Republican Contender Says Mass Can No Longer Afford Healey

Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Minogue recently swept into Lowell MA riding a scorching heat wave.  Despite the heat, the Republican faithful, along with those frustrated with the direction of Massachusetts and your IZON reporter, turned out at Lowell’s Owl diner on Appleton street to have lunch, and hear a hopeful and energetic challenger proclaim his version of the “handwriting on the wall”.  Mike Minogue declared that Massachusetts voters have found Governor Maura Healey wanting, and they will remove her from office this fall.             

The always upbeat and energetic Minogue wasted no time assuring his guest that strong winds are now driving the sails of his campaign.  He pointed to  Beacon’s Hill’s obstruction of  State Auditor Dianne DiZoglio’s efforts to audit their business as a critical element in his victory calculation.  Minogue said that 73% of the state’s voters want the legislature audited, yet the Attorney General is suing everybody but those whom the people want held accountable. He described himself as the candidate of the “ audit the legislature”  party, stating that if all these people come out to vote he wins. 

State Accountability is a key issue for Mike Minogue, noting that the efforts of Auditor DiZoglio are just the tip of the iceberg.  If elected, Minogue intends to let loose an army of auditors on the various departments of state government, to conduct a line by line review of spending.  He expressed confidence that by continuously auditing state agencies, substantial savings from waste and fraud would result.  This savings would allow significant reductions in the sales tax and the inheritance tax, which will help make Massachusetts more economically competitive.   After his address, Minogue mingled with the crowd and took questions from press reporters.  Below is a summary of the positions that he staked out at the Owl Diner .   He left the meeting to attend the Lowell Spinners game later in the evening where he threw out the first ball.

Minogue On The State Economy

Noting that Massachusetts ranks 50 out 50 in economic non-competitiveness, a condition that he said state leaders “had to have worked hard to achieve”, he shared his plans to reverse this.   Key to improving economic conditions in Massachusetts is energy.  Minogue said that the promise of solar and wind energy offered by the Democrat party has not made the grade.   It will take natural gas and nuclear energy to provide the power necessary to sustain both manufacturing and the health care industry in Masschusetts.   Currently, state policies have failed both sectors. He offered that AI and Robotics should not be feared and that the concerns over job losses are unfounded.  Minogue said that both of these technological breakthroughs can re-energize manufacturing in Massachusetts, allowing the state to compete more effectively with places like South America where cheap human labor has devasted domestic manufacturing.   Minogue said that AI and Robotics will also offer the prospects for new jobs for Massachusetts residents.

Minogue On Health Care

Minogue expressed deep concern over the condition of the state’s health care system.  He accused Healey’s policies of restricting access to primary care physicians and warned that the loss of business and investment in the state is collapsing the private health insurance sector. The loss of the private health care market, which has accompanied the loss of industry, has caused a hemorrhage in the financing of health care in Massachusetts. It is responsible for driving people into emergency rooms across the state for routine care.  This trend represents a downward spiral for the health care system because as more and more people seek care through Medicaid, the financial burden will crush the entire system along with the state budget as well.  The reimbursements for the care rendered under Medicaid and Medicare are simply not be sufficient.It is imperative that businesses and investment are lured back into the state to offset this trend.

Minogue on Public Safety

Public Safety is a major plank in the Minogue campaign.   His center-piece is ending what he considers support for a defacto state sanctuary policy.  He noted that the Governor has been careful in her words.  She denies that Massachusetts is a sanctuary state but her actions prove otherwise.   Minogue points to the “right to shelter law” and the right to access free health care as evidence of Healey’s true motives. Both policies have the effect of drawing illegal immigrants into the state.   If elected, Minoque said that he will curtail both of these policies and will work cooperatively with Federal and Municipal agencies to enforce Federal law.  He drew the crowd’s attention to other public safety matters.  He proposed a series of criminal justice reforms to include ending the policy of cashless bail and replacing the state’s parole board with members. who are far more sensitive to the concerns of crime victims than criminals.   His vision also includes a desire to improve policing and to enact reforms that will ensure that only honest and committed people  apply for and are hired as police officers.

Minogue on Municipal Government

Under a Minogue administration, municipalities will have his ear.   He charged that under Healey and the Democrat legislature, many municipalities are on the verge of bankruptcy.  Overrides abound across the state.  He noted that the state is not fairly sharing its resources with the municipalities, which it is constitutionally required to do.  The state returns on average about 20% of its revenue to the cities and town through local aid.  Minogue intends to up that number to 40% providing municipalities adopt two polices.  They must streamline their permit review process for housing construction to less than 40 days and they must be willing to scrap all of their “stretch codes” which mandate the use of electricity as the exclusive means for powering heating and utilities in newly constructed residences.  Minogue is an advocate of natural gas claiming that it is the cheapest and safest way to provide residential heating and to support industrial development.