I want to sincerely thank all of my supporters who help me win this past election. Now that I've gone into legislative mode, I've found it hard to update as much as I'd like, but soon I will be launching a new website with information for the constituents of District 44. Stay tuned! In the meantime, check out my new profile on the Maine Legislature home page. Hope to be speaking to all of you soon!
- Andy
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Guest column
Here's my guest column that ran in the Free Press and The Camden Herald:
“We couldn’t do it anymore,” my friends told me as we packed up the U-Haul truck. “We spent all last winter looking for work and now with the price of heating oil – forget about it.” I was in the same boat; there were only so many days of house painting left on Islesboro before the weather would turn, and I would have to find winter employment.
It was early November as we drove south out of Camden, headed to where so many Midcoast economic refugees have gone before us: Portland. Although the last of my childhood friends were currently leaving the area, Maine was where I wanted to be. My former university classmates thought I was crazy to live in a state with so few employment opportunities and some of the lowest wages in the country. Before I made the decision to run for state representative, I have to admit that I had second thoughts about moving back to Maine. For the first time in my adult career, I would be without health insurance and stable employment.
During the following months I cobbled together several different part-time and temp jobs while simultaneously searching for full-time employment. I shoveled snow, worked on a factory assembly line, did customer service for a supermarket chain, did maintenance work at a warehouse, and manned the front desk at a homeless shelter. At all of these jobs I met other people like myself who relied on seasonal work to make ends meet. They were carpenters, house painters, landscapers, waiters, and waitresses, slogging along, making 7 or 8 bucks an hour with no benefits. Unfortunately, for many of my former coworkers, the spring, when they intended to make “the real money,” never really came this year. As the economy has slowed, so have the construction and tourism jobs, which sustain so many of us in Maine.
Then one night this spring, back home in Lincolnville after my winter in employment purgatory, I decided to stop complaining and do something. Since Maine is one of only two states in the country with a Clean Elections Act, I could apply for those funds and run for state representative.
After talking with several veteran legislators, I was at first intimidated by the countless grueling hours I would have to commit to my campaign. Going door to door to meet constituents in my vast rural district seemed like a full-time interview for a part-time job. But after a few false starts – a door slam here, a dog bite there – I suddenly realized how lucky I am to live in such a warm, welcoming community and began to look forward to “doing doors.”
Soon I was bringing home jars of homemade pickles, hand crocheted doilies, and fresh vegetables from gardens around the seven towns in my district. By the end of August I had to practically fight off constituents bearing zucchinis and cucumbers. I sat in kitchens discussing the economy and the fuel crisis. I’ve listened to elderly folks worried about how they were going to pay for heating oil, yet vowing to “make-do.” They don’t want to take state aid and thus deny help to low-income families with children. In the same town low-income parents told me that they feared most for the old folks this winter.
But I’ve met very few members of my own generation. Sometimes I’ve seen an old high school classmate’s name on the voter list, but after I visited the house, I learned from the parents that their son or daughter had long ago left the state. The most common refrain I heard from folks across the political spectrum has been, “I wouldn’t want to be a young person starting out today.”
My run for the Legislature has been eye-opening and inspiring in another way though. I’ve learned about so many innovative ideas that can reshape Maine. Offshore wind turbines to generate electricity, geothermal heating systems for homes, Opportunity Maine’s exciting plan to train young workers for the new green economy, grassroots organizations such as Maine People’s Alliance and Midcoast Health Care Reform that are working for change in the way we pay for health care.
We’ve got to restore our faith in the power of democracy. We can make affordable health insurance accessible to all, by setting up our own democratic insurance pool. We can start investing in energy that is clean, renewable and affordable, produced right here at home. We can provide more opportunities for young people and keep our communities strong.
So many of you have told me you want these things; now let’s work together to solve the problems that plague our beautiful area. Please consider voting for Andy O’Brien on November 4.
Link
“We couldn’t do it anymore,” my friends told me as we packed up the U-Haul truck. “We spent all last winter looking for work and now with the price of heating oil – forget about it.” I was in the same boat; there were only so many days of house painting left on Islesboro before the weather would turn, and I would have to find winter employment.
