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Towards a just & healthy democracy in the Commonwealth... and beyond!
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Sun Feb 07, 2010 at 17:06:10 PM EST
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| This was written originally for a national audience, so please excuse me if I treat the reader like they know nothing about Massachusetts politics.
Grace Ross, who ran in 2006 as the Green Party's candidate for governor of Massachusetts, is now running in the Democratic primary for the same office, against incumbent governor Deval Patrick. "I wasn't planning to run again," stated Ross, "but things got worse. Things got worse for regular people." |
| rossl :: Former Green Party candidate to challenge Mass. gov. Deval Patrick as a Democrat |
So far, Ross is the only Democratic challenger (and the only gay one, to my knowledge) of Patrick, although the Green Party is running its own candidate, Jill Stein. As of now, it is unclear why Ross is choosing to run as a Democrat instead of as a Green or independent, other than the answer of having an organizational structure behind her. On the blog Blue Mass Group, before she decided whether she was going to run or not, she wrote:
If I run as a Democrat, that would allow me to combat the broken structure, with the help of the many folks already in state government who are dedicated to serving the people. Many Democratic friends have urged me to throw my hat in the ring, but so have my Republican, Green and unenrolled friends. The decision I and my team make will be based on how I can best serve all of the people of the Commonwealth.
When running as a Green, Ross only received a bit less than two percent of the vote. This would make her seem completely non-competitive. However, the difference this time is obviously that she's running as a Democrat. And if she makes it onto the ballot - which would take 15% of the delegates at the state Democratic convention and something like 10,000 signatures - which is not unlikely, then she is running in a completely different race than 2006.
Interestingly, Ross announced her candidacy at an AFL-CIO conference:
Ross's announcement came after Patrick pulled out of the state's AFL-CIO conference in Plymouth. Patrick, who was invited by the AFL-CIO, backed out after police unions picketed the event and other unions said they would leave upon his arrival and join the police unions in demonstrating.
As for her platform, it's not entirely clear yet. However, the Boston Globe writes:
Ross said during the 2006 campaign, among other things, that she was running for governor to be a voice for the poor, and she wanted a structural change in the tax system, which she believed heavily favored the wealthy.
One of her first acts as governor, she said, would be to push for a new "circuit-breaker" tax break to help low- and moderate-income residents, a move that would shift more of the tax burden onto the wealthy. Ross also wanted corporations to pay taxes based on the amount of business they do in Massachusetts rather than on the facilities they have here.
Ross also called for devoting bout $50 million in state money to low- and no-interest loans for small businesses, municipalities, and property owners who want to add solar panels or wind turbines. She said the initiative would nurture the state's alternative-energy industry, reduce demand on the power grid, and lower energy costs for cities and towns. |
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Green Mass Group is an online forum for Green thought and collective action in Massachusetts. It is a community forum for justice, sustainability, democracy and health in the Commonwealth and beyond.
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| Quotes |
"Now, is this the deal I would have preferred? No. I believe that we could have made the tough choices required - on entitlement reform and tax reform - right now, rather than through a special congressional committee process. But this compromise does make a serious down payment on the deficit reduction we need and gives each party a strong incentive to get a balanced plan done before the end of the year. Most importantly, it will allow us to avoid default and end the crisis that Washington imposed on the rest of America."
--President Barack Obama on the debt ceiling "deal"
"Despite Democratic control over the White House, despite Democratic control over the Senate, despite overwhelming opposition from the American people, a small minority of the members of the Republican-controlled House have successfully pushed an extreme right-wing agenda onto the American political landscape. It is an ideology which believes that despite the fact that the rich are getting richer, the middle class is shrinking, and poverty is increasing, all - all of the burden for deficit reduction should rest on working people."
--Independent Senator Bernie Sanders on the debt ceiling "deal"
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Then and Now
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Then...
"Last year Evergreen, a Massachusetts company, agreed to establish their first-ever United States based manufacturing facility here in Massachusetts. They did so, or are doing so, at Devens. They have now agreed and chosen to triple their size at Devens. Their next phase of expansion, right here in Massachusetts, a signature company in a signature sector, and we congratulate all of the folks at Evergreen and look forward to continuing to work with you...
We made a personal commitment to Evergreen for the sake of Evergreen, but also because we wanted to show that there are ways in which state government, in working together with private industry and with the utility companies, could begin to create a different kind of environment, a different kind of business climate here, to grow that sector, and it is happening. It's happening. Evergreen is one of the most prominent examples, but there are a whole host of examples."
--Governor Deval Patrick, April 7, 2008, boasting about state investment in Evergreen.
and Now...
"Evergreen Solar Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday, completing a stunning reversal of fortune for a high-flying alternative-energy company that once seemed to herald a new era for the Massachusetts economy... At its peak, Evergreen employed roughly 900 people locally and attracted more than $50 million in state support, as its stock price soared above $100 a share.
Yesterday, Evergreen's stock closed at 18 cents. The company shuttered its manufacturing plant in Devens earlier this year and now has only 85 employees left. Massachusetts is one of its top creditors, owed $1.5 million in rent."
--Erin Ailworth, Boston Globe, August 16, 2011
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