Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Could it be that Deval Patrick's administration has got its sea legs? Consider this: the guy portrayed as just waiting to free all the rapists and cop-killers just made his first nomination to the Parole Board without stirring the slightest hint of controversy.
I look at what last week's appointments say about the state of the Patrick administration, in tomorrow's issue -- online now. Sweeping Up: Deval Patrick's late appointments show a surer hand at the wheel.
Political think-tank and Commonwealth Magazine publisher MassInc. has found a replacement for the talented and well-respected Ian Bowles, who left to work for Deval Patrick (and quickly learned how even the alternative press can turn on you). The new chairman is Gregory Torres, a one-time aide to one of my favorite local pols, Pat McGovern; a member of Deval Patrick's transition team; and long-time head of the Mentor Network, which provides community-based human services. Best of luck to Torres; MassInc is an important part of Massachusetts's political life and culture. Don't screw it up! Update: I stand corrected: Torres's correct title is President and CEO, as was Bowles's. Also, the correct renderings are MassINC and CommonWealth.
Politico is reporting that Fred Thompson will form an exploratory committee on June 4th, and announce his candidacy for President over the July 4th holiday. (June 4 is not random -- it ensures that he'll get lots and lots of face time around the Republicans' June 5 debate. July 4, in addition to being all patriotic and stuff, is conveniently just after the close of the second-quarter campaign-finance period.) Being a candidate is a lot tougher than being a potential candidate, so Thompson has a lot to prove yet before he can be taken too seriously. But it surely ain't good news for the Mittster. On the other hand, since it was becoming obvious that Thompson was going to jump in, it might be better for Romney to have him in now, so he can start taking his lumps as a real candidate, rather than having his potential candidacy hovering around the campaign. Of course, the real question is, what will NBC do? California TV stations ceased showing Arnold movies during his first gubernatorial campaign for fear that rival candidates would demand free equal time under the vaguaries of the FEC rules. Will NBC shelve episodes of Law & Order with FT in them for the duration?
As anyone who has driven through Eastie in the past month or two could have predicted (signs, signs, everywhere signs), Anthony Petrucelli coasted to victory in yesterday's special election primary for state senate. With no Republican on the ballot -- hello, Torky? -- the win means Tony P. will soon join the august 40-person body. Revere city councillor Dan Rizzo ran a good race from what I could tell, and perhaps in a different race he'll ascend beyond Revere politics someday soon. Unfortunately for him, Petrucelli had all the backing he needed to win in that district, maybe especially in a low-turnout special election but I don't really think it would have made a difference. Plus, Petrucelli's a perfectly good candidate; frankly, he would have been a lot easier to beat from the right than the left.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
I got my hands on the new (June) Boston Magazine today, and it's got a few items of political interest -- although it's hard to divert one's attention away from John Gonzalez's openly salacious drool-fest on Maria Stephanos. First up is wise former Phoenix political writer Seth Gitell arguing, in essence, that Deval Patrick's supporters need to accept that the new Governor will have to play the insiders' games in order to get the outcomes they want. Gitell has put his finger on a conundrum among the Patrick "grassroots," because for many of them the idea of changing that insiders' system was more important than any specific policy objectives. I would even suggest that this is a broader concern: you can hear the same change-the-game arguments from progressives looking for a candidate in the 5th congressional district and in the Presidential primaries. But what do they want when push comes to shove, principle or progress? Next, Sasha Issenberg has an interesting piece on Democratic money-raiser Alan Solomont, and how fundraising for his new chosen favorite Barack Obama differs from the usual Clintonista machine. And finally, Joe Keohane argues in a feature article that the Guardian Angels' high-profile entry into Boston forced Tom Menino, Boston's black ministers, and other key players into actually getting together to do something about the violence, to shut the Angels up and get back on top of the media cycle. I think that Keohane is right that Menino killed the over-hyped interest in the Angels by co-opting them. But I think Keohane makes two mistakes. One, he gives Menino and others too much credit for the anti-violence actions they took; and two, he underestimates how quickly the media would have dropped the "crime crisis" story anyway.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Give some props to state senator Mark Montigny, who saw the growing student-loan scandal -- which I've written about -- and decided to actually do something about it. Imagine! In a recent budget hearing, he pestered UMass's Jack Wilson and members of the state Board of Higher Ed on the topic. Hardly satisfied with the responses, Montigny introduced a budget amendment creating a "Higher Ed Code of Conduct." It would bar all colleges from accepting kickbacks or payoffs of any kind in exchange for putting a lending institution on the school's "preferred lender" list. It also orders the Board of Higher Ed to create a code of conduct "to prevent the appearance of impropriety or a conflict of interest" between schools and lenders -- including required disclosure of the criteria used in compiling preferred-lender lists. The Board would also have to review existing relationships and report any conflicts of interest to the state attorney general and inspector general by next January. The amendment was passed unanimously in the Senate today. We'll see if it survives the conference committee with the House. Regardless, it puts the state's colleges and universities on notice.
