GUEST COMMENTARY: Offering social, economic justice

I am Patrick Murphy, the true Independent in this race. As a citizen legislator, I will accept no more than the average salary of workers here in this district, and will forgo health care until all Americans are cared for. In challenging a system that equates money with political viability, I may be the first candidate ever to raise money not for my own campaign, but instead for local charitable groups.

More importantly, I am raising many new ideas that distinguish me from any other candidate. My proposal, the Shared Sacrifice Act, which would establish a temporary war tax applied progressively on all non-military, non-veteran households, will be proposed by Congressman McGovern later this month. The legislation would provide greater transparency in war funding, a return of constitutional authority to the Congress to declare, continue or ultimately end war — this war — and by more directly connecting the consequences of war to civilians, preventing a similar mistake from happening again. Characteristic of my independent and creative thought, the bill is a non-partisan idea which harmonizes our desire to provide in Iraq for our troops’ safety, to safely bring them home, and to see to it that they and future troops are never used so wantonly in war, and without the American people agreeing to share in their sacrifice. 

I am the only candidate who proposes a truly universal system of health care, which would cover not only the current uninsured, but also raise the level and quality of care for the millions of underinsured. In this improvement and expansion of Medicare for all, the government would simply become the insurer —the “single-payer” — replacing the fragmented system of for-profit insurance companies, but preserving the current delivery of private health care. Patients would be free to choose their own doctors and hospitals.

Gone would be denial of payment because of “pre-existing conditions” or less extensive coverage, and the hassle of a patient’s bills, which would be paid by the government rather than insurance companies. Using the bargaining leverage of the government, easing health risks among the entire population, and focusing on the long-term wellness of patients, the system would keep costs down more effectively and simply than any other. From the profit-making insurance industry which may raise premiums, co-pays and deductibles as they have each year and deny or limit coverage to patients without appeal, power would shift back to individual citizens themselves who may now hold our insurer — the government — accountable to our will as a people.

I am also the only candidate who will not reauthorize President Bush’s failed No Child Left Behind Act, yet has instead an education plan for how every child gets ahead. As the son of longtime Lowell public school teachers, I understand well the burdens this flawed law imposes on those school systems that are least able to bear them. A greater federal emphasis on early education, starting with preschool opportunities and continuing with primary and secondary education can raise the level of opportunities for all.

While preserving local control, federal funding would weaken the inequities inherent in our reliance upon property taxes and strengthen the ability of our school systems to recruit and retain more well-qualified teachers and construct new school buildings The reduced class sizes would allow for a fundamental shift away from rote preparation for standardized tests to a truer education based upon personal teacher-student relationships, providing a sound foundation on which to build a lifetime of learning. We may then return to an education that encourages not knowledge in pursuit of a child, but a child in pursuit of knowledge.

On these issues — the war, health care and education — and many others, I offer a distinct and energetic agenda of social and economic justice. My ideas place substance before style, long-term solutions over short-sighted conveniences, our nation’s interest above narrower ones, and most importantly, a concern for the lives of people and families over abstract partisan ideologies. This is what we need now as a nation: a comprehensive and creative vision of where we want to be as a country, and someone with the intellect, courage and independence to lead us there. 

Patrick Murphy is a candidate for the 5^th Congressional District seat from Lowell.