Candidate for Lt. Gov speaks to Progressives
All for increasing local aid and creating jobs, Lt. Governor candidate Deborah Goldberg of Brookline said it's high time the state got back on track responding to people's needs and slammed the Republicans at the state and federal level.
"The Romney-Healey administration has scapegoated us, and it simply must stop," she said at a Progressive Democrats of Somerville meeting on Tuesday. "It's very important for the future of our state that Democrats get back in the corner offices this November because it's time to get the state back on track and put in basic programs from the bottom up."
Meeting local residents at the meeting, many of whom are delegates to the state convention this year, Goldberg, 51 and a former Brookline selectman, said Massachusetts should once again become a fiscally responsible, socially progressive and economically innovative commonwealth.
Admitting that she often takes a stance that may not be popular, she said she remains committed to her values. This includes not supporting the MCAS as a graduation requirement.
"We need a portfolio of assessment, not one test," she said, pointing to the time and money spent on MCAS teaching in the state.
Supporting financial insurance for partners since the '90s, she said she believes it's a civil rights issue and not a financial issue as many politicians say it is.
"This is what Republicans have done to us," she said. "Gotten us to fight over issues that have nothing to do with what's happening in Massachusetts today."
On the frontlines of the choice issue, free speech and immigrant rights, Goldberg has also worked against tax rollbacks, and said she will continue to do so.
"I know we are funding everything with property tax, and that's the worst form of taxation there is," she said.
Asked about public transportation, she said she understands it's a pressing need in Somerville, and she is interested in investing in real options and money she knows is available to fund them. On the same vein, she is also keen to cut down on global warming and greenhouse gases with greener technology.
Citing health care, housing and education as basic human rights instead of options, she said the Republican administration has to stop twisting issues and start serving the people.
"The Romney administration and the one at [Washington] have created smoke and mirrors," she said. "Capital gains are not really a surplus; they are brought about by cuts to essential services ... We can do better."
