Thursday, July 06, 2006

Patrick: Mitt right on Ruane, Turnpike

This wasn't the Sister Souljah moment I had in mind, but it's a start. By siding with Mitt Romney in the Mike Ruane pension flap and the battle over who controls the Mass Turnpike Board, Deval Patrick is showing voters he wouldn't be a patsy for the Legislature if he's elected governor.

Here are the relevant comments, made in an interview with Jim Braude that'll be broadcast on NECN tonight at 7:

JB: Mitt romney says no special deals despite the sympathy [for Ruane's widow]. Who is right in that debate?

DP: He is.

JB: Mitt Romney.

DP: Mitt Romney is right. First of all let me say I want to send my sympathy to Mr. Ruane's family. This is not about Mr. Ruane with due respect to him, and I understand that many legislators feel in a difficult position because they see a colleague in a tough position and they want to help, and I respect that sentiment. What troubles me is the notion of using the public fisc as a piggy bank to deal with that. I mean there were opportunities given this legislator to make contributions into the pension system, but when they make these kinds of judgments outside the process and changing the rules for special cases I think it diminishes confidence in the system as a whole.

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JB: Your position is that Romney should have the power to appoint that third board person like he did?

DP: Let me be clear. I want the power to appoint that board person. I want the power to appoint Matt Amorello's successor. I want that as governor and I understand why this governor would want that power. I wish that we were focusing on what is a much more critical issue which is how we get at those cost overruns.

7/6/2006 1:25:12 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [2] |

Thursday, July 06, 2006 8:59:48 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

I don't buy it. Patrick appears to be especially good at spending money.
(See Globe article on his extensive mortgages:
www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/03/08/patricks_mortgages_amount_to_59m/ )

Also, his campaign got off to a rocky start and one of the symptoms was runaway spending.
(See Globe article:
www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/11/23/patricks_media_aide_quits_campaign/ )

On top of that, he refuses to consider rolling back the income tax to 5%, even though liberal Democratic stalwart Tom Birmingham thinks its due.
(see Globe article:
www.boston.com/business/taxes/articles/2005/10/26/thy_will_be_done/ )

If you want to consider what Massachusetts would be like with Deval Patrick at the helm and a Democratic legislature, read about what's going on in New Jersey this month. (Seven percent sales tax -- why not?)

patrick

Friday, July 07, 2006 7:02:55 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

You don't buy it. You haven't discussed the actual issue. Instead you try diversionary tactics.

Bea

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