Paul Newell is a 33 year-old progressive Democrat running for a seat in the NYS Assembly in the 64th Assembly District. This district covers the lower end of Manhattan from the Bowery to Battery Park City. Some of the wealthiest New Yorkers live and work there. Some of the poorest New Yorkers live there as well. This district's current Assemblyperson is Sheldon Silver, who as speaker of the Assembly is arguably one of the most powerful people in NYS government. Many people blame Mr. Silver for the closed-door, "Three men in a room," style of government that seems to dominate the NYS legislature. Many physicians can recite a story of his response to civil justice reform on the State House floor in the 1990's, when he said, "Tort Reform? Over my dead body!"This may be the kernel of why Your Doctor, and other Long Island physicians have chosen to support Mr. Newell's campaign, setting up a donation portal through ActBlue to spread the news online, holding fundraisers at hot spots in the Hamptons and even in their own backyards to help spread the news that this election season, change really may be coming. Not living in his district, Your Doctor can't actually vote for him, but there's no reason she cant support him. Newell is finding support from other areas outside of his district and even outside of New York, endorsed by political bloggers at The Albany Project, and the BlogPAC Blue to Bluer campaigns.
Governor Paterson released a statement in late August that brought many NY physicians a wave of relief. Malpractice insurance premiums are frozen at their current rate, and the threatened $50,000 surcharge will not be levied during the current policy year (July 1, 2008 - June 30, 2009). While that gives Your Doctor some breathing room, she (and reportedly more than half of NYS physicians) is running late on her premiums, and has been since the 14% increase in the summer of 2007. The system is broken, and only real legislative reform, improved quality control, and a culture shift away from the personal injury/lottery windfall mentality will fix it.
Perhaps a win for Paul Newell in the September 9 primary will be a start.
