Free Republic

Howie thread beginning with his Sunday Herald column

Despite a slumping economy and looming budget crunch, Gov. Deval Patrick has hiked his office budget by an astonishing 80 percent, adding questionable new staff positions like “director of grassroots governance” and pumping millions into an extravagant “civic engagement” program. “We know the governor had a goal of creating 100,000 new jobs in his first term, we just didn’t know he was going to create them all in the Corner Office,” said Sen. Michael Knapik (R-Westfield). Added State Sen. Scott Brown (R-Wrentham): “People in my district are asking, ‘What is this guy doing?’ They get 1 to 2 percent increases...

Governor Deval Patrick has decided against taking action to allow illegal immigrants to pay resident tuition and fees at state colleges and universities this fall, an administration official said yesterday, crushing advocates who were counting on the governor to deliver on a pledge to support the students. Earlier this year, Patrick said he was considering ways to offer illegal immigrants in-state rates, such as issuing a regulation, adding that it would be "the right thing to do." The governor declined to comment yesterday, but an administration source who spoke on condition of anonymity said Patrick decided that there were "significant...

DARTMOUTH, Mass. -- A new gambling study shows some Massachusetts residents who have not supported casinos in the past may be changing their minds. "Fifty-seven percent of Massachusetts residents still favor two or more resort casinos in the state of Massachusetts. That number is actually four percent higher than when we last did this poll in September," said Dr. Clyde Barrow, a public policy analyst at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth. The study was funded by a real estate development firm with land interests in the proposed Palmer and New Bedford casino sites. The research showed that as the state's deficit...

Governor Deval Patrick isn't merely penning his memoirs. The book proposal he submitted to publishers reads like the roadmap for a self-help manual, one in which he will celebrate optimism, rail against cynicism, and seek to inspire a nation with his own life story. The 65-page pitch letter that led to his $1.35 million advance last week from a Random House imprint reveals, in its overflowing optimism and aggressive marketing plan, just how high the freshman governor is aiming when the book is published in 2010. It details a strategy to sell at least 150,000 copies through a "vigorous media...

How many times have I told you? With Deval, it’s all about showing him the money. Originality is not his strong suit; he follows in the footsteps of others. Jesse Jackson makes a fortune in the racket Tom Wolfe called “steam control,” and Deval shakes down Coke and Texaco. But when you’re building a $7 million mansion in the Berkshires with a nut of maybe $30,000 a month, it doesn’t matter how big your “severance packages” were, you always need more dough. So now Deval mimics Barack Obama. He finds some new marks and scores a $1.35 million advance for...

NYT THURSDAY: New Massachusetts Governor 'On The Ropes'... Developing...

Governor Deval Patrick has set up a novel political fund-raising system that allows him to skirt the state's campaign finance law by channeling big contributions through the state Democratic Party, which, in turn, has paid off hundreds of thousands of dollars of the governor's political expenses.

BOSTON — Gov. Deval Patrick is releasing a state budget Wednesday amidst the gloomiest financial outlook Massachusetts government has seen since deep budget cuts earlier this decade. Even so, there are early indications that Gov. Patrick will pursue an aggressive agenda as he begins his second year in office. He has already revealed the budget will include a $368 million increase for public education and an 8.3 percent increase in beaches and parks funding, to $100 million. How he proposes to increase spending in targeted areas, while closing a potential $1.3 billion shortfall and dealing with a slowing economy, will...

There are plenty of stakeholders with plans riding on Gov. Deval Patrick's proposed $1 billion state investment in life sciences -- from the people for whom life-saving innovation is being developed to the scientists, educators, entrepreneurs and businesses depending on state support to thrive and commercialize. Yet for all of the political wrangling, public discussion and media attention since Patrick introduced the bill in May, the bill has yet to move through the state Legislature, receive funding or prompt state officials to name a new executive director to the agency slated to manage the bulk of funding associated with the...

