Baystate

On The Road Again

2005-12-06T07:50:00.000-05:00

I feel like lately I have been doing reconnaisance for Santa's route. Anyway, travel schedule is slowing down as we get towards the end of the year.

Mittwit Fails Again

2005-11-17T16:11:00.000-05:00

Remember when Mittwit Romney said he was going to build the GOP in Massachusetts. I don't think this is what he meant.

According to the Dover-Sherborn Press:

Three years after the newly elected Republican governor pledged to bring
Massachusetts closer to a true two-party state, the so-called Grand Old Party
has seen losses in the Legislature and in the voting rolls of most MetroWest and
Milford area towns.

(...)

Despite this activity, though, voter registration data shows fewer voters
in the region are signed on as Republican now than in the fall of 2002, when
Romney was elected.
Over the past three years the numbers and percentages of Republicans dropped, while the numbers and percentages of Democrats rose, in 11 of 18 area communities.
All 18 cities and towns have higher numbers and percentages of Democrats than Republicans this year. One town, Weston, had more Republicans than Democrats in the fall of 2002, but Republican losses since then in town put Democrats ahead this year.
In Dover, Republicans outnumber Democrats, 1,190 to 676; according to Town Clerk Barrie Clough, those numbers have been pretty steady for the last couple of years.
Over in Sherborn, Democrats have gained within a community long regarded as a Republican stronghold. In the 2002 state election, there were 563 Democrats and 761 Republicans who went to the polls. This year, according to the Town Clerk's
office, there are currently 713 Republicans registered to vote, with 703 Democrats.
Only three of the 18 communities saw any increase in Republicans since Romney took office. The number and percentage of Republicans rose modestly in Hopkinton and Milford over the three years. The number of Republicans increased slightly in Southborough, but the overall percentage of Republicans in the town dropped.
All 18 cities and towns, though, have mainly unenrolled voters, so a Republican that strikes a chord with voters has a shot. Romney won in MetroWest three years ago.

Retroactive Taxes Will Be An Issue

2005-11-17T07:24:00.000-05:00

The Arlington Advocate:

A growing number of Democrats may be poised to join Gov. Mitt Romney and
other Republicans in the campaign to roll back a retroactive capital gains tax
assessment about to hit tens of thousands of Bay Staters.
The Department of Revenue is in the process of mailing out bills informing nearly 50,000 taxpayers that, as the result of a Supreme Judicial Court ruling that lawmakers had illegally raised the capital gains tax in mid-2002, they must now come up with an estimated $175 million in back taxes.

(...)

"It's morally wrong and reprehensible to go back retroactively," said Assistant
Minority Leader George Peterson of Grafton.
(...)
Some speculate that a growing number of Democrats may support the governor's bill as they hear from more and more constituents angered over their mail from the Revenue Department.

I think it would be a smart strategic move for the Democratic candidiates for Governor to support the roll back of these taxes and not go back and retroactively tax someone. People who get hit with this will remember it. Come on Deval. Beat Reilly to the punch.

Auto insurance

2005-11-15T12:26:00.000-05:00

Arrrgh. This kills me. But I have to say that I agree with Mittwit on this one. I think the current system does not work that well. Our rates are higher than we would pay in other states. And why hasn't ATTORNEY GENERAL Reilly done anything about reducing fraud?

BOSTON Globe:

Gov. Mitt Romney and Attorney General Tom Reilly squared off Tuesday over
an overhaul of the state's auto insurance system, with Reilly opposing the
governor's efforts to add insurers and Romney accusing the attorney general of a
lack of leadership.

Even before the governor testified at a Statehouse hearing in favor of his
proposal, Reilly sent a letter to state lawmakers urging them to oppose the
Romney plan because, in his estimation, it does not address the need for
accident and fraud reduction, while offering little rate protection for
consumers.

(...)

"The attorney general has been attorney general for seven years and he
wants to study auto insurance some more? Where is his plan? Where is his
legislation?" Romney said. "If he doesn't like mine, where's his? How long can
he study it without any conclusion? And only criticizing -- and calling for
slowing down -- is not the mark of a leader, certainly not one that has been in
office for seven years."

Anti-Equality Schism?

2005-11-11T08:20:00.000-05:00

Poor Ed and Sally Pawlick. They are the folks behind Massachusetts Citizens for Marriage. "MCM" for short. It appears that they feel the rest of the religiuos right extremist are not listening to them. It seems as if there is a schism between MCM and that other "delightful" group, the Massachusetts Family Institute.

From the Mass News web site:

As long as the citizens who favor traditional marriage continue to talk
about "religion", they will lose the gay marriage issue, says Sally Pawlick of
Massachusetts Citizens for Marriage (MCM).

"This is what Margaret Marshall wants us to do. It's why she inserted in
her ruling that 'many people hold deep-seated religious' convictions on the
subject. She is pleased to have everyone think of gay marriage as a 'religious'
issue. And we're helping her immensely.

"As an example, the President of MFI [Massachusetts Family Institute], Kris
Mineau, who is an ordained Protestant minister, said on Monday: 'This marriage
amendment is our last stand for traditional marriage in Massachusetts. We must not fall short of our goal. We effectively have 10 days left to get more signatures and turn them in to the town clerks.'"

MFI is the local chapter of the Christian "Focus on the Family"
organization based in Colorado Springs, which arrived here in 2004 and spent
millions of dollars in a vain effort to make this into a religious event.

(...)

"When we passed our successful "Protection of Marriage" Amendment in 2001,
we did so as a secular organization that was supported by many groups including
the Catholic Church and MFI. We had an Orthodox Jew as our Executive Director.

They then imply that the reason that Mainers voted for the "strongest law favoring homosexuals in the country" is because the anti-equality forces were led by the Christian Civic League of Maine instead of the 'secular' Maine Grassroots Coalition which had led previous successful battles. They also point out the Texas marriage admendment win was led by "a secular group, "Texans for Marriage"."

I remember when equality forces first started fighting for marriage equality. At the time it was felt to downplay the support of religious groups since the battle was for 'civil' marriage, not 'religious' marriage. Now groups such as the "Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry" play significant roles.

But another factor in the Mass News posting may just be sour grapes on the part of the Pawlicks. The MCM led the intial anti-equality battles in 2001 and 2002. Now MFI leads the assault.

Mittwit And The KKK

2005-11-11T07:42:00.000-05:00

Boston Globe:

Romney also took heat yesterday when he did not swiftly disavow the remarks
of Federalist Society member Gerald Walpin, who introduced Romney by praising
him for fighting against what he called the ''modern-day KKK . . . the
Kennedy-Kerry Klan."

''Today, when most of the country thinks of who controls Massachusetts,
I think the modern-day KKK comes to mind, the Kennedy-Kerry Klan," Walpin, who
sits on the society's board of visitors, said to hearty laughter. ''One person
who has been victorious against that tide in Massachusetts is Massachusetts
Governor Mitt Romney."

Romney, along with members of the audience, laughed at the joke
and later thanked Walpin for the ''very generous introduction." But
later in the day, as Democrats got wind of Walpin's remark and began circulating
it, Romney distanced himself from the joke and said it was wrong.

''I agree with the critics," Romney said in an interview with the Globe
after a meeting on renewable energy with Gale A. Norton, the US secretary of the
interior. ''It is ill-advised and inappropriate to raise the KKK even in a joke,
and I think it was unfortunate."
Asked to respond to criticism from Democrats
that he should have condemned the remark from the podium, Romney said, ''You
know . . . I was trying to figure out what I was going to say" in the
speech.

Other sources say he said he wasn't really paying attention. So what else is new? He hasn't been paying attention to Massachusetts for 2 years now.

Churches, Politics And The IRS

2005-11-10T12:38:00.000-05:00

While in LA I saw the following article. I had to wonder about the Catholic church and its actions towards John Kerry during the election and his pro-choice stance. It also made me wonder about the Catholic chruch's current actions for the anti-equal marriage initiative.

The LA Times reports:

The Internal Revenue Service has warned one of Southern California's
largest and most liberal churches that it is at risk of losing its tax-exempt
status because of an antiwar sermon two days before the 2004 presidential
election.

Rector J. Edwin Bacon of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena told many
congregants during morning services Sunday that a guest sermon by the church's
former rector, the Rev. George F. Regas, on Oct. 31, 2004, had prompted a letter
from the IRS.

In his sermon, Regas, who from the pulpit opposed both the Vietnam War and
1991's Gulf War, imagined Jesus participating in a political debate with
then-candidates George W. Bush and John Kerry. Regas said that "good people of
profound faith" could vote for either man, and did not tell parishioners whom to
support.

But he criticized the war in Iraq, saying that Jesus would have told Bush,
"Mr. President, your doctrine of preemptive war is a failed doctrine. Forcibly
changing the regime of an enemy that posed no imminent threat has led to
disaster."

On June 9, the church received a letter from the IRS stating that "a
reasonable belief exists that you may not be tax-exempt as a church … " The
federal tax code prohibits tax-exempt organizations, including churches, from
intervening in political campaigns and elections.

An LA Times article the next day went on to discuss the difference in the tax code between political candidates and ballot initiavtives:

The tax code prohibits nonprofits from "participating or intervening in any
political campaign on behalf of, or in opposition to, any candidate for public
office." The ban includes endorsements, donations, fundraising or any other
activity "that may be beneficial or detrimental to any particular
candidate."

Advocating for ballot initiatives, as many California churches have done in
advance of today's special election, is a separate issue, tax experts said.
Churches and other tax-exempt organizations are allowed to engage in lobbying as
long as "a substantial part of the organization's activities is not intended to
influence legislation."

Modest Housing Downturn

2005-11-10T07:50:00.000-05:00

Boston Globe:

WESTBOROUGH -- The Massachusetts housing market will slump over the next
two years, with prices falling slightly, then flattening before resuming modest
appreciation, according to an economic forecast released yesterday.

If the forecast proves correct, it would mark the first home price declines
since early 1995, when the state was still shaking off the effects of the 1980s
real estate bust, and the average price slid 1.4 percent from the previous
year.

The new forecast, by the New England Economic Partnership, a nonprofit
research group, projects the average price of a single-family home in
Massachusetts will decline less than 3 percent in the second half of 2006,
before beginning to recover in early 2007. Even then, the prices will rise only
slowly, with year-over-year appreciation holding below 3 percent through
2009.

(...)

Analysts don't expect an '80s-style collapse, largely because the economy is
expanding, unlike in the late 1980s, when it slipped into recession. In
addition, mortgage rates are still much lower, just above 6 percent, compared to
about 10 percent in 1989.

While I think affordable housing will still be a key concern among younger voters seeking to buy their first home, this may have the effect of reducing housing cost as a key issue in next year's governor race. If the downturn become dramatic instead of modest it could become an issue hanging around Mittwit Romney's presidential race. I think a dramatic downturn would have a significant effect on the rest of the Massachusetts economy.

On The Road Again

2005-11-10T07:44:00.000-05:00

I was in LA the last few days. The defeat of all the initiatives that were on the California ballot is a huge blow for Arnold.

Mittwit Continues To Build

2005-11-03T07:36:00.000-05:00

Unannounced Repunlican presidental candidate Mittwit Romney contiunes to build his presidental campaign organization.

Boston Globe:

Two campaign committees affiliated with Governor Mitt Romney have hired a
well-connected Iowa political consultant who played a key role in President
Bush's victory in the state in last year's presidential election.

The consultant, Gentry Collins, a former executive director of the Iowa
Republican Party, has been paid nearly $27,000 in recent months by the
Massachusetts Republican State Congressional Committee, a federal campaign panel
of the state Republican Party, and Commonwealth PAC, a group based in Michigan
that Romney supporters created earlier this year.

Collins's work for the two committees is another signal that Romney is
looking to make inroads in the key presidential state of Iowa, where he has
traveled at least twice this year as he considers a run for the White House in
2008. Commonwealth PAC has also strategically sprinkled thousands of dollars in
campaign contributions to local party groups and candidates in Iowa.

"Mean Gene" O'Flaherty's Maneuvering

2005-11-03T07:28:00.000-05:00

Mean Gene O'Flaherty (the State Rep for the repeat drunk drivers lobby) maneuvers bills in the legislature like a drunk driver going down the highway.

Boston Globe:

State Representative Eugene L. O'Flaherty, chairman of the Judiciary
Committee, said yesterday that he planned to send the House a bill today that
would force the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston to disclose its finances, a
significant advance that won high praise from its sponsors but also raised
suspicions over his motives.

House leaders could offer no assurances last night that the full House
would take up the bill before lawmakers finish their formal sessions Nov.
16

Last month, O'Flaherty, a Chelsea Democrat, came under fire from the bill's
advocates for not moving the financial disclosure legislation out of the
Judiciary Committee. The Catholic Church and other religious groups strongly
oppose the bill

.
(...)

But the fact that he plans to move the legislation to the House floor instead of
the Senate created a firestorm of concern among its advocates, suspicious that
O'Flaherty is still trying to block it. The move would mean that the chief
sponsor of the bill, Senator Marian Walsh, would not handle the bill
immediately.

(...)

Secretary of State William F. Galvin, another sponsor of the bill, also
expressed concern over the anticipated parliamentary move. ''It is unusual for a
bill to go to the opposite branch from its sponsor," he said. ''It seems to be
an effort to keep the bill out of Senator Walsh's hands."

(...)

Fearing the Judiciary Committee would block the bill, Walsh, Galvin, and
former lieutenant governor Thomas P. O'Neill III took their concerns last month
to House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi.

Republicans Lambaste Reilly

2005-11-03T07:18:00.000-05:00

Boston Herald:

Republicans continued to lambaste Attorney General Tom Reilly yesterday for
supporting tuition breaks for illegal immigrants, accusing him of misleading the
public on the bill and even possible ethics violations.

Sen. Scott Brown (R-Wrentham) said Reilly’s lobbying for the controversial bill may violate ethics rules because the AG handed out a letter to lawmakers supporting the measure written on his office’s letterhead. Ethics rules bar officials from using state resources for political purposes.

Reilly spokesman Corey Welford said of Reilley is "a public official commenting on a public bill."

This is not an issue the Democrats can win on next year.

Mittwit Stifles Opposition

2005-11-02T21:34:00.000-05:00

Mittwit Romney has not even announced that he is running for President and he is already acting like the Bush administration.

BOSTON
Governor Romney is asking television stations not to air ads that are critical
of his auto insurance plan.

Romney's lawyer called and wrote to the broadcast outlets yesterday asking
them not to use ads by a group called the Coalition for Affordable Auto
Insurance For All.

Tom Reilly The Hypocrite

2005-11-02T19:32:00.000-05:00

As previous post have shown, Tom Reily wants to reward people who come to Massachusetts illegally from outside the country and allow their children to attend Massachusetts colleges at the in-state tuition rate.

But Reilly won't allow out-of-state gay people come to Massachusetts to get married. Instead, he enforces a 1913 law, a law originally written to block interracial marriage, to prevent these couples from marrying.

