Thursday, February 25, 2010

Patrick: We Need Action

By Richard E. Cohen  

Gov. Deval Patrick

Massachusetts Democrat

According to Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D), action is the key to addressing America's concerns.

Despite being the majority in Congress, Democrats have had a hard time keeping people happy. Deval told National Journal on Sunday at the winter meeting of the National Governors Association that Congress needs to share the urgency governors see on the ground in people's lives.

Deval also discussed how Congress can help Massachusetts with Medicaid funding and shared his thoughts on Republican Sen. Scott Brown's win.

Edited excerpts follow.

NJ: You've known President Obama a long time -- back to your days at law school, I believe. Can you explain how the president has done and his problems, Democrats' problems, that have arisen?

Patrick: I'm very hopeful, and I'm very impressed with how much has gotten done. I mean, the stimulus bill was a big lift, has made a real difference at home in Massachusetts in the lives of people -- 25,000 who wouldn't be working today without that support. Like everybody, I'm frustrated that we don't have a health reform bill yet. I've been involved on both the House and the Senate side in trying to get a good bill out. But I think it'll come.

NJ: It will come this year?

Patrick: I think it will. I really do.

NJ: What do they need to do now to finish it up?

Patrick: I think everybody needs to take a deep breath. I think, you know, keep in mind that the first order of business here is to make a better way for working people. That's first. And get past a phenomenon which I have seen, and from time to time I still see in Massachusetts, where we talk about -- everything we'd like to do is going to cause somebody else over here and over there to be upset. We have to accept this notion of shared responsibility, that the government has a role, the business sector has a role, the medical sector has a role and individuals have a role, particularly in terms of making healthy choices.

NJ: Let me go back to the state of play in Washington more broadly. Clearly Democrats, your party, seem to be having problems here, and poll numbers are down nationally. How much of that is, from what you see, a function of economic problems? What do Congress and the president need to do now on the economy and jobs front?

Patrick: I can tell you as a citizen what I'm looking for and as a governor what I'm looking for. I'm looking for a sense in the Congress that they share the urgency that we see on the ground in people's lives. This economy has really damaged people, and the ones who haven't been directly damaged have been really frightened by it. Their ability to plan, their ability to look forward with confidence, has been really shaken. And we need confidence in the future.

NJ: Are there specific actions that can be taken now in Washington to address those concerns?

Patrick: I do think there's some things that can help. I think we need a jobs bill, and we need it soon. I think we need health care reform. Whether it's incremental and brings some immediate relief with a comprehensive solution a little further down the road, or it takes that big step in one step, we need action. We need to move. We need to deal with the whole climate change issues and particularly around issues of our energy independence for national security reasons and also the green jobs that come from it in this whole new economy.

NJ: The president, in terms of climate change and green jobs, has raised the possibility that, if Congress doesn't act, that EPA might. Do you have any views one way or the other?

Patrick: I think it would be better if the Congress acted, but don't get me wrong, we were the plaintiff in the case in the Supreme Court that affirmed the authority of the EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. I obviously support that decision.

NJ: So there could be regulatory -- the regulatory path remains available?

Patrick: It certainly does remain available, and it should be used. But I think a better course would be to have the Congress act, and act quickly.

NJ: Another issue that I'm sure is a concern of a lot of governors is Medicaid funding from Washington. What does Washington need to do to help your state?

Patrick: What, on a bipartisan basis, governors have been calling for is an extension of the Medicaid match, the enhanced Medicaid match from the stimulus bill, for another two quarters. That is across the board, support for it. It can happen independently. It can be a part of the unemployment insurance benefits extension, which is another thing we need in these times. To your central point about things we need from Congress, again, in addition to the substance, it's action. And it's action with the central focus being the needs of the American people and not the political points that can be scored by partisans.

NJ: That gets to my closing point, a little bit about politics. A month following Scott Brown's election in Massachusetts to the Senate, what's your sense of why that happened?

Patrick: I think the only certain point we can take away is that Scott Brown won.

NJ: Right.

Patrick: In the conversations he and I have had since then, on election night, and a couple of days later and then when he was in the office, I think he understands, or at least he says he does, that though you run as a partisan, you sure better serve everybody. He's not the senator of the Republicans. And if he brings an independent voice and an independent vote to his work and he keeps in mind first and foremost what the folks back home need, then we're going to get along fine, and he's going to be a fine senator.

NJ: And then a final question as it relates to you. You're on the ballot this year -- what's the message of his victory for you and the contest that you have this year?

Patrick: I would tell you, I supported the other candidate. But I respect what Scott Brown did, because what he did was get out there and engage with people. And I'm a believer in grassroots campaigning philosophically, also grassroots governing. But even if you don't believe in that philosophically, it's a time right now where people are feeling so anxious that they want to know that their candidates and their elected officials see them and hear them and understand what they're going through and are working for them. And I think it's a great opportunity for someone like me who believes in grassroots campaigning to get out there and make that connection.