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WASHINGTON -- Massachusetts has distinguished itself as a state with a strong and enduring commitment to environmental conservation, a commitment evidenced in the wetlands, forests, waters, and state and private conservation lands that run from our coastline to the Berkshires.

Elizabeth Warren is against the Kinder-Morgan pipeline.  So is Don Berwick.  Don's the only democrat running for MA governor who's standing with her on this.

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As a pediatrician in some of Boston's lowest-income neighborhoods, I saw firsthand how a child's health is determined by far more than medicine -- it is the air they breathe, the streets they play in, the safety of their communities, their opportunit...

HuffPo interview. Worth a look.

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Here's an old essay from Don Berwick, talking about why it's so important to focus health care on what the patient needs.  He can bring the same approach to government as Governor of Massachusetts.

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Watch the original Isaiah speech, given in 2012 at a Harvard medical school graduation.

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Don Berwick's Education Platform

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Berwick explains how MA can keep leading with Single Payer

We've always been a Commonwealth of Firsts.  Let's lead.

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No one should look to the gambling industry to revive cities, “because that’s not what casinos do.” 

Casinos:  Still a bad idea for MA.  Don Berwick is the only Democrat running for governor who opposes them.   Do you?

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Happy Birthday Dan Wolf and Jamie Eldridge!

State Senators Dan Wolf and Jamie Eldridge's birthdays are today.

Thanks for your support!

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Throwback Thursday:  Read an essay written by Dr. Berwick in 2008

As a very young child growing up in a small town in rural Connecticut, I would half-awaken at some dark early morning hour, stirred by the sound of my father's car starting in the driveway. My father was a GP in our town — one of only two.

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One of the candidates in the Democratic primary for Mass. governor was once called “The second most dangerous man in America” by Glenn Beck.

Of course I’m interested, tell me more…

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Letters to the Editor

Excited about Don?  Write a letter!  Send it to your local paper, and to us where we can put it on the blog.  Example under the cut:

dear family, friends, neighbors, fellow Massachusetts voters, the other day our 16 year old son surprised us by announcing he was volunteering for the Berwick campaign.  you might say there is probably a girl involved, and i would agree. but he is actually a pretty sophisticated progressive (big fan of Zinn's People's History which he got for his birthday) and has been very impressed, so i went with him to a meet and greet. having heard the man speak, well, i'm in! you may already be a Berwick fan; if you are not, please look into him and his campaign and consider supporting him now and in September.

i like that he is so honest and direct about the world in which we actually live and what needs to be done about it, that he recognizes the urgency of bold change. i like that he says the constantly rising cost of health care is starving higher education, local aid, infrastructure spending, open space and conservation, renewable energy investment, everything Massachusetts Democrats claim to support; that single-payer will give us more control over our medical care, not less; that making health care more efficient and better will help more businesses and create more jobs than any other single thing the state could do. I like that he says there is a mountain of evidence from 30 states that casinos have just one purpose--to funnel money out of our pockets to corporations that care not in the slightest about us--and do far more harm than good everywhere they go. I like that he says it is not enough to be against fracking and fossil fuel dependency, that getting out of the energy hole we’ve dug is going to require difficult conversations and negotiations and will inevitably include something for everyone to dislike, whether it’s turbines in Nantucket Sound or hydropower transmission lines from Canada or installing insulation everywhere or burning natural gas while we work to get away from it as quickly as possible. I like that he says there is no hope whatever based on the evidence that more focus on standardized testing will change the unacceptable fact that Newton has a 96% high school graduation rate and Holyoke 53%. i like that he points out that our compassionate state’s appallingly high incarceration rate for nonviolent offenses accomplishes nothing but enriching the for-profit prison industry. i like that he makes no secret of his preference for a substantially more progressive tax structure in this state, that he says with wealth comes responsibility.

i also like that when Charlie Baker starts talking about his "real world" experience as an executive Berwick will be able to match him, that he has actually run a government agency with a staff of thousands and a budget of billions, that he built a nonprofit from scratch. i like that he is tangibly enthusiastic about debating Baker, that rather than sticking to the Mass version of the D-R status quo debate he will talk about new ideas and radical change, that he is not only willing but eager to say "single payer" to the former insurance executive on television! Martha Coakley and Steve Grossman are good people and committed Democrats, but i worry a lot that they will do nothing to command the attention of the independents, that they will not look so very different from Charlie. in general i am not a subscriber to the Clean Outsider idea, but yeah, i like that it is so clearly not about political ambition for Berwick but about solving what he sees as urgent problems stuck in deep ruts. i like that his organization is growing so rapidly, that so many young people are involved, that despite poor name recognition and lack of big money backing he has out-fundraised the others this month.

yes, i like his talk about justice, boldness, investment in people. but it isn't just progressive rhetoric; he means to do something about it. and i like very much that he didn't patronize us or try to cheerlead us--he talked to us intelligently and respectfully about admittedly difficult, complex issues and the facts as he understand them.  as you can tell i am excited. i very much appreciate your reading this, and i very much hope you will consider supporting Don Berwick.

very best R,C. Binstock http://rcbinstock.com/

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We agree.

Amen.

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Dear Tumbl viewers - get the word out far and wide:  if you want to hear about what a sustainable economy and Commonwealth mean to gubernatorial candidate Don Berwick, come to this close up interview with Doug Foy.  Ask the pertinent questions.  See what you think of this Democrat’s take on energy, climate change, adaptation, water, transit, green jobs, our health and the environment, and much more!

Doug Foy is well placed to discuss issues with Don Berwick.  He served as the first Secretary of Commonwealth Development under Governor Romney, has been an ardent environmentalist for years, has headed Conservation Law Foundation and is CEO/Founder of Serrafix, a strategic consulting company.

A little more about Don Berwick  

Donald M. Berwick was President and CEO of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) for nearly 20 years. In July 2010, President Obama appointed Dr. Berwick to the position of Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, a position he held until December 2011. ​He was formerly Clinical Professor of Pediatrics and Health Care Policy at the Harvard Medical School, and Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Berwick has served as vice chair of the US Preventive Services Task Force, the first “Independent Member” of the American Hospital Association Board of Trustees, and chair of the National Advisory Council of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. An elected member of the Institute of Medicine (IOM), Dr. Berwick served two terms on the IOM’s governing Council and was a member of the IOM’s Global Health Board. He served on President Clinton’s Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Healthcare Industry. He is a recipient of several awards and author of numerous articles and books, including Curing Health Care and Escape Fire. (Excerpt from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s Profiles in Leadership)

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Don Berwick is running for Governor of Massachusetts as a bold, progressive leader. Follow: twitter.com/BerwickforMA Like: facebook.com/BerwickforMA Learn mo…

Vote for Don!