My Platform

I am running for State Represetative in Hartford for the Connecticut 67th District which is roughly the eastern and southern parts of New Milford. Here is what I want to achieve as your Representative

Connecticut Budget Hole

The state faces unprecedented budget difficulties, difficulties in maintaining services while not raising taxes so that even more jobs are not chased away.
I propose measures to bring peace and tranquility to our cities, the current epidemic of crime and violence is in truth a very heavy burden on our depleted pockets. Apart from the obvious costs of prosecuting and locking up offenders, there are the much greater costs engendered by widespread poverty and hopelessness caused by violence. Connecticut while one of the wealthiest states in the union has some of the poorest cities. Bringing peace and tranquility will also cause a surge in economic activity and a renewed flow of taxes to fill the Budget Hole.
To do this I propose to wind down the so called War on Drugs and replace it with more effective policies, since illegal drug dealing is responsible for so much of the violence and crime in our cities. This I propose should be done in stages, since while many of the policies I propose are legislated or de facto in other parts of the country and the world, we have no way of knowing how they will work in Connecticut until they are tried. Thankfully the State of Connecticut sponsors a highly regarded Drug Policy Unit at Central Connecticut State University, whose recommendations I will largely follow.
1. Legalize marijuana for medical use, as in Maine, Rhode Island, New Jersey and 11 other states. Extend it to all use subsequently. California has a referendum on this in November, we may be able to follow their lead.
2. Experiment with providing heroin under medical supervision to heroin addicts. This is a better option for them than buying it on the street. There at least 700 other drugs available, so I propose that we extend this type of experiment to most of the main ones in order to knock the stuffing out of the illegal drugs trade with all its direct and knock on costs

Jamie Oliver !
I will vigorously support at the State Level efforts to bring healthier school lunches to all our school children

Get Connecticut back to work!
Stop Tax Giveaways that create jobs at $100,000 per job and support new and innovative industries that play to Connecticut's strengths, particualar in the Green Economy (renewable energy etc) which will be huge in the years ahead.

Better Democracy
There is no idea which is more dangerous to a Democracy than the idea that we have achieved it.
Public financing of elections as in Maine and Arizona. Keep the money out the picture. Connecticut tried, but the law needs fixing to be fairer to small parties.

Election Day registration as permitted in Maine, New Hampshire and 7 other states.

Allow prisoners to vote in the last five years of their term as in Vermont and Maine. These prisoners will soon be among us. Civic responsibility is an essential part of a prisoners rehabilitation.

Instant Runoff Voting. A little complicated this, allows you to vote with your heart as well as your head, read my blog entry for an explanation

Health
Pay for stop smoking programs using money from tobacco taxes. Connecticut is one of only five states that does not do this for Medicaid patients or require insurance companies to pay for it.

America loves socialist healthcare, so much so, that we have four systems and we spend more on it per head than many countries famous for their socialist healthcare.
The systems are Medicare, Medicaid, the VA System and the uninsured. The uninsured system is socialist because if you are uninsured, you wait until your situation is dire, go to the emergency room and the costs are passed on to everyone in a very socialist way. Given this love, I propose moving towards a single unified system that covers everybody, while of course everyone who wants private health care can still have it.

Education Equality
Provide more state funding for education, which will save on property taxes which mainly pays for it now. The will reduce the difference between rich and poor schools and reduce pockets of poverty which we pay for in other ways now.

Environment
I endorse the agenda of the Connecticut Fund for the Environment.
Bicycles
Make Connecticut more bicycle friendly (within reason). The hills of New Milford are not bicycle friendly, but think how a dedicated bicycle lane on the fast section of Rte 7 from Lanesville Road to the Brookfield border would help.

Pass enabling legislation to allow towns to tax land and buildings at different rates, this discourages sprawl and the need to expensively provide municipal services over a wide area.