ATTENTION! You are now on the OLD Blue Mass. Group homepage! We have moved away from Typepad and are now located at http://www.bluemassgroup.com. You'll notice a lot of new features...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (0)
December 02, 2005 | Open Document, Insert Foot III: with Sen. Marc Pacheco (D-Redmond, WA)So, we found out who's the Senator-mouthpiece for Microsoft in the lege's debate over the state moving to document types that aren't owned by a single, monopolistic company. It's Marc...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (5)
December 01, 2005 | Wall Street Journal to MA: Freeze to deathSo, the wise men of the Wall Street Journal editorial page (who, wags have said, don't read the actual fine reporting of that paper) have upbraided Rep. William Delahunt and...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (0)
November 29, 2005 | Tim Murray in the Lt. Gov. race?Mariposa at Beyond 495 calls our attention to a most interesting tidbit in a holiday party invitation sent out by DDemDispatch: the invite notes that Worcester Mayor Tim Murray has...
By David | Read Article | Comments (26)
A Teacher Runs in FoxboroughAn important update in the 1st Bristol race from Cos. --David There's a Democrat running in the 1st Bristol special election, but it's not Feeney. The Sun-Chronicle reported last week...
By Cos | Read Article | Comments (1)
November 28, 2005 | Candidate Questionnaires in the Somerville special electionPDS member Cos reports on PDS's questionnaires and upcoming candidates forum for the State House seat vacated by Pat Jehlen's move to the Senate. --David The Progressive Democrats of Somerville...
By Cos | Read Article | Comments (8)
More Patrick campaign tea leaves.08 acres points to this Adrian Walker column about Deval Patrick, which makes this intriguing comment: I had called after reading that one of his top consultants, Dan Payne, had...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (5)
November 27, 2005 | Cashing in their chipsNow this is cool ... er, warm: Mt. Wachusett Community College has reduced its heating costs and CO2 output by switching to wood chips and other biomass fuels:Instead of shelling...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (2)
November 26, 2005 | Open Document, Insert Foot II: Electric BoogalooGlobe reports that the Romney administration is investigating Peter Quinn, director of the Informational Technology Division, for not getting permission to go to some out-of-state conferences: Romney administration officials are...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (1)
Polling: Employers should pay their shareHow the heck did I miss this? At the end of the State House News Service's email bulletin was this gem: The notion of raising taxes on businesses who can...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (1)
November 25, 2005 | Open Document, Insert FootCould the legislature smother the move to open source document formats before it begins? Sharp Tools worries that's the case, citing a friend who was at the legislative hearing:Microsoft had...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (3)
Another Trio of Special ElectionsThought we were all done with special elections? Think again! Cos has written up this excellent roundup of three more open seats that will be filled well before next year's...
By Cos | Read Article | Comments (2)
More thoughts on the Delahunt-Chavez oil dealThanks to Ken at Dirty Water for noting a different take on the Delahunt-Chavez oil deal. Steve Bailey, one of the Globe's business columnists, writes that he's no Bush fan,...
By David | Read Article | Comments (0)
Get the blue laws out of this blue statePlease, please, will someone repeal our ghastly blue laws? It's ridiculous enough that our chief law enforcement officer, Attorney General and would-be Governor Tom Reilly, had nothing better to do...
By David | Read Article | Comments (8)
November 24, 2005 | The Good Old Boys Strike AgainKudos to our absentee Governor for vetoing the bill passed by the Gold Old Boys in the House and Senate that would have placed new restrictions on wine shipments via...
By Bob | Read Article | Comments (0)
November 23, 2005 | Phoenix profiles O'Flaherty and SchiavoneAdam Reilly (who else?) writes up an interesting piece on this very interesting race that pits Christopher Schiavone, a gay ex-priest, against incumbent Rep. Eugene O'Flaherty (D-Chelsea), a non-gay F-bomb-tossing...
By David | Read Article | Comments (4)
BoomerangYeah, so Romney and Healey's anti-immigrant-education stance hasn't been going so well lately, and now the State House News Service reports in its roundup (note to MA bloggers: sign up...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (0)
Dan Payne departs from Deval Patrick's campaignToday's Globe brings the news of long-time Democratic media consultant Dan Payne's departure from the Deval Patrick campaign. Payne had been advising Patrick since before Patrick decided to run, and...