As Reilly said before "This can be done if people have the will to do it. And we will respect the law and implement the law. "

Reilly also said he had a duty to obey the 92-year old law.

Tom Reilly. The pick and choose AG. He wants to enforce other states marriage laws but not U.S. laws.

Healey Ignites On In-State Tuition

2005-11-02T19:21:00.000-05:00

Unannounced Republican candidate for governor Kerry Healey weighted in on the in-state tuition college for the children of illegal immigrants the Boston Globe reports.

''Let them go to private schools if they want to," Healey said on WRKO
radio. Moments later, she repeated: ''Let them go to private schools."

Healey, a Republican positioning herself for a run for governor, made
her remarks during a heated, impromptu debate with Attorney General Thomas F.
Reilly, who had called into the ''John DePetro Show" to defend his support of a
bill that would allow in-state tuition rates to undocumented immigrants under
certain conditions.

(...)

If passed, the bill would allow children brought into the country illegally to
pay in-state tuition rates at public colleges and universities, as long as they
have lived in Massachusetts for at least three years, have graduated from a Bay
State high school, and have signed a sworn affidavit affirming that they are
applying for US citizenship.

(...)

Deval Patrick, a Democrat and former Clinton administration lawyer who is vying
with Reilly for his party's gubernatorial nomination, raised the Marie
Antoinette analogy and said, ''None of us needs a governor or a lieutenant
governor as out of touch with the struggles of regular people as the lieutenant
governor apparently is."

(...)

Asked to explain the private-school comment in a telephone interview with
the Globe yesterday, Healey said: ''The point here is it's Tom Reilly who's out
of touch, because he doesn't understand that this is a key issue for
Massachusetts taxpayers. . . . I'm here to protect the taxpayers."

Mittwit To Hold Off Announcing?

2005-11-01T08:22:00.000-05:00

The Des Moines Register:

Romney, making his second trip to Iowa this year, said he would decide in the
coming weeks whether to seek re-election in Massachusetts, but hold off on any
White House campaign decision until after the 2006 campaign.

Does this mean Mittwit will not make an announcement in the fall?

Free Tuition For Illegal Immigrants

2005-11-01T08:06:00.000-05:00

Boston Globe is reporting:

Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly said yesterday he will lobby
Massachusetts legislators this week to pass a bill allowing the children of
illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition, saying that ''all kids who graduate
from Massachusetts high schools should be treated equally."
(...)
The bill, which Romney has vowed to veto, would allow the children of
illegal immigrants living in Massachusetts the opportunity to pay the same
tuition and fees as other children graduating from Bay State high schools. The
in-state cost this year totals about $9,300; out-of-state tuition and fees are
about $25,000.
(...)
Reilly's opponent for the Democratic Party's nomination, Deval Patrick of
Milton, a former Clinton administration lawyer, grew up in a hardscrabble
neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago. Patrick has also voiced support for
the tuition bill.

It is interesting that unannounced Republican candidate for Governor Kerry Healey has not staed her position. I think it is not smart policy to take a position in favor of this bill. It is not going to go over well with the 128/495 crowd. And illegal immigrants can't (or are not suppose to) vote.

Why should this be something liberals (or progressives) should be in favor of? Doesn't it undermine the struggle that LEGAL immigrants have had to endure?

Porn, Racetracks And Slots

2005-10-31T09:19:00.000-05:00

It seems like Tom Reilly's campaign could be fun to work for!

Attorney General Tom Reilly's new campaign manager was embroiled in a 2002
scandal over $15,000 in political donations made by a gay porn company to the
Oregon governor.

(...)

Reilly has been criticized for accepting campaign donations from Bay State
racetrack owners and Big Dig firms.

The racetracks have been lobbying to allow them to install slot machines. Let the good times roll.

Patrick And Reilly Respond

2005-10-31T09:13:00.000-05:00

Boston Globe:

Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly, a Democrat who is running for governor,
yesterday accused his possible Republican opponent, Lieutenant Governor Kerry
Healey, of looking the other way while her husband's asset management firm
received $1.2 million in a questionable tax credit from the state.

Meanwhile, former assistant US attorney general Deval L. Patrick, Reilly's
rival for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, said he wants to make sure
the tax credit program is working as it was intended, to encourage companies to
locate in neighborhoods that the state considers blighted.

Sean M. Healey's company, Affiliated Managers Group, had received the
credit for locating in the Prides Crossing section of Beverly, one of the
state's wealthiest neighborhoods. Last week, AMG returned the tax credit, after
the state's inspector general said that in many cases, including AMG's, the
credits were ''handed out as favors" to firms.

Healey's $1.2 Million Bet

2005-10-31T09:06:00.000-05:00

While Mittwit Romney was in Iowa at the pig roast, Lt Gov Kerry Healy's husband's firm returned a $1.2 million questionable tax credit to the state. Why doesn't Mittwit just come out and announce he is running for President? What more evidence does a person need?

How "Mean Gene" O'Flaherty Got Elected

2005-10-28T20:20:00.000-04:00

"Mean Gene" O'Flaherty, the State Rep for the repeat drunk driving special interest lobby and part time Rep for Charlestown and parts of Chelsea, was first elected to the State Legislature in 1996. He beat Bill McCabe, who was the state's former commissioner of public safety, by 141 votes in the Democratic primary. Richard Voke, the former House Majority Leader and occupant of the seat, was retiring. Since no Republican was running, the primary winner got the seat.

The district was alot different in 1996. O'Flaherty was from Chelsea and McCabe from Charlestown. Chelsea 's civic psyshe was in the tank. Chelsea had gone bankrupt in 1991 and was governed by a state receiver from 1991 to 1994. The citizens were worried about the city being annexed by Boston. Boston had no interest in such an action. But the Legislature, under the state constitution, could enact the annexation without local approval.

Compounding Chelsea's inferiority complex were the circumstances surrounding Voke's retirement. The House speaker, Charles F. Flaherty, resigned after pleading guilty to a tax felony and admitting to ethics violations. Many of Voke's constituents assumed he jump from the being the Majority Leader to become the House speaker and protect the city. Voke was a pro at insider politics. But not good enough. While Voke had the majority of Democratic legislators on his side, Tom Finneran obtained the support of all the Republicans and grabbed the speakership. Voke decided to retire creating an open seat.

O'Flaherty and McCabe agreed on many issues. The election came down to voter turnout in each community. From new reports at the time, Chelsea voters felt they were voting for their town's survival. O'Flaherty, the hometown boy (he was 28 when elected) was also the assistant director of operations for the Chelsea receiver and campaigned on his understanding of the city's needs.

In a future post I'll discuss what I think is a vulnerability and how he could be beat.

Mittwit Heads To Iowa

2005-10-28T11:21:00.000-04:00

Mitt Romney heads to Iowa today for a conference of governors, with his
political standing enhanced by a year of aggressive outreach and financial
support for Republicans in the gateway state for the 2008 presidential
nomination contest.

(...)

Romney is also planning to engage in ''testing of the waters," as aides
describe it, that could be helpful in a national race. He is expected to leave
the national conference early, late Saturday, and return to Massachusetts.

(..)

In late 2004, Romney's Commonwealth PAC distributed $64,000 to 35
legislative candidates, 16 county party committees, and the Iowa Republican
Party. Another $3,750 went to three Iowa congressional candidates, among $28,000
donated by Romney's federal PAC to 31 US Senate and House candidates.

For the first six months of this year, a newly filed report says,
Commonwealth PAC doled out another $5,850 in small donations to 23 of Iowa's 99
county committees, mostly in heavily Republican western Iowa. Another $1,000
went to the state party, and checks also went to a state legislator ($500),
State Auditor David A. Vaudt ($1,000), the only Republican among seven statewide
officeholders, and Paul D. Pate ($500), the Republican mayor of Cedar Rapids,
the second most populous city in the state. Pate, a former Iowa secretary of
state, announced this week that he will not seek reelection this fall.

I wonder how much he gave to local Republican candidates during their sorry performance in last year's state races?

Let The Kids Play

2005-10-28T11:05:00.000-04:00

Globe:

NEWTON -- When students at Underwood Elementary School walk to their classrooms on Monday, there will be no witches, SpongeBob SquarePants, or Johnny
Damons there to greet them.

No skeleton paintings or Frankenstein tattoos, either.

The school's principal said yesterday he acceded to the complaints of a handful of parents who said that because the school's traditional Halloween celebrations offended their religious beliefs, they would not send their children to school if the revelry continued this year.

Maybe the school superindent will pull the principal aside and say "look, have some common sense." Why do the theocrats have to ruin everything.

"Mean Gene" Moniker

2005-10-28T09:04:00.000-04:00

So where does the moniker "Mean Gene" come from For State Rep O'Flaherty?

Brian McGrory provides some insight:

Just to retrace, O'Flaherty, the House chairman of the Judiciary Committee,
sent me a rather unflattering note in June because he didn't like a column I
wrote about his hero, the indicted former speaker of the House, Tom Finneran. I
had no idea who or what a Eugene O'Flaherty was, but in that note, he said if we
were in high school together, he would have made me run ''home to Mommy [sic]
with tears in your eyes along with a black eye and a sore arse."
(...)
Granted, so many stories floating around Beacon Hill involve him
screaming at women, but that just makes him an indiscriminate menace.

Then there is this from The Patriot Ledger:

Ron Bersani of Marshfield, whose grand daughter Melanie Powell, was killed by a drunk driver and who the bill is named for on Oct 4

called on House Speaker Sal DiMasi to remove O'Flaherty as conference
committee chairman.

‘‘His behavior during the debate last week, so offensive that the
chairman of his own state party called upon him to apologize to us and other
victims, reflects his fixation with winning at all costs at the expense of truly
representing the will of ‘We the People,''' Bersain said in a letter to
DiMasi.

Party Chairman Phil Johnston sharply criticism O'Flaherty last week for
using foul language during debate on the bill. O'Flaherty led the opposition to
the measure.

The Boston Phoenix reported when O'Flaherty was trying to position himself to take over as Speaker when Finneran stepped down:

And Eugene O’Flaherty, who serves as House chair of the Joint Judiciary Committee and is known as a tightly wound individual, appears to be showing his softer side. "Geno seems to be much more friendly and less intense about things," one rep says of O’Flaherty.

Sex Ed, Equal Marriage And The Extreme Right

2005-10-28T08:39:00.000-04:00

The theocrats and nutbag right-wing state reps will do anything to keep kids isolated and indoctrinate them that gay people are bad.

Confirmed homophobe state Rep. Joyce Spiliotis, a Peabody Democrat, filed a bill to make sex education an elective. Rep. Kevin Murphy, a Democrat from Lowell, has filed a similar bill.

And guess who the rest of the cast of characters are.

From The Lowell Sun:

Brian Kamenker, spokesman for Parents' Rights Coalition in Waltham, said
the existing law has fallen short.

“The law has been a terrible failure,” Kamenker said. “Schools don't
properly notify parents, or they do not notify them at all. They make it
difficult and embarrassing to pull kids out of class.”

(...)

Some proponents of the bill say it is really about limiting discussion in public schools regarding homosexuality or gay marriage.

Kamenker said Planned Parenthood and gay-advocacy groups have hijacked
sex education in schools to push their own agenda.

“It's a hot-button issue,” he said. “The gays want our kids, and Planned Parenthood wants to sell sex.”

Kamenker said the legalization of gay marriage in 2004 “opened the floodgates” to talk about homosexuality in the classroom, something he strongly opposes.

The Parents' Rights Coalition shares the same office and staff with anti-gay marriage group Article 8.

(...)

Some legislators who co-sponsored the bill said gay marriage has nothing to do with the measure.

“Gay marriage is another subject. There is no conspiracy here,” said
state Rep. Jim Miceli, a Wilmington Democrat who opposes gay marriage. “This is
a school issue. Parents need to be a part of the process.”

But state Rep. Emile Goguen, a Democrat from Fitchburg and a fierce opponent to gay marriage, disagrees.

“They are teaching kids about gay marriage in schools,” said Goguen, who co-sponsored the bill. “The gay alliance is doing everything possible to stop our moves, and we will do everything possible to stop their moves.”

When asked if the parent-notification bill is another vehicle to push a
ban against gay marriage, Goguen replied, “Yes.”

Does It Run In The "O'Flaherty" Family?

2005-10-27T13:54:00.000-04:00

The Washington Post and a Northern Virginia judge:

Judge Ian M. O'Flaherty made it known in July that he felt Virginia's DWI law
unfairly deprived defendants of the presumption of innocence if breath tests
showed that they had a blood alcohol content of .08 or higher, levels at which
people are presumed to be intoxicated.

(...)

Critics say O'Flaherty, a General District Court judge, is endangering
public safety by returning drunk drivers -- some with alcohol levels of twice
the legal limit -- to the roads. But some legal experts are sympathetic, saying
the judge might be making a valid argument and protecting the constitutional
rights of all motorists.
(...)

The judge said in an interview that he recently was made aware of a 1985 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that reversed a Georgia murder conviction because the jury had been told to presume that, if the suspect was "of sound mind," he had the intent to kill.

As it does in all states and the District, Virginia's drunken driving law states that, for anyone with a .08 or higher reading on a breath test, "it shall be presumed that the accused was under the influence of alcohol intoxicants at the time of the alleged
offense."

Prosecutors point out that Virginia's law creates a "rebuttable presumption," meaning the defendant has the opportunity to prove it wrong. But O'Flaherty said that wrongly shifts the burden of proof from the prosecution to the defense.

"The Fifth Amendment," said O'Flaherty, 59, "is an absolute protection
against requiring the defendant to say or do anything in the course of a trial.
. . . The Fifth Amendment means the defendant can sit there, not say or do
anything, and at the end of the case say, 'Can I go home now?' "

No other judge in Fairfax -- or elsewhere in Virginia, as far as can be determined -- has joined O'Flaherty. But the judge said some other jurists have told him they
agree with him. "I had one judge tell me, 'I'd rule that way, but I don't have
the guts to,' " O'Flaherty said. "I told him, 'You should be driving a truck.'
"
(...)

