I'm tired, readers, and I doubt I will finish reading all the Boston Globes. Who would want to?
Running for her life
All prepared for Patriots Day
Related: Somber mood surrounds 150th Civil War commemoration
I'm sour on war-promoting papers these days. Be it now or then, the stuff saturates my newspaper (and history books).
It would be one thing if they told the truth, but.... sigh.
Think I'll just take the T.
Better pay the fare first:
"MBTA forges plan to reduce deficit; Sale of revenue at parking lots is among ideas" February 23, 2011|Eric Moskowitz, Globe Staff
Facing a projected deficit of more than $130 million for the coming year, MBTA leaders outlined a plan yesterday to balance the budget without raising fares or cutting service.
Included is a proposal to sell parking revenue at most MBTA lots to investors in exchange for up-front cash to pay off debt, as well as a deal to lease the 1,275-space parking garage below North Station and TD Garden, which combined would generate or save $80 million for the year.
Isn't that how we got into these problems in the first place?
See: Massachusetts Democrats Keep Making the Same Mistakes
So both parties cut the same deals, and how galling that the selling of public assets is due to go right back to the same "investors" (meaning Wall Street)?
T leaders also plan to keep staffing below 6,000 employees, the lowest in at least a decade, and boost ridership by 3 percent or more, as well as to lean heavily on new advertising.
More wasted money as the decrepit fleet falls apart.
The authority plans not only more billboards, but ads on the CharlieCard and on the MBTA website.
And it wants to do away with the first article in the Customer Bill of Rights, a Constitution-type scroll framed in a carved display case at T headquarters....
That right entitles people to a complimentary fare whenever a train, bus, or trolley is delayed 30 minutes or more....
And THAT HAPPENED a HELL OF A LOT during the HELLACIOUS WINTER!
Any Bostonian knows that!
Yes, YOU HAVE to FORK OVER DOUGH for DELAYED SERVICE so BANKER$ can COLLECT!!
But the biggest chunk would squeeze millions more from parking lots and garages. Last month the MBTA proposed securitizing revenue from most of its parking areas, in other words, selling to investors the long-term income associated with nearly 50,000 parking spaces, in exchange for a lump sum today. That might mean $300 million in one-time cash, which the T could use to pay off debt.
So the state turns the spigot over to "investors" and then sends the cash payment right back to them in the form of debt service?
How is that looking out for your best interest, Bostonian?
That, along with refinancing, could help reduce next year’s scheduled debt payments from about $450 million to $400 million....
That's what, over $30 MILLION a MONTH going to BANKS?
And that is JUST T DEBT!
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Related: Massachusetts Sales Tax Swindle
You see who is first in line at the Massachusetts tax trough, right?
Also see: Massachusetts Hates Women and Children
Yeah, they are last.
How come this train ain't movin'?
"T driver needed cash, report says; She allegedly sold cocaine, heroin while working route" April 09, 2011|By Brian R. Ballou, Globe Staf
Veteran MBTA bus driver Cynthia D. King was on her way to work Thursday afternoon when police confronted her: In her pockets, she was carrying ready-to-sell packets of cocaine, along with more than $2,500, and she told them she sold the drugs along her route because she needed to make ends meet, according to a police report.
“I needed the extra money; I don’t make enough money,’’ King, of Brockton, allegedly told police officers who arrested her at 3:42 p.m. at the Cabot Yard facility on Dorchester Avenue in South Boston. She has worked for the MBTA for more than eight years, and last year made $62,774. She was suspended without pay pending the outcome of the case.
Seems like enough to me, but....
A law enforcement official familiar with the case said an investigation, sparked almost a year ago by a tip from a confidential informant, revealed that King would park while working her route, leave the bus, and sell drugs to clients, then get back behind the wheel....
I think I'll just get off here.
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Also see:
MBTA bus operator attacked on route
To T drivers, attacks are nothing new
2 Roxbury teens blame bus driver for altercation
Ah, let's just skip the whole thing.
