California 100.00%
U.S. House of RepresentativesCandidate for District 12
Michael Goldstein
Lawyer/Author
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My Top 3 Priorities
- To better show the need for – and support the building of – a massive, sustainable, nonviolent movement to contain the .1% and institute real democracy. Like Bernie Sanders, spreading a vision. Unlike him, promoting a strategy beyond electoral work.
- Social and economic justice, economic and health security, peace, environmental sustainability, reducing the divisions among our people, creating a society hospitable to the needs of the human spirit.
- Using the resources of the office to expose how completely extreme wealth has a stranglehold on our political institutions.
Experience
Experience
Profession:Author, attorney, mediator
Deputy State Public Defender, Office of the State Public Defender — Appointed position (1998–2006)
Education
JFK University — M.A., Counseling Psychology (1995)
Stanford University — J.D., Law (1973)
Princeton University — A.B., with High Honors, Public and International Affairs (1969)
Questions & Answers
Questions from League of Women Voters of California Education Fund (5)
What financing method(s) would you support to repair or improve roads, rails, ports, airports, the electrical grid and other infrastructure in the U.S.?
Answer from Michael Goldstein:
Deep cuts in military spending, and a truly progressive income tax system, requiring a far greater contribution from those who benefit the most from the way we currently organize our economy ad have wealth to spare.
What programs or legislation, if any, would you support to help Americans of all ages secure affordable health care?
Answer from Michael Goldstein:
A single-payer system, drawing on the experience and best practices of the many countries that are ahead of us on this score.
Describe an immigration policy that you would support if presented to the House.
Answer from Michael Goldstein:
1) Effective support, via genuine grass-roots organizations, for the rebuilding of the countries devastated by our economic, political, and military intervention, conceived of as reparations.
2) An open door for refugees and liberal policies for other immigrants, more funding for resettlement, a reasonable path to citizenship.
3) Reinstatement of a friendly, government-protected environment for labor organizing, to minimize any depressing effect on wages, as well as far broader living-wage legislation.
4) Using the savings from massive military cuts to boost employment in areas such as infrastructure, green power, and helping communities deal with climate change.
What programs or legislation would you support to meet the water needs of Californians and the federal water project infrastructure in California?
Answer from Michael Goldstein:
I am sorry, but I have not studied this matter well enough to comment. In general, I am opposed to massive engineering projects to support development and expansion that meets someone's economic interests but is subject to the law of unintended consequencers and overall unsustainable. But I doubt if the situation is black and white. If I had any power to influence it, I would want to study it deeply.
According to a "Civility In America” survey, 75% of Americans believe that the U.S. has a major civility problem. If you are elected what will do to address this?
Answer from Michael Goldstein:
I would hope to model
- speaking the truth about what I see as the effects of people's actions without attacking them personally;
- recognizing that well-intentioned people can disagree
- noting that the very dangerous people whom I think need to be contained are, in my opinion, suffering from a spiritual malady (even more than the rest of us), and that theyneed to be displaced from power and -- where they have subverted our democracy or committed crimes, war crimes, or crimes against humanity -- experience consequences without being vilified or subject to vengeance.
I would also support the creation of forums to help us in the 99% who have such strong disagreements to conduct constructive dialog, and, if I lived long enough to see the victory of our popular movement for thoroughgoing transformation, the creation of a Truth and Reconciliation process.
Who gave money to this candidate?
Contributions
Total money raised: $7,736
Top contributors that gave money to support the candidate, by organization:
1
Michael Goldstein
$7,402
More information about contributions
By State:
By Size:
Large contributions (97.01%)
Small contributions (2.99%)
By Type:
From organizations (0.00%)
From individuals (100.00%)
Source: MapLight analysis of data from the Federal Election Commission.
Political Beliefs
Position Papers
All is Not Lost: 12 Theses on the Way Forward
Summary
This is a 2013 (pre-Trump) essay in a Huffington Post blog, analyzing our situation and how we can overcome it and build the society we want. Thesis 11 is particularly important today: "The bad news: failure to take up the work is an invitation to fascism." But so is Thesis 12: "The good news: we are called on to embark on a joyous enterprise, not a grim one; only the situation is grim."
The essay exceeds the word count that will fit here. Please go to https://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-goldstein/all-is-not-lost-12-theses_b_3555189.html .
