Thursday, April 1, 2010

Michael Stopa, Candidate.

Michael Stopa (Facebook profile here) resides in Holliston and is a physicist at Harvard University.  He has degrees from Wesleyan University and the University of Maryland, as outlined in his campaign bio and his work page.

Mr. Stopa's website is the most extensive of all the challenger's sites.  His site contains a Candidate Statement, a Platform, and position papers on Fiscal Sanity, the Ryan Plan, Health Care, Global Warming, the War on Terror, and Illegal Aliens.

Here are his stances on the issues, with quotes:

-Supports a reduction of 10% of federal employees and freezes that number until the national employment rate falls to 6%.
-Supports the protesters in Iran.
-Supports H.R. 6110.
-Opposes Cap and Trade legislation (reasons here).
-Opposes civilian trials for enemy combatants (reasons here).
-Supports the increase of combat troops in Afghanistan.
-Opposes the recently passed health care bill:
"First, it would not reduce costs. Second, it would ultimately place the government in the position of deciding which treatments and medicines were available and which were not. Only the very rich would be able to afford procedures and drugs outside of the governments sanctioned ones. And this leads to the final, and I think most crucial reason why rationed healthcare would be a disaster. It goes without saying that people want to lead longer, healthier lives. Never before has the potential of doing so been greater. Medical research is on the threshold of solving mysteries and discovering cures that will radically improve the quality and even the length of our lives. But medical research requires investment and risk. It has already been shown that the pharmaceutical industry in Europe, by virtue of government regulation and socialized medicine, has fallen well behind that of the United States and that the gap is increasing. Nothing will bring research to a screeching halt faster than replacing the hundreds of millions of consumers in America with a single, all-powerful consumer: the United States Government. If equality of access is what you desire at all cost, then choose Obamacare. If, on the other hand, you want for you and your children to live longer..."
-Supports gradual re-patriation of illegal immigrants:
"Re-patriation of illegal aliens is not, practically speaking, difficult. A temporary amnesty, whereby illegal aliens are immediately given temporary work visas and, independently, employers of illegal aliens are given amnesty from prosecution in return for reporting the employees for whom their work documents are suspicious (or whom they know to be in the country illegally), would result in the vast majority of illegal aliens being quickly recorded. A suitable period could be chosen that would permit those here illegally to sell any acquired property (also finish school years) and in an orderly fashion return to their countries. It would not matter much if this period were a year or longer. This program could then be combined with an implementation of E-verify which, sooner or later, will surely become the law of the land."

-Supports cuts in capital gains and business taxes to end the recession:
"What we in the middle class want is a reduction in taxes so that as we grow older and advance we are not having to run twice as fast to keep up with increasing marginal tax rates. What we in the middle class want is less government, not more."
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Mr. Stopa has an excellent site, full of information on his policies and low on flash.  I hope he continues to publish his position papers so we can get a better sense of all his beliefs, not just the hot button topics of this election cycle.

1 comment:

Crystal said...

I do very much disagree with his stance on current health care reform, as I feel it has no backing. Currently the insurance companies have way too much control over the system. I do not believe for profit companies that can dictate what services area provided should ever have been given that much power. But as most politicians are in bed with the insurance companies this will never change.
I was lucky the other day to hear some very prominent individuals in the payer world at the Health Care Reform Conference I was at the other day. Most believe that they, the insurance companies need to lead the way in the way of reform. Companies like BCBS of RI, who holds 75% of the market share in RI, has for the last 10 years never turned ANYONE away for a preexisting condition, child, adult, disabled.
But first and for most MEDICARE needs to lead the way, the government needs to do a complete overhaul of the 35 year old program. Currently awaiting Meaningful Use and a new fee schedule from Medicare in hopes to pay PCP more.
But I believe the government needs to LEAD the way and then all other commercial insurance and such will follow.
But it will not be the government HOLDING back anything, when insurance companies stop withholding needed treatments for individuals that will be the day that the government will not need to step in.
As Senator Whitehouse said at the meeting I was at the other day, with our current system, we are heading for the cliff. But I believe that payment systems need to be changed first and foremost. Whether that be in a Pay-Per-Performance or Capitation, it needs to be done.