Not as much as I used to; who knows what the machine is doing to it.
"Treasurer candidates spar over spending; Taxes, lottery are focus of 2d televised debate" by Alan Wirzbicki, Globe Staff | September 30, 2010
State Representative Karyn Polito, the Republican nominee for state treasurer, yesterday defended her efforts to block $443 million in a midyear spending bill, saying the state needed to set aside money from the federal government instead of spending it now....
The parliamentary move has stalled progress on the spending bill and caused consternation among Democrats on Beacon Hill. Governor Deval Patrick has warned that the state would have to close two prisons, lay off state troopers, and make other major cuts unless Republican lawmakers drop their objections to spending the infusion of federal stimulus money.
Polito, a Shrewsbury Republican, showcased her opposition to the spending as an example of fiscal prudence, but her Democratic opponent in the race for state treasurer, Steve Grossman, seized on her position, saying it made no sense to squirrel all the money away for a rainy day when there were so many needs right now. (Democrats propose stashing a portion away in reserve.)
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A Globe poll this week indicated that Grossman has a lead over Polito among likely voters, 40 percent to 30 percent, with 28 percent undecided....
Update:
"Democrat Steven Grossman, a Newton businessman and longtime Democratic Party leader, is essentially tied with his GOP rival, Karyn Polito, a state representative from Shrewsbury, winning 39 percent to her 37 percent"
Wow, race tightened up!
On taxes, Polito said that she supports Question 3, the ballot initiative that would cut the sales tax from 6.25 percent to 3 percent, but that if it passed she would then back efforts to return the tax rate to 5 percent. “We need to get the sales tax back to 5 percent,’’ she said....
Related: Taxing Questions From the Boston Globe
And now the Treasurer candidates are taxing my patience.
Grossman said he wanted to cut the sales tax rate back to 5 percent, where it had stood for decades before last year’s increase....
On the lottery, Grossman backed off a position he took during the 2002 race, when he ran for governor, that the state should cut lottery payouts, calling his position then a mistake. He said he favored spending more money to advertise the lottery, and acknowledged concerns about the social costs of gambling, but said it was too important as a source of revenue to sacrifice out of moral scruples....
Yup, the Democrat looking out for the little guy!
Asked by moderator Jim Braude what their biggest goal as treasurer would be, Grossman said he would take state funds currently in big national banks and redeposit them in local banks to spur the economy....
I think he just shot his campaign in the foot. You don't do that!
On pensions, Polito said she backs abolishing state pensions for elected officials. But Grossman accused Polito of failing to show leadership when she decided to join the state pension system herself after her election to the Legislature in 2000.
Sigh!
“When I was elected to the state House of Representatives, it wasn’t on my mind to decide, am I in or out,’’ she said. “I believe we need a new system and a whole new approach for new people coming in.’’
Yeah, she already got hers, sigh!
Grossman said he thought pensions for elected officials should continue, but should not be funded with taxpayer money.
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"Candidates agree on lottery ads; But Grossman and Polito differ on most other issues" by Stephanie Ebbert, Globe Staff | October 28, 2010
Steve Grossman, 64, of Newton and the Democratic nominee for the office of treasurer, made his name as a prodigious political fund-raiser while chairman of both the state Democratic Party and the Democratic National Committee under President Clinton. He has also emphasized his business experience as the head of his family’s marketing business in Somerville.
I'm not sure I want a fund-raiser as Treasurer.
Republican nominee State Representative Karyn Polito, 43, is a lawyer from Shrewsbury who also says she honed her business skills at a family business; her family is involved in real estate property management.
Not my second choice of profession for the job.
A Republican state representative since 2001, she recently claimed the spotlight by temporarily blocking the state’s use of $420 million in federal stimulus funds....
Oh, is that why she did it?
Grossman's own prowess at spreading campaign contributions may prompt questions if he is elected treasurer, however. Grossman said he does not intend to stop fund-raising for Democrats if he wins the election.