Plans for an embryonic stem-cell bank at the University of Massachusetts Medical School for researchers around the globe took a major step forward last week when the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center authorized more than $8 million for the bank and an associated registry. It is a significant step in Central Massachusetts’ evolution as a major center of biotechnology and biomedical research. Interim chancellor Michael F. Collins said the bank should be operating within eight to 12 months, the registry even sooner than that. That is in keeping with the fast pace at which Gov. Deval L. Patrick’s life sciences and...

Governor Deval Patrick, determined to exert control over the University of Massachusetts system, is undaunted by his failed bid last month to remove UMass board chairman Stephen P. Tocco and is still planning his ouster, according to administration officials. Patrick aides have been testing sentiment among UMass trustees and said they expect the governor to have sufficient support to remove Tocco in a matter of months. Patrick was publicly stung when his allies on the board could not muster enough votes last month to force out the influential Tocco, who is an appointee of Governor Mitt Romney, a Republican, but...

If only Osama bin Laden had been hugged more as a child. If only the 19 wild-eyed jihadists who hijacked our airplanes and murdered 3,000 of our brothers and sisters six years ago had some kind of “human understanding” of the people they set out to systematically torture and kill. Then, Gov. Deval Patrick, would we all be sitting around together sipping tea? We’d like to believe that a few of Patrick’s lines at yesterday’s 9/11 memorial ceremony at the State House were the product of first-time jitters, or perhaps a truly clueless speechwriter. Unfortunately, the governor’s fuzzy recollection of...

Governor Deval Patrick plans to unveil a proposal today to make Massachusetts' community colleges, among the priciest in the nation, free to all high school graduates in the state by the year 2015, according to documents obtained by the Globe. The proposal is the centerpiece of Patrick's vision for a "cradle to career" education system that would dramatically expand the concept of public education in Massachusetts. The plan, which he will outline during commencement at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, would also provide preschool for all children, extend the school day and year, and guarantee two years of community...

GARDNER (MA) In his first commencement address of his administration, Governor Deval Patrick called for civic engagement yesterday, while delivering a broadside against Bush administration policies. Patrick's exhortation appeared to resonate with many of the 656 students graduating from Mount Wachusett Community College and their families, who gave him a long standing ovation. (snip) Without naming President Bush or members of his administration, Patrick took aim at their response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, saying that in its wake, the nation has been governed by fear. Patrick said fear "drove us to round up people of Arab...

As controversy enveloped his young tenure, Gov. Deval L. Patrick says he took an impromptu phone call from former President Bill Clinton that helped rescue his fledgling governorship from the downward spiral of its first 100 days. “We were on the phone for almost an hour,” Patrick said of the recent conversation. “He reminded me just how important it is to stay focused on the (political) destination, even though there is an awful lot of effort to get you off that focus.” The tete-a-tete with Clinton, a mentor to Patrick who gave him his first government job, shows the powerful...

--But popularity high despite his missteps-- Governor Deval Patrick remains a highly popular figure in Massachusetts, but his constituents are concerned about his performance as the state's new chief executive after several stumbles during his first months in office, according to a Boston Globe poll. Sixty-three percent of the 500 adults surveyed last week view the new Democratic governor favorably, which is comparable to his standing just before his landslide victory in November, when he received a 60 percent favorable rating in a Globe poll. But despite Patrick's continued popularity, only 48 percent approved of the way he is handling...

Statement From UMass President On Governor's Stem Cell Policy Announcement Today & UMass Stem Cell Initiatives University of Massachusetts President Jack M. Wilson today expressed his strong support for Governor Patrick's proposal to reverse state restrictions on stem cell research imposed by the previous administration, citing the importance of the research in developing cures for disease and in maintaining Massachusetts' national leadership in the life science industry. Wilson also serves as Vice Chairman of the Board of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, which oversees state funding for life science initiatives. "As the president of the University of Massachusetts, which does...

Mitt Romney, in NH today, launched an assault on the man who now holds his former office, Democrat Deval Patrick, over the issue of Gay Marriage. Patrick has just forced the state to recognize 26 out-of-state gay marriages, which would not be recognized in their home states. Romney had prevented the marriages from becoming official, this before he began enforcement of a 1913 state law that prevents out-of-state couples from marrying if the marriage would not be recognized in the their home state. Saying the action was an example of the need for a Constitutional amendment to prevent same-sex marriage....

