Politics-as-usual at the Massachusetts statehouse has long been an establishment-friendly, status-quo and incumbency-protective affair in which professional politicians balance the preferences of average voters and organized special interests in order to serve the public interest and to advance their political careers. This arrangement has endured thanks to the confluence of key cultural, institutional, and structural…
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Mr. Duquette Goes To Beacon Hill: My testimony about the legislative audit ballot initiative
On Tuesday, March 26th, I had the opportunity to provide testimony to the Joint Committee on Initiative Petitions regarding the pending ballot initiative that would explicitly authorize the state auditor to audit the General Court (i.e. the MA state legislature). I had previously expressed my take on the measure HERE and HERE. All of the…
What the Globe Left Out of “MTA Exerts More Power”
The Boston Globe is messing with my Golden Years and I don’t appreciate it one bit. I really want just want to play some Sudoko and rest up for the blue plate special but then the Globe goes and prints something like MTA exerts more power amid a wave of teacher strikes, generating praise and…
CommonWealth Op-Ed on Auditor’s “Legislative Veto”
Click HERE to read Professor Duquette’s CommonWealth Magazine op-ed about the state auditor’s effort to audit the state legislature.
What is political courage?
In the aftermath of the mass shooting in Lewiston last week, Maine Representative Jared Golden publicly acknowledged his previous rejection of federal bans on assault weapons was a failure. His Democratic colleague, Massachusetts Representative Lori Trahan took to social media to declare his statement an example of “Courage in the face of unimaginable tragedy. Selfless…
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…
What Senator Dianne Feinstein Meant to Girls Like Me
Did Dianne Feinstein stay in the Senate too long? Yes. Is that how she should be remembered or how I will remember her? No. I remember Senator Dianne Feinstein’s election to the Senate as a part of the “Year of the Woman” in 1992 where four women won Senate seats. That this was such a…
Keri Rodrigues Lolling in Fox Love
Fox News favorite “liberal” “Democrat” Keri Rodrigues is once again swaddling in love from America’s most penalized media outlet. This time Fox gets to use Rodrigues’ criticism of the Biden administration from the “liberal” position, allowing Rupert Murdoch’s $787,500,000-poorer outfit to get huffy from the left. Unless of course you know and acknowledge absolutely anything—a…
Moms for Liberty Quotes Hitler. It’s No Accident.
The Indianapolis Star has the Moms for Liberty headline of the day: “Moms for Liberty’s Hamilton County chapter quotes Hitler in first newsletter.” This isn’t some overzealous nutty volunteer. M4L carefully vets its chapter heads. Here’s some more from the Star: Just below The Parent Brigade’s masthead was a quote Hitler used at a Nazi…
Democrats for Education Reform: Let’s Meet the Funders
I often point out Democrats for Education Reform ’s far-right patrons like Rupert Murdoch and the Waltons but I haven’t given DFER MA’s Boston patrons enough attention. Let’s try. First, DFER is really at least three different legal structures under one roof. There’s the DFER PAC and DFER SuperPAC which have to report contributions and…