Massachusetts Liberal
Observations on politics, the media and life in Massachusetts and beyond from the left side of the road.
Updated: 1 hour 15 min ago
Beacon Hill firefight
Hey political junkie. Yeah you. Bored by the lack of real action in the Senate race? Well, I've got the cure for your blues.That initial skirmish between Deval Patrick and House Speaker Robert DeLeo is starting to really percolate. And no, not over why la...
Pols gone wild
There wasn't some of the blatant stupidity that has marked some legislative sessions -- like the infamous 200 House "Toga" party.But the simmering animus between lawmakers and Gov. Deval Patrick boiled to the surface to close the first year of a two-year ...
No interest
"Dear Valued Customer -- we're jacking up your interest rates to pay for our taxpayer-financed bailout you're already paying for."That's pretty much the gist behind the mail that has been trickling in over the last few weeks from Citibank, telling me my b...
Blocking schemes
It's that time of campaign season, when sincere volunteers and robo candidates bombard your phone with with pleas for support. It's one of the reasons I'm happy to have caller ID.Or not.There was an interesting contrast to the two calls yesterday. One lis...
When Coram met Ampad
Good thing that Senate Democratic candidate Steve Pagliuca hired Tad Devine to do his campaign commercials for him. That way he can't have Devine craft the kind of spot that did in Mitt Romney in his 1994 race against Ted Kennedy.The Herald has a look at ...
Senators (and police) behaving badly
Not that I have any personal experience in the matter, but do cops normally drive you home if you are reported too drunk to do it on your own?The special treatment afforded Sen. Anthony Galluccio by the Cambridge police also stands in rather sharp contras...
Another media zoo?
I couldn't help but notice the coincidence.The Globe (properly) highlights the peril awaiting many poor families with children after yet another round of human service budget cutting that has -- to date -- been pretty hidden from public view.Meanwhile, bu...
Two faces of Pags
Mike Capuano has an anger management problem. Steve Pagliuca has a consistency problem. One can be fixed. The other? I'm not so sure.“Steve appreciates the role lobbyists play in educating policy makers on the impact of legislation under consideration,â...
Feds to T: Step aside
The Washington Post is reporting the Obama administration is looking at the idea of having the federal government take over safety regulation of the nation's subway and light-rail transit systems.After two Green Line crashes in the last two years, it soun...
Truly fruity, oh Rudy!
Margery Eagan has a great column today that truly makes you hope the Mayan calendar might be right.More blogs about Politics.
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Welcome back Sarah
I don't know about you, but I've been bereft without Sarah Schweitzer's ongoing saga of how old line and well-t0-do New Englanders have been dealing with the economic downturn.So her dispatch from the Boston Athenaeum (usually pronounced Athen-EE-um, but ...
There's not an app for that
Excuse me, but why do I want to pay $3.99 to tell me the train or bus is delayed? I already know that.And forgive me for being cynical about the ability to accurately predict when it will show up. And how, exactly, will it work in the subway without wirel...
Predictable hypocrisy
Leave it to the Republican Party to oppose the Constitution.House Minority Leader John Boehner is in high dudgeon over the Obama administration's announcement that it will try Khalid Sheik Mohammed and other alleged 9-11 conspirators in a civilian courtro...
Predictable hypocrisy
Leave it to the Republican Party to oppose the Constitution.House Minority Leader John Boehner is in high dudgeon over the Obama administration's announcement that it will try Khalid Sheik Mohammed and other alleged 9-11 conspirators in a civilian courtro...
Circumstantial ugliness
There's no way Deval Patrick wins this one.I seriously doubt Robert and Myra Kraft through they were buying support for a federally financed footbridge over Route 1 when they donated $12,000 to Patrick and the state Democratic Party.But it hardly matters ...
Oops, I did it again
The Democratic US Senate candidates have offered a veritable feast in the last few days for political watchers who love to watch candidates screw up.We'll skip right over Alan Khazei reaching for the endorsement of Mike Bloomberg -- and all that's represe...
What if you had an election & nobody came?
Here we are, less than a month from the Dec. 8 Senate primary election and apparently nine in 10 Massachusetts voters don't even know the date -- with 7 in 10 not even knowing the month.Maybe the candidates ought to make some changes in their ubiquitous t...
First you say you will, then you won't...
Who knew you would need Dramamine to keep up with the Massachusetts Democratic Senate primary?But in an outstanding display of political dexterity, Rep. Mike Capuano has emulated the new senior senator by declaring he was for the bill before he will be ag...
Numbers please?
We're from the government and we're here to help you -- count.Excellent piece of reporting in today's Globe on how many jobs stimulus dollars are supposed to have have created -- and what the reality is.While I'm sure critics of the Obama administration (...
Calculatin' Cahill
It looks as if Tim Cahill is planning for a gubernatorial campaign with more substance than his daughter inventing a catchy theme that won his the treasurer's job.But his decision to hire a lawyer to do opposition research -- a move that could enable him ...

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