This is my first post on DailyKos, so please grade me on a curve.
While I am not an early adopter of technology I did take the plunge and have migrated my personal email from AOL to Gmail, which I have been told by friends is a big step forward!
I have two main purposes for posting:
- To introduce myself and my campaign for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 6th Congressional District and
- To respond to the Orange-to-Blue questionnaire, which was posted earlier this week.
More below.
I served on the Editorial Board of The Philadelphia Inquirer for 14 years, writing about a broad range of policy issues in southeast Pennsylvania. I also served as President of a hospital for on Long Island 10 years and served for 3 years as Special Assistant and Speechwriter for U.S. Senator Paul Tsongas (D-MA).
For most of my life I was an editorial writer – an advocate for common sense, progressive change. Working at the Philadelphia Inquirer was a great job. My job wasn’t to turn a cute phrase, but to dig deep into issues and advocate for change on issues like corruption, wasteful spending, and insider deals.
I wrote about the need to raise the minimum wage, to achieve real healthcare reform, and to ensure equal rights. To do my job, I had to really listen to people. It’s a skill that’s unfortunately missing in a lot of the people who have been down in Washington for a long time.
I never thought I’d run for office, but I decided to challenge Jim Gerlach because I’m too frustrated to sit on the sidelines and watch flashy, career politicians like him keep leading our country in the wrong direction.
I’m no Scott Brown. You will never see my photo in a magazine centerfold, but you will see me working hard for good jobs, for health care reform, and for the best possible education for our kids.
I’ve been a member of two unions in my career, which is one of the reasons I am so committed to representing the working people of Pennsylvania. As a young writer trying to break into a career in journalism, I worked as a Retail Clerk to pay the bills, and at the Inquirer I was a member of the Newspaper Guild for 14 years. I’ve felt the benefits of being a member of a union in my own pocketbook.
That’s why it has been both a personal and professional honor to have been endorsed by or received the financial support of 20 labor organizations. Last month alone I was honored to receive the endorsements of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, SEIU, and ASFCME.
In our primary campaign, both my Democratic opponent and I have thrown some elbows. Some in the Pennsylvania media have even speculated that our primary could become one of the "nastiest" of the year. That would be a real disservice to the Democratic Party because that sort of negative campaign would make it much harder for the nominee to topple Republican Rep. Jim Gerlach, who recently re-entered the race.
That is why last month I proposed a positive primary pledge for my opponent, Manan Trivedi, and me in order to give whoever wins the nomination a stronger chance to beat Gerlach. Either of us would be a much better member of Congress for the people of Pennsylvania than Gerlach.
I’d appreciate your thoughts in the comment section – but you should also feel free to email me directly at Doug@PikeForCongress.com, if you have any additional questions. You can also check out our website at: http://www.pikeforcongress.com/
Questionnaire
- Do you support:
a) A public health insurance option, offered by the federal government and tied to Medicare reimbursement rates plus 5% (H.R. 3200 § 223, as introduced in the House)?
Yes. As the former President of a hospital, I have seen insurance companies try to put their profits over patient care. We need a strong public option to create the type of real competition needed to bring down costs. I’m proud to have been loudly campaigning for a strong public option and against restrictions on women’s health care, such as the Stupak Amendment, throughout my campaign.
b) The Public Option Act (H.R. 4789), which would allow all citizens to buy into Medicare?
Absolutely. Moments after U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach voted against the Health Care Reform bill in the House, in an email to my supporters and the press, I called for two important next steps on health care reform. Here is an excerpt from that email:
Here are two key improvements we still need:
1. Give Americans a strong public option, such as the right to buy into Medicare should they choose. This will create the type of competition with private insurers that will bring down costs for families and businesses alike.
2. Health insurance companies currently get special treatment and are exempt from anti-trust laws. Ending this exemption passed the House once, but we need to keep fighting to achieve this in order to create more competition and lower the cost of health care.
