soldiers training in Makua? Have you studied Makua's history?

VFW members, especially we Hawaiians of Wai'anae's Post, and those with deployed family members who had to train on the Mainland, are upset and want to know.

Abercrombie: My support is for the training of the modern soldier. Makua is an obsolete venue for that purpose. I am working with the Army to provide a contemporary training area capable of meeting the requirements of today's soldier or Marine.

Debra: What are you and the rest of our people in Congress doing to make sure we are not overlooked in terms of bringing funding and jobs home? What specifically can residents expect to see?

Abercrombie: That's a good point precisely because we do not want to get into competition with other states or localities. The recovery package will not be designating specific projects for individual members of Congress. We will be putting money into existing programs and services based on formulas and grant procedures already in place. These programs and services will reflect requests already forwarded from the state and counties.

Roselani: What can you tell me about the Akaka bill? Is the rush on to get it passed? Will it be substantially different from the version that was pushed during (and opposed by) the Bush administration?

Abercrombie: The Akaka bill in its various versions has always had as its objective the establishment of a governing instrument to address the issue of the administration of Native Hawaiian assets (i.e. land and money). The Bush administration opposed the bill regardless of its specific provisions. We do not anticipate the same attitude from the Obama administration.

JasonK: Rep. Abercrombie, it's no secret that you may run for governor. If you do, what are your three main priorities for the state? Also, do you see a party comeback after the Democratic backlash that put Lingle into office?

Abercrombie: Whether I run for governor or not, issues concerning the economy, energy independence, education and healthcare must be addressed in the immediate future.

I will continue to work with the Democratic Party and the Democratic majority in the state Legislature to bring to Washington Place the same energy, hope and belief in the future that President-elect Obama has brought to Washington, D.C.

Tim: Mayor Mufi Hannemann has always said the the federal funding for rail transit is or will be available. Is this funding an existing plan or does Hawai'i have to rely on Obama's stimulus package?

Abercrombie: The funding is a part of an existing federal transit program for which Honolulu is eligible. The stimulus plan will likely include some additional funding for transit projects already in the pipeline.

John: The healthcare situation in Hawai'i and the nation is really quite dismal.

And we can expect more and more uninsured due to the economy. What is the plan in Congress to address this? And what should local officials be doing here in Hawai'i about this?

Abercrombie: The depth and extent of the healthcare crisis is such that local efforts are only a reflection of the challenge we face nationally. Local communities themselves simply cannot deal with the fiscal realities which only the nation as a whole can address. Universal healthcare is the only answer.

Jo: What are your thoughts are on the presidential inauguration? Will you be attending? Where will you be?

Abercrombie: The swearing-in of Barack Obama as president of the United States will bring to fulfillment a message that he carried for almost two years to the American people.

Namely, that our diversity defines us rather than divides us. The spirit of aloha; extended to the entire nation. I will proudly witness the event; I will be on the platform with him as he becomes president with a heart full of hope for the future and confidence in his abilities and determination.

Lisa: What are your thoughts on the situation in Gaza?

Abercrombie: The attack on Gaza serves neither the interests of the Israelis, Palestinians, or for peace in the Middle East. A cease-fire needs to be implemented as quickly as possible and a concerted effort made by the Obama administration to demonstrate our willingness to act as an honest broker in promoting a two-state solution.

Matt: Going back to the Akaka bill for a moment, were you able to review the Beacon Hill Institute Study regarding the economic impact to Hawai'i of the bill?

Their scenario indicated approximately 20,000 private sector jobs, a loss of $417.2 million in investment and a loss of $1,461 in real per-capita disposable personal income annually for the state of Hawai'i.

Your colleague, Sen. Akaka, stated that the bill doesn't provide for land transfers or tax breaks, but it also doesn't specifically deny transfers or breaks (or gambling operations in potential Native Hawaiian lands).

Would you support adding clearer language to specifically deny state land transfers? Also, would you support a referendum to allow the voters of Hawai'i to approve or deny the passage of the bill?

Abercrombie: The Beacon Hill Institute has its own political agenda. It is not a disinterested party. The Akaka bill is an enabling legislative device. It allows for the formation of a governing instrument to address these questions of land and money.

What transpires will be the result of good-faith negotiations that must be acceptable to the U.S. Department of the Interior. Creating false fears serves no useful purpose.

Peter: How did the economy get this bad in the first place. Was Congress asleep at the switch? Do you feel some sense of responsibility here?

Abercrombie: President Bush and Vice President Cheney and their enablers in the Congress bear direct responsibilities. They were in charge. Their philosophy and their agenda prevailed. You see and are now experiencing the results. Many of us in Congress warned this disaster was under way. I regret we were not able to convince a majority of the voting public that this debacle was inevitable.

Nolan: It seems that No Child Left Behind is just not working. We see again in the paper that Hawai'i has a lack of "qualified" teachers. What can and should be done on the national and local level? Would you agree that public education has been a problem for decades now?

Abercrombie: You are right. I do not believe (No Child Left Behind) can be salvaged. I do not agree that public education is a problem. I believe that our approach to public education has been the problem. We need to become student- and teacher-centered in our legislative priority.

Yasuko: For healthcare, I envy people who have access to their insurance in Japan and Taiwan. The United States is known as a world leader in human rights. However, they are turning down their own citizens for healthcare, a basic human right.

How soon can we see the difference (through) universal healthcare?

Abercrombie: On a journey of any distance, you have to take the first step. Where national healthcare is concerned, the first step is understanding that private insurance will never resolve the problems you've outlined. The answers will flow from taking the initial step toward universal coverage.