Gabbin’ with Gabrieli — at length!

• David asked first: Why run for governor? Gabrieli notes (as does Christy Mihos) that Massachusetts is 46^th in job creation.
  
  To Gabrieli, the economy is not just a source of opportunity for individuals, but also allows
  
  government to expand investments for social programs that increase social justice and
  
  quality of life. Gabrieli cites the book “The
  
  Moral Consequences of Economic Growth”as influential. (I suspect Bob may have something to say about that — stay tuned.)

  Gabrieli is
  
  heavily involved in education policy; the Mass2020 organization that he’s headed has pushed for longer school days and enriched curricula. Currently, he says, the education system works well enough for the upper-middle class, but
  
  accentuates the divide between classes. He calls the class gap in college-attendance rates a “disgrace for a nation that believes in opportunity for all.” 

  As for why he is the best candidate, Gabrieli cites his experience as Shannon O’Brien’s 2002 running-mate; while that ended in defeat, of
  
  course, he claims the experience has taught him how to deal with Republicans, in a state with the third-longest streak of Republican governors in US. “We have a state in the habit of voting for
  
  Republican governors, and the GOP knows how to win.” He cites the “Rove-style destruction of character”; and the message-discipline of being against the legislature and for lower
  
  taxes. He claims to have a track record with specific results in job creation and education reform. In the absence of a specific record of
  
  achievement, he says, “folks will vote for person to keep their taxes low.” In any event, he says he wants to force a real debate and discussion about what to do with the state.

• Gabrieli has already mentioned the high cost of living as a major issue in the campaign, so I asked about housing, specifically if he was willing to make enemies among the communities that avoid development with lavish or arcane zoning requirements. Gabrieli ackowledges the political challenge, citing the difference between those who have enjoyed property value increases, and those young people who are being kept out of the market. “It’s a have and have-not problem,” he says. But his answer is clear enough: “Yes, I would take on those interests.” He feels that 40B, the affordable housing permit law, is not nearly strong enough. But he also suggests that we also develop in the path of least resistance, perhaps using rail expansion as a way to expand the housing market outwards from Boston: “We have to think harder about more growth and housing where people do want it … New Bedford’s a fabulous place; they’re dyin’ for more people to come there.”

• David asked about Gabrieli’s position in favor of rolling back
  
  the state income tax to 5%. Gabrieli says, “You can go to 5.0, but you
  
  have to
  
  have a plan.” He justifies it by stating:

• It’s an
  
  expensive state in which to live, middle-class tax relief.

• Voters voted for
  
  it. Of course we needed to suspend it when we did, but you’ve got to
  
  keep faith with voters.

• Politically, as a Democrat, you don’t
  
  want to be a Walter Mondale candidate; you’re gonna lose.

  Gabrieli claims not to be promising all things to all people fiscally,
  
  citing the anti-toll, anti-tax, pro-local-aid-hike Christy Mihos as the
  
  most, uh, “optimistic” candidate on that front. But the question
  
  remains (from David): What about property taxes, especially if the
  
  income tax goes down? Gabrieli is concerned for seniors, but says,
  
  “Deep down, I think this problem
  
  will flatten out with the real estate bubble,” in other words, that as
  
  home prices stabilize further, so will property taxes. As for other
  
  responsibilities of localities: “Any Democrat has to have the courage
  
  to take on some things
  
  that would reduce the cost of government,” citing the limited ability
  
  of cities and towns to negotiate employees’ health benefits, which have
  
  <a
  
  href=”http://davideisenthal.typepad.com/the_eisenthal_report/2005/09/bizarre_and_out.html”>skyrocketed
  
  in cost.

• I asked about the next governor’s implementation of the new
  
  health care framework; things like cost control, impact on
  
  self-employed,
  
  and entrepreneurship. Gabrieli gives the legislature credit for doing something,
  
  with
  
  veto-proof majorities. He imagines bolder
  
  possibilities with a governor who would negotiate a more ambitious
  
  plan. In general, he likes the framework of shared responsibility
  
  between individuals, employers, and the government; but “I don’t see
  
  how $295 a year is
  
  fair for a large corporation, compared to <a
  
  href=”http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/04/07/will_public_buy_the_healthcare_plan/”>$325
  
  a month for individual.”

  As for small business, “Yeah, I do worry about entrepreneurship,” he
  
  says; but notes that the new
  
  bill does have new buying pools for small companies, which should
  
  reduce premiums for them.  He describes himself as “very anxious” about
  
  individual mandate. “I know enough about
  
  philosophical underpinnings … it’s chilling: Basically, [it means]
  
  you’re on your own in
  
  health care.”

• David raised the hope that in spite of the apparent deal to let
  
  Mitt Romney kill Cape Wind, that it might be “un-killed” by next
  
  governor. Gabrieli claims to be willing to take risks to move to
  
  renewable energy; but cites two concerns: making sure Cape Wind is a
  
  fair deal for the government (i.e taxpayers); and that
  
  the specific technology is right. “I lean in favor; but boy is it
  
  important to be
  
  careful regulator of large-scale, investor-driven project.” 
  

• I asked about Romney’s dumping of the <a
  
  href=”http://www.rggi.org/”>Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative:
  
  Gabrieli pounced: “It’s outrageous”. A Governor Gabrieli would enter
  
  the state into RGGI.

• On behalf of BMG reader FrankSkeffington, I asked about public
  
  financing of campaigns. Gabrieli is pro-public finance. “The version in
  
  2002 wouldn’t have been great, but what the heck, let’s do something
  
  different.” He states we should try to be innovators in the system so
  
  that more
  
  people from different walks of life — and varying income levels — can
  
  run. David suggested that free airtime would be even better, which
  
  Gabrieli basically agreed with; essentially a candidate needs a
  
  baseline of media exposure to get his/her message out.

The conversation continued on into more rarified areas of convention

process, and delegates, and 15% … but if you’ve gotten this far you

already know all that stuff. Anyway, I hope this is useful.

Please share widely!

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