Why I Want to Serve You
There are numerous things that need to be improved in Pennsylvania, that state government can resolve. I have a breadth and depth of public policy experience to draw upon. I believe strongly that state government is the best vehicle to resolve some of the issues facing Pennsylvanians. Community affairs is what most interests me. When, and how, can we work collectively to solve important fundamental and/or complicated priority issues?
I want to introduce bills that will increase the power of people to work collectively in ways in which they choose do so. I want to also give citizens the right to the initiative and the referendum.
I want to reverse the trend in my lifetime which concentrates mind boggling excessive amounts wealth in a very small percentage of citizens. We have been watching the middle class vanish. They are sliding downwards, not climbing higher up the economic ladder. I want a guaranteed income in Pennsylvania, similar to an idea that President Nixon had forty years ago.
I want to serve citizens of the 172nd District in Harrisburg because we can do much better. We deserve complete free health care, not new professional sports stadiums. We deserve state of the art public schools, not slots parlors, and now casinos. We deserve open, honest government, not a perp walk from each major party's recent Speaker of the House. We can have good health care coverage for all Pennsylvanians, not just the princes and princesses of the Legislature. Imagine a state Legislature that put their constituents before themselves. State representatives get vested in a pension in just six years, while state taxpayers only get "the bill."
The state House of Representatives has 203 members. Many voters ask me what just one Representative can do. I plan to raise hell by using the soapbox that comes with the position, watch government from the inside, use a staff attorney to sue on behalf of the people, introduce good bills, aid and assist positive citizens' movements, provide greater access to government files, and use parliamentary procedures as effectively as possible.
We are a society of laws and ideas. As bad as some laws and ideas are, others are beautiful and sound. I know that not everyone agrees on what is beautiful, but people can compromise, and in the future policies and programs must become more tailor made, with various choices, so people can more fully appreciate the government they own and for which they pay. Some citizens might want a government run health care program, while others might want the corresponding amount of tax money returned to them. We can easily do both. Some may want to pay for new pro-sports stadiums, while others may want the corresponding amount of tax money returned to them. Again, we can easily do both. Sooner, or later, we are going to get a budget decided by people's choices, not just legislators' choices. I do not think the people would fund a $300 million legislative slush fund, nor a Cadillac/Lincoln Navigator car allowance.
Would Philadelphians have voted to pay for two new professional sports stadiums the same year their state government came in and took control of their school district? No. Help me get to Harrisburg as your Representative and I will put citizens first, before the Legislators, before the lobbyists, before the corporations, and before the tax man.