Campaign themes

2014

Goldstein's campaign website highlighted the following campaign issues:

Democracy in Action

• Excerpt: "Our political system has for too long been run by the powerful few. Powerbrokers rule areas of our state and then designate their successors. This is not democracy and it hurts our community. When an individual is “appointed” a position when his only qualification is his connection to the local royalty, our community suffers. That representative is not responsive to the people or even to his own conscience. Rather, he is beholden to the power brokers whom he owes his job to. I am an independent Democrat who will only be beholden to the people and courageous enough to stand up to powerbrokers. As an attorney, I have been a fighter for those who had fallen on hard times. In these hard times I will be the fighter for our District."

Education

• Excerpt: "I am a strong believer in public education. We need to stop demonizing public schools and give our teachers and students the support they deserve. The way schools are funded is unfair and we need to change school funding so all public schools are funded equally. Public education should be our number one funding priority."

Pension Reform

• Excerpt: "The recent pension bill was unfair and unconstitutional. This crisis was created by Springfield over the past several decades. It is unfair and unconstitutional to now put the burden on public employees who have contributed to their pension for their entire career. There is revenue out there without raising taxes on ordinary taxpayers. Changing to a progressive income tax and closing corporate loopholes can fill the pension void as well as create a stream of revenue for our state."

Economic Growth

• Excerpt: "Without enough jobs in our state, we will continue to deteriorate. We need to invest in our people and in our infrastructure. We need a continuing jobs program to improve our infrastructure and our environment."

Environmental Protection

• Excerpt: "We need to invest in technology that does not damage our state’s precious resources. We need to invest in wind and solar technology and not engage in a race to the bottom for dirty and destructive energy resources. This can be done in a just way so that we do not lose good-paying jobs for all of Illinois."

Protecting Our Neighborhoods and Reforming Our Criminal Justice System

• Excerpt: "Our criminal justice system is broken. We keep incarcerating more and more people and we are less safe. We need to be tough on violent crime but wise enough to know that prison is not the answer for every crime. We need to support our police officers and put them in the best position to protect our community. If we stop dedicating millions of dollars towards a losing drug war we will be able to drastically reduce violence while creating revenue for the state."