Evaluation of Deval Patrick & The Deval Patrick Campaign
The following evaluation is based on discussions with Deval Patrick and his senior campaign staff as well as a review of the campaign's website and the texts of Patrick's speeches. Quotes from 6 recent speeches delivered in 2005 are footnoted as follows:
August 3: Speech marking 40th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, State House
June 4: Speech to 21st Century Black Massachusetts
May 22: Commencement Address at Boston University Law School
May 14: Speech to the Massachusetts Democratic Convention
April 30: Keynote Address to the Cape Cod & Islands Annual Dinner
April 16: Speech to Young Democrats of Massachusetts
The other Patrick quotes are taken from his statements at an August 19, 2005 meeting with 4 SCC members.
1. Does the candidate support the basic tenets and spirit of the Democratic Party platform - especially on critical, in-play issues?
For our August 19th meeting with Deval Patrick, we selected four topics that reflect key components of the Democratic Party Platform as the focus for our questions to the candidate: Health Care, Education, Economic Growth & Jobs / Taxes and Public Services, and Labor.
Health Care
"Single payer is my medium-term destination. Where I want to go is single payer." Of of the proposals now out there, he is currently supportive of Health Care for All, with some modifications. On the way to our destination, ". . . we have to do what we can do now. It's immoral to have this number of people [1/2 a million] who go to bed every night worried about getting sick. It's hard to ask these people [the uninsured and the underinsured] to wait for the stars to be aligned for Single Payer. Health Care for All is the most attractive and ambitious proposal that we can do right now . . . but where I want to go is single payer."
He spoke of the problem of multiple meanings of Single Payer – ranging from a single clearinghouse for bill paying to a government-managed delivery system. His focus will be on inclusiveness, transportability, simplicity, quality and real cost savings (e.g. cutting the 30% administrative costs of the current system).
"A politics of hope means universal health care in our state. This is a unique moment in time. No one is happy with the current system - not employers, not doctors, not the hospitals, certainly not the uninsured and underinsured. Even if you have health insurance, you know how hard it is to get to the care you need. If no one is happy with the current system, why don't we change it? It's not going to be easy. It's going to take hard work and vision. It's going to take bold and creative leadership and it's going to take a governor not afraid to take on some political risk."[6]
Education
"We need to take a comprehensive approach – from early childhood developmentthrough university."
He spoke about the need to stop the fiscal shell game of funding through the regressive property tax and the need for the state to increase its financial contribution and restore an appropriate balance between state and local funding. He declared "it is a scandal that Massachusetts ranks 47th in U.S.spending on public higher education." He sees his role as one of making an effective case as to why it's in the best interest of the Commonwealth to undertake these changes.
However, he said, "it's not just about funding. Much of the problem is due to the lack of collaboration among and between the many programs that currently exist. There are good things happening now, but it's very fragmented. We have to create the environment for innovation and collaboration.
"Between 1985 and 2000, state spending on higher education grew 16 percent, while spending on prisons went up 273 percent. ... Common sense has been drained out of a lot of our public policy, and we ought to start putting it back. Our kids need to get educated, get a job and get involved. ... We needmore than what has been called education reform in Massachusetts. We need an education renaissance. We need broader access to early childhood development, all-day kindergarten, smaller class sizes, a longer school day, after school enrichment programs, consistently safe schools, teachers who are trained to be accountable as professionals. And we need to start acting like a good education is about the whole child, not just passing the MCAS. We spend at the level of 47th in the nation now on public higher education ... We have been walking away from public education at all levels in this state. At the very moment in history that education, especially at the level of college-level certificate, is becoming the key to entry into the new economy."[2]
"A politics of hope means not just education reform, but an education renaissance. From pre-k through public colleges and universities, we need a dramatic reevaluation of our educational system. Everything has to be on the table. The school calendar, the school day, the school curriculum, after school programs, class size, training and paying teachers like the professionals they are, strengthening public higher education, too - we need to have a serious and committed discussion on how we educate our children in this state. And we need to set an ambitious goal. There is no reason why we cannot have the best public school system in the country."[6]
"[Government should provide or support] consistent excellence in the public schools, with adequate funding, comprehensive strategies and higher expectations for the whole system, not just the kids. ... an economy that is growing, where it is easy to get trained and to get experience, . . ."[2]
Continued...
No comments:
Post a Comment