To Blue Mass. Group, anyway.
Hey, there! Log in / Register
Deval Patrick
By adamg - 3/28/08 - 1:11 pm
Jon Keller breaks the news (dear Channel 4: Read up on permalinks and fix your busted RSS, 'kay?).
The Outraged Liberal thinks the controversy is a bit overblown, it's not like Patrick was Client 10 or something, but still, he's forced to ask: This couldn't have waited?
... The man who showed a great understanding for the yearnings of Massachusetts residents has developed a tin ear, the kind that made Michael Dukakis a temporary one-termer.
David Bernstein writes this is one case where perception matters:
... It's absolutely legitimate for Mass. residents to be wary of gubernatorial absenteeism, even to the point of hypersensitivity, after Romney, Cellucci, Weld, Dukakis. ...
FrankSkeffington: Even if he still lost big, he OWED it to the folks who were in the trenches fighting for HIS bill to provide support by being there:
But no, Deval went. That says a lot about the man and it's not good.
Jay Fitzgerald wonders when the Commonwealth got renamed "Titanic:"
Imagine the captain of a sinking ship exhorting his doomed crew and passengers to remain calm while he hopped into a life boat exclaiming, 'Well, nice knowing you. I'm off to sign a book deal!' ... Of course Deval's casino bill was doomed before it sank below the House surface last week. But the timing of Deval's trip to New York to sign a book deal just doesn't look right. ...
By adamg - 3/28/08 - 9:16 am
Quick! Who is Matt Viser talking about in this story in the Globe today?
They stood several feet away from one another, but their eyes rarely met. They did embrace briefly.
But did they retire somewhere quiet after to talk things over in private?
By adamg - 3/27/08 - 8:51 am
So instead it devotes front-page space to detail how Deval Patrick isn't a Third-World tyrant bending the state legislature to his will, while failing, as the Outraged Liberal notes, to pick up on the possible ethical questions being raised about Sal DiMasi.
Still, as Dan Kennedy writes:
By adamg - 3/24/08 - 9:15 am
Think state leaders will re-examine the gas tax and our crumbling transportation infrastructure? Nah, didn't think so.
Speaking of the legislature, Cognos sure seems to pop up in the news a lot for a company only the people who read Network World would normally have heard of (yes, that was a blatant link to my day job; however, I can assure you there is no quid pro quo). The Outraged Liberal says:
Coming on the heels of DiMasi dispensing committee vice chairmanships for votes to defeat the casino gambling bill, the Speaker has a definite appearance problem.
By adamg - 3/23/08 - 1:25 pm
Dan Kennedy is happy House Speaker Sal DiMasi used his Fists of Power for good by killing Deval Patrick's casino plan.
The Outraged Liberal isn't so enamored of DiMasi's display of legislative might and says that, in any case, DiMasi actually tried giving Patrick a fair shake but that Patrick emulated first-term Mike Dukakis by trying to run roughshod over the legislature.
By adamg - 3/20/08 - 9:09 am
WaveMaker is loving Sal DiMasi's claim that nobody was pressured during yesterday's committee vote on the Patrick casino plan, which almost became a tie vote, even though the committee has an odd number of members:
... On the most controversial and far-reaching public policy issue to come before the legislature since gay marriage, one duly elected representative of the people couldn't pull the trigger. Unless Rep. Rice has a clear and obvious conflict of interest that would lawfully prevent him from voting, he should be taken into the public arena and flogged. ...
And then there's the Republican who changed his mind and voted against the bill. Wave Maker, himself a Republican, has more to say about him, but let's turn to the left, where Massachusetts Liberal wonders:
Fashion mavens in the Statehouse today will be checking to see what Wrentham Republican Richard Ross is wearing with his suit. In particular, they will be checking to see if the sling for his twisted arm matches the fabric. ...
Back to Wave Maker:
... There is another element to this vote that should deeply trouble observers of democracy. Legislative Committee votes are to be taken in open sessions where the public and the press are able to observe the process. In this instance, however -- for reasons yet unexplained -- "two votes were taken by email and phone" and counted inside closed offices instead of committee rooms.