Steve Oberman, a Tennessee lawyer and head of the National Association of
Criminal Defense Lawyers' DUI committee, said similar arguments about
presumptions in the law had been successful in various courts across the country
over the years. State supreme courts in Massachusetts and Colorado have ruled
exactly as O'Flaherty has on presumptions in drunken driving cases, he
noted.
The judge is well regarded by lawyers who practice before him and has received high marks in Fairfax Bar Association evaluations. He listens carefully to every last speeder and drunk driver and clearly explains his rulings. He has been a judge in Fairfax for 15 years and said he would like reappointment to another term in 2008. But he also said he would be perfectly satisfied if the legislature decided not to renew him in light of his stance on the drunken driving law.
After O'Flaherty dismissed one drunken driving case in July, in which police said the defendant had a .21 blood alcohol level, and another in early August, Fairfax prosecutors began dismissing the cases themselves before trial and then indicting the drivers in Circuit Court. But Oct. 12, when veteran Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Kathryn S. Swart tried to do that with a driver who she said had a .20 blood alcohol level, O'Flaherty would not allow it.
Swart argued with the judge, then declined to call any witnesses, prosecutors said. O'Flaherty swore in the defendant and then dismissed the case.
The next day, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Jenna Sands asked O'Flaherty to recuse himself from a DWI case, saying it appeared that he would not consider all the evidence. "I'm going to consider all the evidence," the judge told her. "I'm just not going to have a presumption that requires the defendant to testify."
Sands asked him to allow her to dismiss the case so it could be indicted in Circuit Court. "That's denied," O'Flaherty said. "That's unethical. That's called 'forum shopping.' "

Sands tried to argue, but the judge cut her off. "I heard a whining diatribe yesterday from one of your associates," O'Flaherty said. "Next time I hear that from her, I'll put her in jail. You might tell her."

O'Flaherty explained that he had allowed prosecutors six dismissals without cause, so those cases can rise through the system and possibly to the appeals courts, where a formal opinion could be issued. "Half a dozen seems like a reasonable number," the judge said. "After that, there's no reason not to proceed in a regular manner."

He then heard evidence of the defendant's driving and performance on a field sobriety test -- the blood alcohol test was not submitted -- and dismissed the case. Several days later, after receiving evidence that a driver had registered .11 on a breath test but had not failed all the field sobriety tests, he dismissed that case.

Reilly Hits Jackpot..Republicans Angry

2005-10-27T08:06:00.000-04:00

Boston Herald:

Outraged critics are calling on Attorney General Tom Reilly to return hefty
campaign donations from gaming supporters who filled his war chest just days
before the state Senate passed legislation to legalize slot machines and to give
Reilly a leading enforcement role.

``How can we trust him to uphold the law if he's bought and paid for by these special interests?'' said Matt Wiley, executive director of the Massachusetts Republican Party. ``He needs to return this money to get rid of the impropriety here.''

(...)

The state's Democratic Party fired back yesterday. ``For Governor Romney . . . to criticize Tom Reilly is complete and utter hypocrisy,'' party chairman Phil Johnston said. ``The cornerstone of the Romney-Healey campaign's economic policy in 2002 was bringing casino gambling to the state of Massachusetts, but once the governor's political aspirations grew beyond the Bay State's borders, he flipped his views to appeal to a conservative Republican base.''

Mittwit...The Education Candidate

2005-10-22T22:59:00.000-04:00

Do you think Mittwit will run for president as the education candidate?

The Massachusetts high school dropout rate reached 3.7 percent in 2004, the
highest rate in 14 years, prompting Education Commissioner David P. Driscoll to
call on school officials to work harder at making sure that students earn a
diploma.

Too bad the Boston mayoral race isn't any closer. Maybe if it was there would be more discusssion of the issues such as:

In Boston, the state's biggest school system, 31 percent of the current
junior class is expected to drop out prior to graduation in 2007, according to
the report.

Shannon Thinks Tom's The Man

2005-10-22T22:17:00.000-04:00

2002 Democratic candidate for governor and current chief Girl Scout Shannon O'Brien spoke to the Sucessful Women business conference in LeominsterWednesday according to the Fitchberg Sentinel.

She said about her opponent Mittwit Romney:
"He was very lucky that he wasn't part of the (state Republican) establishment and was able not to wear the baggage."

But she also says:
state Attorney General Thomas Reilly is the Democratic Party's best chance to retake the governor's office next year: "I think that certainly Tom Reilly has a significant lead right now, and has the name recognition and the money (to widen that)."

Now what makes her think Reilly will win given he has to wear the Democratic establishment baggage?

O'Flaherty Ripe For The Picking

2005-10-20T11:21:00.000-04:00

Roughly 2,000 repeat drunk drivers are arrested each year in Massachusetts.

Eugene O'Flaherty is a powerful state rep from Charlestown. His district includes Charlestown and Chelssea. Yesterday, he

helped gut a highly touted anti-drunken-driving bill jetted off with
colleagues for a European vacation yesterday as final debate on the measure
began, to the disgust of victims' advocates.

The original bill would have let
prosecutors use prior drunken-driving convictions against defendants at
sentencing. Following changes pushed by O'Flaherty and some peers, those
histories cannot be introduced unless someone involved in the original case
vouches for the conviction.

BlueMassGroup first surfaced and Bay Windows reported

Should he seek re-election to his Second Suffolk House District, it's
looking an awful lot like state Rep. Eugene O'Flaherty (D-Charlestown) will have
a primary challenger next year. It's a rumor that was first floated on the lefty
blog BlueMassGroup, but now Christopher Schiavone of Charlestown says he's "90
percent certain" that he'll be making a run to oust O'Flaherty, the socially
conservative chair of the House Judiciary Committee who hasn't exactly been a
friend to the gay community, as evidenced by the votes he cast in favor of the
most stringent amendments to ban same-sex marriage in last year's constitutional
convention and his "yes" vote for the Travaglini-Lees amendment just last month.

Discrimination Petition Progress

2005-10-20T11:07:00.000-04:00

While on a trip to the garden spot of America, Huntsville, Alabama, I longed of a touch of wonderful Massachusetts. What better way to get it than to visit the Massachusetts "Anti-" Family Institue website.

While I think the anti-equalityforces will be able to gather the 60,000 some signatures to put evil on the ballot, their "renewed call to action" gave me a sense they are not having an easy time:

Robert Willington, the campaign manager for VoteOnMarriage.org, has one
important declaration for the supporters of marriage: "Step up now, or forever
hold your peace." While the statement may be blunt, there is no sugarcoating the
situation that we are in today in Massachusetts. The radical homosexual
activists are ready to read the eulogy of the pro-family movement in this state,
but we must show them that we are far from dead.

Deval Patrick Supports Wind Farm

2005-10-19T18:25:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, Deval Patrick came out in support of the wind farm off of Cape Cod. This wind farm will provide a maximum output of 420 megawatts. This is enough clean, renewable energy to meet the needs of three quarters of the Cape and Islands.

Both Lt. Gov Kerry Healey and Tom Reilly, along with Mittwit oppose the Cape Wind project.

Today we find out what Mittwit's plan is. Mittwit, according to the Boston Globe

is considering easing air-pollution restrictions on oil-fueled power plants
to allow them to produce more electricity to stave off potential catastrophic
blackouts and natural gas shortages this winter.

These are the same plants, such as the one in Somerset, that are the dirtest in the state. But besides being environmentally dirty, I think they are morally dirty.

On some of the coldest days of this winter, spot-market prices for natural gas
could be so expensive that owners of gas-fired plants would find it more
profitable to shut down their plants and sell their gas supplies. Some regional
plants pursued exactly that strategy during a record January 2004 cold snap,
when the region barely escaped blackouts.

(...)

Under existing federal laws and local rules, the managers of the New
England power grid cannot stop power plant owners from shutting down and selling
their gas, even if it could trigger blackouts. ''We do not have any authority to
prevent generators from selling gas on the spot market," said Ken McDonnell,
spokesman for Independent System Operator New England, the Holyoke organization that runs the six-state power grid. Under ISO rules, power plant owners would face some financial sanctions for shutting down, but far less than their likely profit from reselling gas, he said.

Water, Water Everywhere

2005-10-17T13:04:00.000-04:00

Back from vacation. Flying home Saturday night, the pilot announces about 1 hour before land, that since we took off from LA the clouds and rain have moved out of Boston.

We get home and our unfortunate downstairs neighbors have 14 inches of water in their condos.

Leave tomorrow on a business trip.

Galvin Talks

2005-10-10T13:56:00.000-04:00

The Watertown Tab reports on an address Bill Galvin gave to the Watertown Democrat Town Committee :

"Independent voters are susceptible to the slick commercials Republicans
run," Galvin told the Watertown Democrat Town Committee last Thursday. "They
know how to get independent voters, and they have a tremendous financial
advantage."

(...)

"We're for taxes, but they're for taxes, too," he said.

(...)

"We need to ask more questions than we've been asking," he said.

Ultimately, Galvin said, Democrats should be able to take the
governor's office - provided they could raise enough money.

I find it hard to believe that the reason Democrats have not held to corner office for the last 15 years is because they could not raise enough money. Maybe it has to do with the way the message has been framed (for example, see above).

Salt Lake Tribune Scathing Commentary About Mittwit

2005-10-10T13:24:00.000-04:00

The Salt Lake Tribune has a scathing commentary about Mittwit titled "Flip-flopping Romney now crassly plays to fearful America".

BOSTON, Mass. - Inevitable presidential candidate and current Massachusetts
Gov. W. Mitt Romney's threat to wiretap mosques and monitor Muslims won support from his party's right wing.

But it left some fellow Latter-day Saints and others wondering if he had
lost his grasp of constitutional law not to mention the history of his own
church's frightful encounters with government informants and harassment.

Because Romney once led a Mormon ecclesiastical precinct, roughly
equivalent to a Catholic diocese, some worried he spoke for the church, too. By
all accounts, he did not. The relationship between The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints and the 30,000-strong Muslim community in Utah is solid -
empathetic, cooperative and respectful.

On Sept. 14, he said, "How about people who are in settings - mosques, for
instance - that may be teaching doctrines of hate and terror? Are we monitoring
that? Are we wiretapping?"

(...)

Wary moderate supporters see Romney's "expedient" side re-emerging as
he nears announcing what everyone knows: He wants to be president in 2008.
Currying favor with powerful neo-conservatives led him to flip-flop on "choice,"
"same-sex civil unions" and stem-cell research, and to veto a bill approving the
so-called "morning-after pill" (his veto was overridden by a unanimous vote of
the legislature).

Romney's expedient side surfaced back in 1994 when he skirted the abortion
issue as deftly as Bill Clinton: "Not my choice, but every woman has the right
to choose."

Sympathetic Mormons supported his muse then that the "morning-after pill"
might be balm for abortion war wounds. They even understood when he claimed
"civil unions" would ensure rights for gay citizens while protecting traditional
marriage. But, they muttered "oh, please" when he unnecessarily supported
building Native American-owned casinos near Cape Cod.

While the polls made it plain - no candidate who opposed abortion could win
in Massachusetts - some sympathizers thought Romney was just a little too eager
to compromise. A Catholic father of eight groused: "I'll vote for Romney, no
matter what. But, I wish he would drive a stake in the ground and be himself. I
know what Mormons believe. But, I have no idea what Romney stands for."

The story goes on to quote people who have known Mittwit over the years.

Salt Lake native, Dr. Christopher Blakesley, who went to church with Romney
when they were students in Boston wonders "Is wiretapping mosques really what
Mitt believes, or is he willing to prostitute his beliefs for the nomination?"

A former Utahn who has known Romney for years warns: "Mitt's recent
flip-flops on key issues are foolish pandering. He seriously overestimates the
support he or any Mormon would ultimately receive from ultra-right Christians."

Thomas Duncan of Provo, who served with Romney when the two were
missionaries in France, worries, "If Mitt gets serious about wiretapping
mosques, how long will it be before the press figures out that Mormons were once
at odds with the government and swore oaths in church that outsiders thought
promoted terrorism?"

Duncan refers, in part, to a series of distorted dispatches from
adversaries and paid informants that persuaded President James Buchanan to send
federal troops to Utah in 1857.

Mittwit Ignores Bush

2005-10-10T13:04:00.000-04:00

The other week Bush was telling everyone to reduce travel to conserve energy. On Friday, Mittwit was with U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman in Dedham. They were at Lowe's talking about weather stripping your windows and doors. Mittwit said he recently did that to his home.
So today Mittwit is in North Carolina to lend his name to fund raisers. Mittwit's a governor. Why does he ignore the President and do non-essential travel? He should be home running the Commonwealth.

Vacation

2005-10-09T19:37:00.000-04:00

Spending some time soaking up the rays for the next few days out in the desert of California.

State Dems Dig Own Hole

2005-10-09T19:08:00.000-04:00

As the Republicans continue to implode on the national scene with scandels provided by "easy money Frist", "give me your money Delay" and Plamegate, I think the "tyranny of one party rule" is a theme we will hear more and more as we move to the 06 elections. As the theme is repeated over and over on the national scene it will undoubtedly seep into the conscience of the Massachusetts voter. I can see Kerry Healey using this argument next year in her race against the Democrats for the corner office.

In Saturday's Boston Globe, Steve Bailey reported on what could become one of the examples Healey uses to illustrate the point.

Three years ago the Legislature made a mistake. Now it is preparing to bill
40,000 taxpayers for that mistake.

Repeat after me: You do not retroactively tax people for income they
realized three years ago. And you especially do not tax people three years later
for a mistake you made. But that is precisely where our Legislature is
headed.

The quandary the Legislature faces as a result of an expensive court
ruling on capital gains taxes is entirely of its own making. The Legislature,
desperate for revenue in 2002, tried to change the rules in the middle of the
year, raising long-term capital gains taxes to 5.3 percent in place of a stepped
system that taxed profits from zero to 5 percent, depending on how long an
investor held the asset. The change was effective May 1, 2002.

Taxpayers sued and the Supreme Judicial Court agreed that the state
could not change the rates in mid-year. The Legislature was left with two
choices: Either make January 2002 the effective date for the new rates and
collect as much as $205 million in unpaid taxes, or move the start date to
January 2003 and refund $250 million already paid by 157,000 taxpayers.

It is simply not in the DNA of most politicians to willingly give back
money to taxpayers.
The governor, Mitt Romney, has pushed from the beginning
to swallow hard and rebate the money. He is dead right on this. Surging tax
revenues -- September was a record month, and the state's rainy day fund now
stands near a record $1.7 billion -- have made his case all the more
compelling.

Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation,
opposes Romney's call for an income tax cut, but agrees with him on the capital
gains issue: ''There is broad agreement it is not appropriate to tax
retroactively."

The Democratic Legislature has been willing to do everything but the
right thing.

Mittwit Waits For Santa

2005-10-06T21:03:00.000-04:00

As Mittwit, the red speck, becomes increasingly irrelevant to the Commonwealth the Boston Globe reports Governor Mitt Romney is putting off the much-awaited announcement on his political future until late November, giving him time to focus on his healthcare bill and other aspects of his legislative agenda, a top GOP adviser said yesterday.

57 Percent Against Anti-Equality Amendment

2005-10-05T13:27:00.000-04:00

UMass Lowell conducted a poll of 400 registered voters from Sept 19 through Sept 27.

The 13-question poll also asked how people would vote on a proposed
constitutional amendment that could appear on the 2008 ballot, which, if
approved, would ban gay marriage in the state completely.

Forty-seven percent reported they are “not at all” likely to support
that amendment, and nine percent said they were “not very” likely. Thirty
percent reported they are “very” likely to support the amendment, and 10 percent
reported they are “somewhat” likely. Five percent said they don't know.

