"DiMasi will resign; Speaker defends record, says ethics issues not forcing him out" by Frank Phillips, Globe Staff | January 26, 2009
House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi plans to resign from his powerful post tomorrow and depart the North End legislative seat he has held for three decades, saying yesterday that he is proud of his record and is departing with his "head high" despite ongoing ethics controversies swirling around him.
DiMasi - the third consecutive Massachusetts speaker to leave under a cloud - was reinstalled as speaker three weeks ago. But he has remained under public scrutiny, an Ethics Commission investigation, and a pair of grand juries looking at the influence-peddling allegations involving his close friends.
"My head is held high and I am proud of my record. That is how I am leaving," DiMasi said in a telephone interview with the Globe late yesterday afternoon, shortly after his staff sent out letters informing all 159 House colleagues of his decision.
The speaker's announcement, which comes at a perilous time for the state's finances, triggered a renewed frenzy of jockeying to succeed him. He plans to give a farewell speech tomorrow, and a House Democratic caucus has been scheduled for Wednesday morning to vote on a replacement.
"I am losing a valued partner and a good friend in the Legislature," Patrick said last night in a statement issued by his office. "Sal DiMasi leaves the House with an impressive and lasting legislative legacy - an architect of health care reform, a protector of marriage equality, and a tenacious representative of his beloved North End."
Related: Why the Nation Doesn't Need Massachusetts Health Care
Massachusetts Health Care Takes a Seat on the S***ter
The Massachusetts Model
In the interview, DiMasi denied that the ethics allegations are playing a role in his departure, yet he did not clearly explain the timing. He said that with all the serious fiscal issues facing the state, he decided to step aside for a new speaker who would be fully engaged. He said he plans to return to his private law practice and, possibly, to a job in the healthcare industry.
So he can TAKE ADVANTAGE of all those CONTACTS he made as a POLITICIAN!!
Sal the LOBBYIST! More $$$ to be made, huh, Sal!
The speaker blamed most of the ethical controversies plaguing him on "powerful special interests," particularly the gambling industry, which he defied when he blocked Patrick's proposal last year to license resort casinos. "They are going to be pretty happy by the fact I won't be here," he said. "I can hear the clanking of the slot machines now."
Oh, right, it was the "powerful" gambling industry that took him out.
DiMasi suggested that he was the target of enemies who were unhappy with his role in major issues. He pointed to a record that included protecting gay marriage, playing a major role in shaping the state's landmark initiative to extend health coverage to all residents, and defeating resort casinos.
"That is why you are attacked and criticized. It is part of the territory. It is not anything new," he said.
Unreal!
Yeah, it wasn't the RANK CORRUPTION this guy was in to up to his nose.
Since March, the Globe has published stories that spurred federal and state criminal investigations of DiMasi's close friends. His former accountant, Richard Vitale, has been indicted by a state grand jury on misdemeanor charges of secretly lobbying DiMasi on behalf of an association of state ticket brokers. Attorney General Martha Coakley has said Vitale repeatedly contacted DiMasi and other House leaders in his lobbying push, including sending information to DiMasi's personal e-mail account. Her allegations contradicted DiMasi's previous public statements that he knew nothing of Vitale's activities.
You mean SAL is a LIAR? I'm crestfallen.
A federal grand jury is investigating the activities of Vitale and other close DiMasi associates who lobbied for a $13 million software contract for
DiMasi has insisted repeatedly that he did nothing wrong, and that he played no role in awarding the computer contract. In his letter to his House colleagues, DiMasi again defended his integrity. "No matter what the cynics and critics will say, all of my actions as state representative and as speaker were based solely on what I thought was the best interests of my district and the people of the Commonwealth," said DiMasi, 63, who has represented the North End and other Boston wards since his election to the House in 1978.
Yeah, he JUST DOESN'T GET IT and it was TIME for him to GO!!!!!!
DiMasi is expected to file for his state pension. With his more than 30 years as a state employee, he will get about three-quarters of his average pay over the past three years. He now makes $93,000 a year.
As our state services get whacked and taxpayer money is given to corporations.
The two most likely successors are House Ways and Means Chairman Robert A. DeLeo, a Winthrop Democrat, and John H. Rogers, a Norwood Democrat. Both men have said in the last several days that they are confident they have the majority votes in the 160-member House. The infighting is getting particularly tough.
DeLeo supporters said last night that DeLeo had wrapped up the post with 86 commitments, and his office released a list of his supporters last night. Rogers's supporters are pointing out that some of the ticket brokers legislation at the center of the state and federal probes was passed by DeLeo's committee, although no one has accused DeLeo of wrongdoing.
DeLeo's allies, in turn, have pointed out that Rogers is being dogged by campaign-finance questions. He had made undisclosed monthly payments from his campaign funds to a close friend and political consultant who used the money to help him buy a Cape Cod vacation home they say they co-own.
Great, so he successor to this shit-scum is just as covered in the stuff as slimy Sal!
Massachusetts residents have grown accustomed to watching their House speakers leave office while fending off allegations and charges. Charles F. Flaherty was forced to resign in 1996 when federal prosecutors charged him with income tax violations after months of investigating his relationship with lobbyists.
I haven't grown accustomed to the corruption at all; it's making me angrier by the day!