Current headline on BPDnews.com:
BOSTON POLICE OFFICER SHOT ONE PERSON IN CUSTODY
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
In this week's issue, out tomorrow, I dissect Mitt Romney's well-plotted rise from obscure also-ran to surging frontrunner in the GOP Presidential race -- and explain the next critical piece of the campaign strategy. It's online now. The MormonatorMitt Romney has a steely-eyed mission to crush his opponents. Next battlefield: Ames, Iowa. Also in the issue, I catch at-large city councilor Felix Arroyo skipping 15 straight budget hearings. Where's Felix?Council insiders spank Arroyo for missing budget hearings.
So, a year and a half after I wrote that the state lacks any coordinated effort to locate missing children, not even placing their faces on their public safety web site, the state has unveiled such a web site, according to the Herald. I must have missed the press release. Mmm, no, there doesn't seem to have been a press release. And I had a hell of a time trying to find the page -- I finally found it through a site search, and then worked backwards to figure it out. From the EOPS home page, you scroll down and click on "Law Enforcement & Criminal Justice." From the list that brings you to, click on "Law Enforcement." That calls up a list that includes -- for the first mention to that point, as far as I can tell -- "missing & wanted," which brings you to another list, where you can select "missing children." And voila! there you are. I'm no expert, but I think that to be effective, the site has to be a little more accessible, and promoted. It's also awfully limited at the moment, with only 30 photos, mostly those missing for years. What's really needed is for local and state police to promptly forward new cases -- that don't qualify for Amber Alerts but are considered risks -- and for EOPS to quickly post them. An email or RSS alert system would be nice. One last thing: a large percentage of missing children are runaways from DSS situations. Not to pile on the beleaguered agency, but it has done a shameful job on this issue, and needs to improve.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
--First off, State House News Service reports that Jarrett Barrios will leave his state senate seat to head the grant-giving Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation. Congrats to Jarrett, etc. etc.... START YOUR ENGINES, CAMBRIDGE! --Today is deadline day for submitting signatures to run for Boston city council, and Susan Passoni announced that she will not run again for district 2, after losing to Bill Linehan in the recent special-election runoff. But Ed Flynn will; the city elections office confirms that Flynn submitted enough signatures to qualify. Veeeeery interesting!!! I think Flynn, who finished a close third in the special, would have beaten Linehan in a one-on-one final -- but I'm not sure if he can beat Linehan as an incumbent. --Nine potential candidates have submitted signatures for at-large, including the four incumbents. The elections office has not gotten to all of them yet, so we don't know yet if they'll all qualify, but the challengers to incumbents Felix Arroyo, Michael Flaherty, Steve Murphy, and Sam Yoon are John Connolly of West Roxbury (repeat candidate); William Estrada of East Boston; Matthew Geary of Dorchester; Martin Hogan of Dorchester (by way of Southie); and David James Wyatt of Roxbury. --Nine candidates took out papers for the District 9 (Allston/Brighton) seat to replace Jerry McDermott, who is not seeking re-election. Eight had submitted signatures as of late this afternoon.
Monday, May 21, 2007
That's a dollar figure -- Anthony Petruccelli has $43,000 more on hand than his opponent, Daniel Rizzo, as they enter the final push to the May 29 primary that will decide who succeeds former pres. Traviglini in the state senate.
Campaign-finance reports filed today show that Rizzo has spent $50,773 to Petruccelli's $48,946, but Rizzo has just $11,605 left in his campaign account. Petruccelli is still well-stocked with $54,346.
Of course, money isn't everything. Can Rizzo's Revere organization and some interesting endorsements overcome Petruccelli's huge Eastie advantage?