Reilly leads Romney In New Poll

2005-10-05T13:22:00.000-04:00

The article in the

Bait And Switch...Surprise, Surprise

2005-10-05T07:38:00.000-04:00

Does this really surprise anyone. Allegations of illegal signature gathering were rampant the last time religious extremist circulated an anti-equality petition. As we metioned on Sep 13th, the initiative petition process should be revise to outlaw paid signature gatherers. If it is truly a citizen process, let the citizens get the signatures.

From The Boston Globe:

A legislative committee announced yesterday that it will hold a hearing on
reports of bait-and-switch tactics in the collection of signatures for a
proposed ban on same-sex marriage, amid mounting complaints from voters that
they were tricked into signing, or nearly signing, petitions.

(...)

Several gay-rights groups have solicited and compiled such complaints. Some
voters have written letters to the editor in local newspapers, while others have
contacted the Globe and other media directly.

Most of the complaints fit the same pattern: Shoppers at supermarkets
and stores such as Wal-Mart say that after signing a separate petition to allow
beer and wine sales in grocery stores, they were asked to sign the gay-marriage
measure with little or sometimes no explanation.

In another development, the Massachusetts Food Association, which is
circulating the petitions to allow beer and wine sales in supermarkets, said
yesterday it has refused to accept hundreds of signatures gathered by
individuals who were also collecting signatures for the gay-marriage
question.

Christopher P. Flynn, the group's president, said that his organization
had received several complaints from supermarket customers that they were the
targets of bait-and-switch tactics by signature gatherers. He said the
complaints increased last week.

And as Kris Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute said ''We've worked with them very thoroughly" referring to California-based Arno Political Consultants, the firm MFI has hired to gather signatures. Let's see how much distance he tries to put between them if the allegations prove out.

What Mittwit Can Look Forward To

2005-10-04T08:29:00.000-04:00

I don't know anything about the site Frontpagemag.com except it sure looks right wing. But this is a taste of what Mittwit can look forward to.

Speaking recently to the prestigious Monday Meeting in Manhattan,
Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney wowed the overflow conservative crowd with his
charm and made many there come away feeling that he could be a credible
candidate for the White House in ‘08. But what no one in the room
addressed, yet of which everyone was aware—surely no one more acutely than the
main attraction himself—was the Mormon issue.

Yet as much as the obstacles posed by Romney’s religion have been
discussed in the media—that evangelical GOP primary voters in the South would be
reluctant to support a Mormon—no one in the Manhattan audience was aware of an
incident that happened just 24 hours earlier that will serve as a reminder that
there’s another huge potential problem looming for the would-be White House
seeker: race.

The Mormon Church has what can only be generously described as a
tortured history on race. Anyone of African descent was banned from the
priesthood until 1978—some 14 years after the passage of the first major Civil
Rights Act. But it goes much deeper than that

.

(...)

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach recently had one of those broadcasts that most talk show
hosts only dream of. A black New Orleans evacuee was a call-in guest on
his Salt Lake City program and expressed discomfort staying in 99% white, mostly
Mormon Utah, saying he felt unwanted.

Rabbi Boteach assured
his guest that he had Mormons pegged wrong, that they were great people.
The host then asked a question that caught the caller off-guard: if there were
people who could help him, would he consider staying permanently in Salt Lake
City? The caller responded that he would.

(...)

Rabbi Boteach was planning to visit Salt Lake City (he lives in New Jersey)
that following week for previously scheduled business meetings with executives
at Bonneville International, the company which owns KUTR-AM. (Bonneville
is entirely owned by the Mormon Church.) But on Saturday—one day before he
was scheduled to fly out and one day after the broadcast where he organized the
gathering—KUTR Program Director Rod Arquette left Rabbi Boteach a series of
frantic voice mails to inform him that he would not be coming to
Utah.

When Rabbi Boteach finally talked with Arquette on Sunday,
September 11, he learned that his show was being canceled—immediately.

Will You Cut Taxes?

2005-10-04T07:59:00.000-04:00

Boston Globe reports:

State revenues shot up $317 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2006
compared with the same period last year, prompting Governor Mitt Romney
yesterday to call on legislative Democrats to cut the personal income tax rate
to 5 percent as voters demanded five years ago.

''It's pretty clear that Massachusetts is back and firing on all
cylinders," Romney said at a State House press conference. ''The numbers we're
looking at from a revenue standpoint are just mind-numbing. . . . It's time to
return to the taxpayers the tax rate they asked for and voted for."

Leaders in the State House and Senate said they were cautiously optimistic
about the revenue figures, but rejected Romney's argument that Massachusetts is
hale enough financially to pass a tax cut that would drain $600 million a year
in revenue. They cited the fiscal uncertainty of rising oil and natural gas
prices and healthcare costs and the threat of steep cuts in federal Medicaid
money.

''Before those variables take on a value, I'm not willing to make any
determination on a tax rollback, and it would be unwise to do so," said Senate
President Robert E. Travaglini, an East Boston Democrat.

I can just see the debates for Governor next year when the "will you roll back the state income tax to 5% like the voters approved" gets asked. I can see candidate Kerry Healey say yes and the Democratic candidate give some wishy washy non-response. And I can see the Republicans winning the corner office again like they have for the last 20 years.

I know George Lackoff's argument about talking about taxes as an investment. And I know the far left thinks we should pay more taxes to fund more programs. But how about the Democratic candidate saying something like "I think we need to exercise responsible giovernment and make sure our house is fiscally sound. That is what the Democratic led legislature has been doing. We don't want to be in the poor financial situation the federal govenrment is in. But I do think we should consider raising the personal exemption on taxes to return what money we can to the citizens."

Raising the personal exemption really puts more money in the pockets of the less fortunate of taxpayers than a tax cut. But this approach also minimizes the arguemnt that Democrats will raise my taxes...or won't cut them.

Lowell...Trying To Do The Right Thing

2005-10-03T22:28:00.000-04:00

From The Lowell Sun:

The 1972 court order requiring cities to hire more minority police officers
was a smart decision at that time. Unfortunately, today it is restricting the
Lowell Police Department's hiring practices by making it difficult to put more
Asian officers on the force.

The order requires police departments to make the racial profile of
their staff similar to the population of the city they protect. However, it only
recognizes African-Americans, Hispanics and American Indians as minorities.
Asians, according to the 2000 U.S. Census, comprise about 16.5 percent of
Lowell's population, but they don't count as minority hires.

(...)

The Lowell Police Department does a commendable job in hiring qualified
minority candidates. The city is about 4 percent African-American and the
department has about 3 percent African-American officers. The city is 16.5
percent Hispanic; the department, about 13.5 percent Hispanic.

But the effort falls flat when it comes to Asians. While official
figures say Lowell is 16.5 percent Asian, that number is commonly believed to be
too low. City officials believe Lowell to be about 25 to 30 percent Asian. But
the police force is only 3 percent Asian, not even close to the city's reality.

Out Of Touch Leaders

2005-10-03T12:48:00.000-04:00

With all the things going on in the state with the Catholic Chruch right now, whether it is the anti-equality marriage constitutional amendment, the more than 1,000 parishioners supporting their pastor against a "despicable attempt to smear the reputatuion of a decent man...", or Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly demanding that archdiocesan officials not attribute to his office any decision to audit or discipline priests, John Carroll has an excellent editorial in The Boston Globe discussing how the Church leadership has squandered their moral authority.

ROME
TO BE A Roman Catholic in Rome this week is to remember, among so much
else, the way in which leaders of this church have squandered their moral
authority in recent years.

In 1968, it was the disastrous anti-birth control encyclical ''Humanae
Vitae," which opened a gulf between the hierarchy and the laity and which lately
has the church on the wrong side of the global fight against HIV/AIDS. The
coterie of American bishops chosen by Pope John Paul II failed their greatest
test by protecting abusive priests instead of the children who were their
victims. Now, church authority stands on the edge of yet another act of moral
self-mutilation with a coming ''instruction" banning homosexuals from
seminaries. Such a policy threatens to turn an imminent program of ''apostolic
visitations" of US seminaries, which overtly targets ''heresy," into a full
blown sexual witch hunt.

Over the last couple of weeks, I have had direct and indirect contact
with well-connected Catholics here -- hardly a hotbed of liberalism -- and the
coming instruction is regarded as a catastrophe in the making. With boards of
Vatican-appointed investigators poised to swoop down on American schools in
which new priests are trained, interrogations of candidates and loyalty tests
for teachers already betray a nostalgia for the bygone era of thought-control
and snitching. A formally licensed obsession with homosexuality will push the
investigation into a realm, as one senior priest put it to me, more of Joseph
Stalin than Jesus Christ.

(...)

From Boston, the epicenter of the crisis, comes the chilling news that one
of the brave priests who saved the church's soul by calling for Cardinal Bernard
Law's resignation, the Rev. Walter Cuenin, has been unjustly fired from his
position as pastor at Our Lady, Help of Christians in Newton. Cuenin is an
exemplary priest. That he has been slandered by the archdiocese in the process
of his removal is a mortal betrayal. There are reports that many of the other
pastors who challenged Law have been shunted aside as well.

Cardinal Law, the icon of failure, is ensconced in a prestigious
position here in Rome. He is an icon of denial, too. Instead of a reformation of
all that made the sex abuse crisis possible, the hierarchy is circling its
wagons. Good people are being sacrificed. Cruelty as a mode of church governance
is back. Sexual imperialism is reasserted as a method of control. The culture of
dishonesty lives.

The Catholic Church, The Disabled And Marriage

2005-10-03T12:10:00.000-04:00

As the Catholic Church fights to enshrine discrimination into the Commonwealth's constitution, I am reminded of a movie I saw on television. The movie is called Forbidden Wedding.

Hedir Antonio de Brito, a paraplegic from the age of fifteen, wanted simply to
marry Elzimar Serafim, who was the love of his life. He had sent out wedding
invitations and applied for a marriage certificate from the Roman Catholic
Church. But forty days before the wedding, Hedir got an unexpected letter from
the Catholic Church of Patrocinio, Brazil. His marriage application was denied
on the grounds that as a paraplegic he could not copulate. This decision was
based on the Vatican's Canon Law 1084.

Canon Law 1084 §1. Antecedent and perpetual impotence to have intercourse, whether on the part of the man or the woman, whether absolute or relative, nullifies marriage by its very nature.

So those of you of the "Bob Dole" generation may want to think twice before signing any petition to prevent somelse's marriage. Because yours could be next.

And why is it you never hear about love or commitment. With the Catholic Church it is always about sex.

Paid Signature Gatherers

2005-09-28T12:41:00.000-04:00

KnowThyNeighbor.org is reporting their encounter with paid signature gatherers. So if there are so many people are in support of the anti-equality amendment to the Commonwealth's constitution, why do the religious extremist hire a business with a Michigan telephone number? And why do they have to bus people in from California and pay them a dollar a signature?

Tom Reilly Breaks Wind

2005-09-28T07:32:00.000-04:00

BOSTON--Attorney General Thomas Reilly is asking the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to suspend its review of a controversial plan to build an energy-producing wind farm in Nantucket Sound.

Reilly said a new federal energy law sets up a new process to authorize the use of lands under the control of the federal government, including the continental shelf on which Cape Wind Associates wants to build 130 wind turbines.

So is Tom Reilly the new Mike Dukakis -- Mr. Process? If we waited everytime something changes we would never get anything done.

I am all in favor of the $800 million project to install 417-foot-tall wind turbines in Natucket Sound. It is clean, renewable energy. In Denmark, their most recent offshore wind farm produces enough energy to supply 145,000 households.

I would like to also like to see any candidate for governor express a plan to Massachusetts the most energy efficient state in the country. Maiking us energy efficient is not only good for the environment but also good for the business climate..reducing energy cost.

Disgusting O'Malley

2005-09-27T08:04:00.000-04:00

Brian McGrory says it all:

So what does Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley do? Here's exactly what he does:
He fires the popular pastor at one of the most successful parishes in the entire
state, a rare church constantly filled with communicants, bustling with
weddings, brimming with christenings, welcoming to people of all types. A priest
who should be held up as an example is cut down in shame.

But that's not all. Rather than be up front with parishioners, rather
than explain that the Rev. Walter Cuenin is being relieved of his Newton post
because his views on hot-button topics such as homosexuality and women differ
markedly with those of Catholic leaders, rather than just admit that Cuenin was
never a favorite among higher-ups because he was so critical of the church
during the sex scandal, O'Malley chose a markedly different path. He chose to
smear Cuenin for driving a parish-funded, parish-approved lease car.

That's right: After silently shuffling pedophiles from one town to
another to prey on fresh batches of children, the archdiocese is finally
cracking down on wayward priests -- for driving Hondas

.

(...)

Still, it comes to my attention that the archdiocese was able to find
$687,000 recently to buy a house in West Roxbury on behalf of Richard
Bradford, a former Episcopal priest who left his church in a dispute and was
ordained as a Catholic priest under Cardinal Law in 1998, despite being
married.

So, when they read the letters from the Bishops in church this Sunday
encouraging you to sign the petition to not only stop equal marriage but
also outlaw civil unions, stop and think the impact this will have on
families down the street from you. And think about the type of
people who are encouraging you to sign this. And also think about this.

Quietly, archdiocesan leaders have warned Catholic Charities not to expect any
church contribution to the upcoming budget. That amounts to a million dollars
that now goes toward food pantries, homeless shelters, immigrant programs, and
the like. Gone.

Your bishops are people just like us. They can be wrong. They can also not act as Christ would.

Tax Breaks For Hybrid Cars

2005-09-27T07:35:00.000-04:00

This is the kind of action I like to see coming out of government. And I like the fact that it is being proposed by State Senate Democrats. We need to beat Mittwit to the punch on these good ideas so when he runs for President he cannot claim credit.

The only thing I would change on this is I would add a surcharge onto the tax sales tax for vehicles whose gas mileage is less than some number, say 20 miles per gallon. That would pay for the tax breaks.

BOSTON --As fuel prices soar and drivers search for ways to save
money, lawmakers are pushing a bill they say would make Massachusetts a national
leader in the drive to ease dependence on gasoline.

The bill, which could come up for a vote in the Senate as soon as Thursday,
would reward drivers who buy hybrid or alternative fuel cars with tax breaks,
free Fast Lane transponders and open access to HOV lanes.

The bill would also require that at least half of the state's fleet of vehicles
run on alternative fuels by 2010 -- and establish an "Alternative Fuels
Institute" at the University of Massachusetts.

(...)

Besides requiring the state to steadily increase its number of alternative
fuel cars, the bill would also authorize $10 million in state borrowing for a
grant program to help local cities and towns and school districts add more
alternative fuel vehicles to their fleets. The money would help build refueling
stations for alternative fuels.

The bill's backers hopes to reward businesses by offering tax
incentives both for the purchase of new alternative fuel cars, and the creation
of alternative fuels and refueling facilities.
The proposed Alternative Fuel
Institute at UMass would be charged with helping develop those new technologies
by working with private businesses, state agencies and the university.