By David | Read Article | Comments (21)
Romney sidelined by Delahunt-Chavez oil dealMitt Romney is supposed to be the Governor of Massachusetts, isn't he? Sometimes it's hard to be sure. When asked what he thought about the fact that Congressman Bill Delahunt...
By David | Read Article | Comments (2)
November 22, 2005 | Fulfilling expectationsIn the Arrgghghghggh department... I came this close to actually praising Our Guv for supporting the proposed Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative to limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. Too...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (1)
2006 and local blogsLinked from Political Wire, Kari Chisholm of Mandate Media has a post about the potential importance of political blogs in the '06 elections. Mandate Media runs the indispensible LeftyBlogs site,...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (2)
The Delahunt-Chavez deal: what's the problem, exactly?What a fascinating story this is. Congressman Bill Delahunt (D-Quincy) has personally cut a deal with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to provide millions of gallons of low-cost heating oil, to...
By David | Read Article | Comments (9)
November 20, 2005 | Today, RFK would have been 80Wes F. and David Eisenthal have reminded us that today would have been Bobby Kennedy's 80th birthday. Here's a site dedicated to him. I'll just chime in with my thoughts....
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (4)
November 19, 2005 | Return on Community InvestmentLen Stewart of Cape Cod Works has a must-read post on how we must look at any health care reform: It's an investment in our community, which will bear real...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (5)
Get your Lowell onIn the House brouhaha (ballyhoo, balderdash) from yesterday, Rep. Marty Meehan (D-Lowell) reacted to Rep. Jean Schmidt calling a Bronze Star Marine a coward: You guys are pathetic! Pathetic!Now that's...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (3)
November 18, 2005 | What do you guys actually look like, anyway?Thanks in large part to the amazing organizational efforts of Lynne at LeftInLowell, we are about three weeks away from what promises to be a watershed event in the nascent...
By David | Read Article | Comments (5)
November 17, 2005 | Freep this poll!Boston Business Journal is hosting an online poll asking whether businesses should have to pay or play with respect to health care - that is, whether they should either have...
By David | Read Article | Comments (1)
How the (House) employer mandate worksAnother Greater Boston Interfaith Organization .pdf, drawn up in conjunction with the Business Leaders for Real Health Reform, describes the employer mandate thusly: The $160 million employer tax is eliminated....
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (1)
Travis retiresWell, conservative ol' cuss Rep. Phil Travis (D-Rehoboth) is out next year. He was one of the major opponents of gay marriage, and is throwing in the towel. My favorite...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (4)
Health Care: Gut check for the GuvSo, Our Guv has decided to postpone his decision about whether to run for re-election until after the health care debate shakes out. Supposedly that makes him more relevant to...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (0)
November 16, 2005 | Health care: GBIO's Senate vs. House comparisonThe Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (GBIO) has written up a nice comparison sheet (.pdf) between the House and Senate health care plans. The third column is apparently what GBIO plans...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (1)
And it's Illinois in the lead ...With today's news that Illinois has just enacted a program that will make affordable health insurance readily available to every child in the state, the pressure is (or should be)...
By David | Read Article | Comments (10)
November 15, 2005 | Give me death or give me death!So, the lege is taking up Romney's Extra Cuddly Death Penalty™ tonight. Won't pass. We're too busy trying to keep people from being killed in the first place. Somehow that's...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (11)
Sam KelleyWe spoke recently with Lieutenant Governor candidate Sam Kelley. As is our practice David, Charley and I will each post our impressions separately without advance discussion. (Full disclosure: I have...
By Bob | Read Article | Comments (2)
November 14, 2005 | This one hit a rib going inJoe Keohane, Editor of the Weekly Dig, writes about seeing Good Night and Good Luck in Cambridge. (I'm a recent Cambridge expat, with mostly fond memories.)After having lived in the...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (5)
November 13, 2005 | Slow weekend roundupsco's got the scoop (a week late, but earlier than us = scoop) on the special elections for the the 1st Bristol, 27th Middlesex, and 2nd Worcester state rep districts....
