AX MAN: Romney hacks away at local aid, human services

The Boston Herald ^ | Thursday, January 30, 2003 | Elisabeth J. Beardsley and Elizabeth W. Crowley

[Hemingway's Ghost]

Solid out-of-the-box initial moves from a man who just may go down as the greatest governor in Massachusetts history. I love the fact that Balfour and the MDC are history.

[Hemingway's Ghost]

MA bump

[tom paine 2]

The pain of cuts should be on government first

[Hemingway's Ghost]

The pain of cuts should be on government first

Exactly, and Romney's doing just that. I heard him on Howie Carr two nights ago, and he was talking about getting rid of most of the state-owned SUVs and most of the state-hired lawyers. Not a bad way to start trimming the fat.

[RonF]

Who's taking over the MDC's functions?

[freeper12]

The masss liberals are going to be screamy bloody murder no matter what cuts romney proposes...hope he is a backbone of steel, but I doubt it.

Token spending cuts, followed by huge increases in taxes and a quick return to the status quo...

[freeper12]

The masss liberals are going to be screamy bloody murder no matter what cuts romney proposes...hope he is a backbone of steel, but I doubt it.

Token spending cuts, followed by huge increases in taxes and a quick return to the status quo...

[freeper12]

sorry for the double post...

[Hemingway's Ghost]

Who's taking over the MDC's functions?

From what I understand, they're going to be parcelled out to other state agencies and/or municipalities.

[wjcsux]

I wish Gov. Romney all the luck in the world. He is going to need it.

[Media Insurgent]

I'm very impressed with Romney's start. He's just what this state needs right now- someone who understands money and finance.

I saw some Democrat consultant weasel on the news last night (I think it was Fox 25, but not 100% sure) He was whining that these cuts would be disproportionately borne by the "lower demographics" (his term, not mine). It punishes all the poor people who use MDC pools and state workers will have to pay more for their health insurance. As to the latter, how many people in the private sector contribute more for their health insurance than they did a few years ago. I daresay many if not most. I'm certainly in that category, as are most of my friends. That being the case, why should taxpayers keep subsidizing the state workers to keep them immune from sacrafices everyone else has already made? As to the latter, the state has a massive deficit and we're supposed to worry about F-ing swimming pools?! If that's going to be the rallying cry of the opposition, then we might actually be able to elect more republicans in Mass. next election!

[cynicom]

Its about time the people endured a little "pain". Somehow I suspect everyone will survive.

[Hemingway's Ghost]

I saw some Democrat consultant weasel on the news last night (I think it was Fox 25, but not 100% sure) He was whining that these cuts would be disproportionately borne by the "lower demographics" (his term, not mine).

That doesn't even begin to make sense. But you're right---if this is the best the Democrats can muster up, it's a bright, shining day for Mitt.

BTW, anyone here see Finneran's response last night? Does that man have a lazy eye or what? He looked like death warmed over . . .

[Believe_In_The_Singularity]

Yes, Who's going to plow the sidewalks of Beacon Hill?
Who's going to beat up Republican boosters at the Governer's debates?
Who's going to patrol (toxic) Carson Beach?
The MDC is a complete hack-arama. Way to go Mitt!

BITS

[grania]

Finneran said he would seek to protect education and literacy programs, local police and fire services, and health care providers.

Uhhhh....it sounds to me like Finneran wants to protect jobs, jobs, and more jobs.

One place to cut would be MCAS. A fortune could be saved by using an in-place test (like the Iowas) and cutting out the programs to help kids pass. That's the job of their regular teachers.

[RonF]

I spent 3 years walking across the Harvard Bridge once or twice a day to go to classes (I moved from Boston to Cambridge my senior year), and I could never understand why you'd need a third party to maintain a bridge that either Boston or Cambridge or a regular state agency could handle.

Old story from when I was a student at the 'Tute in the '70's:

When the bridge was built, the authorities went to Harvard and asked them who the bridge should be named after. They replied, "We're the most prestigious educational institution in Cambridge; name it after us!"

The authorities then went to MIT to ask their opinion. MIT sent a couple of engineers to inspect the bridge. They came back and said, "Name it after Harvard!"

New story: in the late '90's, the bridge had to be rebuilt. We're not talking just ripping up concrete, etc; the structural members needed to be redesigned and replaced. Turns out that both bad design and a lack of maintenance of the structural bearings (the latter being MDC's responsbility) were to blame.

More than one large city has had problems with civic infrastructure because the first guy in charge, the one who built it, was an engineer, but subsequent infrastructure chiefs were political hacks who filled posts with political hacks and then didn't make them understand and perform their jobs.

[RonF]

masss liberals are going to be screamy bloody murder no matter what cuts romney proposes...hope he is a backbone of steel, but I doubt it.

Massachusetts residents my age will remember this kind of thing from back in the '60's when Volpe (a GOP governor) was elected. They may surprise you.

[Hemingway's Ghost]

I spent 3 years walking across the Harvard Bridge once or twice a day to go to classes (I moved from Boston to Cambridge my senior year), and I could never understand why you'd need a third party to maintain a bridge that either Boston or Cambridge or a regular state agency could handle.

Similarly, a Medford resident, for three years I hiked every day in the Middlesex Fells, an MDC park. NOT ONCE did I see an MDC official inside the park, on foot, performing trail maintenance or anything else. The only time I saw an MDC official was in the parking lot, in an SUV, handing out parking tickets.

What the MDC did was a complete mystery to me.

[Media Insurgent]

"anyone here see Finneran's response last night? Does that man have a lazy eye or what? He looked like death warmed over . . ."

Finneran looked pained- almost like he was speaking under duress. Was there somebody off camera aiming a gun at his head? I wanted to start watching his eyes to see if he was trying to blink out morse code for T-O-R-T-U-R-E.