Waah!!!! Waah!!!! Waah!!!!

The more I hear from the Tea Party, the more I feel like they are acting like spoiled children when they don't get their way.

Example?  Today's T&G has an article announcing a protest of their own darling, Senator Scott Brown.

Why?  Because he voted with Democrats on legislation that (in theory) would offer taxpayers protection against a rapacious Wall Street culture.

This is supposed to be a good thing.  Regulation keeps you from getting screwed, Tea Partiers.  The last economic meltdown occurred because of a lack of regulation....so we should protest in favor of less regulation??????  The road to irrelevancy is paved with pages from Atlas Shrugged, Tea Partiers!

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Rational T&G comment of the week belongs to Ed:

"I've only taken two basic university classes in economics. I mostly read my medical journals for work and history for recreation. I do like to follow the news daily. There are a few things that are extremely obvious even to a non-expert like me! For example, that both the Reagan and Bush era tax cuts to the wealthy led to larger deficits and long term decline in growth. And, that deregulating any industry too much can lead to disasters, since the public is left unguarded against excess. What I fail to understand is this: do these conservative Congressional Republicans really believe that tax cuts for the wealthy work? Do they believe that more and more deregulation is in the interest of the nation's safety and prosperity? That is, have they missed the obvious evidence? Or, do they merely spout propaganda to mislead people so that they get the backing of wealthy donors?"

I'm not surprised.

There was an interesting piece on Boston.com yesterday about the State Probation Office and patterns of nepotism and cronyism under the direction of Jack O'Brien.

Central Massachusetts made the article with a reference to former Worcester Courthouse Probation Officer Ashley Losapio and references to West Boylston's State Representative James J. O’Day, Charlton's State Representative Geraldo Alicea, and Clinton's State Representative Harold P. Naughton Jr.

Wow.

I saw this link on Facebook today.



I'm speechless.

Michael Stopa, Candidate.

Michael Stopa (Facebook profile here) resides in Holliston and is a physicist at Harvard University.  He has degrees from Wesleyan University and the University of Maryland, as outlined in his campaign bio and his work page.

Mr. Stopa's website is the most extensive of all the challenger's sites.  His site contains a Candidate Statement, a Platform, and position papers on Fiscal Sanity, the Ryan Plan, Health Care, Global Warming, the War on Terror, and Illegal Aliens.

Here are his stances on the issues, with quotes:

-Supports a reduction of 10% of federal employees and freezes that number until the national employment rate falls to 6%.
-Supports the protesters in Iran.
-Supports H.R. 6110.
-Opposes Cap and Trade legislation (reasons here).
-Opposes civilian trials for enemy combatants (reasons here).
-Supports the increase of combat troops in Afghanistan.
-Opposes the recently passed health care bill:

"First, it would not reduce costs. Second, it would ultimately place the government in the position of deciding which treatments and medicines were available and which were not. Only the very rich would be able to afford procedures and drugs outside of the governments sanctioned ones. And this leads to the final, and I think most crucial reason why rationed healthcare would be a disaster. It goes without saying that people want to lead longer, healthier lives. Never before has the potential of doing so been greater. Medical research is on the threshold of solving mysteries and discovering cures that will radically improve the quality and even the length of our lives. But medical research requires investment and risk. It has already been shown that the pharmaceutical industry in Europe, by virtue of government regulation and socialized medicine, has fallen well behind that of the United States and that the gap is increasing. Nothing will bring research to a screeching halt faster than replacing the hundreds of millions of consumers in America with a single, all-powerful consumer: the United States Government. If equality of access is what you desire at all cost, then choose Obamacare. If, on the other hand, you want for you and your children to live longer..."

-Supports gradual re-patriation of illegal immigrants:

"Re-patriation of illegal aliens is not, practically speaking, difficult. A temporary amnesty, whereby illegal aliens are immediately given temporary work visas and, independently, employers of illegal aliens are given amnesty from prosecution in return for reporting the employees for whom their work documents are suspicious (or whom they know to be in the country illegally), would result in the vast majority of illegal aliens being quickly recorded. A suitable period could be chosen that would permit those here illegally to sell any acquired property (also finish school years) and in an orderly fashion return to their countries. It would not matter much if this period were a year or longer. This program could then be combined with an implementation of E-verify which, sooner or later, will surely become the law of the land."

