Posted on 05/23/2008 8:34:58 AM PDT by Disturbin
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 for their schools, and he gets almost 80 percent? How do you explain that?”
Patrick’s office budget has skyrocketed to $9 million this fiscal year, a boost of nearly $4 million from fiscal 2007, Republican lawmakers said. Much of the increase is due to a $3 million appropriation for Patrick’s new Commonwealth Corps, a volunteerism program aimed at promoting “civic engagement” across the state.
Patrick has also increased spending by hundreds of thousands of dollars on internal staff.
Among the new positions and their salaries:
Director of grassroots governance: $50,000
Grassroots goverance liaison: $39,000
Director of new media and online strategy: $68,000.
What’s more, Patrick is spending more than $450,000 on an office in Washington, D.C., to help lure federal dollars to fund Medicaid, transportation, housing and other priorities.
During the Senate budget debate, Minority Leader Richard Tisei raised questions about the additional spending and suggested Patrick’s Washington office is unnecessary.
“We have Democratic delegation who’s in the majority in Congress, we have Democratic state Legislature and we have a Democratic governor, so why is all this money necessary for the Washington, D.C., office?” asked Tisei(R-Wakefield). “It seems extravagant to me.”
Aides to the governor defended the additional spending, saying it is meant to improve operations in the governor’s office after Romney cut the number of employees into the 60s. Patrick has increased the staff to 76 full-time positions.
“Unlike some previous administrations, this administration is serious about moving the commonwealth forward,” Patrick spokeswoman Cyndi Roy said.
She also sought to portray money to increase staffing in the Washington office as an important investment. “The office is critical to maintaining a strong partnership with our legislative delegation, especially when billons of dollars in federal funds for Massachsuetts are at stake,” she said.
Roy defended the internal office hires for new media and grassroots coordination, saying, “The people of Massachusetts deserve to have their voices heard.”
Still, Republicans succeeded in winning approval of a measure in the overwhelmingly Democratic Senate that would force Patrick to post online the job titles and duties of all employees in his office.
How would you sleep at night, knowing not only that you live off of the public trough, but also that your job title contained the words "grass roots" ?
Here we have several more hacks, with jobs for life regardless of job performance, who will get a pension for life too. Welcome to Taxachusetts.
‘What is this guy doing?’
He’s bilking the taxpayers; just like ALL politicians.
AND, if anyone is thinking about voting for HUSSEIN, this is what you’ll get,,,,a complete and total arrogant incompetent fool.
How strange. With Kennedy, Kerry, Frank, and the other heavyweights running Committess,
why these new expenditures for lobbying?
Must be the needed alcohol, drugs, whores, Cadillacs, curtains, and other kool perks.
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Because your main pork pimp has brain cancer.
This qualifies as a acandal, and the Governor’s name does not have the obligatory (R) or (D) after it.
Thus “WayneS’s Law” would cause him to predict that the governor is a democrat; for if he was a republican his party affiliation would have been mentioned four times in the opening paragraph.
How’d I do?
Exactly....Obama is cut from the same cloth. The new royalty, the messiah, the change we have been waiting for. Just bend over taxpayers, Obama is going to ream you good.
“Put it in the car.”
Obama’s clone is action.
Interns should be friendly, reliable, creative and show a commitment to civic engagement and public service.
IN action
You done good.
The article also fails to mention that Patrick is good buddies with Obama and the two of them admittedly share exact quotes in their speeches. Perhaps they share a brain.
To quote Sallah in Radiers of the Lost Ark: “they have not one brain among them.”
Obama lite. A preview of the nation, if the Manchurian candidate charms his way into the White House.
Were Barack Hussein to become President, Deval Patrick would be in his administration in a flash.
“So ‘Grassroots Governance’ is a code phrase for what ?”
Rubbish.
Thievery through taxation.
Hackerama.
LOL, take your pick.
I was on a driving trip and passed through Mass. when this guy was running for office. I heard many of his commercials on the radio. At the time I thought, “This guy’s a complete Doofus. Surly the people here in Mass are smarter than to elect this idiot.”
I was wrong, sigh...
Glad I don’t live there.
Now, I see parallels between what Patrick was spewing on the radio and Obama’s worthless pronouncements. Two peas in a pod.
Step right up...
LOL, the voters deserve EXACTLY what they elected.
No sympathy here. None.
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