State House News Service reports that Cheryl Coakley-Rivera is pushing hard for her bill to outlaw methadone clinics within 1000 feet of schools, public parks, and Head Start programs.... In other words, anywhere in Boston or other major urban areas where junkies might actually be looking for help. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Is the Mass. Convention Center Authority dragging its feet on selling naming rights for the South Boston convention center, to keep open the option of naming it for Tom Menino? Probably. And I say, good. I'd much rather see the thing named for a local figure -- like New York (Javitz), Chicago (McCormick), San Francisco (Moscone), Detroit (Cobo), Pittsburgh (Lawrence), and of course our own Hynes -- than for a company that will move away or change names or go bankrupt in a few years anyway. And, much as I criticize Menino, he deserves to have major facilities and landmarks named for him when he's done (whenever that may be). He's done more than anyone in the last quarter-century to shape what Boston is today and will be in the future. And for all its flaws, this is still, and will continue to be, the greatest city in America.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Utah's Deseret News reports today that those who contribute $1000 to Mitt Romney's campaign receive a "Mitt Bobble-Head." But will it hold its value as a collectible?
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Deval Patrick's not the only rookie in statewide elected office; in the new issue out tomorrow I look at how Martha Coakley is already using the Attorney General's office differently than her predecessor, Tom Reilly, did. The article is here online now.
As has been made clear to me, my speculation about Chinatown being key to Linehan's victory yesterday was, shall we say, not entirely consistent with the facts as we now know them to be. (That's how to say "I was wrong" if you're testifying at a congressional hearing.) Props to the Passoni folks for winning in Chinatown, and for putting up an impressive fight against tough odds. She's shown, in my view, that she has something to contribute to the city -- so the question now is, what should that be?
Hillary Clinton wants you to vote for her official campaign theme song. Well, maybe not you, because you're a sarcastic wiseacre -- so you should submit your suggestions to this blog. Here are Clinton's actual nominees, but I know you can do better: - City of Blinding Lights - U2
- Suddenly I See - KT Tunstall
- I'm a Believer - Smash Mouth
- Get Ready - The Temptations
- Ready to Run - Dixie Chicks
- Rock This Country! - Shania Twain
- Beautiful Day - U2
- Right Here, Right Now - Jesus Jones
- I'll Take You There - The Staple
Singers
I had heard that Timmy Murray had adopted a second child, and here's the confirmation press statement:
BOSTON –
Wednesday, May 16, 2007 – Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray and his wife Tammy
recently returned from Guatemala where they completed the
adoption of their second daughter. The following is a statement from Lieutenant
Governor Murray and Mrs. Murray: “Yesterday we
were blessed to bring home our new daughter Katerine. It was a wonderful day
for us, and for Katerine’s big sister Helen. We want to thank everyone who has
expressed their warm wishes and thoughtful prayers for our family on this joyous
occasion.”
Here's the meat of a press release sent out today by the Gov about his new much-anticipated enviro-friendly development policies. As always, the devil will be in the details, but the seriousness of the effort -- making clean energy a development goal -- is clear.
BOSTON—Wednesday, May 16, 2007—After
meeting with his Development Cabinet, Governor Deval Patrick today announced a
series of changes to the state’s development policies, incorporating clean
energy as a key development goal and restructuring certain grant programs to
better serve environmental and housing purposes. “As we grow our economy, our energy, environmental, housing and
transportation policies and initiatives must work in sync,” said Governor
Patrick. “Clean energy will be one of our development goals, and our grant
programs must achieve their intended
results.” For the first time, the state’s
Sustainable Development Principles now include promoting clean energy, in the
form of energy efficiency and renewable power generation, in order to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions and consumption of fossil fuels. Other changes
encourage the creation of “pedestrian-friendly” districts and neighborhoods that
mix commercial, civic, cultural, educational, and recreational activities with
parks and homes. In housing, the principles call for building homes “near jobs,
transit, and where services, including water supply, are available.” In
addition, the principles would “foster the development of housing, particularly
multifamily and smaller single-family homes.”
The Globe says that Linehan's victory yesterday shows the power of Southie, but I'd say, without having seen the precinct breakdown, that it really shows the power of Frank Chin. District 2's Chinatown precincts loved Susan Passoni two years ago -- 71/29 over Jim Kelly -- but were Linehan territory for the April prelim and, I assume, in yesterday's vote. That's Chin at work.
That doesn't take anything away from Linehan, who has done a lot of community-relations work in Chinatown and elsewhere. So, anyone for a November rematch?