-Supports cuts in capital gains and business taxes to end the recession:

"What we in the middle class want is a reduction in taxes so that as we grow older and advance we are not having to run twice as fast to keep up with increasing marginal tax rates. What we in the middle class want is less government, not more."

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Mr. Stopa has an excellent site, full of information on his policies and low on flash.  I hope he continues to publish his position papers so we can get a better sense of all his beliefs, not just the hot button topics of this election cycle.

Robert Chipman, Candidate.

Robert Chipman (Facebook profile here) is running for the 3rd Congressional District.  His website is a work in progress with very little content.  I suggest expanding your website if you want anyone to know who you are!

Here are his stances on the issues, with quotes:

-Health care:

"Health care is under attack by Federal Government under the “charade” that they will make it better.  Have we ever seen the government make anything better?  Does a 2000 page document make sense to anyone? Congress doesn’t care.  No matter how ill conceived and burdensome to Taxpayers, Elderly, our Children."

-The role of government:

"It intrudes on every part of our lives. What we are earning, day after day, goes to pay Government’s unsustainable growth.  Our private economy sector and their commitment to employment for citizens must be the centerpiece to all recovery and any “taxpayer stimulus”."

 -National Security"

"has been “handcuffed” by this current administration and has put the United States in the worst international position since President Carter’s presidency. We need to listen to and support our military and intelligence agencies.  We rely on them to protect our country."

 -Abortion:

"I was raised Roman Catholic and consider myself Pro-Life."

Patrick Barron, Candidate.

Nicole has been urging me to do more reviews of candidate's webpages, and today's post about the 3rd Congressional District gave me a lot of material.

I'll begin with Parick Barron (Facebook profile here):

Mr. Barron is from Shrewsbury and is a 14 year employee of the Massachusetts Department of Health.  He has two slogans featured prominently on his webpage: "A Better Way" and "Vote People Not Parties."
Mr Barron has three pages devoted to his positions: Issues 1, Issues 2, Issues 3.  He also has two pages devoted to Jim McGovern: The Incumbent and a campaign brochure.  There is one About Me page.

Here are his stances on the issues, with a few quotes:

-Believes schools need improving, and should be controlled locally.
-Won't accept PAC money.
-Supports all tax decreases.
-Supports eliminating all congressional earmarks.
-Is pro-choice.
-Supports same sex marriage and civil unions.
-Supports the 2nd Ammendment.
-Opposes Cap and Trade, yet believes the U.S. hasn't properly used domestic and renewable resources. 
-Opposes Healthcare reform:

"As someone who has worked in government healthcare for the last fourteen years, my position is clear.  I do not want the government running our health care.  We do need to have an improved system of healthcare. This health care must be cost efficient, comprehensive, and available to all. Per usual there are many, many steps to achieve this without a massive overhaul of the existing system. Unfortunately, many in Washington thrive in the dysfunction of the bureaucracy."

 -Death penalty:

"In theory I support the death penalty. As it is implemented now I do not. The average time a person spends on death row is approximately 12 years. The cost of trying death penalty cases is hundreds of millions more than life without parole convictions. If there is a way to make this process quicker, more efficient, cost less and yet ensure complete fairness I would support it. Right now it is not financially practical. This money could be better spent on other issues related to law enforcement and the courts."

-Immigration:

"Washington has a failed immigration policy. There are close to 12 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. yet Washington still has no clear policy. Washington is not competent enough to find and deport 12 million people. We will need a better solution. The first step to solving immigration is having full control of the borders. Without this, any other reforms will just be more failing policy. Simplify the process. Step one, control the borders. When Washington has shown the ability to do this then we will be ready to address other issues."

 -Opposes the financial bailouts:

"I support auditing the federal reserve, or any division of the government. The government should be accountable to the people."

-On national security, believes in "Peace through Strength."

"I do not agree terrorists should be given the same rights as American citizens."

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My thoughts on his site?  It's clearly his words and ideas on the site, and while it lacks polish, you get an clear idea about how he thinks and what he believes.  Mr. Barron could use some editing and expansion and clarification on the issues pages, and a lot more substance.  (I'll probably say that about every candidate- I have a preference for candidates who geek out about details.)

