"Boston could lose hundreds of teaching posts; School officials prepare for worst in preliminary talks on budget" by Peter Schworm, Globe Staff | December 27, 2008
Anticipating sharp reductions in state subsidies because of the stumbling economy, Boston public school officials are identifying tens of millions in potential budget cuts that would eliminate hundreds of teaching positions....
--more--"Of course, it's okay to be "flushing . . . millions of dollars away supporting a highly profitable industry" when it comes to $300 million in taxpayer dollars for Hollywood is o.k., even as the price of a school lunch rises; paying $13 million for a computer software system that could have cost less than $3 million is all right because the winner was a close friend of the House speaker, even as my poorer-than-dirt district "has been struggling to close a $2 million budget gap."; the lottery shelling out "millions of dollars" for sports tickets for "lottery officials, their family members, and friends" is fine, even as schools are closing; making interest payments to banks to the tune of "a staggering $22 billion" for the Big Pit, as we call it around here, is required, even as bridges are neglected across the state; and again, paying off banks like UBS, who can "demand repayment of an additional $2 million a month beginning in January" while also receiving a "$179 million payment," while the state pension fund loses $1 billion dollars -- which still didn't stop the executive director from carving himself a nice "$64,000 bonus on top of his $322,000 annual salary."
Yup, the BILLION DOLLAR GIVEAWAY to the pharmaceutical corporations was a GOOD THING, even though "it's never been easy to turn a profit in biotech?" Flush that money away, too, taxpayer.
And look whose backs they are balancing the budget with: the blind, mentally ill, kids, and cripples!!
Of course, "one of the governor's pet projects, the $3 million Commonwealth Corporation, is only taking a 5 percent trim."
And that is not counting the troubles at the Turnpike!
"The authority was attempting to renegotiate terms of a complex financial deal with the banking giant UBS. Known as a swaption, the arrangement could force the authority to pay out a $450 million lump sum"
Of course, the war looters were next in line for a handout. And should the state be appropriating money for a "multimillion-dollar reconstruction" of golf courses?
Nor is it RECKLESS to BORROW the STATE INTO OBLIVION so they can PAY INTEREST to BANKS while SITTING ON $2 BILLION DOLLARS!
Need one final insult, Mass. taxpayers?
"Town officials... are trying to decide how much of a property tax break to offer and how they can secure state funding for infrastructure improvements.... although it could take several years for the studio to realize its potential"
Also see: Hollywood, Massachusetts
Hollywood (East) Disses Veterans
More Mass. $$$ to Movie Makers
Sorry, that wasn't it:
"$5m in tax breaks going to IBM for Littleton project
The Massachusetts Economic Assistance Coordinating Council approved $5 million in state and local tax breaks for IBM Corp., which recently began a $63 million expansion in Littleton. IBM vice president Bob McDonald said the company plans to create 42 jobs at the site over the next decade. McDonald said the computer giant, based in Armonk, N.Y., has already begun renovating a building and hopes to move into it next month. McDonald said the tax incentives were important, but the company would have gone forward with the expansion without them. IBM has 4,000 employees in Massachusetts, including about 2,000 in Littleton (Boston Globe October 30 2008)."
Yup, but the GAS TAX needs to GO UP!
