Happy 4th From President Obama

Posted on July 4, 2009 by billmanzi

The President spends his weekly address wishing the nation a happy 4th and talking about the need for change. Is the status quo acceptable? Happy 4th of July!

Posted in National News | Tagged | 1 Comment

Was it Something I Said? Palin Resigns.

Posted on July 3, 2009 by billmanzi

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin gave a rambling farewell to the Governor’s Office, announcing that she would not be a candidate for re-election in 2010 and also announcing that she was stepping down as Governor effective July 26th. Left unanswered was the critical question of who would now be watching the Russians over the Bering Strait in her absence. Ah, the national security nightmare. John Weaver got right to the heart of the matter: From the Washington Post:

“We’ve seen a lot of nutty behavior from governors and Republican leaders in the last three months, but this one is at the top of that,” said John Weaver, a longtime friend and confidant of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the party’s presidential nominee in 2008 whose of selection of Palin catapulted the first-term Alaska governor to national prominence.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/mmedia/player/wpniplayer_viral.swf?thisObj=fo815511&vid=070309-1v_title

Posted in National News | Tagged | 4 Comments

Beatle Juice Concert Postponed to Sunday

Posted on July 3, 2009 by billmanzi

The Beatle Juice concert scheduled for tonight at 6:00 p.m. at Nicholson Stadium has been postponed to Sunday at 6:00 p.m due to the threat of t-storms. They are a great band, and I hope to see you there.

Posted in Methuen | Tagged | 2 Comments

Methuen Readiness Center

Posted on July 3, 2009 by billmanzi

I was pleased to participate in the groundbreaking for the Methuen Readiness Center recently. We had Major General Joseph C. Carter, the Adjutant General of the Massachusetts National Guard on hand, as well as Congresswoman Niki Tsongas and Lt. Governor Tim Murray. The project has moved along due to the great work of Congresswoman Tsongas, who has secured $22 million dollars of federal money for this Readiness Center. This is a great project for Methuen, and will make effective use of the site of the Armory on Lowell Street.

Read the Tribune story here.

Posted in Methuen | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Republicans Slug it Out Over Sarah

Posted on July 2, 2009 by billmanzi

How could I resist! The Vanity Fair article detailing the train wreck that was the Vice Presidential candidacy of Sarah Palin has triggered some rather heated exchanges amongst the operational wing of the McCain camp and the neo-cons who were along for the ride. Bill Kristol got it all started with an attack on Steve Schmidt, who was the McCain campaign guru, essentially accusing him of being a source for the Vanity Fair piece. From Politico:

Kristol cited a passage in Purdum’s piece in which “some top aides” were said to worry about the Alaska governor’s “mental state” and the prospect that the Alaska governor may be suffering from post-partum depression following the birth of her son Trig. “In fact, one aide who raised this possibility in the course of trashing Palin’s mental state to others in the McCain-Palin campaign was Steve Schmidt,” Kristol wrote.

Whoa there Bill. Schmidt fired back a hard one, invoking Kristol’s expert handling of former VP Dan Quayle. Can you spell potato(e)?

“I’m sure John McCain would be president today if only Bill Kristol had been in charge of the campaign.”

“After all, his management of [former Vice President] Dan Quayle’s public image as his chief of staff is still something that takes your breath away,” Schmidt continued. “His attack on me is categorically false.”

And Kristol ally and neo-con stalwart Randy Scheunemann (who we wrote about after Pat Buchanan exposed his ties to foreign governments) piled on Schmidt as well.

“Steve Schmidt has a congenital aversion to the truth,” Scheunemann said. “On two separate and distinct occasions, he speculated about about Governor Palin having post-partum depression, and on the second he threatened that if more negative publicity about the handling of Governor Palin emerged that he would leak his speculation [about post-partum depression] to the press. It was like meeting Tony Soprano.”

The Politico article is a great read, and has brought to light extreme bitterness by Bill Kristol over Schmidt’s firing of Scheunemann, who allegedly leaked to Kristol himself. Schmidt is a first rate political operative, and I thought that before he attacked Kristol. And Sarah, as I have said before, is the gift that keeps on giving.

