The importance of Tuesday’s election is greater than any other in our state’s recent history. We face a dismal outlook for economic growth and the effectiveness of our social programs and educational and health care systems are seriously threatened by state budget cuts. The leaders we elect to the corner office this Tuesday will be responsible for deciding the ways in which Massachusetts will survive this crisis. Our next governor and lieutenant governor will be making value judgments on which programs to cut and which to save. The question for you, the voter, is: whom do you trust to make those decisions?
We recommend Shannon O’Brien and Chris Gabrieli to the Boston University student body. O’Brien, a Boston University School of Law alumnae, has a record of effectively streamlining government during fiscal crunches that continually plague this state. As a Massachusetts legislator, and currently as the commonwealth’s first female state treasurer, O’Brien has worked through several budget crises without compromising the values she shares with the people of Massachusetts. Though social programs are easy targets for budget cuts, O’Brien has continually been a strong advocate of education, affordable and available healthcare, a clean environment, affordable housing, women’s rights and gay and lesbian rights.
Like Republican candidate Mitt Romney, Chris Gabrieli is a business entrepreneur who brings with him a managerial mindset that respects the importance of fiscal discipline, one that O’Brien has also demonstrated so well. Yet, unlike Mitt Romney, Gabrieli has spent his career in Massachusetts giving back to the state that afforded him so much. A father of five, Gabrieli is involved in many charity and non-profit organizations to ensure proper education and the availability of after-school programs for children of all ages. Gabrieli’s track record ensures us, the voters, that he will keep the values and morals of the people at heart when making fiscal decisions. Unlike Mitt Romney, Gabrieli’s record promises that the welfare of the people of Massachusetts will not be forgotten simply because the economy is down.
The Massachusetts Teachers Unions recognize the need to have Shannon O’Brien and Chris Gabrieli in the corner office and proudly endorse the O’Brien-Gabrieli ticket. The needs of our primary and high schools have been put on the back burner during the past 12 years of Republican governance, but O’Brien and Gabrieli have proposed many intelligent plans to correct this injustice. They believe that if schools are required to administer tests to children (e.g. the MCAS) then schools should receive help reaching these standards, while also being accountable for the quality of education that they deliver to their communities. The O’Brien-Gabrieli ticket, rather than supporting the abolition of bilingual education, supports a sweeping reform within the state’s educational system that puts the choice and power into the hands of local school districts. The commonwealth’s schools are already strapped for funds, and O’Brien and Gabrieli adamantly oppose a state-imposed voucher program that strip public schools of even more resources.
The Massachusetts Nurses Association and organized labor unions have also endorsed the O’Brien-Gabrieli ticket because it is the only one whose plans will effectively help reduce the cost of the healthcare to Massachusetts’ workers and families. O’Brien and Gabrieli will move Massachusetts forward by taking advantage of federal programs that allow the bulk purchasing and distribution of prescription drugs. Unlike other candidates for governor, O’Brien’s plan is concrete and attainable. It will not create an even larger healthcare bureaucracy nor does it rely on unattainable federal reimbursements.
The O’Brien-Gabrieli ticket also addresses a matter of great importance to the student body: the current housing crisis. Unlike past and current Republican administrations, they do not plan to ‘leave it up to the private sector that created the mess.’ O’Brien and Gabrieli will take charge of the situation so we all have the opportunity to find affordable, quality housing.
O’Brien has been an adamant supporter of a woman’s right to choose. Though Mitt Romney claims to be pro-choice, only one candidate received the endorsement of the National Organization of Women, EMILY’s List and Planned Parenthood: Shannon O’Brien. In the State Senate, O’Brien worked to pass legislation creating greater protection for and access to clinics statewide. She co-sponsored a bill that allocated state funding to counseling centers for victims of rape and incest. Indeed, domestic violence is an issue of great importance to O’Brien as a state legislator, she sponsored and voted for numerous bills that improved battered women’s shelters and ensured that violent offenders are prosecuted and punished.
As a woman of integrity, O’Brien has stood up for gay and lesbian rights in the commonwealth. In 1987, O’Brien helped pass the Gay and Lesbian Civil Rights Bill in the state legislature. Unlike the Mitt Romney-Kerry Healey ticket, O’Brien and Gabrieli support civil unions and have a record of fighting for the rights of all individuals, regardless of sexual preference.
Undoubtedly, many tough decisions will be made over the next four years. We must be certain that the correct decisions are made ones that reflect the values of the people and students of Massachusetts. It is our belief that Shannon O’Brien and Chris Gabrieli will bring these values into the corner office and move Massachusetts in the right direction.
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