2010 Massachusetts 3rd Congressional Race.

I read the T&G article regarding the Tea Party Night in Northboro the other day, and realized I had no idea who any of these challengers were.  So here are the websites of all the candidates for the 3rd:

Patrick Barron (Shrewsbury)

Robert Chipman (Plainville)

Robert Delle (Westboro)

Jim McGovern (Worcester)

Michael Stopa (Holliston)

I was briefly surprised....

Today's T&G had an article early in the election cycle about Jill Stein, who is running for Governor as the Green Party candidate.

The cynic in me believes that the newspaper, which endorsed Scott Brown, views Dr. Stein as a candidate that can siphon votes from Deval Patrick.  We'll see if the T&G endorses Charles Baker in the fall.

The idealist in me thanks them for their early attention.  In 2002, very few voters knew who Dr. Stein was heading into the debates.  Most voters I spoke with considered a vote for the Green Party a wasted vote, but admitted that she acquitted herself very well in the debate.  (Then again, anyone with half a brain would have looked good going up against Mitt Romney, Shannon O'Brien, Carla Howell and Barbara Johnson.)

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Then I got to the comment section for the article.  Once again, the level of debate is slightly less advanced then what you would find on a schoolyard during recess.  Maybe no one was kicked in the shins, but can't we do better as a nation?

My endorsements...already!

It might be early, but I am endorsing not one, but two candidates for governor (as illogical as it seems!)

As a registered Democrat, I will vote for Grace Ross in the Democratic primary for governor this year.  She might not win, but a primary vote is the biggest chance a single voter has to register their choice in mainstream, two party politics.

And assuming Grace Ross doesn't topple Deval Patrick, I will be voting for Jill Stein (Green Party) in the main race.  If Deval loses or drops out, stay tuned for my choice between Jill Stein and Grace Ross.  Either way, Massachusetts can't lose.  The last time Dr. Stein ran, I faced the usual barrage of 'You're throwing your vote away' catcalls from Democrats or Republicans.  I told them to watch the debates and see an intelligent, thoughtful and insightful candidate truly debate the issues.  Everyone I knew, both sides of the spectrum were impressed with Dr. Stein's performance.  (Facing the likes of Mitt Romney, Shannon O'Brien, Barbara Johnson and Carla Powell just made it seem easy!)

What they say doesn't equal what they do.

I remember Scott Brown campaigning against last year's stimulus package.  He even had this quote in the paper today regarding President Obama's spending freeze:

"But anytime you can look at spending, I think that's one of the basic problems."

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Here is Karyn Polito (R-Shrewsbury) a fellow Massachusetts Republican and Scott Brown supporter, with Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray.  Why are they holding a press conference?  Federal stimulus money is going to be spent in Westboro and Marlboro to help reduce the costs of wastewater treatment plants.

Hopefully Representative Polito will let Senator Brown know about the stimulus money being spent in Massachusetts and how much she appreciates the help in her district.  Representative Polito emceed Scott Brown's victory party on Election Eve, so I assume they put their differences on the stimulus behind them.

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Here's a great breakdown on federal spending and our priorities.

Lazy Journalism, Part 3!

I took two weeks off- one because Jeff beat me to it, and another because "Z" apparently took the week off also.  But now I'm back with my Lazy Journalism series (Part 1, Part 2) on my favorite curmudgeon, Robert Z. Nemeth.

“I’m not beholden to special interests. Because I don’t owe anybody anything, I’m free to tell the truth and fight for what I believe in."  -Scott Brown, as told to Robert Z. Nemeth

Candidates tell the voters and reporters many things, some true, some false, some chock full of BS.  It's the job of responsible voters and reporters to do a little digging and find out if the candidate is telling the truth.  It's especially important for reporters to dig a little harder- after all, their articles are read and trusted by many readers.  When a reporter doesn't dig deeper, they do a disservice to their news organization and their readers. 

If Mr. Nemeth had anything better to do with his time, perhaps he could have turned up these few choice facts about Scott Brown's claim that he isn't beholden to any special interests.