"Candidate’s development effort for towns could aid her family" by Andrea Estes, Globe Staff | October 5, 2010
SHREWSBURY — State Representative Karyn Polito has proudly celebrated her role in getting the state to pay for a road linking her hometown of Shrewsbury to a commuter rail station in neighboring Grafton.
“This is a huge win for taxpayers in two towns,’’ she said at a 2004 groundbreaking for CenTech Boulevard, calling it a “terrific enhancement to our area.’’
It is an area Polito knows well. She and her family own more than 60 acres near the roadway and, according to specialists in commercial real estate, could benefit from development of the formerly desolate stretch of town....
The involvement of Polito, now the Republican candidate for treasurer, has become the subject of an anonymous complaint to the State Ethics Commission, which, since 1987, has warned public officials not to act on matters affecting property near their own, because the official is assumed to have a financial interest in the outcome. The commission has not taken any public action in the case.
And the Globe splashes it all over page one.
“There is a presumption there is a financial benefit, and in fact it makes sense,’’ said Pamela Wilmot, executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts. “If you’re getting new services to your property, you’re going to get a benefit from that.’’
Polito, a lawyer who has cast herself as a leader “fighting the culture of self-interest and inside deals on Beacon Hill,’’ declined several requests for interviews.
As she... sigh.
In e-mailed statements, a campaign aide said Polito had no conflict of interest because neither she nor her family “received any benefits whatsoever’’ from her actions....
Polito’s involvement in getting CenTech Boulevard built was at least the second time in the past decade that she took action as a state lawmaker involving property near that owned by her family. In 2002, she filed a bill that allowed the town of Shrewsbury to buy land on the opposite side of her family’s industrial park. While she was permitted to sponsor the bill, she should have filed a written disclosure detailing her family’s ownership of nearby property, ethics rules say. No such disclosure was on file with either the Ethics Commission or the House clerk.
Nor has Polito detailed her role in multiple family development companies on annual financial disclosure reports, as required of all elected officials by the Ethics Commission. Polito has disclosed her position as an employee and shareholder of Polito Development Corp., but not her role in three other entities.
Polito is manager of two limited-liability companies that own property in the industrial park, Hills Farm Development and Bull Farm Development, according to real estate and corporate records. In addition, she is manager of Candy Mansion LLC, which owns the property where Shrewsbury landmark Hebert Candy Mansion sits. Polito’s father, Francis, bought the property for $3.1 million at auction six months before CenTech Boulevard opened, in October 2006. At the time, her father said he hoped to develop the rest of the 9.2-acre site with retail and office space.
Polito’s spokesman, Van Magness, said she did not report her role in the three other family businesses because she believed they had merged and therefore needed to mention only one. She will correct the oversight, Van Magness said.
The Polito family’s industrial park, which is zoned for limited industrial use, is home to several businesses, including Northland Industrial Truck Co., Bay State All Star Cheer & Dance, and Freestyle Systems, a company that manufactures “weightless’’ hair dryers.
There is no evidence to date that she or her family has benefited financially from the new road. The assessed values of most of the parcels she and her family owns have dropped from last year, but the economy has depressed land values around the state....
During the Romney administration, Polito helped secure $3.2 million in state money for CenTech Boulevard....
Construction of the 1.1-mile road has since been critical to the development of the area, taking place at the direction of the Worcester Business Development Corporation, said David Forsberg, the organization’s president. The corporation has developed CenTech Park, an office development that is home to State Street Bank, IDEXX Laboratories, and other tenants, says the corporation’s website.
Polito and other local legislators were “very, very helpful in representing their districts and helping us secure the funding from the Romney administration,’’ Forsberg said.
Indeed, Polito’s advocacy for CenTech Boulevard is well documented. In a 2008 biography distributed when she addressed the Society of Professional Communicators, Polito boasted that she secured the funds for the road.
She and former state senator Edward Augustus, a Democrat, also filed legislation that paved the way for the roadway to be built....
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Related: Treasurer candidate Polito has the edge on low-number Sox plates
And which way does the Globe tell me to vote (remember, readers, do the opposite).
Globe Editorial Experience gives Grossman the edge over spirited Polito
If there is any third-party candidate on the ballot they are getting the vote.
