Howie Carr thread week of March 16, 2008

Sunday Herald column ping

Embarrassing run for Crimson alums
By Howie Carr | Sunday, March 16, 2008 | http://www.bostonherald.com

It was a very bad week for Harvard Law School - and if you don’t believe me, just ask Eliot Spitzer ’84. Or Deval Patrick ’82. Or Barack Obama ’91.

This trifecta of tribulations saddens me greatly, since I too went to Harvard Law School for two years back in the 80s. Yep, dropped my older kids off every morning at the Harvard Law School Day Care Center. So now I can say, yep, I went to Harvard. Then I went to Central, then Charles, Park, and Washington. Usually I got off at Broadway.

But enough Red Line banter. We begin our sad litany with the soon-to-be former governor of New York, the hooker-happy Eliot Spitzer, husband of Silda Wall Spitzer ’84. When he went to the Horace Mann School in New York, Eliot carried his lunch not in a backpack, but in a briefcase, presumably the better to prevent it from being stomped upon by local toughs.

Eliot later claimed to have been the “enforcer” . . . on the soccer team. What a phony. Which is just another way of saying, he was born to go to Harvard Law.

Barney Frank ’77 used to say that a politician’s base isn’t the people who are with him when he’s right, it’s the people who are with him when he’s wrong. Eliot discovered this week that he had no base, other than Jim Cramer ’84, who melted into a puddle on the “Today” show, and professor Alan Dershowitz, who wrote in The Wall Street Journal, “There is no hard evidence that Eliot Spitzer was targeted for investigation, but . . .”

But Alan kept writing anyway. That’s a Yale guy for you.

As governor, Spitzer first got into trouble when he went after a legislative leader named Joe Bruno, whom he charmingly described as a “senile piece of (expletive).” Now Spitzer dines on Silda’s hot tongue and cold shoulder and Bruno is the No. 2 guy in state government, behind the new governor, David Paterson.

Which brings us to Deval Patrick ’82. As of tomorrow, he is no longer the only black governor in America. Not only is Paterson black, he is also legally blind. Consider yourself trumped, Deval. All you can claim to be is . . . tone-deaf.

Like Eliot, Deval has lately absorbed one good beating after another from a legislative leader of Italian descent, in his case Speaker Sal DiMasi, Suffolk Law ’71.

DiMasi has stopped Deval’s casino scheme dead in its tracks. Not comprehending that, as governor, his next move was to begin buying up votes, Deval instead decided to contract out a few hit pieces on Sal. The only problem was, his hit men were armed with BB guns. The first story revealed the devastating information that Sal had played a couple of rounds of golf in Florida - with an Irishman. The second story was about somebody getting a state software contract - that’s as far as anyone got into that piece before falling asleep.

Sal was not impressed by this Harvard handiwork. After all, Sal is a guy who has represented people with names like Vinny the Animal and Joey Y, neither of whom know the line that comes after “With Crimson in triumph flashing . . .”

Deval’s from the South Side of Chicago, but his only experience with senseless street crime, or so he claims, came when someone threw an empty soda can at his head. I don’t know how Deval took his lunch to school, but my guess is he could have made good use of one of young Eliot Spitzer’s briefcases.

Which brings us to another resident of the South Side of Chicago, Barack Obama ’91. Of course, like Deval, he’s only sort of from the South Side. He went to a private high school in Honolulu, where he was known as “Barry.”

Barry proved this week to be as clueless as Eliot and Deval. He got into a jam over his minister, a racist hatemonger named Jeremiah Wright. Barack didn’t realize that having as his closest religious adviser a guy who refers to “AmeriKKKa,” as in, “God damn AmeriKKKa! God damn AmeriKKKa!” might not play well in Peoria.

When the guy who married you and baptized your children sermonizes about how the government is behind the drug and AIDS epidemics, voters in the hinterlands sometimes get . . . the right idea about who you are.

When I used to walk into Harvard Law School, sometimes I’d look at everyone else and think how fortunate they all were - to have all that money, and connections, or just the fact that some of them were able to check off the right box under “Race,” thereby setting themselves up for life. I never thought any of them were smarter than me, just luckier.

And now, at least for a few of the spoiled punks, their luck has run out. They all had it coming, big time. Happy St. Patrick’s Day.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1080691

>>So now I can say, yep, I went to Harvard.