FreedomWorks and Club For Growth have been mobilizing support for Mr. Brown.  (Article on ThinkProgress.org)  FreedomWorks is headed by former House Republican Dick Armey, author of the Contract For America back in 1994.  You can thank Mr. Armey for this summer's disruptive town meetings regarding health reform.  FreedomWorks has been the chief architect of the angry and divisive tone of the town halls.  Instead of a true debate based on facts, we can thank FreedomWorks for displays such as these: (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)  Club For Growth is a Wall Street PAC that lobbies for influence and bailouts from Washington.  Candidate Brown claims he is opposed to future stimulus bills, despite the fact that he accepts money from firms that benefited from the two stimulus bills.

OpenSecrets.org is a great website for tracking candidates and contributions to their campaigns.  Unfortunately, they only have numbers through 12/31/09.  It will be interesting to see the updated numbers for January, when all the attention on Scott Brown materialized.

The Office of Campaign and Political Finance has a partially updated website.  Scott Brown's last update was apparently in 2008???
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My favorite part of Mr. Nemeth's scribblings came in the paragraph regarding the recent failed underwear bomber.

"At a time when homeland safety is endangered due to an ultra-liberal mindset in Washington that at times appears to be more concerned about the rights of terrorists than the safety of Americans, the Senate needs a hard-liner on national security. Even before the Christmas Day attempt by an Islamic jihadist to destroy a Detroit-bound airliner with nearly 300 people aboard, Scott Brown, a lieutenant colonel with close to 30 years of service in the National Guard, expressed concern about flawed security measures and the apparent breakdown of the command structure. He said authorities should have recognized the warning signs before an officer described as a Muslim fanatic murdered 13 military personnel at a Texas Army base in November, just as they should have prevented the “underwear bomber” from boarding an airplane. "

I think the same could be said for the summer of 2001 when the Cheney/Bush Administration along with the CIA, FBI and NSA missed out on the largest terror attack on U.S. soil.  Eight years later we have the Department of Homeland Security, a Cheney/Bush creation that should be the focus of Mr. Nemeth's criticism, not the candidacy of Martha Coakley or the Obama Administration. 

Perhaps Mr. Nemeth believed Rudy Giuliani a few weeks ago when he claimed that "We had no domestic terror attacks under Bush."  (In a stunning coincidence, Rudy "9/11" Giuliani recently campaigned with Scott Brown.  With 'independent' allies like that, can we really trust Mr. Nemeth's candidate to keep us safe?  Did Scott Brown denounce the Cheney/Bush Administration when Richard Reid tried to blow up his shoe on an airliner?
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I'll end with this chestnut tossed in near the end of Mr. Nemeth's column:

"She hardly displayed a profile-in-courage by refusing to debate her opponent one-on-one, insisting on the presence of a nonentity who has no chance of getting elected."

 That nonentity is a candidate who gathered enough signatures as an independent candidate to appear on the ballot for this election.  Having that sort of organization and dedication should guarantee Joe Kennedy's appearance in the debates.  This is a democracy where any citizen can run for office, regardless of party affiliation.  I would think that Mr. Nemeth would encourage candidates like Joe Kennedy- after all, Mr. Nemeth constantly hopes for an 'independent' voice to guide us.  Apparently Mr. Nemeth's has a dictionary where Independent = Republican.

This candidate brought to you by.....FreedomWorks and Wall Street.

Last week I wrote about the sudden new interest in Scott Brown's campaign.  Now there's more, from some rather nefarious sources that don't quite jive with Brown's 'independent' image.

Always look at a candidate's financial backers.  They are the ones who will be showing up looking for favors a few years after the election once the voters stop paying attention.

Repetitive Redundancy.

The T&G also ran two articles about the Senate campaign side by side.  The Brown article was cut and pasted from Globe reporters Matt Viser and Andrea Estes, and the Coakley article  was by T&G reporter John J. Monahan.  Both articles used essentially the same talking point from the Coakley camp at the same spot in each article.  The effect was even more jarring in print, seeing that they were placed right next to each other.  


From the Globe article:

“Let’s be clear: I stand with Main Street ... It should be clear to voters that I stand with them, with taxpayers — not with big CEOs looking to line their pockets.”

