Jill Stein: Investigate the big fish first

Jill Stein, the Massachusetts Green-Rainbow Party candidate for governor, released the following statement on May 5:

BOSTON (May 5, 2010) – Today Green-Rainbow gubernatorial candidate Jill Stein rejected the suggestion of Republican Charlie Baker who was quoted yesterday as saying that state assistance in housing and legal defense could be withdrawn from state residents on the basis of “lifestyle” investigations into whether they were sufficiently poor to need help.

“If we’re going to start investigating lifestyles, let’s start by first investigating the lifestyles of Deval Patrick and Charlie Baker’s wealthy corporate friends who are pocketing hundreds of millions of dollars in needless taxpayer giveaways.” Stein retorted.

Stein pointed out that Deval Patrick’s Economic Assistance Coordinating Council has approved 1399 of 1400 applications for corporate tax breaks, sometimes giving an “incentive” for a facility expansion that was already completed.

“The place to start investigating is at the top, not the bottom” Stein asserted. “In recent years, both Democratic and Republican administrations have wasted billions in poorly justified giveaways to well-connected Beacon Hill players. Charlie Baker wants to get people riled up about some poor person on the bottom rung of the economic ladder who could be squeezed a little harder. That’s just a distraction from the real housecleaning that needs to take place on Beacon Hill”.

Stein noted that her three rivals, Deval Patrick, Charlie Baker, and Tim Cahill, have already raised millions of dollars from the very corporate interests that have been the beneficiaries of sweetheart deals with little public benefit. “It’s clear from the money they have already taken that there is little chance that any of them will have the stomach for the reforms that are needed to get this waste under control. It’s going to take a real outsider administration to start the needed clean-up. That’s why our campaign is refusing money from the corporate lobbyists – so we will have a free hand to decide which programs make sense and which need to be eliminated.”

Stein noted that the Green-Rainbow Party’s candidate for State Auditor, Nat Fortune, has promised to use that office to conduct a thorough review of whether taxpayers are getting their money’s worth in various state programs. “Nat says we have to forget all the political deals that led to these programs being set up, and just evaluate them on their merits, letting the chips fall where they may. I’m looking forward to working with Nat on this, because the potential cost savings for taxpayers will be enormous.”

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Dave Schwab