Politics

Lynch: Moslems should move proposed Manhattan center out of respect for 'us'

adamg — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 01:47:45 +0000

Ninth District Rep. Steve Lynch and Democratic challenger Mac D'Alessandro discussed everything from the proposed Islamic cultural center in lower Manhattan to, of course, health care, in a 20-minute discussion on WGBH's "Greater Boston" tonight (Watch).

Lynch, D'Alessandro to have slightly longer debate tonight

adamg — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 17:40:35 +0000

Channel 2's "Greater Boston" will air a debate between 9th District incumbent Steve Lynch and Democratic challenger Mac D'Alessandro at 7 p.m. tonight (the debate will be taped at 4:30). Greater Boston airs for 30 minutes, so that would make this twice as long as their earlier debate.

Tom Reilly still bitter four years later

adamg — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 11:40:18 +0000

When he lost the primary to Deval Patrick in 2006, Reilly didn't show up at a post-election Democratic unity rally. And he's still sticking it to Patrick, this time over the issue of how the state helped Harvard Pilgrim get back on its financial feet. The Outraged Liberal explains how Patrick should have compared what the state did to a Wall Street bailout, rather than talking about state aid:

Harvard Pilgrim apparently received an $80.9 million tax-free bond through the Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Authority -- a quasi-public agency that, ironically, Patrick abolished this year and merged into MassDevelopment.

The authority then created a nonprofit entity to buy Harvard Pilgrim's Kenmore Square property and lease it back.

All of that was on top of state receivership under then-Attorney General Reilly.

So, no, the state didn't cut a check to Baker's HMO. It just did everything but.

Barney Frank vs. the LaRouchie

adamg — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 22:46:44 +0000

Video of a debate between Frank and his oppponent in the Sept. 14 primary, Rachel Brown. Brown opened by saying she wants to get rid of Obama, bring back Glass-Steagall and spend trillions on a project to move water from the mountains of Alaska and Canada to the deserts. Frank retorted that colonizing Mars is not the best use of federal funds.

Kevin Honan has some primary opposition

adamg — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:46:44 +0000

The Daily Free Press interviews Sarah Sullivan, a BU student running a sticker campaign against against the 17th Suffolk incumbent.

Deadblogging the first gubernatorial debate

adamg — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 10:14:17 +0000

John Carroll watched the debate so you didn't have to:

Glossary, Please

David Tuerck? Michael Widmer? The Pacheco Law? The Connector?

Are the candidates so out of touch they think the average voter knows what they're talking about when they just toss out those names?

Memo to gubernatorial hopefuls: You’re done with the insiders. It's real people you need to talk to now.

Richard Howe analyzes the debate. Contrarian David Bernstein gives props to Tim Cahill.

Globe: Patrick, Baker take their shots and Cahill often pushed to the sidelines.
Herald: Charlie Baker, Deval Patrick trade blows.

If you missed the first gubernatorial debate

adamg — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 00:53:48 +0000

Channel 4 has posted the video.

A progressive voter guide for JP and surrounding neighborhoods

adamg — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 02:44:20 +0000

The Jamaica Plain Progressives posts answers to questionnaires sent to candidates in the 2nd Suffolk state senate race (Sonia Chang-Diaz and Hassan Williams), the 15th Suffolk state rep's race (Jeff Sanchez and Jeff Herman) and the 6th Suffolk state rep's race (Russell Holmes and Divo Rodrigues Monteiro; other candidates did not reply).

Congressional candidates debating empty chairs

adamg — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:08:00 +0000

Needham Patch reports on a Ninth District forum that featured Democrat Mac D'Alessandro and Republican Vernon Harrison. Their opponents, incumbent Democrat Steve Lynch and Republican Keith Lepor were no-shows.

Six running for John Tobin's old seat

adamg — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:27:15 +0000

The Jamaica Plain Gazette lists the six people running for John Tobin's city-council seat - only two of them from West Roxbury (probably because everybody else in the neighborhood is running for state rep or state senator).

Joe the Tree Guy may have been done in by his penchant for the good life, not state red tape

adamg — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 12:25:00 +0000

The Globe runs a quick background check on the guy Charlie Baker dredged up to show how awful Massachusetts is for small businessmen:

American Express has filed a petition with the bankruptcy court, saying that DiStasio ran up more than $40,000 in bills on his personal card for luxury items in the weeks before the January filing.

Last month, Attorney General Martha Coakley fined one of his companies nearly $100,000 for significant wage law violations.

Oh, yeah, his former partner is suing him, alleging he siphoned company money for luxury items - he's still driving a 2008 Porsche Boxster convertible.

Joe the Tree Guy monicker by the Outraged Liberal.

Charlie Baker gave it 10%

adamg — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 13:42:34 +0000

Baker owns up to just 10% of the Big Dig financing plan.

West Roxbury, Jamaica Plain could get to vote twice in November

adamg — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 17:31:58 +0000

The City Council will vote tomorrow on setting Nov. 16 as the special election to replace outgoing Councilor John Tobin, after city and state elections officials said attempting to hold the election as the same day as the already scheduled state elections would cause the planet to implode or something.

City Council President Mike Ross filed the request for dates today. Because of differing city and state elections rules (for example, related to who is eligible to vote), holding the special election on the same day would have meant separate ballots, separate check-ins and separate vote-tallying boxes, and could have meant people in wheelchairs might not be able to maneuver around all the extra stuff in some already cramped precincts.

In addition to the separate final election, the city will also hold a runoff preliminary on Oct. 19 in Tobin's District 6 if needed.

Tobin is resigning to become "the city councilor from Northeastern."

Patrick bets against slots

adamg — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 13:16:21 +0000

Technically, the governor has ten days to sign the casino/slots bill passed by the legislature last night. But the odds against that are pretty high. House Speaker Robert DeLeo, whose district would likely get both a resort casino (Suffolk Downs) and a slots parlor (Wonderland) vowed to raise the stakes if Patrick "amends" the bill (sends it back to the legislature with proposed changes; effectively killing it).

Or even if he does sign it, he can do what he wants because of an apparent mistake with a single word in the section of the bill setting up a gambling commission, the Outraged Liberal informs us.

Meanwhile, Ross Levanto writes that all the dithering over casinos means Massachusetts lost out on a federal stimulus program to encourage small-business job creation.

Report from the Big Dog rally for Steve Lynch

adamg — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 21:25:57 +0000

Clinton pushes for Lynch, heads off to big wedding: Part of a set of photos by Dave Parsons.

Mike Ball was at the Ironworkers Hall in Southie today:

... You'd think the rally was for Clinton and Lynch was brought in to fluff the crowd for him. Lynch praised Clinton's presidency mightily and repeatedly, then Bill took over and did the same. He eventually got back around to saying how important it was to keep Lynch in office. ...

Also, state Rep. Marty Walsh of Dorchester attacked Lynch's primary opponent, Mac D'Alessandro, by making the remarkable claim that Republicans never run against each other. Apparently, Marty hasn't gotten south of the Neponset recently.

Photo copyright David Parsons. Posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.