(...)

Besides the $10 million in borrowing, the state would lose from $3 to $5
million in taxes each year, and spend $100,000 on the proposed institute. The
Turnpike Authority would be required to foot the cost of the free transponders,
which cost $27.50 each.

Comedy Connection Mittwit

2005-09-26T11:57:00.000-04:00

Washington Post:

Massachusetts Governor Makes His State the Butt of His Jokes
Republican's Out-of-Town Act May Alienate Majority Democrats

Good Catholics

2005-09-22T14:50:00.000-04:00

Marry in Massachsetts points out that a group of Roman Catholics have announced a petition of their own for in support equal marriage. You can find it online here.

Shine Some Light

2005-09-22T13:08:00.000-04:00

BOSTON -- Residents could soon be mailing their electric bill to an address
a little closer to home -- their own municipal light company.

Legislators this week heard arguments for a bill that would require
major utility companies to sell their poles, wires and other electrical
equipment to cities and towns interested in taking on the job of supplying
electricity themselves.

Supporters say passage of the bill will give residents more options, as
well as a chance at lower
prices, when it comes to purchasing
electricity.

(...)

Forty communities across the state currently operate their own municipal light companies, said Kevin Goddard, public-relations manager for Littleton Electric Light. Littleton established its own autonomous electric company in 1912. A general manager and an elected board of commissioners run the company,
whose rates are consistently 30 percent below those of major utility companies,
he added.

And This Is Called Irresponsible Government

2005-09-22T07:57:00.000-04:00

The Boston Globe:

GLOUCESTER -- First, the Federal Emergency Management Agency sent them to
the Gulf Coast, a rumbling, rolling convoy of tractor-trailers hauling 170
million pounds of ice bound for victims of Hurricane Katrina, whose food and
medicine supplies were rapidly spoiling in the relentless sun.

No sooner had they arrived, when FEMA handed down another order: Never
mind. It turns out that most of the victims had already been brought to shelters
in Texas and other states with working refrigerators and freezers.

Now, 114 of the big rigs have ended up here, 1,000 miles north of the
hurricane zone, on the briny, ocean-cooled shores of Cape Ann in
Gloucester.

In a town proud of its 157-year-old plant capable of churning out 350
tons of ice in a day, the arrival of mountains more of the stuff has caused some
head scratching and frowning Yankee disapproval of Washington's freespending
ways.

(...)

A FEMA spokesman acknowledged yesterday that the agency does not know how
much it may cost taxpayers to keep the ice frozen or when the government might
need it next. But the agency decided it was better to save the stuff, which is
now being offloaded to cold storage facilities in Portland, Maine, Salem, Ore.;
and here in Gloucester, home to Cape Pond Ice.

(...)

Some truck drivers in Gloucester said they were making $900 a day and had
been on the road for nearly two weeks.

It's Called Responsible Government

2005-09-21T12:54:00.000-04:00

BOSTON (AP) -- House lawmakers want to save a little for a rainy day -- about $691 million to be exact.

A new spending plan set for a vote today would stash the money -- surplus from the fiscal year that ended June 30th -- in the state's savings account.

Democratic House leaders say the move is fiscally sound. They say the state was spared from more drastic cuts during the recent economic slump because it had saved more then $2 billion in the rainy day account during the 1990s.

But Republicans, including Governor Romney, say some of the money should be used to lower the state income tax rate from five-point-three percent down to five percent.

Another Romney Flip Flop

2005-09-20T07:25:00.000-04:00

From The Standard Times:

BOSTON -- Gov. Mitt Romney yesterday indicated he would veto any attempt to
expand gambling in Massachusetts, throwing a major hurdle before legislators who
want a casino or slots parlors in Southeastern Massachusetts.

It was also a significant change in the governor's position.

After he was elected in 2002, Romney proposed allowing video slots parlors
on a trial basis to help close a $3 billion state budget deficit. He also
suggested seeking $75 million in blocking payments from neighboring states with
casinos in exchange for not legalizing gambling in Massachusetts.
Romney said yesterday that the Legislature had little interest in video
slots in 2002, and the state's economic climate had changed since then.

"Today we're generating hundreds of millions of dollars in surplus," Romney
told reporters. "In my view, there is no reason to risk the social costs
associated with expanding gaming, and therefore, I wouldn't support casinos or
slot machines being added to the gaming that currently exists in the
commonwealth."

Democrats accused Romney of flip-flopping to gain the support of
conservative, out-of-state Republican groups as he explores a bid for the
presidency. Anti-gambling activists had vowed to boycott an Iowa fund-raiser
where Romney is scheduled to speak next month unless he rejected gambling.

Ted Kennedy Has Republican Opponent

2005-09-19T12:29:00.000-04:00

The Boston Phoenix:

Who is this Kevin Scott? Well, he’s 41-year-old graduate of UMass-Boston
and Newbury College. He speaks Russian, enjoys reading about politics and
history, and has lived in Wakefield his entire life. More to the point, he seems
to be heavily influenced by conservative talking head Howie Carr, whose
drive-time show on WRKO-AM is infused with the same combative populism that
marks Scott’s web site, MassForScott.com. "I am not a Harvard trust fund baby,"
Scott assures visitors. "Kevin is one of you," the site adds. "Just like you, he
has gone through the trials and tribulations that life tends to throw at a
person and he has overcome them."

Up in Wakefield, meanwhile, early reactions to Scott’s run were mix. Mary
K. Galvin, Wakefield’s town clerk, described Scott as a "wonderful young man."
But a woman who answered the phone in the selectmen’s office--and who asked not
to be identified--seemed hesitant when asked if Scott should be taken seriously.
"Hmm..." she replied. "I’m not going to answer that."

This should be worth some laughs if it is as good as when Jack E. Robinson ran against Ted in 2000.

MA Conservative Family Opens Home To Lesbian Couple

2005-09-18T21:06:00.000-04:00

PageoneQ highlights an article in the Time magazine, Sept 26th issue. The article discuss Katrina evacees and their hosts.

And so, for the past week, King, a self-described "dyed-in-the-wool
conservative," has been sharing his home with the Meehan-Hoo family, a lesbian
couple with three children, ages 5, 7 and 9.

. . . . . Forrest and Marie have offered their home to the Meehan-Hoos
[family] indefinitely. Jan, who had a job at a nursing home in Louisiana, and
Yolanda, a paramedic, hope to find new jobs nearby. Until they get settled,
communal living provides learning experiences for everyone, even Forrest. "The
other day I heard them arguing with each other in the stairway. It proves to me
that same-sex couples are just as miserable as the rest of us," says King,
laughing, as his wife and the Meehan-Hoos shake their heads in exasperation,
like family.

Worst And Stupidist

2005-09-16T14:32:00.000-04:00

On the drive home from work I'll tune into Jay Severin's "Best and Brightest" talk show on the radio. I usually can only take lisening to the bombastic jerk for a few minutes. Last Friday I was tuned in when Jay (or is it Jimmy) said:

''But since journalism began, and up until the time at least that I took my master's degree at Boston University -- and may I add without being obnoxious, up till and including the time that I received a Pulitzer Prize for my columns for excellence in online journalism from the Columbia School of Journalism, the highest possible award for writing on the Web -- right up to and including that in 1998, you still had to practice journalism to be a journalist."

But as Scot Lehigh points out:

That struck several listeners as unlikely. Once I'd heard the claim, I
asked the Pulitzer folks to check it out. ''We looked at the records and there
is no record of him winning a Pulitzer Prize," says Sig Gissler, administrator
of the Pulitzers. Nor is there a Pulitzer for excellence in online
journalism.

How does Jay explain his assertion?

''What I said was, there is a prize that my editor told me is the
equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize for Web journalism," Severin said in an
interview. ''That is a hell of a caveat."

Certainly it would have been if Severin had made it. The problem is, he
didn't. I read him his on-air comment.

''I certainly could have been more precise," he conceded. Or more, say,
truthful.

Now to the matter of online awards. From 2000 to 2002, Columbia
University was the cosponsor for the Online Journalism Awards, awards in no way
related to the Pulitzers. According to Tom Regan, executive director of the
Online News Association, there is only one annual Online Journalism Award that
goes to an individual. It's for commentary. Severin hasn't won that, he
said.

It is true that in 2000, the first year for which those awards were
given, MSNBC.com won an Online Journalism Award for general excellence ''in
collaboration," and Severin was writing columns for the site at the time. But
that award ''is for the site as a whole," says Regan.

Severin, however, said that he had been told by Joan Connell, then
executive producer for opinions at the site, that the prize he alluded to was
for a small group of writers that included him. Connell, who is now with The
Nation, says she's not even sure what award Severin has in mind. Asked about
Severin's account, she says: ''I don't recall that. The awards we did win tended
to be for sitewide excellence and not for the opinion sections."

And then there is this:

Now, where would anyone introducing Jay have gotten the notion that he was
a Harvard Law School graduate?

''I have no idea," said Severin. But one quickly occurred to him. As
part of an arrangement made by his BU professors, he said, he had sat in on some
classes at Harvard Law School, though not as an enrolled student. Perhaps, he
said, whoever introduced him had heard him mention those classes on the air and
arrived at that conclusion.

That's inventive, anyway. But then, there's long been an aura of
self-invention about Severin.

The young man known at Vassar as Jimmy Severino is now Jay Severin III.
The former B-grade political consultant would have his listeners believe he was
once a top-level national strategist.

MA Republicans At The Trough

2005-09-16T08:12:00.000-04:00

What a cast of characters..Mittwit, Kerry Healey, Weld. For those not from Massachusetts, Beverly is up on the North Shore. It is horse country. I don't think any compnay would need $1 million in tax credits to develop the estate of the late William Loeb, publisher of the Union Leadre of Manchester.

And in a different article the company Mittwit is leasing is new office from also got a tax break.

From The Boston Globe:

Governor Mitt Romney's tax agency last year shelved a sharply critical
report on an economic development program for ''blighted" properties that had
awarded a $1 million tax credit to a wealthy company headed by Lieutenant
Governor Kerry Healey's husband.

(...)

Since May, Healey's husband, Sean M. Healey, has netted $13 million by
cashing in stock options in his firm, Affiliated Managers Group Inc. The money
is widely expected to help finance his wife's potential campaign.

The Department of Revenue report confirmed many of the criticisms
outlined last year by Inspector General Gregory Sullivan, who said the tax
credits, including those to Affiliated Managers Group, had been ''handed out as
favors" to companies and should be returned to the state.

(...)

Affiliated Managers Group, an asset management firm that manages billions
of dollars, received a $1-million tax credit for developing a single, 88-acre
estate in Beverly's Prides Crossing neighborhood as its headquarters. The tax
credit was awarded two years before Kerry Healey became lieutenant
governor.

Sean Healey is president and chief executive officer of the firm. The
chief financial officer and executive vice president is Darrell W. Crate, whom
Romney picked as chairman of the state Republican Party in 2003. Governor
William F. Weld, who created the tax incentive program in 1993, sat on the
Affiliated Managers Group board from 1998 to 2004.

(...)

Through an aide, Kerry Healey declined last week to respond to Sullivan's
demands that the state seek a return of the $1 million tax credit. The aide
indicated that Healey was waiting for the final Department of Revenue report.

(...)

Nonetheless, Sullivan renewed his call for the Department of Revenue to
revoke $10.5 million in ''questionable" credits.

(...)

Based on the company's application and the city of Beverly's support, the state's Economic Assistance Coordinating Council had declared the estate a
decadent area, although it is in one of the state's wealthiest neighborhoods. It
had been owned by the late William Loeb, the publisher of the Union Leader of
Manchester. His mansion burned down in 1987; the land has been vacant
since.

The recently discovered Department of Revenue report agreed with
Sullivan's very sharp criticism that certain tax credit projects do not meet the
legal criteria for the program, designed to attract firms to locate in an ''open
blighted area" or a ''distressed area" that cannot be developed without tax
incentives.

And then there is Mittwit and is new digs with the view of New Hampshire and the $7 million tax break his landlord received:

Governor Mitt Romney is paying $58,350 annually from his personal funds to rent
space in one of Boston's most prestigious office settings from a firm that two
years ago received a $7 million tax break from his administration.

(...)

The Globe reported yesterday that Romney signed a sublease agreement with
Manulife on Sept. 1 for the office, where aides say he will conduct personal
family and political business. The rent for an office in one of Boston's premier
buildings normally runs over $50 a square foot, real estate specialists say. The
office suite offers a spectacular view of the region.

(...)

The disclosure of the rental price for space on the 59th floor of the John
Hancock Tower was made after the Democratic Party called on the governor to
release the information and Inspector General Gregory W. Sullivan reiterated his
strong criticism of the tax break that the Romney administration approved for
Manulife in 2003

.

(...)

The governor's Executive Office of Economic Affairs approved the Manulife
tax deal as part of the Economic Development Incentive Program.

''The Manulife tax break was one of the egregious abuses of this program in its history," said Sullivan. ''I have called for the money to be returned."

A spokesman for Manulife did not return a call from the Globe seeking
comment.

Romney's economic aides approved the tax credit to Manulife for relocating its office from the Hancock Tower to the Seaport district in South Boston. The economic incentive program is designed to encourage companies to locate in designated ''blighted" or ''distressed" areas.

But Sullivan, who first raised the issue of the tax break in a report last year, has noted that the Seaport district, often described as prime waterfront property, was not a distressed area. He also said that the company had already opened its headquarters there two months before receiving the credit.

2005-09-16T07:55:00.000-04:00

Why do I find this report on KTVO in Missouri? But I am all in favor of the idea.

BOSTON (AP) - It's cold, it's snowing, and there's ice and snow on the car.
So you hop in and go without clearing off all the winter. That might soon be
against the law in Massachusetts. The state legislature is considering a bill
that would mean fines of up to 500 dollars, and even a six-month stay in jail.
The bill is designed to reduce the danger from chunks of snow and ice flying off
car roofs or hoods. If it passes, Massachusetts could become the first state to
require snow and ice-free cars.

Maybe Rep Wagner From Chicopee Should be First To Go

2005-09-15T12:39:00.000-04:00

Other local legislators who switched their yes votes from last year and voted no on the amendment yesterday included Reps. Joseph F. Wagner, D-Chicopee, Anne M. Gobi, D-Spencer, and Sens. Stephen J. Buoniconti, D-West Springfield, Michael R. Knapik, R-Westfield and Stephen M. Brewer, D-Barre.

Wagner said he changed his vote because the attorney general has certified a new proposed ballot question on marriage for 2008, diminishing the need for the "less than perfect compromise amendment."

Brewer said his position evolved and he now supports the constitutional right for same-sex marriage.

Brewer, whose district includes Palmer, questioned the move to ban gay marriages when thousands have already taken place. "What do we do? Reject all that now? I'm troubled by that constitutionally and morally."