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (1)
November 11, 2005 | Baker's half-dozenEarlier today, David did a terrific job of running down the six health care op-eds in the Globe today. I have nothing to add to David's takedown of the hapless...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (3)
Six health care op-edsThe Globe published a nice collection of six short op-eds on health care today, each from a different perspective. The authors are Gerald Algere (a businessman and board member of...
By David | Read Article | Comments (7)
November 10, 2005 | Well, this is oddThe news item is something like Bush nominates billionaire Roland Arnall to be Ambassador to the Netherlands. Arnall, the head of Ameriquest Capital Corp., co-chaired the second Bush inaugural, and...
By David | Read Article | Comments (18)
Progressive Vote Fragmented in CambridgeThe Harvard Crimson and Cambridge Chronicle report that eight of nine incumbent Cambridge City Councillors were re-elected Tuesday. Transfer votes from DFA Cambridge endorsee Jesse Gordon helped put newcomer Craig...
By Bob | Read Article | Comments (3)
November 09, 2005 | Montigny tries to fix Senate planSenator Mark Montigny (D-New Bedford) has sponsored an amendment to the Senate health care bill expanding access to MassHealth. Increased access is, after all, the whole point of this exercise....
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (9)
November 08, 2005 | Hot + cold = lukewarmI was talking with a friend last night who reads the blog, and he asked, So, are you guys for or against the health care plan? And others have called...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (11)
To Olver, Delahunt, & Neal: Show upRemember the anti-environment pro-oil bill that MA reps John Olver, William Delahunt and Richard Neal just forgot to show up for, and passed by only two votes? Well, $54 billion...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (4)
Election day/RoundupElection day today: Get out and vote. Tell us what you see.***Here's Adam Reilly's burning questions on the Boston City Council race.***The health care juggernaut rumbles on: Trav has not...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (5)
November 07, 2005 | Globe on health care: Man bites dogSo the Globe breathlessly trumpets, above the fold today: Shake-up envisioned in health insurance: Higher deductibles seen possible for many. Holy crap! That's gonna suck! Better shut the whole thing...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (4)
November 06, 2005 | Camenker goes downI know, I know. In general, it is considered wrong to take delight in the destruction of your enemies. But every rule has exceptions, right? So take a moment to...
By David | Read Article | Comments (2)
November 05, 2005 | Healey - Reilly debate on immigrationHere's the now-famous impromptu debate on whether children of illegal immigrants should be entitled to pay in-state tuition between AG and Gov candidate Tom Reilly and Lt. Gov. and probable...
By David | Read Article | Comments (2)
Pols show their true colors on health careThe health care issue is so big, and the stakes are so high, that it's the kind of issue on which politicians get to show what they're really made of,...
By David | Read Article | Comments (18)
November 04, 2005 | The Free Care Top 20!From a study last February, here are the Top 20 employers whose workers make use of the MassHealth or the Free Care Pool. In other words: They're not paying for...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (6)
Rush notes from conference call with Senator Kennedy this amI listened in on a conference call with Senator Kennedy this morning. Following are my notes from the call -- I apologize if things aren't clear. I didn't get a...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (0)
House passes DiMasi-care; WBUR does good work this morningWBUR had two good things on Morning Edition today: An interview with Health Care for All's John McDonough on the basics of the health care problems and the bill just...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (7)
Districting DiscussionA little back and forth between David and me on the Fair Districts Initiative Petition. First, we got an email from a friend about a piece on Political Cortex:There will...
By Bob | Read Article | Comments (5)
November 03, 2005 | "Remember your mission"Via a State House source, this State House News item on a speech given today by the Senate President:Senate President Robert Travaglini on Thursday morning admonished his fellow lawmakers to...
By David | Read Article | Comments (1)
Write or call your reps on health care - NOW!I emailed my rep this morning urging him to support employer pay or play in the House health care bill, and I got a very nice email back with this...