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
I was on NECN's NewsNight with Jim Braude tonight to talk about Mitt Romney, and then they had me stay on to talk a little about Jerry Falwell. So I thought I'd pop on here to explain what I was trying to say about him -- and why I say his legacy is the death of the libertarian strain of the Republican Party.
Evangelical Christians have traditionally concerned themselves with their own behavior -- making sure they live their lives by God's rules. And, of course, trying to persuade others to do so, for their own sake.
As it became apparent (particularly in the wake of the Scopes trial) that the public square was not going to remain sufficiently Godly, their response was to withdraw from the public square; take care of their own and their family's souls, and try not to let the ungodly ones lead them astray.
Then came the evil '60s and '70s when -- as you younger folks have probably learned from history books -- the ACLU invented drugs, promiscuity, divorce, single motherhood, abortion, homosexuality, pornography, violent television, sexually graphic movies, and women's lib. The ungodliness of society kept getting harder to ignore -- and they just wouldn't respond to the argument that they should change for their own sake.
Falwell's Moral Majority brought disgusted evangelicals back into the public square by arguing that those other people have to change for your sake. That is, that the immoral behavior of other Americans brings the wrath of God and nature upon all Americans, even those who did nothing wrong.
If that's the case, then you've got a powerful argument that the government should encourage, if not enforce, godly behavior; your seemingly private choices are in fact public.
That's the context for some of the most outrageous comments by Falwell and others of his mindset, blaming disease, natural disaster, or attack on America's ungodly behavior.
Falwell's approach gave evangelical Christians a reason to re-enter the public square (and lots of people to blame for their woes), and succeeded to the extent that the Republican Party was forced to adopt and internalize that argument. A party that had prided itself on libertarianism, and keeping the government out of each others' business, has almost completely abandoned that philosophy. You'll see plenty of examples of that in tonight's debate, I'm sure.
The thing is, political success didn't achieve any of the goals. All of the sins he set out to eradicate have instead thrived. Many of them have become more accepted and mainstream. The tactic was a failure.
More importantly, America has not been punished for its sinners; America has thrived. So the theory was wrong.
Yet Falwell's legacy continues to steer the Republican Party. Exhibit A: Mitt Romney calling for a ban on same-sex marriage, because of the harm it supposedly brings to "good" families -- as we mark the third anniversary of gay marriages in Massachusetts with no evidence whatsoever of that harm.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Statehouse News Service says that Deval Patrick's communications director, Nancy Fernandez Mills, is "returning to the private sector," also known as losing her job. Mills and former chief-of-staff Joan Benjamin-Wallace were the most conspicuously inexperienced people hired for top positions on Patrick's staff, and both are now gone after four months. Both seem like good people with a lot to offer; if anything, the fault is Patrick's for setting them up to fail in positions they weren't ready for and didn't have time to grow into.
Friday, May 11, 2007
The AP is reporting that Mitt Romney's financial assets -- which he's supposed to file next week but has been granted an extension for -- will be between $190 million and $250 million. In addition, the AP says, the kids' trust funds have another $70m - $100m. The AP doesn't mention the family charitable foundation, where they've put some more millions. So we're looking at somewhere north of a quarter-billion, but well shy of a half-billion -- which frankly surprises me. I thought it would be around the $750,000,000 area. Nobody on the outside has ever gotten a good look at his total holdings, but estimates over the years have started at $250m as early as during his 1994 Senate campaign, and gone up from there; a couple years back there was an estimate of at least a half-billion. Bear in mind that Mitt's money is very, very, very well taken care of, so you can assume a pretty tasty growth every year. Of course, he supposedly tithes to the church, and I assume he counts investment income for that. Still, I would have thought that he'd be well above $500m by now. Of course, what's a couple hundred million dollars really mean anyway?
So AG Martha Coakley says that Lite-Brite scofflaws Peter Berdovsky and Sean Stevens are off the hook after doing community service at Spaulding Hospital. "As part of their service, the two men designed a mural in the hospital," the AG's press release says. Is it just me, or does anyone else suspect that this mural might, just maybe, contain some subtle reference to a forthcoming Cartoon Network character???
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
On the political front, I have an item in tomorrow's issue of the Phoenix revealing how few professionally employed women are among Mitt Romney's donors. In the article, I believe I am the first to compare Romney with Max Bialystock. It's online here. On a more somber note, I have a feature in the issue looking at the after-effects of nine homicides I wrote about two years ago. Streets of Sorrow: Boston's murder survivors.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
With the Globe reporting that Jerry McDermott will not run for re-election as the District 9 (Allston/Brighton) city councillor, can an announcement of Dan "The Bagel Man" Kontoff be far behind? Kontoff failed to make the finals in '05, gaining just seven percent of the vote against McDermott and Paul Creighton Jr. Imagine how his numbers could climb with the incumbent out of the picture!