Run Opposition

2005-09-15T12:25:00.000-04:00

Many of these Legislators face no opposition each year. I would hope that as part of the equal marriage forces strategy that they decide to target some of these Legislators, maybe 10, in the next elcection. Not just the general election but also in the primary. If the Legisalator is a Democrat, find a equality Democrat to run against them in the primary. Simultaneous, team with the Log Cabin Republicans to find an equality Republican to run. Make these folks pay the price. Make them work to get elected. Start the ground work now.

Critics of same-sex marriage said yesterday's vote was a necessary step to
ready for their 2008 ballot effort. They said that they can now count on
at least 60 legislative supporters of that ballot question, which is 10 more than needed to put it before the voters. ''This is fantastic; we're pumped,"
said Kristian Mineau, head of the Massachusetts Family Institute, which is
spearheading the ballot initiative campaign. ''This was a flawed amendment. The
citizens wanted a vote on marriage with no add-ons, and this opens the gate.
There are no more barriers."

Romney's View Towards New Hampshire

2005-09-15T07:30:00.000-04:00

In today's Boston Globe, Joan Vennochi asked a good question about Mittwit's new office space on the 59th floor of the John Hancock Tower:

And now comes word of Romney's room with a view in the Hancock Tower. Would
a governor who planned on spending a great deal of time in his State House
office need such high-rent work space ?

(...)

Mitt Romney, the Hamlet of Massachusetts politics, can now mull his future
from the 59th floor of the John Hancock Tower, where he is leasing CEO-worthy
office space. The top of the tower comes with a sweeping view: On a clear
day, you can see New Hampshire, the first presidential primary state.

''The governor has rented office space in the Hancock Tower for
personal and family use, and from this office he manages family financial
affairs and the activities of his charitable foundation," explained Romney
spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom, via e-mail. ''He also from time to time may conduct
political fundraising that he is prohibited by law from conducting on state
property."

Toronto-based Manulife Financial, which owns John Hancock Financial
Services, has been moving top executives to its new Congress Street
headquarters. Vacated space in the tower, now owned by Beacon Capital, is
available for lease; top floors lease for about $52.50 a square foot, putting it
at the top of the Boston real estate market, according to the Greater Boston
Real Estate Board. Fehrnstrom said that Romney signed the lease and is using his
own money to pay for his new workspace. His campaign staff continues to work out
of Romney Committee headquarters at 88 Merrimac.

Victory For Equality...For Now

2005-09-14T16:43:00.000-04:00

From Mass Equality:

Just moments ago, Massachusetts legislators rejected by a vote of 157 to 39
a proposed constitutional amendment that would have revoked equal marriage
rights for same-sex couples. Marriage equality is now secure in the Commonwealth
of Massachusetts until at least November 2008.

Over the past year and a half, we have seen the number of pro-equality
legislators grow from a small handful to a solid majority. While our opponents
will try to claim this victory as their own, at least 115 legislators voted
against this amendment because they agree with us and oppose writing anti-gay
discrimination into the constitution. Thanks to all those legislators who have
been with us from the beginning and all those who came out today for the first
time as supporters of equality.

Improving The Initiative And Referendum Process

2005-09-13T12:21:00.000-04:00

We have all seen what has happened in California with the initiative and referendum process. Ans we have seen in Massachuetts where groups such as Focus on the Family and their surrogate Massachusetts Family Institute carperbaggers come into the state to mess with our government.

Massachusetts Senate Bill No. 2158 would provide increased visibility into the process and the groups. From The Boston Phoenix:

Senate No. 2158 would make several key changes to the I&R process —
which, for better or worse, allows the electorate to take government into its
own hands. For example, all signature gatherers would be forced to attest, under
penalty of perjury, that every signature they obtained was gathered in their
presence, something known as the "jurat" requirement. The secretary of state’s
office would provide electronic lists of every single signature obtained for
every single I&R petition. And anyone seeking to change the law through
I&R, whatever their cause (banning greyhound racing, creating publicly
financed elections, stopping gay marriage), would be barred from paying
signature gatherers on a per-signature basis.

The bill would also mandate public identification of major financial
contributors to any I&R campaign. And it would explicitly ban the kind of
bait-and-switch that occurred a few years ago, when gay-marriage opponents
pretended they were circulating petitions against horse slaughtering to help get
extra signatures.

Most good-government advocates would agree that the last two
restrictions make good sense. The others are more dubious, however — and in
retrospect, they may have been deal-breakers. Implement the first, and it would
basically become illegal to leave petitions out in public spaces like cafés and
bookstores. This, in turn, would make it much harder to get the requisite number
of signatures — especially for genuine grassroots groups relying on volunteers,
rather than on paid professionals. The second would have invited aggressive
lobbying by opponents of any I&R measure, and could have made potential
supporters of certain I&R proposals change their minds. Provision number
three, meanwhile, might well have been an unconstitutional abridgement of
political speech.

As a result, even some individuals who sympathized with the bill’s
intent concluded that it amounted to legislative overreach. "What is the greater
good?" asks Common Cause-Massachusetts executive director Pam Wilmot, whose
organization backs some parts of the bill but opposes others. "Is the greater
good getting more people involved in democracy, or is the greater good
preventing a few more bad apples from breaking the law? If the sole goal is to
stop fraud, all sorts of bad things can happen. You have to keep your eyes on
the larger prize." These concerns gave rise to a classic strange-bedfellows
coalition, with Common Cause joining Secretary of the Commonwealth Bill Galvin
and conservative groups such as the Massachusetts Family Institute and Citizens
for Limited Taxation, in opposing the legislation.

(...)

It’s still possible that Senate No. 2158 will make a comeback when the
Senate begins formal deliberations after Labor Day. If it does, and if the
Senate and House act quickly, it could become law sometime this fall. Earlier
this week, Augustus told the Phoenix he’d be open to compromising on the more
controversial parts of the bill — for example, by eliminating the jurat
requirement for volunteers, or by creating a database that prevents fraud while
keeping the identities of petition-signers private.

The goal, Augustus insists, is to limit the ability of wealthy
individuals and out-of-state advocacy groups to mess with Massachusetts law, not
to cripple genuine grassroots civic activism. "We know there’s going to be a
major ballot initiative coming up [on gay marriage], and groups from around the
country will be here, financially and otherwise, to push their agenda," he says.
"And our procedures here are going to receive national scrutiny. It seemed
important to me to tighten them up in a way that makes sure the voters of
Massachusetts are protected."

Reilly's Vulnerability

2005-09-13T08:44:00.000-04:00

I think it does no good contacting Tom Reilly to voice dissapointment with his ruling on the anti-gay marriage. But I do think it helps to let people like Steve Grossman know what you think. If the big money people pull out Reilly is sunk. And it looks like maybe some people have already let Steve know how they feel.

It also prompted Barbara Grossman, the wife of Steve Grossman, Reilly's campaign treasurer, to withdraw her support. She not only endorsed Patrick, but donated $500 to his campaign.

"In the core of my being, I believe it is a civil rights issue," she said Friday. "I certainly don't want to inflate my importance in any way, but I could not continue my support for Tom Reilly in light of this."

And I wonder if Steve still feels the same as in this interview from January, 2005.

But despite acknowledging that he and Reilly "might not agree on every issue,"
Grossman is standing by Reilly, who many see as the best hope Democrats have of
defeating Governor Mitt Romney in 2006. Notwithstanding Reilly's past defense of
the state against Goodridge, Grossman said Reilly's refusal to follow Romney's
request to petition the SJC for a further stay on the implementation of the
ruling until the current attempt to amend the constitution was complete - a
process that could potentially stretch until November 2006 - indicates that the
attorney general is committed to preserving equal marriage rights. Additionally,
Grossman noted Reilly's record of opposing attempts to amend the constitution to
ban same-sex marriage.

I think Mass Equality Is Wrong On This One

2005-09-09T21:35:00.000-04:00

Talk about strange bedfellows:``If they really wanted to be helpful in protecting equal marriage rights, they can show their support by talking to people and sharing stories, not by putting up this silly, mean-spirited Web site,'' said Marty Rouse, campaign director for MassEquality, a coalition of gay rights groups.

I think Marty is wrong on this for a few reason.

As Secretary of State Tom Galvin said the posting of names on of the signatories on the Web is legal. "That is fine. That is the American way if they want to do it", he said. The anti-gay marriage petition is a public document.
The last time the extreme right circulated an anti-gay petition there were widespread allegations of signature fraud and that people who thought they were signing a petition to "save horses" were dubed into signing the anti-gay petition. Isn't the information know thy neighbor is posting a way to combat this fraud? Plus, the web site as a link to notify the Secretary of State's office should you see your name on the list and want it remioved from the petition.
I guess posting these names is effective. Otherwise, I don't think the initial reaction of the extremist would have been so reactive.
And rememeber when Mittwit's wife and son signed the petition last time. If this web site had been in place Mittwit would not have been caught offguard:

BOSTON
- Although Republican Mitt Romney announced his candidacy for the Massachusetts
governorship only a week ago, news that family members support an
anti-gay constitutional amendment has already given ammunition to his detractors. Romney's wife, son, and daughter-in-law reportedly signed an anti-gay marriage petition that seeks to amend the state constitution in order to prevent same-sex couples from ever being legally recognized in Massachusetts.

The proposed amendment would also strip domestic partnership benefits
from gay and lesbian public employees. This news motivated Romney's campaign
to clarify his position on the issue. Eric Fehrnstrom, a Romney campaign
spokesman, told The Boston Globe, "Romney opposes gay marriage but also
opposes the amendment, since he sees no reason to change the current laws,
which allow for domestic partner benefits to public employees" and suggested that his family members signed the petition ''without reading the fine print.''

''Mitt did not know they signed it, and Mitt does not support it,'' said Fehrnstrom. ''As far as Mitt is concerned, it goes farther than current law, and therefore it's unnecessary.'' But some Massachusetts activists are not placated and suggest that a public admittance of error is necessary if the petitions were in fact signed in error.
You know, lets say, if there was an amendment in Kansas to allow gays to civil marriage that the radical right would be posting the names.

Finally, the intent of this web site is not like the Christain extremeist web site that post the names of abortion providers. The intent is:

not advocating that gay marriage backers use the Web site as a method of intimidating the signers, but rather as a way to ``open up communication'' on both sides of the debate. ``We are not telling people what to do. We are letting people become their own armchair activists,'' he said.

When Protest Flop

2005-09-08T21:07:00.000-04:00

I don't yet know how things turned out at the Focus on the Family pre-event. But Bay Windows has some good summaries of other extremist events.

Boston homophobic At-Large City Council Candidate Roy Owens's planned youth prayer march and praise rally Sept. 3 turned out to be a bust. Owens had planned to stage a rally and march from Franklin Park through Roxbury to protest what he saw as major social ills facing the community's young people.

In addition to gang violence, teen pregnancy, and broken families, Owens's flyer promoting the event also mentioned the evil of homosexuality, prompting out local resident Erika McLaughlin and two friends to attend the event as a counter-protest. They need not have bothered. The entire march,
including Owens, consisted of eight people.

And up in Lexington:

David Parker the Lexington parent arrested at his son's school April 28 for refusing to leave after an argument with school officials over gay issues in the
curriculum, held a rally with about 50 of his supporters at the
Lexington Town Green Sept. 6, but his rally backfired. About 300 people, predominantly Lexington residents, held a counter-protest across the street, spreading out in a long line that dwarfed Parker and his supporters, including members of the anti-gay Article 8 Alliance. The counter-protestors, which included parents, children, grandparents, school officials and Lexington State Sen. Susan Fargo, held signs with messages like "Support All Children, Families, and Schools." The counter-protest was organized by a group called Lexington Community Action for Responsible Education and Safety (CARES), a group that formed in response to Parker's arrest and subsequent protests. Lexington CARES organizer and local parent Meg Soens explained, "We wanted to send a message that Lexington and the Lexington Public Schools care deeply about all the children in the classrooms and that we value making every child feel safe and welcome."

And the anti-gay Article 8 Alliance thinks teaching children to "Support ALL Children, Families, and Schools" is "Raising kids to hate others". That's their warped sense of family values.

Boston Most Expensive City

2005-09-08T12:31:00.000-04:00

Anyone running for Governor listening? THIS is an issue.

The cost-of-living ranking comes from the Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan Washington think tank. Story in The Globe:

Propelled largely by high housing costs, Boston is now the most expensive
metropolitan area in the country, outpacing Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and
even New York City, according to a report that will be released today.

The report found that last year, a family of four living in the Boston area
needed $64,656 to cover its basic needs. This was $6,000 more than in New York
City, and about $7,000 more than in San Francisco. Living expenses, which
include healthcare, child care, and other basic needs, were $44,000 or less in
Austin, Texas; Chicago; Miami; and Raleigh, N.C.

The third annual ''Housing Report Card," produced by the Boston
Foundation and the Citizens' Housing and Planning Association, concludes that
even an uptick in housing production could not halt the relentless climb of
Greater Boston's housing prices, which are increasing far more rapidly than are
wages.

(...)

Even though Massachusetts was the only state to lose population last year,
prices continued to rise because demand is still higher than the supply of many
types of housing.

The price increases in the Boston region slowed in 2004 relative to
other parts of the country; the national rate was 12.5 percent. But home prices
in Massachusetts have increased more over the past 25 years than in any other
state; they remain among the highest in the country.

The high cost of living is prompting many residents, especially younger
ones who can't afford to buy into the housing market, to decamp for other states, the report said. It is the latest to warn that such an exodus could have dire consequences for Massachusetts, which was the only state to lose population
last year.

''Continued out-migration may solve the housing problem by reducing
demand," the report concludes. ''But, the cost to the Commonwealth's long-term prosperity of losing its workforce is practically incalculable. Much more housing, appropriate for young working families, must be produced if this is to
be avoided."

(...)

Jennifer Norris, a 34-year-old Medford resident, said the struggle to buy a
house is a wrenching topic of conversation.

Norris, who works for an environmental group, and her husband, employed at
Harvard Law School, make a combined salary that exceeds $100,000. But that isn't
enough to buy a house near their jobs, they say, and for five years they have
rented a two-bedroom apartment.

''At every gathering of people our age, this is the topic of conversation we inevitably end up on, and we all get depressed," Norris added. ''It's something we're all angry about and obsessed over."

Boston-area renters are also under strain. The report notes that even
though there were 34,000 fewer rental households in 2003 than in 2000, 19,000
more rental households were paying more than 50 percent of their incomes for
rent in 2003 than in 2000.

(...)

The report does note that in 2004, there were 13,556 building permits issued in Greater Boston, the highest figure since 1987.

And for the first time since before 1998, both single-family and multifamily production were up. The authors also praise state lawmakers for approving a measure last year that rewards communities for relaxing their zoning to make way for mixed-income housing near transit stops and in town centers. Many people contend that overly restrictive zoning, rather than a scarcity of land, is the cause of the state's high housing prices.

