Prison policy reform is a difficult issue, touching as it does on alcoholism, drug abuse, mental health issues. learning disabiolities and the list goes on. However what about people who are abusivel, drunk and disorderly, terrorising the neighbors to the point that they want to move, but not really committing any offence that they can reasonably be imprisoned for?. Whar about an ASBO? (Antisocial Behavior Order)
I am not necessarily advocating them, because they can be used when appropriate treatment of the underlying problem would be better, but it should be one of the options explored in a thoroughgoing review of prison policy
Friday, October 29, 2010
Limited Platform?
The Spectrum said that I presented a limited platform. This is post No 46 or thereabouts on perhaps not quite 46 different issued but a good number, so if there is a substantive issue I have not covered, please call me or leave a comment and I will make sure it is covered before Election Day
However the true irony is that I am running because everyone else is presenting a limited platform. No one has anything to say about the #1 job killer in our State, drug trade fuelled violence in out cities, nor the #1 preventable money sink, keeping 18,500 people in prison, a good number of whom are non violent and could be dealt with or treated in other ways. Let others talk about this and then we can talk about who has the limited platform.
However the true irony is that I am running because everyone else is presenting a limited platform. No one has anything to say about the #1 job killer in our State, drug trade fuelled violence in out cities, nor the #1 preventable money sink, keeping 18,500 people in prison, a good number of whom are non violent and could be dealt with or treated in other ways. Let others talk about this and then we can talk about who has the limited platform.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Help the Campaign
Yard Signs
If you want a sign on your lawn there is still time. Please call 203 417 3978
Donate
If you want to donate up to $50, please send a check made out to "Green67" and send to William J Mahar, Treasurer, Nicholas Payne 2010, 1 Tamarack Rd, New Milford, Ct. 06776.
Over $50 please call me on 203 417 3978 or go to green67.org to download the form we need to have filled in
It doesn't have to be before Election Day, any day before the end of the yeat is fine.
e
Help on Election Day
Help is needed to stand duty at polling stations handing out literature. Again please call me 203 417 3978
If you want a sign on your lawn there is still time. Please call 203 417 3978
Donate
If you want to donate up to $50, please send a check made out to "Green67" and send to William J Mahar, Treasurer, Nicholas Payne 2010, 1 Tamarack Rd, New Milford, Ct. 06776.
Over $50 please call me on 203 417 3978 or go to green67.org to download the form we need to have filled in
It doesn't have to be before Election Day, any day before the end of the yeat is fine.
e
Help on Election Day
Help is needed to stand duty at polling stations handing out literature. Again please call me 203 417 3978
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
The Connecticut Council of Police Endorsement
I am honored to be endorsed by AFSCME Council 15, the Connecticut Council of Police, for my commitment to collective bargaining rights and my desire to ensure that the Police are adequately compensated for the demanding and sometimes dangerous work that they do protecting the public.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Guns and your Second Amendment Rights
I said I would talk about guns and have spoken to people on both sides of the issue, so here is my considered opinion.
More gun laws in general inconvenience the law abiding, while being ignored by the criminal. The problem is not guns per se, because the state of Wyoming is knee deep in guns, but has one of the lowest murder rates in the country.
The problem is illegal guns and all the gun crime in our cities. Big city mayors want more restrictions on gun onwnership and you can sympathise with them, because of course they hate the carnage in their cities. Gun owners fear that one day the mayors and their supporters in Congress might pass stringent federal controls on gun ownership. The NRA views any restriction as anathema, appearing heartless and deaf to the wails of the mothers grieving for their murdered children. So what to do? As it happens I have already touched on the solution. By working on eliminating the illegal drugs trade by legalizing marijuana and providing heroin to addicts in relapse and other measures, drug trade fueled gun violence will diminish to the point that big city mayors will no longer see any reason to push for gun ownership restrictions and people will start to forget what the Second Amendment is all about. This is Green Party policy, which is so brilliant, it actually secures your Second Amendment rights just as a side effect of its main goal and does it more effectively than the NRA ever could for all the their bombast and bluster.