His successor, Thomas M. Finneran, who grabbed the speaker's post by cobbling together a coalition of Democrats and Republicans, was under federal investigation in 2004 when he resigned to take a high-paying trade association job. He pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice charges in January 2007 for having lied under oath in a civil suit involving a legislative redistricting plan.
Three weeks ago, DiMasi appeared to be holding on, despite the raft of investigations. He was reelected speaker by an overwhelming majority of his colleagues earlier this month. But in recent days, DiMasi has confided to allies that he was becoming more and more conflicted about remaining as the House leader, particularly after a Globe story last week that said Vitale had paid $7,500 in legal debts amassed by DiMasi's in-laws.
Related: Mass Revolving Door of Corruption
As word spread last week that the speaker was considering stepping down, the politics at the State House moved into overdrive. Stressed lawmakers huddled in their Beacon Hill offices and made calls from their districts, trying to scope out the shifting landscape. The stakes for all of them are huge. They are facing a new regime in which a speaker would appoint loyalists to the influential, extra-paying positions, while assigning opponents to the back benches.
"This is personally very dicey for everyone because your future accomplishments and your agenda - your career - are on the line, depending on how you vote," said Representative Paul Kujawski, a Webster Democrat, who is backing House majority leader John H. Rogers. "These decisions are career-makers or career-breakers."So DROP to your knees and UNZIP, state reps!
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"House speaker's relationships contributed to his undoing" by Andrea Estes and Matt Viser, Globe Staff | January 26, 2009
He was a darling of the liberal set, embracing causes whether they were fashionable or not, from universal healthcare to gay and abortion rights.
But House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, steeped in the cozy culture of Beacon Hill during a 30-year career in the House, at times seemed oblivious to appearances. He frequently golfed with those who had business before the state, frolicked on the shores of Puerto Rico with registered lobbyists, and socialized with people who were in a position to benefit from their friendship with him.
It was those associations - including one with his close friend and former accountant, Richard Vitale, indicted last month on charges of lobbying DiMasi on behalf of a group of ticket resellers - that contributed to his undoing. DiMasi said last night that he will resign the seat he has held since 1978.
In doing so, he becomes the third consecutive State House speaker to exit under a cloud of controversy, leaving behind a liberal following that is at once appreciative of his work but frustrated that his departure amid ethics questions has left its agenda vulnerable.
"His legacy is a mixed bag," said David Kravitz, a cofounder of Blue Mass Group, a left-wing blog. "He's got some really impressive achievements in the policy area that he should be proud of, and I think he is. But it's too bad that he ends up leaving under a cloud, and under the pressure of not being able to withstand what appears to be a bunch of ethical problems coming home to roost."
DiMasi's talents were many, perhaps none as envied by his colleagues as his ability to seamlessly cross traditional divides. While the consummate arm-twisting insider on Beacon Hill with a penchant for nice meals and golf at private clubs, he was hailed by his constituents in the North End as the populist champion of the common man. While an occasionally tart-tongued boyo prone to dicey jokes, he was celebrated by liberals for his stands that were nothing if not politically correct.
What a band of hypocrites Mass. liberals are!
"No one thought he'd ever be speaker," said Mayor Thomas M. Menino. "Sal came a long way from where he started and became a major figure in government in Massachusetts. It's unfortunate we're losing a good friend of Boston."
When Senate President Therese Murray became the first woman to hold the office, DiMasi compared her with her predecessor, telling reporters, "When I hug her, it will probably be a little bit different. It will probably feel a lot better than [Robert] Travaglini." After hugging Mitt Romney, then governor, in 2004, DiMasi told reporters the only thing he got out of it was "frostbite."
Yeah, liberals are so much nicer than those mean old Republicans.
God do we need Romney back as governor!
But his easy, flippant style often masked the hard-nosed ways he could persuade his members to toe the line. DiMasi stood in the way of many of Governor Deval Patrick's early priorities, almost single-handedly blocking the governor's proposal to bring casinos to Massachusetts.
Which means we will be getting casinos now. Of course, keeping DiMasi around to keep them out isn't worth it.
In fact, their relationship has been a complex one. When Patrick took office, the first Democrat to be governor in 16 years, DiMasi began taking immediate swipes. But after the casino defeat - and as DiMasi was increasingly embattled - they met for a private dinner in the North End, where the pair had what the governor described as a "great, quiet, come-to-Jesus kind of conversation."
"Sal has been an absolute hero to the gay community for the last 25 years," said gay rights activist Arline Isaacson, who called his role in the 2007 referendum to defeat gay marriage "absolutely critical."
Bye, Sal, and good riddance, you agenda-pushing bastard!
DiMasi, the state's first Italian-American speaker, was also instrumental in crafting the state's healthcare reform legislation, which advocates have hailed as a national model.
Did you see the links I provided above about the "national model?" You are going to get GOUGED on COSTS, Americans -- just as we are!
But his long record of legislative achievements may ultimately be marred by the ethical questions that triggered multiple investigations and may have prompted his resignation.
"I would hope and pray that every member of the Legislature who wants to grow up to be a leader pays attention," said Judy Meredith, a longtime human services lobbyist. "They should pay attention to their relationships when they take a loan or golf fees."
Not that there's anything wrong with that, huh?
--more--"
For the LAST TIME, readers:
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
The Money Pipeline From Massachusetts to Israel
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)."
Excuse me?
A $5 MILLION TAXPAYER GIVEAWAY that IBM DIDN'T EVEN WANT?
As YOUR TAXES RISE?