By adamg - 3/14/08 - 7:49 am
Oh, so casino hearings in the legislature next week? The Outraged Liberal reads the latest on the issue and suggests:
Maybe they should hold next week's casino bill hearing in a boxing ring. Or a steel cage. This is about as dysfunctional as state government gets. ...
By adamg - 3/8/08 - 10:36 am
State Rep. David Flynn, D-Bridgewater, tells the Taunton Gazette the proposal won't even come up for a vote.
Via Dan Kennedy.
By adamg - 3/3/08 - 3:34 pm
What makes the statement remarkable is who posted it and where: Lynne flings the accusation on Blue Mass. Group over Patrick's recent statements on casinos:
... I know that being disappointed in your leaders is par for the course in politics. I just thought this time might be a little different. Patrick has decided to hang his hat on bringing casinos to Massachusetts, ignoring large swaths of objective information, and using fear and lies to accomplish it. But it's this last part that I may not be able to forgive.
By adamg - 2/19/08 - 9:10 am
That's how the Outraged Liberal describes that Clinton camp's desperation over the fact that Barack Obama and Deval Patrick share the same campaign advisor:
... Hillary Clinton's main line of defense these days is that she's taken the full force of the GOP Fear and Smear Machine and Obama has not. So perhaps she should be thanked for taking one potential non-issue out of the McCain armory.
Or is Hillary plagiarizing Kerry Healey?
Jay Fitzgerald, though, sees the beginning of the end for Obama.
By adamg - 1/25/08 - 9:16 am
Mike Ball analyzes:
Those of us still looking for a path out of the Massachusetts political and economic swamp should take heart from Gov. Deval Patrick's state-of-the-commonwealth address tonight. He appears to have regrouped and to be ready to live up to his biggest campaign promise - that he'd get the necessary cooperation for big changes as he did in his business career. ...
The Outraged Liberal watched a solid speech, notes the loudest applause came when Patrick dared suggest the phone company pay its fair share of property taxes, but also that Patrick mostly stayed away from "the elephant in the room," i.e., casino gambling.
Jay, however, was not the least bit impressed.
Blue Mass. Group liveblogging of Patrick's speech.
The speech itself:
Transcript.
Video.
Audio.
Punditariat:
Adrian Walker: It will take more than a good speech to make his dreams come true.
Globe editorial board: What Adrian said.
Scott Lehigh: Don't bother me, I've got more important things to write about today.
Herald braintrust: He might be mad, mad, we tell you, but, hey, the Globe has a point.
By Brian - 12/27/07 - 7:07 pm
I wrote this letter to the governor just a moment ago and I thought I would share it with all of you in my moment of frustration.
-----
Dear Governor Patrick,
By adamg - 12/4/07 - 9:56 am
The Herald tries to carve up Deval Patrick for increasing the governor's office budget by 33% since he took office. The Outraged Liberal explains why the story's completely misleading.
By ralphlopez - 11/7/07 - 8:52 pm
The art show went from 6-8, so I figured if I looked for the bus 86 from Harvard Square to Lechmere at around 6:30, I could enjoy at least one glass of wine and catch an hour maybe 45 minutes of the show. The stop was full of people shivering at 6:35, and finally 20 minutes later the 86 came, nearly empty, AND WENT RIGHT BY!
By adamg - 10/2/07 - 8:27 pm
If today's news about Deval Patrick's proposal to create a MegaTransportation Authority sounds familiar, it's because Mitt Romney came up with the same idea.
By bobmetcalf - 9/17/07 - 9:31 am
Deval Patrick has joined eleven other governors in lobbying
congress to increase the number of indentured servants, no--wait,
H1B visa holders:
Here's the story:
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9776360-7.html
Anf here's a great video from youtube. An immigration law firm
coachign employers on how to 'legally' replace American workers
with imported, cheaper labor:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCbFEgFajGU
And finally, here's another link describing how one H1B mill
was fined for underpaying hundreds of H1B visa holders once
they got them here:
By adamg - 9/16/07 - 10:46 pm
Globe: Patrick to offer 3-casino plan.
John Daley: It sounds like a reasonable approach but it will all come down to Speaker DiMasi. Stay tuned.
Elias on Chimes at Midnight: If this goes down, we will all live to regret it.
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