It was early November as we drove south out of Camden, headed to where so many Midcoast economic refugees have gone before us: Portland. Although the last of my childhood friends were currently leaving the area, Maine was where I wanted to be. My former university classmates thought I was crazy to live in a state with so few employment opportunities and some of the lowest wages in the country. Before I made the decision to run for state representative, I have to admit that I had second thoughts about moving back to Maine. For the first time in my adult career, I would be without health insurance and stable employment.
During the following months I cobbled together several different part-time and temp jobs while simultaneously searching for full-time employment. I shoveled snow, worked on a factory assembly line, did customer service for a supermarket chain, did maintenance work at a warehouse, and manned the front desk at a homeless shelter. At all of these jobs I met other people like myself who relied on seasonal work to make ends meet. They were carpenters, house painters, landscapers, waiters, and waitresses, slogging along, making 7 or 8 bucks an hour with no benefits. Unfortunately, for many of my former coworkers, the spring, when they intended to make “the real money,” never really came this year. As the economy has slowed, so have the construction and tourism jobs, which sustain so many of us in Maine.
Then one night this spring, back home in Lincolnville after my winter in employment purgatory, I decided to stop complaining and do something. Since Maine is one of only two states in the country with a Clean Elections Act, I could apply for those funds and run for state representative.
After talking with several veteran legislators, I was at first intimidated by the countless grueling hours I would have to commit to my campaign. Going door to door to meet constituents in my vast rural district seemed like a full-time interview for a part-time job. But after a few false starts – a door slam here, a dog bite there – I suddenly realized how lucky I am to live in such a warm, welcoming community and began to look forward to “doing doors.”
Soon I was bringing home jars of homemade pickles, hand crocheted doilies, and fresh vegetables from gardens around the seven towns in my district. By the end of August I had to practically fight off constituents bearing zucchinis and cucumbers. I sat in kitchens discussing the economy and the fuel crisis. I’ve listened to elderly folks worried about how they were going to pay for heating oil, yet vowing to “make-do.” They don’t want to take state aid and thus deny help to low-income families with children. In the same town low-income parents told me that they feared most for the old folks this winter.
But I’ve met very few members of my own generation. Sometimes I’ve seen an old high school classmate’s name on the voter list, but after I visited the house, I learned from the parents that their son or daughter had long ago left the state. The most common refrain I heard from folks across the political spectrum has been, “I wouldn’t want to be a young person starting out today.”
My run for the Legislature has been eye-opening and inspiring in another way though. I’ve learned about so many innovative ideas that can reshape Maine. Offshore wind turbines to generate electricity, geothermal heating systems for homes, Opportunity Maine’s exciting plan to train young workers for the new green economy, grassroots organizations such as Maine People’s Alliance and Midcoast Health Care Reform that are working for change in the way we pay for health care.
We’ve got to restore our faith in the power of democracy. We can make affordable health insurance accessible to all, by setting up our own democratic insurance pool. We can start investing in energy that is clean, renewable and affordable, produced right here at home. We can provide more opportunities for young people and keep our communities strong.
So many of you have told me you want these things; now let’s work together to solve the problems that plague our beautiful area. Please consider voting for Andy O’Brien on November 4.
Link
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Endorsements!
As a candidate for the legislature, I have received countless surveys from various organizations asking me for my views on the issues. Unfortunately, as I have been juggling my full-time job along with the task of knocking on doors in my district, I haven't had the time to answer all of the surveys. However I did I get a few important endorsements, which I would like to share with you:
Maine People's Alliance - Last winter I spent exactly one and a half days going door to door in the blistering cold for the citizen action group's affordable health care campaign. Ever since then I've had the utmost respect for this wonderful organization's dedication to crucial issues like health care, affordable housing, and protection against toxic chemicals. I am honored to have their endorsement.
Maine State Nurses Association - I have always respected the MSNA for their advocacy for patients' rights and affordable healthcare.