From the T&G article:

“Scott Brown is going to stand up for Wall Street. … I am going to stand up for Main Street. I am going to stand with taxpayers when I say we want our money back.”

Every day the quality of the T&G slides farther downhill.  Most articles are cut and pasted from the Globe, the Times or the AP.  Prices have gone up, content has gone down, and they wonder why it isn't a profitable business anymore.  I'm really enjoying the new space saver- the Sports section no longer lists the complete standings for the NBA or NHL.  They only list the division the Celtics and Bruins play in.

Salon.com had an article about Clinton's visit.  The author Joe Conanson also slipped up, stating that:

 "Moreover, Coakley had endorsed Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid during the Massachusetts primary, defying the entire Democratic establishment in the state (including Kennedy, Senator John Kerry, and Gov. Deval Patrick) that had backed Obama."

Jim McGovern endorsed Hillary Clinton.   I wonder if he was the unnamed congressman from this quote:

"“I think she can pull this out,” said a Democratic Congressman who showed up in Worcester."

Redundancy.

There were thirteen Letters to the Editor in today's T&G.  Twelve were in favor of Scott Brown.  One letter was written in opposition to Scott Brown wearing his uniform while campaigning, but didn't endorse Martha Coakley.

Maybe there truly is a landslide of support for Brown.  Maybe Coakley supporters don't write letters.  I truly wonder if this overwhelming support for Brown has anything to do with T&G endorsing Brown on the 10th.

Random T&G links

Clive McFarlane had an excellent bit of satire today in the T&G.  I can't wait to see the howling from City Hall over this bit!

What took so long?  It's 2010!  No wonder the Republican 'leadership' in Congress doesn't have a health plan yet!

What took so long II?  It took three years to strip Finneran of his law license after he pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice?  For anyone who complains that Massachusetts is dominated by one party, Tom Finneran is the perfect example of how that analysis is flawed.  In any other state Tom Finneran would be a Republican.  His ideas, actions, and agenda while Speaker of the House were all conservative.

Under the headline Study: Newspapers still a step ahead in local news I found this gem at the very end of the article:

"For whatever reasons, the study found that fewer local stories are being published by the Sun and six other newspapers that cover the Baltimore area. The list includes other general-interest publications such as The Washington Post and the Towson Times and specialty publications such as the Baltimore Business Journal.

The change came into sharp focus in July when Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley proposed deep cuts in the state's budget. There were 26 stories published on the subject by the Baltimore-area newspapers monitored during the weeklong study, as well as the AP and other publications around the country. The last time Maryland announced substantial budget cuts in 1991, there were 83 stories published in a comparable weeklong period, according to the study.

Jarvis contends that less original coverage doesn't necessarily translate into less information for readers, because the Web has enabled more people to post comments and links to other material that illuminate.

"Journalism today isn't just about the production of content," he said. "It's about where we can all add value."

 What a waste of time and ink to borrow that propaganda piece from the AP.  Perhaps the editors at the T&G should have devoted that space to actual local coverage.  It's also very amusing that the study focused on The Baltimore Sun, which was taken down by former Sun reporter David Simon in the fifth season of The Wire.  (If you haven't watched The Wire yet, go rent it- it's one of the best written shows in the history of television.)

KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRRRRRRK!!!!!!!!!

I sent our temporary Senator Paul Kirk an email regarding the health care debate back on November 30th.

Today I received an email back from his office on January 4th thanking me for my comments.

Too bad the new digital age can only make our emails faster and more efficient and not our public servants.

Reason #1 why Scott Brown won't get my vote on January 19th.

The September primaries were lackluster, and I doubt January will be much better. Perhaps it has to do with the quality of the candidates and their lack of imagination and inability to stray from party dogma.

Scott Brown came out in favor of waterboarding. Channeling his inner Jack Bauer, he fired off this ridiculous statement:

“It's time we stopped acting like lawyers and start acting like Patriots.  If there is a time bomb situation and they know of a person who in fact has information, it should be up to the president to determine what tools he wants to use to gather information, ” Mr. Brown said, including waterboarding. “I believe it's not torture.”

Here are two videos and articles from people who agreed with him regarding waterboarding, until they volunteered to see what it was really like.

