To the editor:
Don Berwick, Democratic candidate for Massachusetts governor, sets bold goals:
- Single-payer health care
- An education system that gives every student the opportunity to succeed
- Bold renewable energy and environmental standards
- Jobs and an economy that gives everyone the chance to thrive
- An end to child poverty and chronic homelessness
- No casinos
- Grassroots supportive progressive movement
But every politician says he/she will accomplish miracles if elected to office—why do I believe Don can do it? First, Berwick is committed to meeting his goals. He boasts that he can accomplish all of them in 10 years—all of them. Second, as a pediatrician, executive and leader, Don has mastered the skills to deliver what he promises:
- MD from Harvard Medical School
- Pediatrician, Boston’s Children’s Hospital and Harvard Community Health Plan
- Founder, nonprofit Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), 1991:
- IHI’s current annual budget is $40 million, staff of 150
- IHI projects have saved hundreds of thousands of lives nationally and internationally
- knighted by Queen Elizabeth for making British health care more efficient, 2005
- Administrator of U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 2010:
- $800 billion budget, staff of over 5,500
- implemented important provisions of Affordable Care Act
- Only candidate for governor to state that he opposes casinos
Third, Don Berwick sees Massachusetts as a beacon to lead our nation to the progressive ideals of justice, equality and compassion. The Commonwealth is the first state that committed to health care as a human right, that said you can marry whom you love, that built an enviable energy system, and that now has the most sane gun laws in the country.
Grassroots supportive progressive movement: Don needs us. He is calling for a grassroots movement to spread out across our state to educate Massachusetts voters about Don Berwick and his progressive agenda. Help our Lincoln grassroots team hand-address, note and stamp preprinted postcards to voters identified by the Berwick campaign office. Please contact Peggy Schmertzler at alpegs@verizon.net or 781-259-0465.
Sincerely,
Peggy Schmertzler
142 Chestnut Circle
Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters must be about a Lincoln-specific topic, will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.
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