And I went to Yale.

Yup, one day I was in New Haven and I took the free tour :)

Still Epic.

Hah! I once got a free meal at Yale. The father of a woman I was dating was getting some award for fund-raising, so we drove down.

I guess he was getting his name carved into the wall of some hall (Alumni Hall?). Joyce Chen was there for some 1930sish Chinese graduate that "carried the spirit of Yale on in China for 50 years..."

Does that count?

Quite frankly, I was disappointed at the lack of upkeep on the older buildings there. Not that we spent all that much time wandering around.

After all, Sal is a guy who has represented people with names like Vinny the Animal and Joey Y, neither of whom know the line that comes after “With Crimson in triumph flashing . . .”

LOL! Hard to trump "Vinny the Animal"! ;-)

Saw a couple clips of the St Patty’s Breakfast on the news.
In the case of the casino bill, Deval got up and sang a song to the tune of “The Wonder of It All” (Foxwoods jingle) and
Sal DiMasi said that Deval should realize that the fate of
the casino bill was much like what happens in casinos:
“the House always wins”.
DiMasi: “”The number one reason why the casino bill is in trouble — Mayor Menino is already planning the casino victory parade”

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/general/view.bg?articleid=1080840

>>“Change, change, change, we want change,” Boston comedian Steve Sweeney yesterday told the gathering of 800-plus at the Boston Convention Center, in a spoof on the presidential race. “These guys are starting to sound like homeless people on Boylston Street.”

(snip)

>>After pro-casino Patrick sang the merits of his proposal, DiMasi, the powerful House speaker who’s against allowing them in, reminded him that when it comes to gambling, “The House always wins.”

>>And Sweeney kept ’em cracking up, with a spot-on impersonation of “a guy from Southie” at a Dunkin’ Donuts, scratching his belly, ordering five crullers and insisting on a low-calorie sweetener in his coffee.

“Change, change, change, we want change,” Boston comedian Steve Sweeney yesterday told the gathering of 800-plus at the Boston Convention Center, in a spoof on the presidential race. “These guys are starting to sound like homeless people on Boylston Street.”

LOL! I heard the others on the news -- but not that one!

Mon ping—Col Hunt today? We’ll find out

Indeed, Mr Hunt it is.

Howie column thread

Deval crapped out, now it’s Sal’s turn to roll dice
By Howie Carr | Wednesday, March 19, 2008 | http://www.bostonherald.com

So Sal DiMasi was right - the House always does win.

For now, casinos are DOA in Massachusetts, and for their next trick, the House speaker and Gov. Deval Patrick will do their best impressions of George H.W. Bush.

Read their lips - new taxes!

Well, maybe not right away. Hasn’t DiMasi come up with a plan to round up the usual suspects to balance the budget? They’re talking about raising the cigarette tax another buck a pack on the thousand or so smokers left in the commonwealth who still buy their coffin nails here.

And then they’ll be raiding the so-called “rainy-day fund.” How much is left in that account anyway? Does it ever stop raining in Massachusetts?

This is how useless Deval Patrick has become. On Monday, with his casino bill obviously in extremis, did he hang around the State House to try to twist a few arms? He did not. He ran off to Albany to attend the swearing-in of the new black governor of New York, David Paterson.

How often does this have to be explained to Deval? You are a black man, Deval. David Paterson is a blind black man. He is black and disabled, you are merely black. He wins.

Why can’t Deval figure this out? Did Elvis Presley turn up in the audience of the Ed Sullivan Show when the Beatles first appeared in February 1964? But really, I’m just surprised Deval didn’t fly off to hold Barack’s hand as he made his I-am-not-Jeremiah-Wright speech yesterday.

Instead, Deval had his own State House rally on behalf of the doomed casino bill. Does the phrase, a day late and a dollar short come to mind? How about, snake-eyes?

The official execution date of Deval’s casino bill is tomorrow - Holy Thursday. Eat hearty, casino lobbyists - this will be your Last Supper.

Even Saddam Hussein got a chance to appeal to the Supreme Court. Deval will receive no such courtesy. Sal’s Supreme Court includes Petro, Rogers, and a guy named Angelo, who runs the Rules Committee, which has only one rule: What Sal says, goes.

