Monthly Archives: February 2013

The Shrinking of Defense

Chuck Todd over at NBC has talked endlessly about the sequester, with today being no exception. He made some sense to me with his evaluation today, in which he said that nobody should be expecting a deal anytime soon. You … Continue reading

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Fiscal Truth and the Blame Game

So we are arriving at the sequester moment of truth, and the “spinning” from all involved has reached feverish pitch. Who is to blame, is there a “scare game” being run by the White House, whose idea was it to … Continue reading

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Steve Lynch in Methuen

U.S. Representative Steve Lynch stopped in Methuen yesterday to talk with residents and supporters at Park Garden Apartments to talk about his candidacy for U.S. Senate. Rep. Lynch talked about his commitment to seniors, and Medicare and Social Security specifically. … Continue reading

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Health Care, Deficits, Krugman and Scarborough

A big scrum has broken out on the subject of the deficit, with Paul Krugman’s appearance on “Morning Joe” setting off a pretty good back and forth on the issue, with Krugman taking a deficit position that Scarborough has chosen … Continue reading

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The Boston Fed: Savings Through Local Government Regionalization

The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston has just issued a new study on local government in New England, with a focus on Massachusetts and Connecticut. The report, titled “The Quest for Cost Efficient Local Government in New England: What Role … Continue reading

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U.S. Senate Polling Shows Tight Race

One group of folks that certainly must be delighted by all of the Massachusetts election activities has to be the polling community. Here in Massachusetts there certainly has been no down time for them. With the upcoming Special Election for … Continue reading

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States and Localities Continue to See Large Health Care Cost Increases

A new analysis by the Pew Project for the States shows that while health care costs nationally are rising at a slower rate the costs for local and state governments are rising at double digit rates, and consuming an ever … Continue reading

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Sequester Blues

Just about all sides agree that Congress is a dysfunctional body, but that is where agreement ends. With both the sequester and the Continuing Resolution that funds the federal government staring us in the face there appears to be little … Continue reading

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Storm Management

Having a bit of storm management myself I think that Governor Patrick did an outstanding job of managing the state response to the great storm of 2013. The Governor has a strong record in managing natural disasters, and his performance … Continue reading

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Massachusetts House Passes Supplemental Budget

The Massachusetts House of Representatives passed a supplemental budget this week which added some spending, and dealt with the Patrick Administration’s request to deal with a $550 million dollar shortfall in this budget cycle. The House declined to accept the … Continue reading

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