But Finley Perry, president of the Home Builders Association of Massachusetts, said there are still barriers to producing single-family homes. ''There is no incentive for the home-building industry to do anything at the starter-home level," Perry said. ''Land is so expensive, you can't really afford to put an inexpensive house on it."

Know Thy Neighbor

2005-09-08T08:00:00.000-04:00

From The Herald:

A pair of gay activists are raising the stakes in the fight over same-sex
marriage, vowing to post on the Internet the name and address of anyone who
signs a petition to ban gay marriage and civil unions in Massachusetts.

``I have the fight in me now, and if people I know, or that I support, or that I do business with are on that list, I might not support them or their philanthropies or their businesses,'' said Tom Lang, who launched knowthyneighbor.org with his spouse, Alex Westerhoff.

(...)

``We think that it is intimidation by no other name,'' said Kristian
Mineau, whose name was listed as one of the first 30 signers of the petition.
Mineau said he will explore the rights of people who have signed or plan to sign
the petition.

Why is it the religious extremist don't have any problem when their groups post the names of abortion providers on the internet but they have problems now.

Mineau and his wife are listed on the site, along with their address. Also
listed: former Mayor Raymond L. Flynn; Dover Selectwoman Kathleen W. Weld and
her husband, Walter Weld; and Richard W. Richardson, spokesman for the Black
Ministerial Alliance.

(...)

[Massachusetts Secretary of State] Galvin said posting the names of the
signatories on the Web is legal. ``That is fine. That is the American way if
they want to do it,'' he said.

Unfit For His Party's Nomination

2005-09-08T07:42:00.000-04:00

From Boston Phoenix:

Reilly, a candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor, has in the past flip-flopped on important issues such as the death penalty and gay marriage. If he allows the provision limiting marriage only to men and women, he will have made himself unfit for his party’s nomination.

Reilly's Decision

2005-09-08T07:33:00.000-04:00

You can find the complete text of Reilly decison certifing the anti-gay marriage amendment here.

Who Are The Anti-Equality Organizations?

2005-09-07T20:24:00.000-04:00

From the Massachusetts Family Institute Blog. These are the organizations wanting to create a second class of citizens in Massachusetts.

The Coalition for Marriage & Family is an alliance of 13 state and 6 national organizations:

Alliance Defense Fund
Black Ministerial Alliance of Greater Boston
Catholic Action League on Massachusetts
Catholic Citizenship
Center for Reclaiming America
COPAHNI Fellowship of Hispanic Pastors of New England
Family Research Council
Focus on the Family
Institute for Family Development
Jews Against Anti-Christian definition
Massachusetts Catholic Conference
Massachusetts Citizens for Life
Massachusetts Family Institute
Massachusetts State Council - Knights of Columbus
Morality in Media Massachusetts
Natural Rights and Laws Compact
Toward Tradition
United Families International - Defend Marriage Massachusetts
Vision America

Reilly Caves

2005-09-07T14:26:00.000-04:00

Tom Reilly had a choice. He could have ruled the anti-gay marriage amendment as former Massachuestts Attorney Generals Shannon and Harshbarger recommended.

As for the 2008 initiative, a letter to Reilly signed by former attorneys
general James M. Shannon and Scott Harshbarger and nearly 80 lawyers from
Boston's top law firms echoes an argument that gay-rights groups have already
made: that the state Constitution disallows any ballot question that would
reverse a judicial decision. (The Supreme Judicial Court legalized same-sex
marriage in a November 2003 ruling.)

And here and here are the arguments that Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders presented.

Instead Reilly chose another path:

BOSTON --Attorney General Tom Reilly has certified a proposed ballot initiative that would ban gay marriage, allowing conservative groups to begin the long process of gathering signatures and lobbying lawmakers in hopes of putting the matter before voters in 2008.

Supporters now must go out and gather the signatures of at least 65,825
Massachusetts voters. If they are successful, the question then must by approved
by 25 percent of two successive sittings of the 200-member state Legislature.
The question would then be placed before voters again as a constitutional
amendment in 2008.

My initial reaction was one of disappointment. But it has now changed to one of resolve. One to see this defeated.

Religious Coalition Rally For Justice

2005-09-07T12:55:00.000-04:00

The Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry is a group of more than 600 rabbis, ministers, and faith leaders, as well as congregations, and faith-based organizations from 21 faith traditions. They advocate for equal marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples and families. For them, this is a matter of justice and civil rights.

On Thursday, September 8, from 12 to1, in front of Tremont Street Baptist Church, 88 Tremont Street, Boston, Mass they will hold a peaceful alternative to the American Taliban Focus on the Family "pre-event".

The Focus on the Family “pre-event” is for their Love Won Out conference that will be held on Oct. 29. Love Won Out is their “ex-gay” movement whose mission is to convert gays and lesbians into heterosexual conservative Christians. In addition, they are a driving force behind the amendment that would take away civil marriage rights.

Clergy, please wear your religious garments

Colorado based Focus on the Family doesn’t speak for the citizens of Massachusetts.

A majority of our people of faith support GLBT rights and marriage equality.

Reilly's Time To Stand Up

2005-09-07T07:34:00.000-04:00

You can't say it any better about Tom Reilly the politican than Eileen McNamara does in today's Globe:

Reilly should have put a stop to this foolishness weeks ago. As his
predecessors, former attorneys general James M. Shannon and Scott Harshbarger,
have said, and as dozens of the state's most respected lawyers have told him,
the state constitution prohibits ballot questions designed to rescind a judicial
decision. That role belongs to the Legislature.

By waiting until the last minute to rule on this misguided ballot
initiative, the putative Democratic gubernatorial candidate has only reinforced
suspicion that he is preoccupied with questions of politics, not of law. It is a
suspicion Reilly cannot afford in the face of a credible challenge for the
nomination from Deval L. Patrick, a former assistant US attorney who has been
unequivocal in his support for equal civil rights for gay people.

Reilly has spent a fair chunk of his career in public life battling the
perception that he is less motivated by legal conviction than by political
self-interest. That view first took hold a decade ago when, as district attorney
of Middlesex County, he chose to personally prosecute a Somerville teenager
accused of killing the mother of his best friend.

Reilly rarely tried cases but he was weighing a campaign for attorney
general when the homicide occurred. The publicity generated by the trial and the
conviction -- the defendant was a grandson of a former Somerville police chief
-- certainly raised Reilly's name-recognition.
Suspicions of grandstanding
accompanied Reilly's investigation in the aftermath of the clergy sexual abuse
scandal in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. The 16-month probe produced
a chilling 76-page report but no indictments.

Similarly, Reilly's fraud investigation of the Big Dig's project
managers, Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, was launched earlier this year only
after others had exposed the shoddy workmanship and lax oversight of the $14.6
billion public works project.

The issue of gay marriage is especially problematic for Reilly. A
longtime opponent of same-sex marriage, he changed his mind as he geared up to
run for governor. Even so, he continues to defend a 1913 state statute that
prohibits out-of-state couples from marrying in Massachusetts if their union
would be illegal in their home state. That the genesis of the law was a racist
accommodation to states that outlawed interracial marriages seems to bother him
as little as the fact that the obscure statute was resurrected only to limit the
reach of the SJC's ruling.

"There Were No Earthquakes"

2005-09-07T07:25:00.000-04:00

The two top lieutenants of state Senate President Robert E. Travaglini
yesterday said they will vote against
their boss's proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage and
establish civil unions when the Legislature takes up the issue next week.

The announcements from Senate majority leader Frederick E. Berry of Peabody
and Senate majority whip Joan M. Menard of Somerset, in separate interviews with
the Globe, came just one day before state Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly was
to decide if a separate measure calling for an outright ban of same-sex marriage
passes constitutional muster.

Berry and Menard, both Democrats, said they were abandoning their
previous support for the Travaglini amendment because they believe the negative
consequences predicted by opponents of gay marriage never came to pass.

''There were no earthquakes," Berry said.

Today, AG Reilly is suppose to rule if the extremist 2008 amendment to ban equal marriage and civil unions can proceed.

Not The Legislature, The Courts...No, I Mean...

2005-09-07T07:14:00.000-04:00

Don't ya love the right wingnuts. When the courts rule that equal marriage is ok, the right shouts to allow the legislature to decide. When the legislature decides to permit equal marriage, the right screams allow the courts to decide.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Gay rights supporters cheered loudly from the gallery as
California lawmakers became the first in the country to approve
a bill allowing same-sex marriages. But their celebration may be
short-lived.

The legislation could be vetoed by Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger, who has expressed an acceptance of gay marriages but said it's an issue that should be decided by voters or the
courts.

"He will uphold whatever the court decides,"
spokeswoman Margita Thompson said Tuesday after the state Assembly approved the
same-sex marriage measure, 41-35. The Senate had approved it last week.

A state appellate court is considering appeals of a lower court ruling
that overturned California laws banning recognition of gay marriages. And
opponents of same-sex marriage are trying to qualify initiatives for the 2006
ballot that would amend the state Constitution to ban gay marriages.

The
bill's supporters compared the legislation to earlier civil rights campaigns,
including efforts to eradicate slavery and give women the right to vote.

"Do what we know is in our hearts," said the bill's sponsor, San
Francisco Democrat Mark Leno. "Make sure all California families will have the
same protection under the law."

Deval Patrick Campaign Evolves..Has 1,700 Volunteers

2005-09-01T13:17:00.000-04:00

From The Boston Globe:

In July, Patrick's campaign reported $98,000 in donations, and spent
$106,000, the candidate's spokesman, Kahlil Byrd, said. In August, the former
assistant US attorney general raised $20,000 and spent $46,000, mostly on rent
for his downtown Boston headquarters, new computers, and salaries, Byrd said.
Since raising $1 million after he launched his campaign in March, Patrick now
has about $287,000 in his account, Byrd said. The campaign has made some
cuts, as well, Byrd said.

Campaign manager John Walsh, a Democratic operative and former Abington
selectman, who was making $9,200 a month in the early phase of the campaign --
April, May, and June -- had his salary trimmed to $8,000 a month in July and
August, Byrd said. A campaign media consultant, Dan Payne, who was initially
paid $10,000 a month, had his salary slashed to $5,000 in July and then
eliminated in August, Byrd said. Larry Carpman, another media consultant, earned
$5,000 a month in April, May, and June, but was cut from the payroll in July and
August, Byrd said.

Both consultants were hired to help launch the campaign, and have agreed to
continue offering advice as needed, Byrd said.

''It's a deliberate strategy," he said. ''We had an exploration phase. Then
we moved into a campaign phase, and each one of the consultants was told this
from the beginning."

(...)

Reilly, who has tapped a base of donors cultivated during years in office, has
$3 million in his campaign account, said Reilly's spokeswoman, Kendra Medville.
Operating with just three paid staffers, Reilly's campaign spent $63,000 in July
and raised $77,000, she said. In August, the campaign expects to have spent
about $50,000 and raised slightly more than that, she said.

(...)

But Byrd said that Reilly's fund-raising advantage does not concern Patrick's
campaign.
''They have years on us in terms of raising money and we will never
catch them," Byrd said. ''But they will never catch us in terms of reaching out
to people and running a real campaign." Patrick has enlisted support
from 1,700 volunteers, he said.

While Reilly packs his Attorney General payroll, Patrick is building a real campaign.

Extremist Know Why New Orleans Destroyed

2005-09-01T08:30:00.000-04:00

From AMERICAblog:

Here's what this darling of the religious right had to say about New
Orleans:
An evangelical Christian group that regularly demonstrates at
LGBT events is blaming gays for hurricane Katrina.Repent America says that God
"destroyed" New Orleans because of Southern Decadence, the gay festival that was
to have taken place in the city over the Labor Day weekend.

What's The Matter With Kansas

2005-08-30T11:59:00.000-04:00

Instead of preventing gays from marrying maybe Kansas should prevent pedophiles from marrying.

Kansas is one of the few [states] allowing children as young as 12 to marry...

(...)

The two became a couple, according to Crystal's "Happy Anniversary" drawing
on the wall, on Sept. 17, 2003. She was 12 and he 20.

(...)

Mr. Bruning said he was shocked that more than 80 percent of the 250 people
- most from outside Nebraska - who had contacted his office opposed the
prosecution. Similar sentiment abounds here in Falls City, where people say
putting Mr. Koso in jail would most likely land his wife and child on welfare,
an unnecessary double-burden for taxpayers.

"They are trying to make a right out of a wrong," Mardell Rehrs, 67,
said of the couple on Monday morning. "Give them a chance."

Lies ...For the Children

2005-08-30T07:52:00.000-04:00

As the equal marriage debate heats up again with the upcoming Massachusetts Constitutional Convention, it is a sure bet that the radical right will again bring up the argument that they are trying to "protect the children."

As part of this argument they will again bring up the false claim that it is "a proven fact" that "children in same-sex couple homes are 11 times more likely to be abused sexually."

The Southern Poverty Law Center debunks the lie:

As was pointed out in a lengthy article by Carl Bialik, the Wall Street
Journal's "Numbers Guy," Adams' statistic ultimately came from Paul Cameron, a
gay-bashing activist whose research was discredited long ago and whose
organization, the Family Research Institute, is listed by the Southern Poverty
Law Center as a hate group. Adams told Bialik she derived it from an article on
the far-right WorldNetDaily Web site. That article cited another by Cameron that
was published in the journal Psychological Reports.

Cameron looked at the 270 cases of sexual abuse of foster children
reported to Illinois authorities between 1997 and 2002, 34% of which were
same-sex in nature. Citing other studies that conclude gays make up 1% to 3% of
the U.S. population, Cameron concluded that "homosexual practitioners" were
vastly more likely to abuse children sexually than far more numerous
heterosexuals.

But Cameron had no idea if the abusers were in gay or heterosexual
partnerships. In other words, a foster parent in a heterosexual relationship who
abused a child of the same sex was jammed by Cameron into the "homosexual"
category – a gross error that was amplified by Adams when she later told CNN
viewers that the same-sex abuse had occurred "in same-sex homes." Adams
compounded this wildly unscientific approach, Bialik reported, by simply
dividing the 3% into the 34% to derive her 11-fold statistic – despite the fact
that neither she nor Cameron had any information about the percentage of gays in
Illinois, as opposed to the United States as a whole.

And while Cameron and the far right seek legitimacy by claiming the 'studies' are peer reviewed and published in academic journals the Boston Globe sheds more light:

But Cameron's adoption study, and at least 10 more of his works, appeared
in Psychological Reports, a small journal based in Montana, which says its
studies are peer-reviewed, although editor Doug Ammons said: ''No reviewer has a
veto right." The journal, which typically charges $27.50 per page to print an
article, is portrayed by Ammons as a ''scientific manifestation of free
speech."

By contrast, the largest professional journals, which are often cited
as sources of medical information -- such as Journal of the American Medical
Association and the New England Journal of Medicine -- say they will reject an
article if any peer reviewer raises serious objections about its methodology.
Those journals do not charge for publication.

(...)