Governor Deval Patrick today announced a major shakeup of his new administration that includes the resignation of the $72,000-a-year aide he hired for his wife and the addition of new communications and political advisers. Amy Gorin, whose husband led Patrick's fund-raising committee during the campaign, was hired to handle scheduling and interview requests for Diane Patrick, a law partner at Ropes & Gray. Her resignation comes just 10 weeks into a new administration that has been dogged by missteps. To help after several weeks of negative press, Joe Landolfi will take over as a senior communications adviser to the governor....

You’re Lt. Gov. Tim Murray and you’re not in Worcester anymore. You have tire tracks up and down your back from all the times Deval’s crew has thrown you under the bus this past week. First it was the Ameriquest disaster. You got pushed out in front of the cameras to say, “No problem.” An hour later, Deval lobbed a press release out into the hall, saying, “Big problem!” Then, Saturday night, Deval’s moonbats left you hanging out in an Al Haig-like I’m-in-charge moment. It was another press release: Deval is going to a “flexible” schedule for a while, because...

Ten weeks into a disastrously bad first term as Massachusetts' governor, Deval Patrick announced today that he has to cut-back on his workload because of the burden placed on him and his family. So reports Fox. Perhaps Patrick will become the first telecommuting governor, staying at his $8 mansion and working via laptop. His reign has certainly been an eyeful. As President Clinton's Assistant Attorney General For Racial Quotas and Slavery Reparations, Patrick apparently had enjoyed a much more relaxed lifestyle than that of the governor of a state so polarized and driven half insane by Liberal politics. His proflagate...

(WBZ) BOSTON Governor Deval Patrick is facing questions over some contributions he received during his campaign for governor. The donations came from employees of two firms building a new development in Cambridge. Two of the donors now work for the governor, and that's just one of the issues being raised. Dan O'Connell and Greg Bialecki were both involved in the Northpoint development in Cambridge. O'Connell is now Patrick's Secretary of Housing and Development. Bialecki is one of Patrick's top aides involved in real estate permitting. In February, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled against the Northpoint construction project in a lawsuit...

BOSTON - Deval Patrick rode a populist wave to become Massachusetts' first Democratic governor in 16 years and the second African American elected governor in U.S. history. But nine weeks into the job, he faces a possible ethics investigation after missteps that threaten his reforms and have added a whiff of scandal to his brief tenure. The former top U.S. civil-rights enforcer in the Clinton administration has publicly apologized twice in recent weeks over separate errors of judgment in what some expected to be a honeymoon period marked by the return of a bold, liberal agenda to one of the...

Gov (Deval Patrick) rips feds' treatment of illegals...

Was Gov. Deval Patrick’s intervention in a financial deal involving Ameriquest ethical? No it wasn't, he works for the taxpayers now. Maybe not, but it's just the freshman jitters. Yes, he can call all he wants as long as he's not paid.

The moonbats are in mourning. In meltdown. In the muck, the mire. De-mooned. De-pressed. De-swooned. Ma-rooned. Pass the Xanax, please! What happened to Divine Deval, man of hope, the man who was to restore holier-than-thou progressives - dare I say liberals - to disinfect the Corner Office after 16 years of nasty, greedy, let-them-eat-cake-crumbs-and-like-it Republicans? "It started with the (inaugural) parties," says The Uber Moonbat of Roslindale, Erik Gehring. I first met him last fall, on his Trek 700 bike, Centre Street, Jamaica Plain, the belly of the moonbat beast by the Blissful Monkey Yoga Studio, the Wonder Spice Cafe,...

The moonbats are in mourning. In meltdown. In the muck, the mire. De-mooned. De-pressed. De-swooned. Ma-rooned. Pass the Xanax, please! What happened to Divine Deval, man of hope, the man who was to restore holier-than-thou progressives - dare I say liberals - to disinfect the Corner Office after 16 years of nasty, greedy, let-them-eat-cake-crumbs-and-like-it Republicans? “It started with the (inaugural) parties,” says The Uber Moonbat of Roslindale, Erik Gehring. I first met him last fall, on his Trek 700 bike, Centre Street, Jamaica Plain, the belly of the moonbat beast by the Blissful Monkey Yoga Studio, the Wonder Spice Cafe,...

