"Patrick’s reform record scrutinized from all sides" by Noah Bierman, Globe Staff | September 19, 2010
At a ceremony in Springfield last summer, Governor Deval Patrick signed a sweeping transportation bill into law that eliminated the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and simplified an array of bureaucracies, a signature victory for a leader who had staked his reputation on remaking Beacon Hill....
A year later, the governor points to a meaningful payoff: The overhaul, he says, has helped avert a $250 million payment that Wall Street had been demanding because of the Turnpike Authority’s shaky credit.
But the new law was not the main reason investors backed off, according to two credit analysts. They point instead to a sales tax increase, also signed by Patrick last summer, that devoted $100 million a year to paying off Turnpike Authority debts.
That is where YOUR TAX DOLLARS are going as YOUR SERVICES are GUTTED!
“At the end of the day, the turnpike needed a certain amount of money,’’ said Mike McDermott, an analyst with Fitch Ratings, whose bond rating upgrade helped the state avoid the payment.
And they SOLD IT TO YOU by HOLLERING SERVICE CUT SCARES!
Are you going to BUY THAT AGAIN, Bay State voter?
Looks like you PUBLIC SERVANTS are only HELPING THEMSELVES!
The divergent views of that single aspect of Patrick’s agenda underscore a question voters will be weighing in the closing weeks of the governor’s race: Has he delivered the sweeping changes to state government that he trumpets on the campaign trail?
NOPE!
Patrick, over nearly four years in office, has steered the state through a number of high-profile changes in the way it does business. Aside from transportation, Patrick has signed or implemented overhauls of laws on ethics, pensions, criminal records, detail pay and education stipends for police, auto insurance, municipal health care, charter schools, and others.
Patrick and his supporters say no governor has made so much progress taking on the entrenched political culture of Massachusetts, pointing to regular labor protests as evidence that he has taken on powerful constituencies.
Maybe the ONE-PARTY FASCISM hasn't WORKED, huh?
Steve Crosby, dean of the McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston, said Patrick deserves credit for taking on police details at construction sites and education incentives for law enforcement.
“That’s threatening the police unions, the public safety unions, and most governors wouldn’t touch that with a 10-foot poll,’’ said Crosby, who is neutral in the race. “That takes a lot of nerve, a lot of courage.’’
But where the governor and his backers see bold progress, others see mixed results, a menu of reforms that are incomplete, insufficient, or overstated.
Or FAILURE!
In some cases, events outside the administration’s control have all but demanded action; above all, the budget crunch brought on by recession.
He's not getting a pass for that, not after all the tax loot he has wasted.
Related:
The Massachusetts Model: Municipal Health Mess
Towns to Pay Health Tax For Public Servants
Memory Hole: Massachusetts' State Budget
Mass. State Budget: Screwing Cities and Towns
That's where your increased taxes are going (and not going), taxpayers.
In others, it is too early to tell the ultimate significance of the changes.
“Reform has not been the administration’s first instinct,’’ said Michael J. Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a business-backed watchdog often consulted by lawmakers and the administration. “He does deserve some credit for doing some reforms, though in some cases he’s been dragged kicking and screaming, and others have been untouched.’’
--more--"
Related: Patrick gets AFL-CIO endorsement
Also see: Globe's Governor's Race: Uniting Behind Patrick
Then why is the Globe making the endorsement above-the-fold news?
"Video trackers manage to fit in behind enemy lines
Once a semi-secretive novelty, having trackers is now standard practice, and they cover candidates more consistently than many reporters.
Want proof? At a union endorsement Thursday — to which reporters were not invited — Governor Deval Patrick saved his warmest greeting for his tracker from the campaign of Republican rival Charles D. Baker, who had somehow found him....
--more--"
Also see:
- Globe's Governor's Race: Checking the Polls
- Globe's Governor's Race: Burying Charles Baker
- Globe's Governor's Race: Democrats Cook Up Dirty Tricks on Baker
- Globe's Governor's Race: Campaign Cash Champ
- Globe's Governor's Race: Patrick's Broken Promise
- Globe's Governor's Race: Uniting Behind Patrick
- Globe's Governor's Race: Patrick Plays the Race Card
- Globe's Governor's Race: State Treasurer Didn't Pay His Taxes
- Globe's Governor's Race: Economy Stuck in the Marshes
- Globe's Governor's Race: Gambling on Casinos
- Globe's Governor's Race: Immigration is the Issue
- Globe's Governor's Race: Gay Gripes
- Globe's Governor's Race: Hot Wind on the Campaign Trail