Just to clarify, people have asked me about my views on the Second Amendment. However, remember this is the Second Amendment to the US Consitution which reads
" A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed"
However I am running for the Connecticut State House so the relevant clause of the Connecticut Constitution Article I, Section 15 reads
" Every citizen has a right to bear arms in defense of himself and the state" and that is the Constitution that if elected I will swear to uphold and defend.
So there you have it. Vote Green November 2nd and as well as all the other brilliant benefits Green Party policy will bring, you will actually get your gun rights secured better than the NRA ever can. I also want to make clear that the Green Party is the Peace Party and is against people shooting each other for any reason.
More gun laws in general inconvenience the law abiding, while being ignored by the criminal. The problem is not guns per se, because the state of Wyoming is knee deep in guns, but has one of the lowest murder rates in the country.
The problem is illegal guns and all the gun crime in our cities. Big city mayors want more restrictions on gun onwnership and you can sympathise with them, because of course they hate the carnage in their cities. Gun owners fear that one day the mayors and their supporters in Congress might pass stringent federal controls on gun ownership. The NRA views any restriction as anathema, appearing heartless and deaf to the wails of the mothers grieving for their murdered children. So what to do? As it happens I have already touched on the solution. By working on eliminating the illegal drugs trade by legalizing marijuana and providing heroin to addicts in relapse and other measures, drug trade fueled gun violence will diminish to the point that big city mayors will no longer see any reason to push for gun ownership restrictions and people will start to forget what the Second Amendment is all about. This is Green Party policy, which is so brilliant, it actually secures your Second Amendment rights just as a side effect of its main goal and does it more effectively than the NRA ever could for all the their bombast and bluster.
Just to clarify, people have asked me about my views on the Second Amendment. However, remember this is the Second Amendment to the US Consitution which reads
" A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed"
However I am running for the Connecticut State House so the relevant clause of the Connecticut Constitution Article I, Section 15 reads
" Every citizen has a right to bear arms in defense of himself and the state" and that is the Constitution that if elected I will swear to uphold and defend.
So there you have it. Vote Green November 2nd and as well as all the other brilliant benefits Green Party policy will bring, you will actually get your gun rights secured better than the NRA ever can. I also want to make clear that the Green Party is the Peace Party and is against people shooting each other for any reason.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
The Flyer - Main Points of My Campaign
Vote Nicholas Payne for State Representative
(67th District)
Vote Green, November 2nd, for more Green in your pocket!
The Connecticut $3 billion Budget Hole and JOBS, JOBS, JOBS
Debate On CTV 21 Mon 10/25 12.30pm, and Fri 10/29 5pm
Wrap up Many items were discussed in the debate and my impression is that my opponent Clark Chapin is as smart and diligent as any legislator in Hartford, if not more so. However, when asked how he would fill the Budget Hole, he came up with a few cuts that would at most amount to a few million dollars. This says to me, that neither the Republicans nor the Democrats up in Hartford have a clue what to do. I, however have a plan.
Taxes kill jobs. Welcome to your new property tax bill. (New York style) There is a $3 billion hole in the Connecticut state budget for each year moving forward and you are going to fill it. The State cannot borrow more money, so the only thing left to do is to slash aid to towns, so the $16.1 million that the State would pay to New Milford starts to go bye bye, hiking property tax by up to 25%. I say, before soaking the towns the State should fix the cities and nothing should be off the table. Two key issues are drug policy reform and prison reform, two issues nobody wants to talk about..
The Plan 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. 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. As you know illegal drug dealing is responsible for so much of the violence and crime in our cities. This I propose should be done in stages. First legalize marijuana and treat it like alcohol for adults. We want the police to be able to expend 100% of their effort in getting drug dealers out of places like Schaghticoke School
Switch to Portuguese style Dissuasion Commissions for hard drug users. This is a judge, social worker and psychologist who work with the user to try and get them into treatment and then providing heroin under medical supervision to addicts during relapses. This is a better than buying it on the street and will take a huge chunk out of the violent drug trade.
No one wants to talk about drugs, prisons and guns, but that is where the money is to be saved.
Prisons 30 years ago there were 3,500 people in Connecticut’s prisons, now there are 18,500, at a cost similar to going to Yale. In some neighborhoods 1 man in 10 is in prison which, to put it bluntly means there are 9 men to 10 women. We know enough about human nature, to know that this is a perfect recipe for broken families and lots of new criminals to lock up in the future, keeping the system going.
