Rank-and-file lawmakers currently have little clue about what is going on or what they inevitably will be asked to vote on with little notice.... Legislation was actually drafted by lobbyists and sent to the State House by courier for passage"
Outrage, embarrassment, shame, anger.
Only some of what I'm feeling.
"Even reform bills shaped in secret; Most legislators, public kept away" by Matt Viser, Globe Staff | June 12, 2009
It was clear from a sign on the door, "members and staff," that the public was not welcome.
Even as they spoke of changing the political culture on Beacon Hill, by pursuing legislation designed to restore the public trust, the people's representatives in the House and Senate continued their longstanding tradition of deliberating their most important decisions behind closed doors.
After doing little in the five months since the legislative session began, State House leaders have gone into overdrive in recent weeks in an effort to nail down major pieces of legislation before July 1 and prove to the public that they are aggressively trying to reform state laws.
Then WTF are we PAYING THEM FOR?
But the frenzy of activity - on issues as significant as a sales tax increase, ethics law changes, and transportation funding - is taking place almost entirely out of public view in the offices of legislative leaders and behind the closed doors of several conference committees.
They are the type of meetings that would be illegal for boards of selectmen and city councils across the state. But because the Legislature is exempt from the state's open meeting and public records laws, they are able to deliberate in private and guard key documents from public scrutiny.
"There are advantages to doing things behind closed doors," said Representative Matthew C. Patrick, a Falmouth Democrat who has never been on a conference committee. "Democracy can be a funny business. It can be an ugly business. But the final product is proof of the process."
Rank-and-file lawmakers currently have little clue about what is going on or what they inevitably will be asked to vote on with little notice in the waning days of the session.
HOW DARE DemocraPs criticize Republican rule in D.C. for the last eight years!
No wonder this state is such a shit hole!!!
Of course, what this shows you is NEITHER PARTY is worth a warm bucket of s***!!!!!
"This is the pace a lot of people like, to be very active and very busy and getting things done, one thing after another," said Representative Brian P. Wallace, a South Boston Democrat.
All of it ending up in a SCREWING of YOU, citizen!
But ask him - or almost any other lawmaker, for that matter - what is coming up next week, and the answer is the same: "I don't know."
Recent federal indictments of Senator Dianne Wilkerson and former House speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi provided a case study of how business is conducted on Beacon Hill. According to prosecutors, lobbyists were able to place calls and send e-mails to top lawmakers at crucial times. Legislation was actually drafted by lobbyists and sent to the State House by courier for passage.
You GOTTA be EFFIN' S***TIN' ME!!
That explains ALL the SELF-SERVING and ROTTEN LEGISLATION!!!
I don't want them passing a DAMN FUCKING THING!!!!!
Top lawmakers say that meeting in private allows for greater candor and that allowing the public to take part in the proceedings would only bog things down....
?!!!?!!!
Lawmakers assigned to the committees treat the deliberations like the Cuban missile crisis, afraid that any peep during the process will brand them a snitch. Only when disagreements are ironed out does the legislation become public, and then it is often swiftly approved, with little discussion....
Yup, that's Massachushitts shining steamer of a democrappy!!!
And if all that were not bad enough:
"Patrick asks legislators to kick in $22m for budget; Seeks reallocation of reserve fund" by Matt Collette, Globe Correspondent | June 8, 2009
With Massachusetts revenues dropping by the day, Governor Deval Patrick has been looking in every corner to fund the cash-strapped state.
Last week, he called on the Legislature to turn over its piggy bank.... $22 million from the Legislature's "prior appropriations continued" account, a reserve fund, to the state's general fund.
Related: A Slow Saturday Special: Statehouse Slush Fund
Kind of adds to the anger, doesn't it?
The maneuver could heighten tensions between Patrick and top lawmakers, who have been at loggerheads in recent weeks.... Legislative leaders in the past have defended the reserve funds, and Patrick's efforts to zero them out could lead to further hostility.
The state "lawmakers' PAC," as the account is better known, is used most often to fund renovations and upkeep of the State House, a responsibility of the Legislature.
Right. Of course, the fund INSULATES those STINKS***S from the CUTS and TAXES YOU and I MUST BEAR!!!
The executive branch has moved its own PAC, worth $1.1 million, to the state's general fund, said Joe Landolfi, Patrick's spokesman....
--more--"
You got a reserve fund, reader?
