Patrick Long for State Representative

Background:

As Chairman of the American Values Club, I have worked to further progressive causes (specifically environment, civil liberties, healthcare, and education) through ballot initiatives, and to make the country more democratic through spreading the ballot initiative process.

Goals:

I am running because Pignatelli is part of the reason Massachusetts has an 80% Democrat legislature and yet fails to pass much progressive legislation. AVC's 2004 initiative on the Patriot Act resulted in a resolution which would have helped us fight the Patriot Act when it came up for renewal, and Pignatelli was alone in the Berkshire county delegation in not asking the Speaker to bring it to a floor vote in time. I intend to make the Speaker more accountable to the people, and in the process, do the same to individual legislators.

Issues:

Civil liberties, healthcare, environment

Grassroots Support:

The primary base of support for my campaign will be people who have volunteered for and voted for the civil liberties initiative, and those who have volunteered for the renewable energy initiative. Ballot initiatives are the most democratic form of government available at higher than the town level, and the same campaign organization which supported those is now my main base of support.

DFA Values:

My responses to above questions demonstrate my social progressivism pretty thoroughly. In all cases where possible, I prefer achieving these goals through incentives to the private sector, which cost less money than bloated government programs. As someone who has run a business, I understand how to keep expenses down, and the importance of having the private sector solve problems to make government spending unnecessary (for example, tax incentives for producers of clean and renewable energy cost far less than paying to clean up PCBs later).