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Archive for the 'State issues' Category

Big Brother Deval

Posted in Pension Tidal Wave, State issues, Taylor Armerding, Uncategorized on Feb 10th, 2009 Comments

I didn’t expect, for a moment, that Gov. Deval Patrick would bring anything resembling tax relief to Massachusetts. He never really promised to, anyway. If you listened to what he said during his campaign, it was that if the income tax was reduced to 5 percent after 18 years of a “temporary” surtax, then property [...]

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Ethical clouds? What ethical clouds?

Posted in Massachusetts politics, State issues, Taylor Armerding on Jan 28th, 2009 Comments

If you had any lingering doubts about the Statehouse being a palace of delusion, listen to some of your elected representatives defend their vote for Sal DiMasi as House Speaker, just three weeks before he resigned under an ethical cloud that grows blacker by the day. Read about it here.
Rep. John Keenan, D-Salem: “I don’t [...]

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Bonus babies - at your expense

Posted in Massachusetts politics, State issues, Taylor Armerding on Dec 3rd, 2008 Comments

My apologies for the complete absence of posts on this blog for the past month. My advance New Year’s resolution is to visit it much more often. And thanks to you who have stopped by, weighed in and debated with one another. There is not much better than a good argument that sticks to the [...]

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Yes you can - vote them out

Posted in Local politics, State issues, Taylor Armerding on Oct 31st, 2008 Comments

I’m voting for Question 1, to eliminate the state income tax, which shouldn’t surprise anybody. Every time I hear from its opponents that it would be “reckless” or “irresponsible,” I wonder, “Do these people ever stop to look in the mirror?” Reckless and irresponsible is the way they have been spending, demanding spending or enabling [...]

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DeVille’s tax break for the wealthy

Posted in Massachusetts politics, State issues, Taylor Armerding on Jun 18th, 2008 Comments

Question: When is a tax break for the wealthy not a tax break for the wealthy?
Answer: When a Democrat calls it an “economic stimulus plan.”
Of course, it’s still a tax break for the wealthy - calling it by another name doesn’t change the reality - but most Democrats are loathe to give even the slightest [...]

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A coincidental coincidence

Posted in Local politics, State issues, Taylor Armerding on May 2nd, 2008 Comments

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 [...]

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Level for me, but not for thee

Posted in Massachusetts politics, State issues, Taylor Armerding on Apr 15th, 2008 Comments

Gov. Deval Patrick, in yet another example of political courage, has allowed a bill to become law that would hit employers with triple damages if they lose wage disputes with workers. The governor didn’t sign it, saying he had “concerns” that it could be “unfairly punitive.” But those alleged concerns didn’t prompt him to veto [...]

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Just say it - it’s all about the money

Posted in Massachusetts politics, Municipal meltdown, State issues, Taylor Armerding on Apr 4th, 2008 Comments

I don’t blame cops for wanting to make more money. Heck, I want to make more money.
But I do blame them for constantly cloaking their desire for more money by pretending to be altruistic. Their frenzied efforts to protect their monopoly on road details, as the Legislature considers transportation reforms that would take some of [...]

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War on charters = war on ‘the children’

Posted in Local politics, State issues, Taylor Armerding on Mar 13th, 2008 Comments

Supposedly, there are systems in place to make sure that when state or local government provides a service, it hires the best contractor to do the job. You know, if they find one who can build roads and bridges that last twice as long as the average for the same price as everybody else, they [...]

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What’s in a name - or not in a name?

Posted in Massachusetts politics, Municipal meltdown, State issues, Taylor Armerding on Feb 20th, 2008 Comments

George Orwell may be gone, but his prophetic vision lives on, in our continued quest to name things in ways that will obscure their real intent. You know, if you want to let union advocates intimidate workers by forcing them to “vote” for or against a union in front of them, instead of the privacy [...]

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