Given the ongoing rollback of democracy in America and throughout the world, it is discouraging to see columnist Marcela García join the crusade against democratically elected school committees. That is the Globe’s editorial position too. The Globe prefers mayorally appointed school committees. We don’t need less democracy, we need more democracy. The issue at hand…
Category: democracy
Support the Rule of Law: Vote NO on Q1
State Auditor Diana DiZoglio, wants to make herself – and all of her successors – into taxpayer-financed political activists with the authority to ignore the state constitution’s most fundamental principles and to replace the will of the voters and their elected representatives at the state house with her own. Question 1 WILL NOT ratify or…
Massachusetts Exceptionalism is getting its due at CommonWealth Beacon
The newly rebranded CommonWealth Beacon has put the concept of Massachusetts exceptionalism front and center lately with several thoughtful pieces about the quality of life in the Bay State based on the results of a brand new CWB/MassInc poll of Massachusetts residents. Michael Jonas’s Putting Massachusetts Exceptionalism to the Test asks whether Bay Staters can…
Matt Gaetz and the Red Popsicle Approach to “Governing”
Whaaaa! That is the sound Representative Matt Gaetz and seven of his colleagues made when they did not get exactly what they wanted from Kevin McCarthy. The now former Speaker had the audacity to side with the majority of the Republican caucus to raise the debt ceiling in May 2023 (149-71) and again side with…
The Enviable Values of John Fetterman & Coach Corso
I watched about thirty minutes of Tuesday’s Pennsylvania Senate Debate. I’ve watched College GameDay most Saturday mornings since the 90s. Both Democratic candidate for Senate Joe Fetterman and Coach Lee Corso are modeling a better us. Admittedly, most political observers and sports fans do not consider links between Fetterman and Corso. Hear me out. Both…
GOP Effort to Stop Permanent Mail-In Voting Highlights Unique Aspects of Mass Politics
The MassGOP lawsuit to stop permanent mail-in voting is more interesting than you might think. The state’s Republican Party Chairman, Jim Lyons, has taken a very weak outfit and turned it into an exceptionally incompetent one that is now engaged full-time in garden variety “lib trolling,” an activity that hasn’t been as useful for party…
Legislative Opacity Makes Voice Votes a Safe Bet on Beacon Hill
The state senate recently passed a bill legalizing sports betting in the Commonwealth. It passed the chamber by a voice vote, which means that senators’ individual preferences on the bill’s passage were not formally recorded. The Boston Globe editors were shocked…shocked to see voice votes on gambling in the state senate. “A lawmaker’s first duty…
My Pre-Review of Guv Baker’s Book about “Getting Beyond Politics” to Achieve “Results”
Charlie Baker has written a book. The purpose of the book (according to the publisher’s description) is to demonstrate “that government can work,” a task that is “vital to ensuring the future of our democracy” and apparently requires “getting beyond politics.” Sadly, Baker’s publisher, Harvard Business Review Press, didn’t see fit to send review copies…
A Better Boston for Oligarchs
June 30 Update: The Better Boston for Oligarchs SuperPAC sent in a new filing with OCPF yesterday and boy, is this 2016 and school privatization all over again. here are the salient updates. Ray Stata is in for $25,000. He gave $125,000 to the Great Schools Massachusetts ballot committee in 2016. Hilary Gabrieli is in…
Could “New England’s Civic Mythology” Become Reality in Post-COVID MA?
Today’s Boston Globe editorial was about how the use of creative ways to hold public meetings during the pandemic expanded opportunities for the public to participate in local governance in the Bay State. The Globe editors, who want these methods to become permanent, write: “In New England’s civic mythology, public meetings are allegedly the building…