By David | Read Article | Comments (8)
November 02, 2005 | Telling omission by the GovernorHere's Our Guv addressing DiMasi's health care plan tonight:I think people are familiar with my positions as related to taxation. I don't want to see taxes rise. I want to...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (0)
Mr. Speaker: stand your groundI'm echoing some of what Charley said, but just to be clear: there is absolutely no way I would consider supporting an individual mandate for health insurance if there is...
By David | Read Article | Comments (5)
"Neither"? No way.So after some uproar from the business community, House Speaker DiMasi admits a technical error (not minor, but literally technical) in his health care bill, and says he'll fix it...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (0)
November 01, 2005 | Boston City Council open threadA reader requested that we open a thread for discussion on next week's Boston City Council election, and we thought that seemed like a good idea. There are eight candidates...
By David | Read Article | Comments (11)
Well, SOMEONE's paying for it...There's a point from the Globe's editorial today about the health care debate that really bears repeating, especially as we begin to hear resistance from some (though not all) business...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (4)
October 31, 2005 | House has released its health care billHere is the House health care bill (pdf). A couple of highlights (I haven't read the whole thing yet): Individual mandate is enforced by (1) a financial penalty of 50%...
By David | Read Article | Comments (8)
Employers are NOT universally opposed to "pay or play"Don't be fooled. To read the Globe articles discussing the House's health care bill, you would think that the business community is universally opposed to including a pay or play...
By David | Read Article | Comments (4)
Nail 'EmGuarantees are for used cars and washing machines, not Supreme Court justices, Senator Arlen Specter, the Pennsylvania Republican and chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said yesterday on CNN. Not entirely...
By Bob | Read Article | Comments (0)
Willard Weighs in for the RichWillard took a jog down a Cape beach in top coat and dress shoes last week to weigh in once again for the rich. The Governor spoke against the clean...
By Bob | Read Article | Comments (1)
October 30, 2005 | Initial reactions to House health care planHere's my quick-n-dirty first take on the House's plan, to be unveiled tomorrow am. See this post for the sections to which I'm referring. A. The expansion of MassHealth is...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (3)
Summary of Health Access Reform BillTomorrow, 10/31, the MA House Joint Committee on Health Care Financing will approve its version of health care reform. Here's the Globe's preview. (Expect a lot of trick or treat,...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (2)
Willard Quite Right on Drunk DrivingMassachusetts Democrats have a bad name as a back-scratching old boy's club that look the other way when it suits them. The new drunk driving bill passed last week by...
By Bob | Read Article | Comments (9)
October 28, 2005 | They get lettersA letter from former Massachusetts Medicaid commissioner James J. Callahan Jr., in yesterday's Globe:AN INDIVIDUAL mandate for healthcare coverage is bad public policy because it assumes that the provision of...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (4)
October 27, 2005 | Health Care: What's your bottom line?So, with health care reform (or reform) apparently barrelling down the pike, we always knew the devil was going to be in the details. And now, all stakeholders will find...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (4)
Senator Barrios talks health careMonday afternoon we were fortunate to have a conference call with State Senator Jarrett Barrios (D-Cambridge) about the ongoing health care debate, and the various ways the state might ensure...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (5)
October 26, 2005 | Reminder: Health Care rally at State House tomorrowA reminder: you can make your voice heard for ambitious health care reform tomorrow at the State House at noon. This is in support of the MassACT initiative, which would...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (0)
October 23, 2005 | No unfunded mandates!Lynne, of the excellent blog Left in Lowell, left a comment over at the HCFA blog that I think deserves to be rebroadcast. It sums up exactly why I think...
By David | Read Article | Comments (3)
October 22, 2005 | Q: How do you get young creative people to leave Massachusetts?A: Force them to buy health insurance if they want to live here. House Speaker Sal DiMasi has in large part signed on to the Mitt Romney plan for addressing...