Sal now intends to rub Deval’s nose in his impending, humiliating defeat. This is personal. Those pathetic dime drops to the bow-tied bumkissers of Morrissey Boulevard were a direct affront to the speaker. This is the wages of dime dropping. Correction: this is the wages of amateur dime dropping.

As a matter of fact, you could call this entire administration the Amateur Hour, except that it would be unfair to the memory of Ted Mack.

If you try to assassinate somebody, you had better make sure they get two in the hat. Otherwise, you’re going to have a problem on your hands. Deval’s got a problem on his hands.

He is the new Mitt Romney. The boys hated Mitt more, of course, because he tried to run candidates against them in 2004. They’re just plain going to ignore Deval, him and his little dog Timmy. At least, though, Romney occasionally saw a good pitch and drilled it into the center field bleachers - the tunnel collapse, Billy Bulger, the first vote on gay marriage, the illegal-alien tuition bill.

Name me one home run Deval Patrick has hit. OK, how about a single.

The last time a governor had as little clout, as Deval now has, his name was M. Stanley Dukakis, and it was 1990. How’d that one work out for the guy in the Corner Office?

And now whatever happens with the huge budget deficit will be done with Deval sitting on the bench yet again. Maybe Deval can rail against the radio talk-show hosts, the way Dukakis did.

You know, if he thought he could pull it off, he’d try to emulate Dukakis - namely, by raising the state income tax.

Remember, Patrick’s base, what’s left of it, is the moonbat community. Rich, middle-age white trustafarians on heavy-duty prescription meds. By and large these people don’t work - they never have. To them, the income tax is only a rumor. Raising the gas tax would be OK, too - moonbats ride bicycles.

They subsist on trust funds so an increase in the capital-gains tax would affect their monthly payout. That’s off the table. Sales taxes are out, too - moonbats buy stuff with the money they inherited.

The good news is there is no way the lefties can raise the income or gasoline taxes this year. Remember, Carla Howell et al. have put a referendum question on the general election ballot to abolish the state income tax, period.

A few years ago, with no money behind it, a similar proposal got 45 percent of the vote. The boys can’t risk pouring even more fuel on the anti-tax fires.

If Deval’s four-year term were a baseball game, it would still only be the bottom of the second inning. But now manager Sal is making his way to the mound. Deval’s heading for the showers.

Hey Deval, did you learn anything from your visit to Albany Monday? Why don’t you grab a headline by confessing to having a third-rate romantic rendezvous in some fleabag no-tell motel? It’s working wonders for your new friend, David Paterson.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1081351

Wow, Howie really packs in [no pun intended] the gambling puns.

Speaking of progress by the Governor, here is his pre-election promises on town issues. How do you think he’s done?

* Cut the Property Tax by Reinvesting in Cities and Towns. Today there is too much reliance on local property taxes as a source of revenue for essential services. As Governor, restoring local aid to pre-2000 levels will be one of my highest budget priorities. Once restored, we should commit a fixed percentage of annual state tax receipts to direct support of local services by cities and towns. Furthermore, the state must uncap lottery disbursements to cities and towns.

* A Fair Deal for Public Schools. In addition, we will update the chapter 70 education aid formula so that it is allocated in a manner designed to deliver the resources needed to bring all children in all schools to grade-level proficiency in key academic subjects.

* Give Cities and Towns Flexibility to Develop New Revenue. I will support giving local communities the option to raise revenues from sources other than the property tax. In many other states, cities and towns have the authority to raise additional revenue from such sources as a reasonable local meals tax. Such local options, subject to local control, can help local communities raise the revenue they need to support the services businesses need to thrive.

* Develop a Master Plan for Economic Growth based on Regional Strengths. Cities can and should serve as hubs for regional growth. We will develop a comprehensive plan for economic development region by region, which anticipates and plans for the impact on traffic, housing, educational, environmental and other community interests. Local officials and citizens will have an active role in developing the plan.

* Leverage the State’s Buying Power. We will develop strategies for what kinds of common services and products that municipalities need can be purchased regionally or state-wide at greater discounts, leveraging the state’s buying power. Everything from office supplies to electric power to health insurance should be considered.