- Do you support the Employee Free Choice Act (H.R. 1409/S. 560), including the provision known as "card check"?
Yes. I know the importance of a worker’s ability to organize a union, have a voice, and bargain collectively. As a former member of two unions myself (the Retail Clerks and then the Newspaper Guild), I understand why unions are important. And that is why I believe we need more union workers, not fewer, in tough economic times.
- Do you support a repeal of the policy known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (10 U.S.C. § 654)?
Yes, I strongly support repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. The House’s leader on repealing DADT is a strong supporter of mine: U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy.
I also support marriage equality as a matter of basic fairness.
You can read more about my stances on many issues impacting the LGBT community on this more extensive questionnaire here:
http://www.libertycity.org/...
- Do you agree that any immigration reform bill should:
a) Contain a meaningful path to citizenship - one that does not include overly-punitive fines or a touchback requirement - for law-abiding undocumented immigrants currently in the United States;
b) Ensure that expanded legal permanent immigration, rather than expansion of temporary worker programs, serves as the United States' primary external answer to workforce shortages; and
c) Ensure that any non-agricultural temporary worker programs maintain current caps on the total number of non-agricultural temporary worker visas issued, and also include a meaningful prevailing wage requirement keyed to the Service Contract Act and Davis-Bacon Act?
I will definitely support comprehensive immigration reform. In my endorsement interview with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) this was a key area of discussion – and I was proud to receive their endorsement just last month.
My mom taught English as a second language for 20 years. We are a nation of immigrants and nowhere was that clearer than at her memorial service, it was amazing to see the rainbow of faces in the crowd – the lives that she had touched from all over the globe.
It is time for us to have the courage to move forward on comprehensive immigration reform.
- Do you think Congress should act to suspend regulation of greenhouse gas emissions by the Environmental Protection Agency?
No. Environmental protection is no longer an option for our country—it’s a necessity. This is exactly why I blasted Gerlach in the press minutes after he voted against the House cap-and-trade legislation in 2009.
From 1979 through 1982, I was special assistant to U.S. Senator Paul Tsongas (D-MA). I worked with him to shift the U.S. toward energy efficiency and renewable energy resources. If we had only had the courage to follow his lead, we would be less dependent on fossil fuels, more secure as a nation, and be less imperiled by climate change.
We can no longer treat the earth as our trash can – and I will be a fighter on this issue in Congress.
- If elected to the House, do you pledge not to join the Blue Dog Coalition?
Yes. I am a progressive deficit hawk – not a Blue Dog. Here is an excerpt from an interview, on Above Average Jane, where I discussed so-called "fiscal conservatives:"
I would say that I am a progressive deficit hawk – not a Blue Dog. As an opinion writer I attacked the wasteful and misguided priorities of the Republicans in Congress like Gerlach who endorsed the borrow-and-spend policies of Republican President George W. Bush and Halliburton’s contribution to the team: Vice President Dick Cheney. Here is an excerpt of a 2006 Inquirer column of mine:
"George W. Bush couldn't have made such a mess of things for the last six years without reliable support from Republicans in Congress. He and GOP lawmakers were strongly united on invading Iraq, tilting tax relief toward the wealthy, exploding the national debt, letting the minimum wage wilt to inflation, and much more."
A strong public option will keep health care costs down. While many Blue Dogs supported the Stupak Amendment, I spoke out against its untenable restrictions on a woman’s right to get health care – and that’s what choice is all about: the right of woman to make decisions about and have access to health care. I spoke out at the time and will continue to stand up for women’s rights.
Here is a link to the rest of that interview:
http://aboveavgjane.blogspot.com/...
- If elected to the Senate, do you pledge to restore majority rule to the Senate and work/vote to end the filibuster?
While I am not running for the Senate, as an editorial writer, I advocated for Senator Tom Harkin’s proposal to end the chokehold that the filibuster has on the Senate’s ability to act democratically. I still believe this is an important reform that is needed in Washington.