Monday, May 07, 2007
Romney gets a nice boost from a new Survey USA poll of likely New Hampshire primary voters, conducted for WBZ-TV. For the first time that I know of, he's shown in first place: Romney 32%, Giuliani 23%, McCain 22%, F. Thompson 11%. I guess Tagg was right -- he did win the debate. I couldn't help noticing one of the break-outs. Romney is in a statistical three-way tie among those who think Global Warming is real -- which is just over half of the Republicans surveyed. Among those who believe that global warming is "made-up" (that's the wording in the survey's column header), Romney crushes the competition 37/18/16. Of course, Romney was once very much in favor of taking steps to combat the coming effects of global warming. But now his competition consists of McCain, who is practically a genuine environmentalist on the issue, and Giuliani, who has publicly acknowledged that global warming is legit. And did I mention that nearly half of likely NH GOP voters think it's made-up? As Presidential candidate, Romney has developed roughly the following policy stance: "Whether or not it's real -- which is a question I'll chew my foot off to avoid answering -- we should do something to combat global warming, perhaps including reduction of CO2 emissions. But we should do nothing to harm businesses, the way radical Democratic scare-mongers want to. Oh, and Al Gore sucks!"
The Republicans have another Presidential debate coming up May 15th, in South Carolina, and Romney is asking supporters to hold debate parties. But it's more than just partying, it is, according to a campaign email, " Sign Up America! – a mega-grassroots effort to sign up 24,000 new
supporters in 24 hours beginning on the evening of May 15 th." To host a party for Mitt -- or to pretend to hold one so they'll send you some Romney for President swag -- go to www.MittRomney.com/signup.
Friday, May 04, 2007
I know you've all been reading the Five Brothers blog of Romney's sons I told you about -- guess what? Tagg thinks Dad won last night's debate -- but perhaps you missed the invitation to suggest names for the Winnebago that the campaign is using to drive around Iowa.
The 2007 at-large race should in theory be less expensive that in 2005; without a mayoral election, turnout should be low, and with no open seat, there are fewer challengers. Michael Flaherty is rolling in money as usual, with $426,585 on hand at the end of April, according to campaign-finance reports. That's about where he was this time two years ago. Here are the other four in the race, comparing their cash-on-hand now vs. April 30 2005: Felix Arroyo 4/07: $2,901 4/05: $9,749 John Connolly 4/07: $55,796 4/05: $113,454 Stephen Murphy 4/07: $67,557 4/05: $11,968 Sam Yoon 4/07: $67,391 4/05: $36,003
...to get Mayor Tom Menino to publicly express outrage at the behavior of a Boston Police officer? Extorting money from drug dealers while in uniform apparently doesn't rise to that level. Neither does providing protection for drug runners. Extorting sexual favors from prostitutes while on duty? Nope. Being convicted of perjury? Uh-uh. Putting an innocent man in prison by falsely claiming a fingerprint match? Nah. Shooting another officer and leaving the scene, because he thought you were too drunk to drive? Gosh no! Heck, you can even hand out "less-lethal" weaponry to officers under your command who have not been trained to use them, tell them to fire the weapons into a crowd of mostly harmless revelers, fire the weapons yourself in a haphazard manner without using the sites, and then lie to investigators about it all after an innocent girl gets killed -- and you still won't get the Mayor to denounce you in public. I've seen and heard the Mayor publicly express disgust, pain, and outrage on numerous occasions, toward many targets, for many reasons: the Cartoon Network, Opie & Anthony, college hoodlums, the NRA, etc. But not toward his cops, no matter how badly they've disgraced their uniform. And his commissioners have generally followed suit, discussing revelations about bad cops -- if at all -- with very
careful phrasing, always insisting first and foremost that 99% of the BPD is honest and good. Ed Davis showed how it's done yesterday, speaking with obvious bitterness and anger about the latest offender. Whether or not Davis can actually implement his "three strikes" disciplinary plan, the public -- and those vast majority of good, honest cops -- got the chance to see that the commissioner truly takes strong offense to cops like Ortiz abusing their position. By doing that, Davis gave everyone reason to believe that bad cops will be dealt with -- so they can have more faith in the good cops. As for Menino, he typically avoids comment altogether, as he has so far concerning Ortiz. When forced to comment -- say, when the city finally admitted culpability in the death of Victoria Snellgrove -- he always does so grudgingly, vaguely conceding that "mistakes were made," and showing no sense of anger at being betrayed by someone privileged to wear the badge in his city. A little outrage would be nice.
