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Haven’t we hear this song before? Bills get passed, or killed, at the Statehouse that directly benefit good friends of those in power, and it’s all a complete coincidence. Nobody influenced anybody.
So it’s a familiar melody coming from the lips of the surrogate subordinates of House Speaker Sal DiMasi. Among the scandals currently distracting the speaker from his speakerly duties is a happy coincidence from 2006 - at least very happy for DiMasi’s longtime friend Jay Cashman, who owned a piece of property next to a proposed Liquified Natural Gas terminal in Fall River. There was a bill pending in the House that would have blocked construction of the LNG plant, but it was killed in committee. Cashman went on to sell the property for a $14.2 million profit. Oh, what a happy coincidence. Almost Clintonesque.
But according to Rep. Brian Dempsey, D-Haverhill, who owes his position as chairman of the Telecommunications and Energy Committee to DiMasi, the speaker had no influence on the death of the bill. It was all about the energy agenda. Read about it here.
In fact, Dempsey said he didn’t even know that DiMasi and Cashman were friends.
Oh, my. Dempsey must wear blinders and earplugs on Beacon Hill. He may be the only elected official in the Statehouse and beyond who doesn’t know about Cashman and DiMasi’s long friendship.
But surely he has to understand why the rest of us might be a bit skeptical. At the Statehouse, nothing passes, or doesn’t pass, makes it out of committee or dies in committee, without the OK of the speaker.
So many coincidences. It’s a bit too coincidental.