As Ammons, the editor, put it, ''No opinion of a reviewer will ever veto,
by itself, an article . . . We just simply invite them to comment. If they
disagree with some aspect, they are free to submit a comment."

''People want to anoint something published in a scientific journal as
`The Truth.' It isn't and it can't be," Ammons said. He added that his
publication does not have a political agenda, and he said he personally
disagrees with much of what Cameron has written but believes he should be
published.

Baker Won't Run

2005-08-30T07:17:00.000-04:00

From The Herald:
Stuck in political limbo because Gov. Mitt Romney has yet to make his own plans clear, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care chief Charles D. Baker yesterday announced he won't run for governor next year.

Herald cautions on marriage

2005-08-29T15:30:00.000-04:00

The Boston Herald today on the marriage debate.

Even amid this complicated new reality, though, one fact is crystal clear.
The compromise amendment that bans gay marriage while establishing civil unions
for gay couples is going down to defeat on Sept 14. House Speaker Salvatore F.
DiMasi – an inveterate vote-counter, not to mention gay marriage supporter – has
all but guaranteed it.

That's bad news for those people – the majority, we'd venture to guess – who support traditional marriage but want to grant same-sex couples some legal protections. But it's how both sides have chosen to play their hands, despite the very real risk of losing it all.

The problem I have with this statement is it masks the fact the majority favor equal marriage. Fox news reported that the Herald's own polls "found 49 percent said they support legalizing gay marriage, while 38 percent oppose it." And "Fifty percent of Massachusetts residents surveyed for a Boston Globe/WBZ-TV poll surveyed said they agreed with the (SJC)ruling, while 38 opposed it."

The anti-gay forces initially hid its own 2004 poll results "that showed less than majority support for its effort efforts to prevent legalized same-sex marriage in Massachusetts."

Finally, a poll by Mass Equality found "By a margin of 62% to 35%, voters say that gay or lesbian couples should have the right to enter into a legal marriage. Moreover, fully 64% favor ensuring equal rights for gays and lesbians, including the equal right to marry."

No guess needed.

Andy Card For Gov?

2005-08-28T11:55:00.000-04:00

On today's Chris Matthews Show, Howard Fineman of Newsweek said that Andrew Card, Bush's chief of staff and former Massachusetts state rep, is working behind the scenes to take over as Secretary of the Treasury.

Lowell Reps Against Marriage

2005-08-28T11:43:00.000-04:00

From Lowell Sun:

State Rep. Colleen Garry, D-Dracut, an opponent of same-sex marriage who voted for the 2004 compromise, said she will continue to support it. She says it's too late to start the process over. “I think we're in a difficult situation now because so many people have been married, and we need to provide coverage for them,” Garry said.

“I think my constituents were happy with the way I voted the last time. I think people have gotten used to this situation now.”

Garry added that the proponents of the stricter constitutional amendment that does not set up civil unions “had their chance the last time, and there weren't the votes. That's not going to change. I think there has been a realization that the world has changed.”

State Rep. David Nangle, a Lowell Democrat who opposes gay marriage, said he would likely once again approve the Travaglini compromise measure.

“I've always been in favor of putting it on the ballot,” Nangle said. “I don't believe things have changed and I've kept an open mind in this process.”

angle said he has been “sort of undecided” on the concept of civil unions, but that he felt he was left with little choice to support the compromise measure in 2004. “I was always against same-sex marriage, but if I didn't vote for what I did, nothing would be done,” Nangle said.

State Rep. Thomas Golden, D-Lowell, another opponent of gay and lesbian marriage, also is likely to support the Travaglini measure again. “Civil unions are obviously important. The vast majority of folks I've spoken with have no problem with civil unions whatsoever,” he said.

Strategizing a Christian Coup d'Etat

2005-08-28T11:27:00.000-04:00

From LA Times:

GREENVILLE, S.C. — It began, as many road trips do, with a stop at Wal-Mart to buy a portable DVD player.But Mario DiMartino was planning more than a weekend getaway.

He, his wife and three children were embarking on a pilgrimage to South Carolina.

"I want to migrate and claim the gold of the Lord," said the 38-year-old oil company executive from Pennsylvania. "I want to replicate the statutes and the mores and the scriptures that the God of the Old Testament espoused to the world."

DiMartino, who drove here recently to look for a new home, is a member of Christian Exodus, a movement of politically active believers who hope to establish a government based upon Christian principles.

(...)

Christian Exodus activists plan to take control of sheriff's offices, city councils and school boards. Eventually, they say, they will control South Carolina. They will pass godly legislation, defying Supreme Court rulings on the separation of church and state.

"We're going to force a constitutional crisis," said Cory Burnell, 29, an investment advisor who founded the group in November 2003.

"If necessary," he said, "we will secede from the union."

1,2, 3, 4, What Are We Fighting For?

2005-08-28T10:55:00.000-04:00

From NYT:

The secular leaders said the draft, which was presented to the National Assembly on Monday, contains language that not only establishes the primacy of Islam as the country's official religion, but appears to grant judges wide latitude to strike down legislation that may contravene the faith. To interpret such legislation, the constitution calls for the appointment of experts in Shariah, or Islamic law, to preside on the Supreme Federal Court.

The draft constitution, these secular Iraqis say, clears the way for religious authorities to adjudicate personal disputes like divorce and inheritance matters by allowing the establishment of religious courts, raising fears that a popularly elected Islamist-minded government could enact legislation and appoint judges who could turn the country into a theocracy.

And does staying the course mean giving up?

The Americans said Saturday they had given up trying to broker an agreement after days of frustrating efforts to negotiate on behalf of the minority Sunnis.

"We are not going to continue to be the messenger," said a senior
American official in Baghdad who declined to be identified, invoking the customary diplomatic anonymity.

He Is Not Stupid

2005-08-27T23:01:00.000-04:00

From the Globe:

Despite polls showing him trailing potential Democratic rivals, Governor
Mitt Romney is confidently predicting that he would trounce the competition if
he decides to run for reelection next year.

''Well, I win by a landslide in Massachusetts if I run for reelection. And
that's very possibly what I'm going to do," Romney said in an interview with
Chris Matthews that was televised nationally yesterday on the MSNBC political
talk show ''Hardball."

So what else his he going to say. I know I can't win reelection in Massachusetts so I am running for President!

Why Should Mitt's Kids Serve?

2005-08-27T22:44:00.000-04:00

From the Herald:

Gov. Mitt Romney, who has comforted the grieving loved ones of soldiers killed in Iraq and promoted National Guard recruitment, yesterday said he has not urged his own sons to enlist - and isn't sure whether they would.

The Herald posed the question as Romney - a potential 2008 White House contender and backer of President Bush's Iraq policy -was honored by the Massachusetts National Guard after he signed a bill extending pay for state workers on active duty.

``No, I have not urged my own children to enlist.I don't know the status of my childrens' potentially enlisting in the Guard and Reserve,`` Romney said, his voice tinged with anger.

5 Cars From The House

2005-08-27T22:33:00.000-04:00

Walking home from dinner at 10:05 and getting ready to cross Harrison Ave in the South End. All of a sudden one police car and then others speed down Harrison with lights flashing and sirens blasting from district D-4 headquarters towards Mass Ave. When they go at that speed you know there has been a shooting. We will have to wait until tomorrow's paper to see who got capped.

But I don't understand. Why are the cars in the house? If you know you have a problem in an area wouldn't it more sense to have the officers on patrol!

I went to the neighborhood crime watch meeting Thursday night. Great turnout. Probably 125 to 150 people. I'll try and post tomorrrow about it.

Typical Family Can't Afford Typical House

2005-08-26T11:20:00.000-04:00

From State House News Service Weekly Roundup email:

...the median cost of a Massachusetts home rose $512 this week. OK, that
math is a bit speculative, but only a bit: the Massachusetts Association of
Realtors reported that the median price of a single family home here rose to
$375,000 in July, up 7.1 percent. That works out to $512 a week, and the
inexorable increase is arguably the most significant item on the state's policy
agenda.

Quantifying the problem is tricky but not too hard, especially if you
all you want is a rough but accurate idea of how bad things are. They're bad.
The median home price is $375,000, said the Realtors. But the median family
income for a family in Massachusetts is $74,400, according to the fiscal 2005
estimate of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. ...a 30-year
mortgage at 5.75 percent with a 10 percent down payment will buy you a home
worth $334,978. In other words: the typical Massachusetts family can't afford
the typical Massachusetts home.

The result of this equation is measured not in dollars, but population:
Massachusetts is the only state in country to report a population drop in the
last set of estimates, and its capital city now trails Jacksonville in
population. People want to live here but just can't.

And another reason the high cost of housing is bad, as the email went on to say, is:

Testimony about the high cost of living in Massachusetts was one of the reasons
cited as the Base Realignment and Closure Commission explained its decision not
to expand the mission of Hanscom Air Base, and bring upward of 1,100 new
positions to the Bedford facility.

Byron Rushing...Awesome State Rep

2005-08-26T08:39:00.000-04:00

This guy is the real deal. A first glance, with his long beard, you say who is this guy. But he really works at representing his district.

From the Boston-Baystate Banner:

The beginning of Thomas Finneran’s reign as House speaker saw his
arch-opponent Representative Byron Rushing bounced from his wood-paneled
second-floor office to a cramped, fifth-floor room. On the way up he lost the
extra pay that came with the chairmanship of the Insurance Committee as well as
the extra staff.

Midway through Finneran’s reign, Rushing appeared unruffled as he took the
helm of a group of progressive legislators and launched a largely symbolic but
politically significant challenge to Finneran’s stranglehold on the
speakership.

While many progressive legislators in the House cut deals with Finneran to
maintain or obtain committee chairmanships or win pork for their districts,
Rushing seemed comfortable as the spokesman and leader of a group of 40-or-so
representatives who openly opposed the autocratic speaker’s virtual stranglehold
on Beacon Hill.

(...)

Rushing is now the highest-ever ranking black House member — the only one
to have been elected to a leadership position. His appointment sent a signal to
both black lawmakers and progressives that there is a new era of inclusion in
the State House.

(...)

While Rushing hails DiMasi’s openness, he cautions that progressives will
not have a carte blanche to move any legislation they choose. DiMasi’s
leadership represents a broad array of political views. For example, Norwood
Rep. John Rogers — one of the most conservative legislators in the House — sits
on the influential Rules Committee.

“It’s a different ballgame now,” Rushing said. “People will tell you that
the proof is in the pudding. We haven’t been able to fix things overnight. But
we have the right people in the right places.”

Death In The Garden

2005-08-26T08:14:00.000-04:00

Herald photographer:

I can't believe I saw him die right in front of me.

I had just parked on Charles Street yesterday afternoon for a photo assignment at the Public Garden when I noticed three guys inside the park sitting in an oddly tight circle.

I had my camera on the seat next to me, so I took a look through the telephoto lens. One of the men was tightening a belt around his upper arm. Then I saw the needle.

I started taking pictures.

(...)

Hub drug-abuse deaths, the vast majority of them due to heroin overdoses,
soared 44 percent between 2002 and 2003 as the city reeled from state substance
abuse budget cuts, according to the Boston Public Health Commission.

Marriage Amendment May Fail

2005-08-26T07:35:00.000-04:00

According to the Globe:

MALDEN -- House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi predicted yesterday that next
month the Legislature will reject a proposed constitutional amendment to ban
same-sex marriage and allow civil unions, the strongest signal yet that the
compromise given preliminary approval by lawmakers last year is headed for
defeat.

''Everybody anticipates that there won't be enough votes to pass this,"
DiMasi, a supporter of same-sex marriage, said in an interview. ''That seems to
be pretty clear."

But:

Still, a big question mark remains because of upcoming developments that
involve same-sex marriage.

By Sept. 7, a week before the Legislature convenes, Attorney General
Thomas F. Reilly must decide whether to certify the separate 2008 measure or
reject it. If Reilly agrees with gay-rights supporters that the 2008 initiative
is unconstitutional, some lawmakers who oppose same-sex marriage might change
course and back the Travaglini-Lees measure when the Legislature convenes.

One of those opponents, Representative Philip Travis, Democrat of
Rehoboth, declared the 2006 amendment defeated at the unveiling of the 2008
initiative two months ago. Travis said yesterday, however, that if Reilly does
not certify the 2008 petition, he will have no choice but to back the compromise
that's before the Legislature.

Another way of looking at the map

2005-08-26T07:19:00.000-04:00

Red versus blue except it looks like the blue has most of the red. At Daily Kos.

Jim Kelly Can Be Gone From City Council

2005-08-25T13:16:00.000-04:00

For those of you new to Boston, specifically the South End, Bay Village, South Boston, or parts of Chinatown you have the chance to make a difference. This is city council district 2.

For the first time in years, I believe almost 20, Jim Kelly, the city councilor has an opponent. Oh. You don't know about Jim Kelly. Well, lets just say Jim Kelly reminds me of Lester Maddox, the Governor of Georgia when I was growing up. There is the possibilty Jim has evolved his views over the years. But there is one group he still works against.

Susan Passoni is running against him.

Since they are both Democrats whoever wins primary day (September 27) is it. Last day to register to vote is September 7. But why wait? Do it here now!

Separate But Equal Is Not Equal

2005-08-25T07:47:00.000-04:00

Please contact your State Reps and Senators and ask them to vote against the outlawing equal marriage for gay people but establishing civil unions. You CAN make a difference!! And it only takes 5 minutes.

The Legislature set Sept. 14 yesterday as the date it will debate a
separate measure, aimed at the 2006 ballot, that would outlaw same-sex marriage
and establish civil unions. The early date dismayed gay-rights advocates who had
expected far more time to lobby lawmakers.

''The September date for the next Constitutional Convention is unfortunate," Marty Rouse, campaign director for MassEquality, said in an e-mail. ''We now have only three short weeks."

Meanwhile, the right wing extremist are trying to introduce another constitutional amendment (the 2008 initiative) that would outlaw marriage and civil unions.

Pressure mounted yesterday on Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly over a
proposed citizens' initiative to ban same-sex marriage, with two former
attorneys general and several dozen lawyers urging him to rule the effort
unconstitutional.

Reilly has until Sept. 7 to certify the ballot question, which foes of
same-sex marriage hope will go before voters in the 2008 election. The pressure
on Reilly, including a legal brief filed by same-sex marriage opponents, puts
him in a delicate situation, as he begins a campaign for governor.

(...)

As for the 2008 initiative, a letter to Reilly signed by former attorneys
general James M. Shannon and Scott Harshbarger and nearly 80 lawyers from
Boston's top law firms echoes an argument that gay-rights groups have already
made: that the state Constitution disallows any ballot question that would reverse a judicial decision. (The Supreme Judicial Court legalized same-sex marriage in a November 2003 ruling.)

(...)

Reilly has not always supported same-sex marriage, but says he accepts the
SJC's decision. His primary rival for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination,
Deval Patrick, is considered an advocate for gay rights.