Read the Politico story here.

Bill Kristol’s Blog at the Weekly Standard is here.

Read the Vanity Fair Article here.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Methuen’s FY2010 Budget

Posted on July 2, 2009 by billmanzi

I have posted the FY2010 Municipal Budget for the City of Methuen in pdf format. This budget achieves balance without layoffs and includes nine one year agreements with all city side unions. All managers took a one time ten percent wage cut, and all unions took cuts in wages and benefits equaling ten percent.

fy-2010-city-of-methuen-budget

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

School Budget Passed by School Committee

Posted on July 1, 2009 by billmanzi

The Methuen School Committee passed their budget on Monday night, and we were able to bring back the two band positions that will allow us to continue the level of instruction that we give today. It was a difficult budget, and the huge economic downturn that has led to big reductions in state aid will continually force difficult decisions in Methuen and across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Committee vote was unanimous. The City Council will meet tonight in budget session to vote on the school budget.

Posted in Methuen, Methuen City Council, Municipal Finance | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Franken Declared Victor

Posted on July 1, 2009 by billmanzi

Al Franken yesterday won a victory in the Minnesota Supreme Court in his long battle to be declared the winner of the closely fought Minnesota Senate race with Republican Norm Coleman. The Court victory prompted the incumbent Coleman to concede, and Governor Tim Pawlenty signed the documents necessary to certify Franken as the victor. And while the media has made a big deal out of the fact that Franken gives the Democratic caucus sixty votes that factoid is likely to be less important that the hype surrounding the magic sixty number. Both Senators Kennedy and Byrd have been out of the Senate for extended periods with illness, and I just do not see Democratic cohesion to the extent that the hype would have you believe. That sixty member caucus will likely disagree over the luncheon menu for their next meeting, and their divergent views on health care should illustrate that point.

Posted in National News | Tagged | 1 Comment

Baddour to Promote New Driving Safety Measures

Posted on July 1, 2009 by billmanzi

State Senator Steven Baddour announced his support for mandatory road and vision tests for individuals who reach 85 in light of a series of recent crashes involving elderly drivers. Baddour indicated support for a bill filed by Senator Brian Joyce that would make road and vision testing mandatory for drivers 85 and above, and held out the possibility of lowering that age threshhold as well as adding provisions that would allow family members to request testing. From the Herald:

“Everything’s on the table in terms of how you address this,” said Sen. Steven A. Baddour (D-Methuen), co-chairman of the Joint Committee on Transportation, which has a hearing showdown scheduled for this morning.

“Clearly it’s all of these high-profile incidents that have grabbed people’s attention, and that have caused us to pay attention as well,” Baddour said, referring to five horrific crashes involving elderly drivers in recent weeks.

Transportation Committee House Chair Joe Wagoner is predicting a bill by Labor Day.

Posted in State News | Tagged , | 2 Comments

New Rasmussen Poll on Governors Race

Posted on June 30, 2009 by billmanzi

A new Rasmussen poll on the Massachusetts Governors race shows lingering political problems for Governor Deval Patrick, who trails Republican Christy Mihos in a head to head matchup. Governor Patrick has a 5 point edge over Republican Charlie Baker in a head to head matchup, but some of the underlying discontent with the Governor comes through clearly in this survey. The poll shows Patrick with a 57% disapproval rating, including 32% who strongly disapprove. Those are dangerous numbers for an incumbent. Other numbers of interest include Patrick being below 70% support amongst Democrats, and also registering faltering support amongst independent voters. Both Republican candidates showed more support than the Governor in this key area, and Rasmussen shows only 25% support for Patrick’s re-election amongst this key voter bloc. The Governor has plenty of time to turn these numbers around, and will still be a formidable opponent in the next election cycle. But he is vulnerable, and from this point forward needs to be error free. Today’s story in the Globe detailing his ongoing support for an increase in the gasoline tax while signing about a billion dollars worth of tax increases probably was not politically helpful.

Posted in State News | Tagged | 3 Comments