Apr
30
Budgetary Suicide
April 30, 2009 | 1 Comment
Here is a clip with Braude and Mike Widmer. A good clip, but please note Widmer’s contention made near the end that the House budget is between $1 billion to $1.5 billion off in revenues. (I have been lowballing that shortfall here at $500 million.) Not to repeat myself but even with the House addition [...]
Apr
30
Republicans Attack Specter by Linking Him to Bush
April 30, 2009 | 3 Comments
As Republicans squabble over the defection of Arlen Specter the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee unleashed a phone call in PA attacking Specter by reminding voters that he was endorsed by President George W. Bush in his last re-election campaign. I guess the Republicans, seeing the great success enjoyed by the Democrats, have decided to run [...]
Apr
29
Political Fallout
April 29, 2009 | 2 Comments
The House vote to hike the sales tax to 6.25 percent is causing some major political ripples on Beacon Hill, with both the Speaker and the Senate President expressing astonishment and outrage that the Governor would be critical of the Legislature. The exchanges between the Big Three were pretty tough and extensive, with the Legislature [...]
Apr
28
Methuen Swine Flu Preparations
April 28, 2009 | Leave a Comment
There has been much talk and concern about the “Swine Flu” outbreak, and although we have not had any recorded cases as of yet in Massachusetts I have asked our Emergency Management Team, our Public Health Director, and our School Department to work jointly to prepare for any problems that might arise. This Monday I [...]
Apr
28
Governor Patrick Takes to the Tube
April 28, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Governor Deval Patrick cut a You Tube video to make his argument on revenue and reform, and once again threatened to veto a sales tax hike. The Governor now has the high ground on reform, and if he is smart he will never leave it again. Running against the Legislature is like picking beautiful fruit [...]
Apr
28
Arlen Specter to Switch Parties
April 28, 2009 | 7 Comments
Senator Arlen Specter, in a major development, announced today that he is running for re-election as a Democrat. Specter was facing an almost certain loss in the Republican primary to Club for Growth guru Pat Toomey, who led Specter by over 10 points in some recent polling. Chris Cillizza of The Fix at the Washington [...]
Apr
28
Mass House Passes Sales Tax Hike
April 28, 2009 | 7 Comments
The Massachusetts House, working into the night, passed a sales tax hike of 1.25%, bringing the sales tax to 6.25%. The House passed the increase after a day of hard lobbying by the Speaker, by a vote of 108-51. I will post the full tally as soon as it is available. The margin that the [...]
Apr
27
Governor Patrick Steps Up
April 27, 2009 | 4 Comments
This morning I posted on the potential for a sales tax increase, and in that post I asked where the Governor was, and speculated about the potential for a veto threat from him. He must have read my blog. He has, this morning, sent a letter with an explicit veto threat against the sales tax [...]
Apr
27
The Speaker Makes His (Tax) Move
April 27, 2009 | 4 Comments
Speaker Bob Deleo has finally shown his hand on revenues, coming out for a 1.25% increase in the sales tax. Both the Globe and Herald are reporting that the Speaker will support this increase, with the hope that the increase will bring in about $900 million in added revenue. Speaker Deleo plans to dedicate about [...]
Apr
26
Governor Patrick Continues Slide in Polls
April 26, 2009 | 2 Comments
Rasmussen Reports, in their latest Massachusetts survey, found that Governor Patrick continues a serious slide in the polls. It is reflective of the Suffolk poll that had similar results a couple of months back. Some of the notable findings from Rasmussen:
Sixty-five percent (65%) now disapprove of Patrick’s job performance, including 39% who Strongly Disapprove.
Tough number [...]