* Control Health Care Costs. Leveraging government’s buying power and eliminating bloated administrative bureaucracy are the two keys to lower rates and wider coverage. Among other ideas set forth in my health care plan, I will reduce the cost of prescription drugs through negotiated bulk purchases and the development of new channels of supply. Furthermore, I will invest in technology that can reduce the administrative complexity and cost of the current system.

* Promote Predictable Budgeting. So that communities have the time necessary to make careful fiscal plans, my administration will work with the legislature to complete a final budget on time and provide estimated local aid or “cherry sheets” to municipalities by March 1st each year, 4 months before the start of the new fiscal year. We will also examine the feasibility of multi-year budgeting to encourage sound planning for the future.

* Create Affordable Housing. We need housing for workers, not just the wealthy. We will reward communities that implement plans for construction of smaller, high-, low- and moderate-density rental and purchase properties across the Commonwealth that will enable young people, working families and the older adults to afford to live in our communities. We will support transit-oriented or “Smart Growth” initiatives and provide supplemental support to local communities for the cost of educating the children of families who live in Smart Growth communities.

* Attract and Retain Good Jobs. Companies locate in local communities, not in states. As Governor I would go beyond boosterism - I would partner with local leaders to retain existing businesses and attract new ones. When working with a business to keep or create good jobs, local leaders will know that the Governor will find a way to make it work.

* Improve Public Transportation. Communities can’t create jobs or housing, or bring kids to school or goods to market, without a safe, dependable transportation network. As Governor I will invest in rail and subway extensions and service upgrades, including support for the Regional Transit Agencies. I will also partner with local officials to promote transit-oriented development because it will result in more vibrant local businesses, less costly infrastructure, more open space, less traffic, and a healthier lifestyle for people of all ages.

* Make Streets Safer. Community policing is a strategy that works and I will support it. Officers will become a presence in and familiar with local communities. In addition, as Governor I will take a leadership role in coordinating local, state and federal efforts to combat crime and the threat of terrorism. If you share my vision and support these ideas, or have better ideas, join us by signing up at www.devalpatrick.com. Feel free to tell me what can be improved or modified to make these programs more effective. Remember, it’s your government! Have an impact.

Hey, he made up the list -- you can't expect him to do everything! ;-)

Those pathetic dime drops to the bow-tied bumkissers of Morrissey Boulevard were a direct affront to the speaker.

What is this about? How did I miss it? Is the personal thing the only reason DeMasi is against the casinos? I know I don't really keep up with local politics (too heartbreaking!), but I feel really lost here . . .

Develop a Master Plan for Economic Growth based on Regional Strengths.

Have you heard those radio ads on how MA is great for business? There was a WSJ editorial (I think) recently on how TX, with the lowest unemployment in the nation, is seeking to cut taxes on businesses again -- MA's solution is apparently to hold conferences, lots of conferences, lots of bloviating.

Oh, wait -- If something big like Fidelity or Raytheon says they've had it and plan to move out, the state will offer them a special deal. Nothing of course for the thousands of struggling small businesses or medium-sized ones that can't move -- let them eat cake! :(

Exactly. How many businesses fall for THAT baloney?

Now they are touting “the south coast” as a great place to do business.

But you’re right — taxes are a huge part of the bottom line.

All along, businesses here have counted on college grads sticking around. But now that the cost of living is so high compared to the south, and we have lousy weather 75% of the time, and we’re being taxed to death, and we keep losing personal freedoms, and .....

Thu & Fri ping. Two more days of the Col., unless they put someone else like Avi on instead?

A Worcester station has changed to conservative talk: WNEB AM 1230, which already had been running Hannity, has
added O’Reilly, Dennis Praeger and Mike
Gallagher. It will now be known as The
Patriot.

http://www.1230amthepatriot.com/

Here’s a map of their coverage area, which goes as far east as Newton or
Waltham. (Where I am in Beverly I wouldn’t be able to pick them up especially since we have Spanish language WESX on the same freq one city over in Salem)

http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WNEB&service=AM&status=L&hours=U

I think we’re stuck with the Colonel for the remainder of the week.

“Howie .... you’re fat.”

I still listen to Howie on the internet. When I hear those ads, I just laugh. I moved my business out of MA because of the “warm welcome” MA gives to small business.