Maine Education Association - Education for our children requires investing in our teachers.
Maine State Employees Association - Labor union representing more than 15,000 public and private sector workers throughout Maine.
Maine People's Alliance - Last winter I spent exactly one and a half days going door to door in the blistering cold for the citizen action group's affordable health care campaign. Ever since then I've had the utmost respect for this wonderful organization's dedication to crucial issues like health care, affordable housing, and protection against toxic chemicals. I am honored to have their endorsement.
Maine State Nurses Association - I have always respected the MSNA for their advocacy for patients' rights and affordable healthcare.
Maine Education Association - Education for our children requires investing in our teachers.
Maine State Employees Association - Labor union representing more than 15,000 public and private sector workers throughout Maine.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Monday, August 4, 2008
Opportunity Maine and Economic Development
If there's one issue I am passionate about, it's transforming Maine into a place where young people can obtain economic opportunity. I often hear folks I've met on the campaign trail say that Maine's environment is "anti-business" and that we need to do more to attract good paying jobs. I believe that it's time to shed that reputation and recognize how business-friendly Maine can be. We've got a wonderful quality of life, a low crime rate, beautiful scenery, and great geographic resources like deep water ports which are ideal for transport.
Rob Brown, the executive director of Opportunity Maine, recently co-wrote an editorial which outlines a wonderful plan to get Maine on the right economic track. As some of you may know, Opportunity Maine is a program which allows those who earn an associate or a bachelor's degree at a Maine school to be reimbursed for education loan payments through a state income tax credit during any year in which they continue to live, work and pay taxes here after graduation.
Programs to guide Mainers to self-sufficiency
A new joint effort focuses on meeting high-wage employers' needs by helping low-income workers develop their skills.
By ROB BROWN and AUTA MAIN
The days when a high school diploma assured a good job for life are long gone. Like most growing industries, even Maine's manufacturing sector now frequently require education well beyond high school just to get in the door, let alone advance up the career -- and income -- ladder.
To make better jobs available to more Maine people, we must better align educational programs that should be ladders from poverty to self-sufficiency.
To that end, Maine's Department of Labor and Opportunity Maine are working together to promote a more comprehensive vision of work force and economic development that will improve business growth, create good jobs and raise incomes in Maine.
Maine has the lowest incomes and the lowest rate of degree attainment of all the New England states. We have a surplus of low-skilled workers and a shortage of middle- to high-skilled workers, leaving many businesses struggling to grow.
For the sake of our economy, common sense dictates that we invest in developing the ability of those low-income workers to gain the skills needed to meet this shortage.
Recent business surveys bear this out. For the National Association of Manufacturers, 90 percent of respondents indicated a moderate to severe shortage of skilled employees.
For the Maine Development Foundation, 42 percent of respondents ranked "educated work force" as their No. 1 need, ahead of other concerns such as taxes, transportation or utility costs.
Furthermore, Phillip Trostel, a research economist at the University of Maine's Margaret Chase Smith Center and School of Economics, has demonstrated that the states with the highest percentage of degree-earners also have jobs that pay the highest salaries. High-wage employers in need of high-skilled workers are not going to locate in a state with a work force like ours.
To improve the composition of our economy, we need to change the composition of our work force. We must invest in educational opportunity. Any economic strategy for Maine that does not have coordinated investments in the skills and capacities of our work force at its core is not sustainable and would not be likely to succeed.
Recognizing this fact, Maine recently passed two innovative laws aimed at increasing access to higher education and developing the state's work force:
READ ON
Rob Brown, the executive director of Opportunity Maine, recently co-wrote an editorial which outlines a wonderful plan to get Maine on the right economic track. As some of you may know, Opportunity Maine is a program which allows those who earn an associate or a bachelor's degree at a Maine school to be reimbursed for education loan payments through a state income tax credit during any year in which they continue to live, work and pay taxes here after graduation.
Programs to guide Mainers to self-sufficiency
A new joint effort focuses on meeting high-wage employers' needs by helping low-income workers develop their skills.