--On a stage of aging, white, conservative curmudgeons, Mitt Romney stood out as looking least like your cranky uncle who you can't stand. (It's especially fun to hear these sour-pussed grousers repeatedly invoke the importance of Ronald Reagan's optimism, which, apparently, cures all that ails ya'.) But bear in mind that Republicans have no problem nominating miserable, aging cranks. They tend toward Bob Dole, not Jack Kemp. --To me, Romney came across a little desperate insisting that he really would hunt down Osama bin-Laden and kill him, despite what he said the other day about it not being worth the effort. Romney: I swear, I'll kill him! Kill! Kill! Kill! --When asked directly, Romney swears he really is proud of the
Massachusetts health care plan. Unfortunately, none of the other
candidates spoke on the topic.
--Where's the power of the Christian Right when seven of 10 Republican Presidential candidates believe in evolution? --And where's the power of the business conservatives, when the Republican Presidential candidates want to dramatically limit the access to cheap immigrant labor?
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
The AP is doing a series of asking the Presidential candidates quickie questions about their personal habits, tastes, etc. The latest: what is the one thing you'd want to have with you if you were stranded on a desert island? (BTW, isn't that supposed to be deserted island?) Tom Tancredo was the only one who answered: a boat. Our man Romney said his wife, Ann.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Political Wire directs us to this C-Ville column rumor-mongering more forcefully than all the rumor-mongering that precedes it, that Republican veteran John Warner is going to call it quits and not run for re-election to the US Senate in Virginia. And, as has also been much rumor-mongered, columnist Dan Catalano predicts that US Rep Tom Davis will run to replace him. Catalano hedges on whether former Va. governor -- and former '08 Presidential aspirant -- Mark Warner will run for the Democrats. I predict that he will if John W really is retiring, which I suspect is true. And I further predict that Mark W. will whup Tom Davis from Cumberland Gap to the Chesapeake Bay and back again. Congressman Davis, BTW, was the chair (and is now ranking minority member) of the Government Oversight Committee, which is now doing such prominent work poking under the Bush Administration's moldy rocks. You'll recall all of the oversight that the committee did under Davis, to keep the administration from wasting money, running incompetent agencies, hiring political cronies, handing out money without competitive bids, and keeping secrets about its operations. Oh, that's right, Davis did nothing to prevent or expose any of that. Virginia is never an easy win for a Democrat, but I just don't see the state that elected Senator Jim Webb in '06 going for a Bush lapdog in '08.
Momentum, that is. At least, if you believe the latest ARG poll, which shows Romney suddenly scoring a mighty 24% among likely New Hampshire Republican primary voters. That's good enough for a solid second-place showing, leaving Giuliani eating his dust. ARG also has Romney climbing to 14% in Iowa, which is pretty impressive at this point. Was the 1st Q fundraising really worth that big a bump, or was it something else? For the Dems, ARG shows Hillary slipping in Iowa and Obama slipping badly in NH (14%???). But the big news is in Iowa, where two of the second-tier candidates escaped the margin of error for the first time: Biden at 6%, Richardson at 5%, MOE +/- 4%. Watch out, here they come!
Patrick is hinting at a major proposal to change the school funding mechanism, which I applaud in theory. The problem, of course, is that any change that is even close to cost-neutral will hurt some communities, making its passage nearly impossible. I would love to see a serious reform proposal that comes with a new dedicated revenue stream -- and I think you could argue that the one way to get the state to consider a new tax would be for education. In fact, I could picture a grand bargain of sorts, with a plan to roll back the income tax to 5.0%, in exchange for shifting a significant portion of Chapter 70 funding into a new metrics-based system using a separate dedicated revenue stream. That new system could put more state control over local school boards (ie, by making funding dependent on certain approaches or actions that the state wants to encourage), in exchange for more funding in total. Of course, I have no idea whether this is what the Patrick folks are considering. But it begs the big question: what could one propose as a new revenue stream devoted exclusively to local education? Any ideas?
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