The first video is from columnist Christopher Hitchens along with an article about his experience.



The second video is from radio host Erich Mancow. I challenge Candidate Brown to undergo the same treatment and see if his answer changes.

Lazy journalism, part 2!

Apparently I'm going to start a weekly series based on the Sunday column of Robert Z. Nemeth. I hoped Tracy would tackle this article because she is far more knowledgeable about the subject, but no such luck (yet?).

Mr. Nemeth begins his article with the following quote:

"Hard-core opponents of charter schools are licking their chops at the prospect of the state closing two of those schools, one in Springfield and another in Lowell, for alleged testing irregularities, mismanagement or lack of academic progress. They’re using the occasion to discredit all charters in the state. The effort is mean-spirited and misguided."

Apparently Massachusetts Education Commissioner Michael Chester is a 'hard core opponent' despite the fact that he was appointed by Governor Deval Patrick. In related news this week, Governor Patrick called for expansion of charter schools in the state.

Mr. Nemeth then takes exception to Mr. Chester's actions:

"Mr. Chester should be more concerned about the well-being of tens of thousands of children in regular district schools who receive substandard education."

Perhaps Mr. Nemeth should read this article about the new head of the Robert Hughes Charter in Springfield. With all the hoopla over the Donna Byrnes hiring last year, imagine Mr. Nemeth's anti public school vitriol if the School Committee hired a convicted felon to run a public school?

Mr. Nemeth finishes with the jewel:

"However, expansion comes with suffocating restrictions and creates a bureaucratic nightmare. It mandates quotas for low-income, special education, high-risk and limited-English-proficiency students, along with specific strategic plans to recruit and retain students from such categories. No district school is expected to function under such restrictions."

The reason district schools don't have such restrictions is because the entire public school system cannot turn away any students! Our public schools are full of high risk and underachieving students, and charter schools aren't. Comparing results from the two is highly illogical, and only serves Mr. Nemeth's agenda.

I hope next week he decides to leave his argument with Clive McFarlane to the break room at the T&G.

Lazy Journalism

I've never been a big fan of Robert Z. Nemeth. His journalistic style and political philosophy reminds me of Sam the Eagle. His opinion piece in Sunday's T&G was particularly lazy.

I'm fine with his endorsement of Scott Brown. I don't agree, but after all, it's an opinion piece. But I do take issue with his sloppy journalism.

"If Ms. Coakley goes to Washington, she is expected to be in lockstep with Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader. Mr. Brown has been known for his independent voice."

Does Mr. Nemeth really believe that Scott Brown's 'independent' voice won't be in lockstep with the Republican minority in the Senate? If Mr. Nemeth believes that, he obviously didn't do his homework on the candidate. Next time, eliminate the word independent and just come out and say Republican.

Let's run down Mr. Brown's stance on the major issues:

Health Care: "I believe that all Americans deserve health care coverage, but that we shouldn't have to create a new government insurance program to provide it. I support strengthening the existing private market system."

Immigration: "However, we are also a nation of laws and government should not adopt policies that encourage illegal immigration."

Energy: "I oppose a national cap and trade program because of the higher costs that families and businesses would incur."

Abortion: "While this decision should ultimately be made by the woman in consultation with her doctor, I believe we need to reduce the number of abortions in America. I believe government has the responsibility to regulate in this area and I support parental consent and notification requirements and I oppose partial birth abortion. I also believe there are people of good will on both sides of the issue and we ought to work together to support and promote adoption as an alternative to abortion."

Death Penalty: "I believe there are some crimes that are so heinous that they deserve capital punishment. Our Government should have the ability to impose the death penalty in cases where it is justified."

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Apparently 'independent' equals Republican in Mr. Nemeth's dictionary.

Please Vote Tomorrow!

The primary is tomorrow. Find out where you are registered to vote on the City Website.

The main election will be held on January 19, 2010. If you aren't registered, you have to register by December 30th. Information can be found here.

Here are the websites for the Democratic challengers:
Alan Khazei
Martha Coakley
Mike Capuano
Steve Pagliuca

Here are the websites for the Republican challengers:
Jack E. Robinson
Scott Brown

Please vote!