By ROB BROWN and AUTA MAIN
The days when a high school diploma assured a good job for life are long gone. Like most growing industries, even Maine's manufacturing sector now frequently require education well beyond high school just to get in the door, let alone advance up the career -- and income -- ladder.
To make better jobs available to more Maine people, we must better align educational programs that should be ladders from poverty to self-sufficiency.
To that end, Maine's Department of Labor and Opportunity Maine are working together to promote a more comprehensive vision of work force and economic development that will improve business growth, create good jobs and raise incomes in Maine.
Maine has the lowest incomes and the lowest rate of degree attainment of all the New England states. We have a surplus of low-skilled workers and a shortage of middle- to high-skilled workers, leaving many businesses struggling to grow.
For the sake of our economy, common sense dictates that we invest in developing the ability of those low-income workers to gain the skills needed to meet this shortage.
Recent business surveys bear this out. For the National Association of Manufacturers, 90 percent of respondents indicated a moderate to severe shortage of skilled employees.
For the Maine Development Foundation, 42 percent of respondents ranked "educated work force" as their No. 1 need, ahead of other concerns such as taxes, transportation or utility costs.
Furthermore, Phillip Trostel, a research economist at the University of Maine's Margaret Chase Smith Center and School of Economics, has demonstrated that the states with the highest percentage of degree-earners also have jobs that pay the highest salaries. High-wage employers in need of high-skilled workers are not going to locate in a state with a work force like ours.
To improve the composition of our economy, we need to change the composition of our work force. We must invest in educational opportunity. Any economic strategy for Maine that does not have coordinated investments in the skills and capacities of our work force at its core is not sustainable and would not be likely to succeed.
Recognizing this fact, Maine recently passed two innovative laws aimed at increasing access to higher education and developing the state's work force:
READ ON
Saturday, August 2, 2008
My opponent and off-shore drilling
In a recent editorial in the Camden Herald, my opponent endorsed John McCain's plan to lift regulations on off-shore oil drilling. In his piece, Dr. Walker writes:
I remember a time when America's unions were fighting the outsourcing of American's manufacturing jobs by promoting the "Made in America" label. I thought that was a good idea. I think they should have used their platform last month to promote using oil that is "made in America," too.
While I whole-heartedly agree that the US needs to do everything it can to make our country energy independent, I have not seen one shred of proof to suggest that big oil companies will keep the oil in the United States and not sell it to the highest bidder on the open market if they are allowed to drill in environmentally protected areas. There is also no credible evidence to suggest that lifting the ban will bring the price of gas down. The only people who will benefit are the shareholders and CEOs of the Big Oil companies that have already enjoyed record profits during my opponent's party's national reign of the past eight years.
Although the issue of peak oil is one of my big concerns, the problem right now is not a shortage of oil. What we have now is an enormous demand for the black stuff from developing countries which pretty much ensures that the price of oil will not significantly go down - EVER. I've talked to folks on the campaign trail who have expressed their support for drilling in environmentally protected areas with the stipulation that the oil STAYS IN AMERICA. However, what I always have to ask is this:
Given the amount of power and excess our federal government has granted to big business, what makes you think it would enforce any effective regulation that would force the oil companies to comply with this proposal?
In a response to Dr. Walker's editorial, Jerry Call of Midcoast Healthcare Reform recently wrote:
Peter Drucker, a famous business consultant who aided in the creation of the automobile industry and General Motors in particular, once said, “The problem with the railroads was that they thought they were in the “railroad” business. They would be just as strong today if they had only realized they were in the transportation business.” Likewise, the oil industry needs to realize (for themselves and their stock holders) that they are in the “ENERGY” business and get with the renewable program. Just imagine if that one oil company that proudly proclaimed they had spent $41 Billion last year on oil exploration and research, had instead said that they had spent that money on developing a wind or solar farm like the one oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens has built.
I’m not anti business; I’m anti status quo when it is a clear detriment to America’s future.
