Yesterday, I took a half day off of work and drove four hours south to Portsmouth, NH to see the Governor. He shook many, many hands in Portsmouth before going to a house party/ "job interview" in Dover -- which I also attended. Folks, he is such a genuinely nice guy. That is the biggest thing I came away thinking.
But I should let you know some other things he said which are really exciting. First of all, he kicked off his "Women for Richardson" group. With this, he added some initiatives which he will pursue once in the White House.
He said for Supreme Court nominations, he will come out and ask what the potential nominee thinks about Roe vs. Wade and whether it is settled law.
He wants to give caregivers a social security credit. This point is important because being a caregiver is one of the reasons that women get smaller social security checks than men. When someone leaves the workforce to care for a child or parent, they don't get credit for those years. Governor Richardson wants to rectify that inequity.
He wants to mandate that employers disclose pay statistics by gender, race, and job category, so that women can see if they are being treated fairly in the workplace. This too is major. Far too often, women are still being paid less than men who do the same work. But it is hard to find the data. With Richardson's proposal, we would have that data.
Of course, he also spoke about the war. Richardson has been outspoken about the need to withdraw our troops quickly. He pointed out that our troops are not preventing a civil war; there is already a civil war. He also would seek a diplomatic solution. With his diplomatic ability and experience, I think he has the best chance of being able to achieve a diplomatic solution.
Another point that I found interesting is Governor Richardson said he would support expanding public financing of elections. I think this is a very important issue and would urge everyone who reads this to check out the organization Just $6 (I do not know if the Governor supports their version of expanded public financing or not, but the organization is worth checking out regardless.)
What a great guy! As more people get to know him, I am sure they will agree.
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4 comments:
I agree with you regarding public financing of elections. Arizona and Maine have been doing it for almost a decade and now we have a chance to bring a similar system to Congressional elections. The bi-partisan bill in the U.S. Senate is The Fair Elections Now Act. A complimentary bill is in the House. We need to let our elected reps know we're tired of government of, by, and for Lobbyists and push for public financing of elections at all levels of government. (For additional non-partisan info see www.just6dollars.org or www.publicampaign.org).
Yes, I have been signed on to www.just6dollars.org since their inception. The candidates for state office here in Maine love the clean elections. You can focus on running and issues instead of fundraising.
really great post!! do you blog on the campaign website too? you should cross-post this on myDD and DKos too! but you should definitely blog on the campaign site.
great highlighting of what he talked about.
Bentley,
Just wanted to thank you for this great post and link from a while ago. We've since re-launched as You Street, but we're still working hard for public funding of elections. In fact, we're focusing on Maine, given your state's success with public funding. Would love to get in touch with you about this work. You can reach me at info [at] youstreet . org. Thanks!
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