Backing out of this mess is going to be difficult, because we must lock up violent criminals. However, it has to be done because the taxes to support all this are killing jobs. Drug policy reform will be key to this.
Jamie Oliver !
I will vigorously support at the State Level efforts to bring healthier school lunches to all our school children
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). Think how a dedicated bicycle lane on the fast section of Rte 7 from Lanesville Road to the Brookfield border would have helped. Also add sidewalks on Grove St.
Read my blog for updates and discussions of other issues.
Green67.blogspot.com or watch the debate on CTV21
Email nwpayne@earthlink.net, cell 203 417 3978, web green67.org
(67th District)
Vote Green, November 2nd, for more Green in your pocket!
The Connecticut $3 billion Budget Hole and JOBS, JOBS, JOBS
Debate On CTV 21 Mon 10/25 12.30pm, and Fri 10/29 5pm
Wrap up Many items were discussed in the debate and my impression is that my opponent Clark Chapin is as smart and diligent as any legislator in Hartford, if not more so. However, when asked how he would fill the Budget Hole, he came up with a few cuts that would at most amount to a few million dollars. This says to me, that neither the Republicans nor the Democrats up in Hartford have a clue what to do. I, however have a plan.
Taxes kill jobs. Welcome to your new property tax bill. (New York style) There is a $3 billion hole in the Connecticut state budget for each year moving forward and you are going to fill it. The State cannot borrow more money, so the only thing left to do is to slash aid to towns, so the $16.1 million that the State would pay to New Milford starts to go bye bye, hiking property tax by up to 25%. I say, before soaking the towns the State should fix the cities and nothing should be off the table. Two key issues are drug policy reform and prison reform, two issues nobody wants to talk about..
The Plan 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. 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. As you know illegal drug dealing is responsible for so much of the violence and crime in our cities. This I propose should be done in stages. First legalize marijuana and treat it like alcohol for adults. We want the police to be able to expend 100% of their effort in getting drug dealers out of places like Schaghticoke School
Switch to Portuguese style Dissuasion Commissions for hard drug users. This is a judge, social worker and psychologist who work with the user to try and get them into treatment and then providing heroin under medical supervision to addicts during relapses. This is a better than buying it on the street and will take a huge chunk out of the violent drug trade.
No one wants to talk about drugs, prisons and guns, but that is where the money is to be saved.
Prisons 30 years ago there were 3,500 people in Connecticut’s prisons, now there are 18,500, at a cost similar to going to Yale. In some neighborhoods 1 man in 10 is in prison which, to put it bluntly means there are 9 men to 10 women. We know enough about human nature, to know that this is a perfect recipe for broken families and lots of new criminals to lock up in the future, keeping the system going.
Backing out of this mess is going to be difficult, because we must lock up violent criminals. However, it has to be done because the taxes to support all this are killing jobs. Drug policy reform will be key to this.
Jamie Oliver !
I will vigorously support at the State Level efforts to bring healthier school lunches to all our school children
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). Think how a dedicated bicycle lane on the fast section of Rte 7 from Lanesville Road to the Brookfield border would have helped. Also add sidewalks on Grove St.
Read my blog for updates and discussions of other issues.
Green67.blogspot.com or watch the debate on CTV21
Email nwpayne@earthlink.net, cell 203 417 3978, web green67.org
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Closing Statement
Closing Statement and thanks to the New Milford Library for providing the space, Scott Benjamin the Moderator and the Housatonic Times for sponsoring the debate and my opponent Clark Chapin for his reasoned arguments and coverage of the issues and thanks to everyone who showed up.
State Employee Give backs more discussion
Protect those with demanding jobs and whose life is on the line
State Employee Give backs
The economy is a delicate animal, a balance of competing forces. Every businessman wants his wages costs to be low so that he can make a profit making his stuff, but he wants everyone else's wages to be high, so people have money to buy his stuff. A race to the bottom where wages are cut and cut is in nobodys' interest. But state employees are being paid by the taxpayer who is not as flush with cash as heretofore, so some concessions on perhaps an overly generous contract is fair.