Gov. Deval Patrick yesterday admitted he “really screwed up” by spending tax dollars on a leased Cadillac and high-end office furniture, but he strongly defended the hiring of a $72,000-a-year chief of staff for his wife. “Every governor has had staff to help support the work of the office, including the work of the first lady,” Patrick said during an impromptu press conference. “It’s official business.” However, a Patrick aide could recall only two events Diane Patrick has attended this year, one to promote early education initiatives in the State House and a second to appear at a reading event...

Howie Carr live thread. Column to follow.

Governor, come in, please. Loosen your ascot and stay a while. A quick question before we get started: Who are you getting your political advice from these days, Leona Helmsley?......Pretty much everything you've been doing since the day you were elected, knock it all off, every single bit.

BOSTON --He's only one month into his first term in elective office, but already Gov. Deval Patrick is facing scrutiny of his personal spending after he asked all department heads to trim their budgets to help close a budget gap of more than $1 billion. In a week that saw Patrick proposing measures to raise the meals tax at restaurants and close corporate tax loopholes -- a move some companies view as a tax hike, he also was forced to answer questions about his use of a state police helicopter and a new Cadillac DeVille to move around the state....

Cadillac Deval: When not heli-commuting gov rides in style

Howie Carr live thread. (Interesting post on Scott Allen Miller's blog, which is linked to WRKO, today: "Echoes of Cellucci? "I have become aware of a story about Governor Deval Patrick that is about to break. I can't share it with you now because it's embargoed but I so want to. It's the first scandal of his administration. It's not a huge one, though, and it will be explained away by his sycophants and spinners as an honest mistake. Even if it is, will Patrick do what's right to make proper amends for this supposedly honest mistake? Stay tuned (now...

(We'll just do the Howie Carr live thread from this column post! Death pool today.--RR) Let the record show, there was a full moon Wednesday night. Perfect weather, in other words, for moonbats, and that’s who was out in force yesterday on Beacon Hill. Gov. Deval Patrick was sworn in, and as he does every four years, Secretary of State Bill Galvin got to yell out, “God save the Commonwealth of Massachusetts!” Some years that phrase resonates more than others. Yesterday was one of those days. If you listened to the entire 17 minutes or so, you don’t have to...

Mass. gets its first black governor, and the first Dem to be elected to that office since Dukakis in '86. If you liked Pee Wee, you'll love Urkel.

Howie column below (about gay marriage vote). Also live thread for today's Howie Carr show.

BOSTON — Gov.-elect Deval Patrick said Thursday he will rescind a new agreement between the state and federal authorities that allows State Police troopers to arrest illegal immigrants. Speaking with reporters after a lunch meeting with state legislators, the incoming governor said he believes the troopers have enough to do already without having to also enforce immigration laws. "If I have that power, I'm going to rescind that agreement," Patrick, a Democrat, told reporters. He added: "I do believe I have that power."

So now there is proof of what we have long suspected: Deval Patrick (incoming Dem. MA gov.) and his crew of moonbats don’t have sense enough to come in out of the cold. What a marvelous idea. Let’s have the governor’s inauguration outside. In the first week of January! The climate’s always so accommodating around here in early January. So why are the legislators so concerned about the frigid weather? Anyone who voted for Deval would be glad to talk to them about global warming. And talk to them, and then talk to them some more. Plus, it’s not like...

I’ve got the hottest bumper sticker in town: DON’T BLAME ME - I VOTED FOR MUFFY. Oh sure, I could have waited until January when Deval Patrick becomes governor. You know, at least give the guy a chance to do the right thing. But why wait? Especially when they make such perfect stocking stuffers, just in time for Christmas, or as Deval and his PC crew would say, the holidays. Nobody ever went broke underestimating the ability of Massachusetts politicians to screw up. When betting the over-under on how many days it will take a local pol to step in...

