Dec
31
Today’s Tribune Story on Pension Obligation
December 31, 2009 | 1 Comment
Today’s Tribune has a story on pension funding by the City of Methuen. The online version has a headline which reads “Mayor says City not able to pay pension money today”, which is not what I said. I said that we would not make the payment today, because it would be financially imprudent to do [...]
Dec
27
Tax Demagoguery
December 27, 2009 | 6 Comments
I am back from a Christmas respite from blogging. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. As you likely know the Methuen City Council is faced with a vote on tax classification, which has brought forward a torrent of misinformation and a fair share of demagoguery and political theatre. Lets look at the [...]
Dec
20
Dems Reach 60 in the Senate
December 20, 2009 | 1 Comment
With Senator Ben Nelson coming on board after a hard fought compromise on abortion was reached the Democratic Party has reached the 60 vote margin necessary to pass the Senate version of health care reform. Nelson achieved more than changes in language dealing with abortion, securing legislative advantage on several fronts for his home state [...]
Dec
19
The President on Health Care
December 19, 2009 | 2 Comments
The President spends his weekly address on health care, talking about the past failure of a patient bill of rights, and decrying the parliamentary obstruction of the Republican Party on health care. Meanwhile the Senate Democrats continue to struggle to get to sixty, with Ben Nelson proving a difficult vote to corral. The newest iteration [...]
Dec
16
Methuen High School Project Moves Forward
December 16, 2009 | 2 Comments
Today’s Eagle Tribune details the results of yesterday’s Building Committee Meeting, where a “preferred’ design was selected by the Committee. The school design selected, referred to as the “bridge” concept, will now be submitted to the Massachusetts School Building Authority for approval. The cost estimators have given us a number of about $79.8 million dollars [...]
Dec
15
Katie Oskar is December S.O.A.R. Award Recipient
December 15, 2009 | Leave a Comment
“Academically distinguished, intellectually inquisitive, and athletically gifted best describe senior Katie Oskar,” states Principal Jim Guica. Methuen High School is pleased to recognize a student of Katie’s stature as the S.O.A.R Award recipient for December.
Katie is a student athlete of the highest order. She truly enjoys social studies and in particular, United States history. [...]
Dec
14
The Explosion in Pension Costs
December 14, 2009 | 1 Comment
Today’s Tribune has a story about pension costs in Methuen, and how the continued rapid escalation in these costs are threatening municipal finances throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I do agree with Michael Widmer that any extension of the full funding schedule should be coupled with meaningful pension reform. However you cut it however these [...]
Dec
14
President Obama on Sixty Minutes
December 14, 2009 | Leave a Comment
The President, back on Sixty Minutes, talked Afghanistan, financial reform, and yes, even had to address the issue of the party crashers at the recent state dinner. The President backed the recent point made by Defense Secretary Robert Gates that the so called withdrawal deadline in Afghanistan of July 2011 was not absolute, and that [...]
Dec
12
President Obama on Financial Reform
December 12, 2009 | Leave a Comment
President Obama used his weekly address to praise the financial regulation package passed by the House. The President talked about the package, and about the opposition to it in some banking circles, both in his weekly message and on 60 Minutes. From the 60 Minutes interview.
In an interview to be aired Sunday night on [...]
Dec
9
Coakley v Brown
December 9, 2009 | 3 Comments
Attorney General Martha Coakley scored a quite impressive victory in the Democratic primary yesterday, racking up 47% of the vote in a four person race. Second place finisher Michael Capuano had 28%, with Alan Khazei third, and Steve Pagliuca fourth. Coakley had an early lead, and she never relinquished it, running a strong campaign that [...]