The East West Connector
This road might actually increase traffic in town. We should look for cheaper fixes, like rerouting Youngs Field Road via Patriots' Way, to increase safety in the Park and to remove traffic congestion on the bridge. Also we should put a sidewalk the entire length of Grove Street and Route 7 through the business distirict
How to lower electricity rates
How to lower electricity rates and enhance the reliability of the grid and protect against blackouts
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Debate on CTV 21
Times are Mon 10/18 and 10/25 12.30pm, Wed 10/20 and Fri 10/29 5pm
Set your DVR ! Length is about an hour
Set your DVR ! Length is about an hour
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Gun Control
Since it is so easy to traffic guns from state to state, this is largely a federal matter, but there are a couple of issues that need attention. One is that those who have a protection order against them in a domestic violence situation are no longer permitted to buy a gun for the duration , but there is no provision in State Law for guns they already possess be removed from them for safe keeping. I want to change that.
Another issue is that there was a bill in the legislature to require gun owners who lose their guns or have them stolen to report it to the police. Unless you are in the habit of losing guns, this is perhaps once in a lifetime experience and so hardly an onerous requirement. However my opponent voted against it. Apparently for some, a stellar rating with the NRA is important. For me I would seek only one stellar rating, and that is from the citizens of the 67th district
Another issue is that there was a bill in the legislature to require gun owners who lose their guns or have them stolen to report it to the police. Unless you are in the habit of losing guns, this is perhaps once in a lifetime experience and so hardly an onerous requirement. However my opponent voted against it. Apparently for some, a stellar rating with the NRA is important. For me I would seek only one stellar rating, and that is from the citizens of the 67th district
Road Safety
Traffic Deaths are still too high in the State. I want more money to the Police to crack down on DUI and investigate new technology to make sobriety check points easier to run.
Also, I note my opponent voted against Motorcycle Training Courses for new licensees. These are particularly effective at reducing the number and severity of motorcycle accidents. Freedom to roam the roads is one thing, but the freedom to roam untutored and likely have others to pay to put you back in one piece is another matter altogether
Also, I note my opponent voted against Motorcycle Training Courses for new licensees. These are particularly effective at reducing the number and severity of motorcycle accidents. Freedom to roam the roads is one thing, but the freedom to roam untutored and likely have others to pay to put you back in one piece is another matter altogether
Immigration
There is a lot of holier than thou on this subject . We must remember that for every immigrant that breaks a law of a country not his own, by coming here, there is an American who is willing to break the laws of his own country by hiring him. Also while the immigrant will break laws to choose poverty over destitution, the American will break the laws of his own country just to save a couple of bucks by not hiring his or her fellow countryman. That said we are adults and this is an adult problem to fix and we should never take out our frustrations over our inability to fix the problem on the kids. So I applaud the recent bill that the legislature passed giving the kids of illegal immigrants in- state tuition at state universities and I think it unfair of my opponent to vote against it. The kids did not ask to come here, they did the work, they got into college. So why should they be penalized?
Energy / Electricity
As you know Connecticut has the highest electricity rates in the Northeast. Obviously we must continue to make sure that we are not burdened with costs that should properly be born by somebody else, but we must not shortchange the long term reliability of the distribution grid.
Failure in this area can be expensive for business to endure or make provision for. I support an expanded state effort to subsidize solar power installations particularly in commercial buildings, since solar cells produce the most power precisely when and where it is needed most, that is on hot summer afternoons
and save money by reducing the strain on the grid when it would be otherwise stretched to the limit and liable to fail.
Failure in this area can be expensive for business to endure or make provision for. I support an expanded state effort to subsidize solar power installations particularly in commercial buildings, since solar cells produce the most power precisely when and where it is needed most, that is on hot summer afternoons
and save money by reducing the strain on the grid when it would be otherwise stretched to the limit and liable to fail.
Health Care
Health care is driven by two forces, fear and the desire for choice and control.
