Less than 48-hours after President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) released non-binding resolutions in the House and Senate calling for “zero-net greenhouse-gas emissions” in the United States by 2030. The resolutions represent the latest iteration of the Green New Deal, an ambitious policy framework…
A Must Read Piece on MassFiscal from Andy Metzger at CommonwealthMagazine
Compliments to Andy Metzger of CommonwealthMagazine on Fact Checking New Poll on Voter Tax Attitudes, his story today on Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance’s “poll.” The story includes information that a professional political analyst would see and serves the lay reader very well. Let’s get into the good stuff. A group that generally sees eye-to-eye with Republican…
Proposing a New Pollster for Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance: Me!
The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance is out with a new poll and as usual it’s gazing up helplessly at worthless but I have a great idea – Mass Fiscal should hire me as its pollster! I’m definitely qualified. At the end of every semester at UMass Boston the students get a chance to fill out forms…
Picking Winners and Losers in Boston’s “Public” Schools: the Un-Virtuous Cycle
This week’s two Boston Globe stories on “public” schools in Boston prompted yesterday’s post Boston: Two Different “Public” School Systems? An article by Tom Edsall on The “Rotten Equilibrium” of the Republican Party illuminates some further aspects of how the city’s Oligarchs pick winners and losers in the schools. A brief summary of the post…
Boston: Two Different “Public” School Systems?
Two recent Boston Globe stories raise serious questions about how public schools in the city of Boston are funded – and by “public” I mean the traditional public school system versus charter “public” schools. The premise is that we have one public school system but do we really? The first story, by James Vaznis, was…
Why the Longmeadow Superintendent’s Supporters should OPPOSE the Recall Petition at Tonight’s STM
While I have focused in my previous analysis on the systemic downsides of creating recall elections in Longmeadow, including the unpredictable downsides of making long term changes for short term political advantage, the case against the recall can also be made in purely political strategic terms that should be compelling to the present supporters of…
Can Eugene McCain, Dark Money Slots Parlor Impresario Turned Weed Dealer, Snooker Small Towns Rubes?
On December 27 the Globe’s Stephanie Ebbert wrote a fascinating piece about dark money practitioner Eugene McCain’s conversion from front for suspect gambling interests to upright small town weed dealer. What could go wrong, right Holyoke and Lee? To boil down Ms. Ebbert’s story, McCain is seeking pot licenses to operate in Lee and Holyoke…
Longmeadow’s STM Showdown: When You Fight Fire with Fire in Politics Everyone Gets Burned
This is the fifth recent post related to the controversy over the Longmeadow School Superintendent’s contract. To read the previous four, go here, here, here, and here. Longmeadow residents will meet in a Special Town Meeting (STM) this Thursday to decide the fate of a citizen petition calling for an amendment to the Town Charter…
Naming Rights: How Should the Media Describe Dark Money Groups?
One coverage issue the local media should be reconsidering is how to describe dark and gray money political advocacy groups – operations like Democrats for Education Reform, Massachusetts Parents United, Stand for Children, and the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance. The number one issue citizens should know in considering the positions of such groups is, who is…
Massachusetts, We Are NOT #1 in Education
Charlie Baker, Deval Patrick, and Mitt Romney certainly have their differences, but extolling the virtues of public education in Massachusetts is not one of them. Understandably, each took great pride during their administrations in sharing with constituents, potential businesses, and the nation that “We’re #1!” in education. After all, US News & World Report says…