"The voters have spoken--damn them!" Have heard Howie say that, though I think the actual quote (Mo Udall, 1976) is "The voters have spoken--the bastards." Remembering Peter Finch in "Network", used by Jerry Williams: "I want you to get up right now. I want you to get up out of your chairs--go to the window, open it, and stick your head out and yell I'm as Mad as Hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!" Give the Mass. voters (the ones who haven't fled) a couple years of Deval and Dem domination, and the vaccuum cleaner sucking dollars...

This thread will continue right up till the end of the night. Focus on Mass./New England and nationally, too. Governorships, Senate/House, ballot questions...who will control the Senate and House nationally? Key races... keep it here!

Get out and vote tomorrow! And tomorrow's HC live thread will continue ALL NIGHT LONG as the results come in, locally and nationwide.

Don't blame me, I voted for Kerry...Healey

Kerry Healey, struggling to close a gender gap with Democratic rival Deval Patrick, is unveiling a scathing new television ad linking Patrick's past efforts to seek parole for a convicted rapist with womens' fears of being attacked. The ad is drawing fire from women who support Patrick and victim advocates who said the Republican candidate for governor is pandering to women's fears in an attempt to draw votes and is ignoring the fact that the vast number of sexual assaults are committed by relatives or acquaintances, not strangers. The ad, set to begin airing on Thursday, features grainy images of...

Christy, it’s time to quit the governor’s race. Let me be blunt: You are a straw for Deval Patrick. Of course you deny it, but there’s an old saying that the best straw is the one who doesn’t even know he’s a straw. For anyone unfamiliar with the term, a straw is a candidate in a fight who drains off votes from the main challenger. Basically, a straw splits the anti-vote, so that even if a majority are against a particularly odious candidate, he still slides in. Christy is playing Ross Perot to Deval’s Clinton. But this campaign is not...

Democrat Deval Patrick yesterday accused Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey of planting a story about his rapist brother-in-law - an allegation hotly refuted by the lieutenant governor in an escalating war of words between the campaigns. Patrick angrily responded yesterday to a Herald report that state officials have ordered Patrick’s brother-in-law, Bernard Sigh, to register as a sex offender, accusing Healey of “dirty politics.” “This is the politics of Kerry Healey,” Patrick said angrily at a Cambridge press conference. “It disgusts me and it must be stopped.” Sigh, 54, is married to Patrick’s sister and was convicted of raping her in...

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy accused Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey of engaging in "gutter politics" in her campaign against Democrat Deval Patrick, declaring Saturday, "Make no mistake about it, this is swiftboating." The Massachusetts Democrat, appearing with his party's gubernatorial nominee in Hyannis, did not specify the reason for his criticism. But it came at the end of a week during which Healey criticized Patrick for supporting the parole of a convicted rapist, and during which she began airing a television commercial criticizing Patrick for helping a cop killer get his death sentence reduced to life imprisonment. "I've been in this...

This is an important election. It’s so important that I’m not calling Kerry Healey “Muffy” anymore. Two words sum up why this fight is so serious: Mike Dukakis. Deval Patrick is Mike Dukakis without the tank helmet. Pee Wee Dukakis, as we used to call him, was quoted last week as saying all the Democratic candidates came to see him, but “Deval listened.” Think about that. Pee Wee was referring to his advice to Deval on building an organization of idle, rich moonbats, but the fact is, Dukakis spoke and . . . Deval listened. No one has listened to...

Lt. Gov. Muffy Healey got what she wished for. Be careful what you wish for, Muffy. A pol called me yesterday afternoon. He’d been going from one polling place to another in his district. “You’re right about those Deval people,” he said excitedly. “I just saw two of them. Middle-aged guys, they rode bicycles to the precinct. They seemed to be in a trance. I think I’m frightened.” Said another pol: “We’re all frightened.” One of these guys was a Democrat, the other a Republican. That’s bipartisan fear. Yesterday was our Ned Lamont moment. But the difference is, Ned Lamont...