Fear is the fear that you cannot get the proper treatment or if you do, the fear that it will bankrupt you. Beyond fear is the desire for choice and control over your health care. Therefore I support Sustinet as the first step on the road to a basic system that can cover everybody, a system that gets the job done and removes the element of fear from the health care equation, a Walmart system if you will. For those who prefer to shop at Lord and Taylor or Nordstrom, there will always be private insurers who can provide you with your every desire in the field of health care delivery. Such care is more costly to deliver but I want to make sure that these costs are paid by those who desire the ultimate level of choice, not those whose primary motivation is fear. My opponent voted against all health care legislation that came up. He may be happy with the current mess, I am not.
Fear is the fear that you cannot get the proper treatment or if you do, the fear that it will bankrupt you. Beyond fear is the desire for choice and control over your health care. Therefore I support Sustinet as the first step on the road to a basic system that can cover everybody, a system that gets the job done and removes the element of fear from the health care equation, a Walmart system if you will. For those who prefer to shop at Lord and Taylor or Nordstrom, there will always be private insurers who can provide you with your every desire in the field of health care delivery. Such care is more costly to deliver but I want to make sure that these costs are paid by those who desire the ultimate level of choice, not those whose primary motivation is fear. My opponent voted against all health care legislation that came up. He may be happy with the current mess, I am not.
The Debate
Debate Wrap up
Many items were discussed in the debate and my impression is that my opponent Clark Chapin is as smart and diligent as any legislator in Hartford, if not more so. However, when asked how he would fill the Budget Hole, he came up with a few cuts that would at most amount to a few million dollars. This says to me that neither the Republicans nor the Democrats up in Hartford have a clue what to do.
They all feel powerless in face of the fiscal tsunami which is about to overwhelm them. It is the worst case scenarion. I know about worst case scenarios and I have a plan. My plan, as discussed in previous blog posts takes us into areas that not many are comfortable about talking, drugs, guns and prisons. This plan should result in annually roughly $1.5 billion in direct savings and $1.5 billion in new revenues derived from new economic activity which will result from the reduction of violence in our cities. Of course new economic activity means new jobs too.
(Watch it on CTV 21 Mon 10/18 and 10/25 12.30pm, Wed 10/20 and Fri 10/29 5pm )
Other items that came up
Farm Preservation
Yes we agree largely
East West Connector.
There is a hill in the way. Let us concentrate on modest traffic improvements, left turn lanes and such
Obama's idea to extend the school year. I think this is a terrible idea ( I suggested that Obama had lost his marbles on this one) Besides the extra 17 days will be in June and July and do all our schools have air conditioning? I think not, so there would be an attention deficit all around.
Reorganising State Government. First, let us look at the function of government and what it should and should not be doing before we consider the shape of it, otherwise it will be like reorganizing the deckchairs on the Titanic.
State Employee Give Backs. There is room for some here.
Many items were discussed in the debate and my impression is that my opponent Clark Chapin is as smart and diligent as any legislator in Hartford, if not more so. However, when asked how he would fill the Budget Hole, he came up with a few cuts that would at most amount to a few million dollars. This says to me that neither the Republicans nor the Democrats up in Hartford have a clue what to do.
They all feel powerless in face of the fiscal tsunami which is about to overwhelm them. It is the worst case scenarion. I know about worst case scenarios and I have a plan. My plan, as discussed in previous blog posts takes us into areas that not many are comfortable about talking, drugs, guns and prisons. This plan should result in annually roughly $1.5 billion in direct savings and $1.5 billion in new revenues derived from new economic activity which will result from the reduction of violence in our cities. Of course new economic activity means new jobs too.
(Watch it on CTV 21 Mon 10/18 and 10/25 12.30pm, Wed 10/20 and Fri 10/29 5pm )
Other items that came up
Farm Preservation
Yes we agree largely
East West Connector.
There is a hill in the way. Let us concentrate on modest traffic improvements, left turn lanes and such
Obama's idea to extend the school year. I think this is a terrible idea ( I suggested that Obama had lost his marbles on this one) Besides the extra 17 days will be in June and July and do all our schools have air conditioning? I think not, so there would be an attention deficit all around.
Reorganising State Government. First, let us look at the function of government and what it should and should not be doing before we consider the shape of it, otherwise it will be like reorganizing the deckchairs on the Titanic.
State Employee Give Backs. There is room for some here.
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