Food for thought. Instead of "made in [insert nation of origin] oil," which has brought us war, global warming, and our current energy crisis, why not have "made in Maine renewable energy?" It's there and it's waiting for us to harness it. It's time for us to elect folks who have the courage to stand up to big money interests and invest in our future. Our addiction to fossil fuels is not going to be cured through off-shore drilling. We need to invest in renewable energy and we need to do it now.
Listen to Angus King's May 23 speech at Bowdoin College entitled "The Saudi Arabia of Wind: Confronting Maine's Energy Catastrophe" and you'll see what I mean.
I remember a time when America's unions were fighting the outsourcing of American's manufacturing jobs by promoting the "Made in America" label. I thought that was a good idea. I think they should have used their platform last month to promote using oil that is "made in America," too.
While I whole-heartedly agree that the US needs to do everything it can to make our country energy independent, I have not seen one shred of proof to suggest that big oil companies will keep the oil in the United States and not sell it to the highest bidder on the open market if they are allowed to drill in environmentally protected areas. There is also no credible evidence to suggest that lifting the ban will bring the price of gas down. The only people who will benefit are the shareholders and CEOs of the Big Oil companies that have already enjoyed record profits during my opponent's party's national reign of the past eight years.
Although the issue of peak oil is one of my big concerns, the problem right now is not a shortage of oil. What we have now is an enormous demand for the black stuff from developing countries which pretty much ensures that the price of oil will not significantly go down - EVER. I've talked to folks on the campaign trail who have expressed their support for drilling in environmentally protected areas with the stipulation that the oil STAYS IN AMERICA. However, what I always have to ask is this:
Given the amount of power and excess our federal government has granted to big business, what makes you think it would enforce any effective regulation that would force the oil companies to comply with this proposal?
In a response to Dr. Walker's editorial, Jerry Call of Midcoast Healthcare Reform recently wrote:
Peter Drucker, a famous business consultant who aided in the creation of the automobile industry and General Motors in particular, once said, “The problem with the railroads was that they thought they were in the “railroad” business. They would be just as strong today if they had only realized they were in the transportation business.” Likewise, the oil industry needs to realize (for themselves and their stock holders) that they are in the “ENERGY” business and get with the renewable program. Just imagine if that one oil company that proudly proclaimed they had spent $41 Billion last year on oil exploration and research, had instead said that they had spent that money on developing a wind or solar farm like the one oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens has built.
I’m not anti business; I’m anti status quo when it is a clear detriment to America’s future.
Food for thought. Instead of "made in [insert nation of origin] oil," which has brought us war, global warming, and our current energy crisis, why not have "made in Maine renewable energy?" It's there and it's waiting for us to harness it. It's time for us to elect folks who have the courage to stand up to big money interests and invest in our future. Our addiction to fossil fuels is not going to be cured through off-shore drilling. We need to invest in renewable energy and we need to do it now.
Listen to Angus King's May 23 speech at Bowdoin College entitled "The Saudi Arabia of Wind: Confronting Maine's Energy Catastrophe" and you'll see what I mean.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
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About Me
- Andrew O'Brien
- My name is Andrew O'Brien and I am the Democratic candidate for the Maine State House of Representatives in District 44, which includes Islesboro, Lincolnville, Hope, Appleton, Searsmont, Liberty and Morrill. I was born in Lincolnville, Maine and I attended local schools before pursuing a bachelor degree in history at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. From 2001 to 2007, I lived and worked in Taiwan as a teacher and political reporter. During those years I also worked as a human rights activist and toured extensively throughout Asia with my rock band. In 2007, I returned to the US to pursue a degree in education. Currently I am working at a homeless shelter, writing for a magazine and painting houses. Living and working at a time of uncertainty concerning our state's budget and economy led me to the path I have chosen as a candidate for the State House. As a native of Lincolnville and as someone who has worked in a variety of trades, I feel that I truly understand the problems ordinary working Mainers face on a daily basis. I am up for the challenge of tackling some of the big problems in our state and I hope to share ideas with all of you on the campaign trail very soon!