A Manifesto For The Massachusetts Democratic Party
Daniel C. Hill, Charlestown
Democratic candidate for the State Senate (Suffolk, Middlesex & Essex seat)
January 25, 2010
It has been widely reported that the current version of the federal health care reform bill pending in the United States Senate is a veritable sausage, containing deal sweeteners for Senators from Louisiana and Nebraska negotiated under the cover of darkness in smoke-filled rooms. As Maine Senator Olympia Snowe observed last week, these kinds of shenanigans are what turn people off from politics. According to a poll taken by the Harvard School of Public Health and the Washington Post shortly after the Massachusetts primary election on January 19th, 63% of voters said that the country is “seriously off track.” More people in this state now oppose the current health care plan than support it, and it appears from that poll that an overall distrust of our government is a significant factor.
Giving back-room deals to Senators in exchange for their votes is the political equivalent of bribery with the additional perverse incentive for every other Senator to hold out their support for future legislation until the proponents cave in to their pork barrel demands. This will have the effect of more gridlock, and more of the same unsavory kind of policymaking that the rest of us find repulsive. Consequently, it should not be surprising why Scott Brown became so popular so quickly.
Our leaders in state government should heed these lessons of January 19th. For too long, a culture of entitlement and narcissism has existed on Beacon Hill. The Boston Globe used the loaded words “arrogance” and “corruption” to describe the current state of one-party rule on Beacon Hill in its editorial this past Sunday. Those words may be strong, but not entirely off-base. About a month before the special election, state representatives were actively jockeying to get appointed as Martha Coakley’s successor as Attorney General. We have had three straight Speakers of the House resign under federal indictment with two having been convicted thus far. The current Speaker has racked up almost $400,000 in legal bills, all at taxpayers’ expense, dealing with the federal investigation of his predecessor and has refused to disclose the lawyers’ invoices. Our State Senate has not been immune from legislators behaving badly. As a Democrat and as a patriot who believes in the virtues of a representative democracy, I am profoundly disappointed in the way my party’s leaders have represented us in the State House. As a political party, Democrats must regroup and purge the selfish elements from its leadership ranks. The old way of doing business on Beacon Hill needs to change. The ethics reform bill passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor last year was too little, too late. We should not need to pass legislation to remind us how to act appropriately. What we really need, and what the voters appear to be thirsting for, is a new approach to state government- one that elevates substance over ceremony and policy over politics.
Our new leaders need to be serious policymakers who bring a fresh, sober perspective on the state of our state, not career politicians. As elected officials, our goals should not be about getting re-elected or protecting our behinds, but advancing sound public policies to ensure long-term sustainability beyond the next election cycle. Our leadership needs to be bold and visionary, capable of resisting the powerful influences of special interests and lobbyists, and creating new ideas to improve the quality of life for citizens of every race, ethnicity, and socio-economic status.
The first test will be on April 13th, when Democratic and Unenrolled voters in the Suffolk, Middlesex and Essex Senate District decide who to nominate to replace Anthony Galluccio. A special election will also almost certainly be held to replace Scott Brown as well. These two early elections will be true bellwethers for the state-wide elections in September and November.
