The American Public Transportation Association will conduct "a comprehensive review" of MBTA safety, employment and training practices and the possibility of installing automatic train controls along the Green Line, the Executive Office of Transportation announced today.

Gov. Patrick ordered the state to review T policies following this month's $10-million text-ending on the Green Line.

Michael Jonas explains "termination pensions" for state employees - which let some get pensions in their 40s - and how both the governor and the legislature are ignoring the issue (oh, and Tim Cahill, too).

Paul Levy has some thoughts on how to get those legislators to give up those embarrassingly outrageous pensions they got: Get Deval Patrick to call them up and play a little political hardball. Press conferences and repeated mentions of the legislators names if they don't agree would be involved.

House passes sales-tax increase by veto-proof margin.

Mike Ball asks that you call your legislators and tell them that's meaningless without reform: Don't let those clowns think they've done enough!

The Outraged Liberal says Patrick could win the war for losing this battle: Patrick either ultimately gets the reforms he wants from the legislature or he has a ready-made issue to use against Republican Christy Mihos next year:

... Higher turnpike polls become lawmakers' problems and they will have hell to pay for the next round of MBTA service cuts and fare hikes. Not to mention they will own the crumbling roads and bridges.

Patrick's popularity numbers may be in the tank, but no politician has ever gone wrong running against the legislature or Congress. The beleaguered Patrick has put an important downpayment on his campaign by taking a stand here. ...

Blue Mass. Group has the roll call vote.

Deval Patrick came out of a meeting with Therese Murray and Bob DeLeo and said he angrily wagged his gubernatorial finger at them for failing to squeeze enough reform and money out of state transportation agencies. Murray replied:

I'm a little confused. He just gave us a spreadsheet, and we said we'd go and look at it.

You do that, Ms. Murray. See if you can miss the angry red borders around all those cells.

OK, so Deval Patrick now regrets calling complaints about Marian Walsh's salary and stuff "trivial," but while Jay Fitzgerald finds that commendable, he adds:

... The thought that cutting Walsh's planned salary will quell the uproar is almost laughable. The damage is already done. Even more laughable is the thought that the permanent bureaucracy hasn't already figured out how to get around wage-freeze demands. ...

The Outraged Liberal is still outraged:

What's still lacking is a solid justification why the job is needed at all after sitting vacant for a dozen years. Or why there needs to be separate agencies with initials and cute names like HEFA and MassDevelopment at all.

What's the difference in the duties that requires two quasi-independent boards with their own hierarchy, power structure and pay scale? If we can eliminate the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, why can't we reduce the number of agencies selling bonds to support economic development? ...

The Outraged Liberal concludes that, when it comes to transportation funding at least, Deval Patrick is flaming out rather spectacularly.

Jay Fitzgerald, meanwhile, compares the Patrick administration's pooh-poohing of recent outrages (Aloisi and Walsh) with attempts by some to pooh-pooh those AIG bonuses. He predicts:

Gov. Patrick's "trivial" comment is perhaps the single most stupid political remark I've ever heard muttered by a state or national pol in the face of genuine public outrage. It will stick with him for the rest of his years in the corner office.

Mats Tolander: Let's spend the revenue from Governor Subprime Patrick's carbon-usage fee on snow removal.