By David | Read Article | Comments (11)
October 21, 2005 | The plane to Spain has stained O'Flaherty's nameRep. Gene O'Flaherty (Chelsea), after helping water down the anti-drunk-driving Melanie's Bill, leaves the country for Spain? Gene-O and co., the optics of that leave something to be desired. And...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (6)
October 19, 2005 | Health Care: All eyes on usHey, this is cool: Joshua Kendall's nifty, elegant article in the Globe on the weird history of our employment-based health care system (Why is healthcare tied to the workplace?) has...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (4)
Who wants to be LG?Finally, here's my rundown of our conversation with Lieutenant Governor candidate Andrea Silbert. Her background in micro-entrepreneurship is certainly interesting. The kind of ground-level economic development that she has done...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (1)
October 18, 2005 | Deval Patrick backs Cape Wind projectIn a significant break from gubernatorial front-runner Tom Reilly, Deval Patrick's just-announced energy and environment plan contains a strong endorsement of Cape Wind's planned wind farm in Nantucket Sound:I will...
By David | Read Article | Comments (7)
October 17, 2005 | MA to nation: We're sorryTo the nation, and to the other members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation who did their duty by opposing the oil refinery subsidy/environmental destruction bill in the House, which infamously...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (21)
October 15, 2005 | Housing -- Is Menino out to lunch?I heard a snippet of last night's debate between Boston's Mayor Menino and challenger Maura Hennigan on 'BUR this morning. I was struck by Menino's touting of the city's growth...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (4)
October 14, 2005 | Another open State House seatRep. Brian Knuuttila (D-Gardner) is out, having accepted a job as general counsel of the Worcester County Jail. Aside from having one of the more unusual names on Beacon Hill,...
By David | Read Article | Comments (18)
October 12, 2005 | A good cause, and a novel approachOne of the proposed questions for the 2006 ballot would, if approved by the voters, create a new state law that would prohibit the Governor from allowing any more Mass....
By David | Read Article | Comments (2)
Christopher Schiavone jumps inIf you don't read the comments, you missed this news from the wryly named sound of one hand clapping: marketing consultant and gay ex-priest Christopher Schiavone has formed a campaign...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (14)
Staying warm and saving money with stomvSo, as I've said, heating prices will be nuts this winter. Commenter stomv has now twice submitted excellent lists of suggestions for how to protect yourself from the impact, so...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (7)
Action: Call today to support health care reformSorry for such late notice: If you can, call your state Reps and Senators today to demand significant health care reform. This is an action in conjunction with the MassACT...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (0)
October 11, 2005 | Globe's copy editor meets the PC policeI was browsing the Sunday Globe's article on the most authentic Boston-area restaurants of various types when I came across this amusing couple of sentences in the section on southern...
By David | Read Article | Comments (2)
October 09, 2005 | Willard Gets DeferentialOnly two of the nation's governors have gone on the record to support Bush's suggestion that the Pentagon manage future natural disaster responses: Willard, and Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty of...
By Bob | Read Article | Comments (0)
Turn Up the HeatThe Northeast Sustainable Energy Association Network reports: On September 23rd, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed the Energy Efficiency Standards bill, HB 4299, by an overwhelming majority. The Energy Efficiency...
By Bob | Read Article | Comments (1)
October 08, 2005 | Willard Loses The RepublicanWillard's slash and burn bid to become a radical evangelical by 2008 is affecting his popularity across the state. From the Springfield Republican's editorial page yesterday: Gov. W. Mitt Romney's...
By Bob | Read Article | Comments (0)
DFA Makes Cambridge EndorsementsDemocracy for America Cambridge has endorsed Jesse Gordon, Sam Seidel, Ken Reeves and Denise Simmons for Cambridge City Council. The decision came after a week of voting (both online and...
By Bob | Read Article | Comments (0)
October 07, 2005 | Hatching new DemocratsThere's already been some response to a new report by Dem analysts William A. Galston and Elaine C. Kamarck (the latter of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government), which says that...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (4)
October 04, 2005 | The agenda for the coming monthsFrom the indispensible Adam Reilly of the Phoenix, a great article on Speaker DiMasi and Senate Prez Travaglini. Here's what folks who take interest in the day-to-day may need to...
By Charley on the MTA | Read Article | Comments (6)
October 03, 2005 | Watching the Boston mayoral debateAs we discussed here, Comcast apparently reneged on its agreement to make the debate between Tom Menino and Maura Hennigan available until Nov. 2 through its On Demand service. However,...
By David | Read Article | Comments (0)