Police Detail Reform withers on the vine

Posted on May 25, 2008 by billmanzi

The Boston Globe is reporting today that the vaunted “reform” of the paid police detail system in Massachusetts appears to be dying a slow death. This reform, announced to great fanfare by the top legislative leadership only a short time ago, appears to have been undone by the tremendous lobbying done by police unions. Governor Patrick had pledged reform.

Governor Deval Patrick and the state’s top legislative leaders stood united in March and made a bold proclamation: They would use their combined political muscle to take on powerful police unions and their sacred perk – construction details.

But it did not take the Governor long to backtrack in front of the pressure. From the Globe:

Patrick was the first to publicly back off the tough stance when, just a week after the highly orchestrated news conference, the governor said on WTKK-FM’s monthly “Ask the Governor” radio show, “The more I think about it, the less certain I am that we can fix this top down.”

So the localities will continue to incur higher costs, when in fact a legislative fix that was non-financial could have saved some money. From Michael Widmer:

Given the limitations of the legislation, it can’t be anything dramatic,” said Michael J. Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. “By tossing it to the local level, they’ve essentially passed the buck.”

Municipalities would save $36.5 million to $66.5 million a year by replacing most police details with less expensive flaggers, according to a 2004 study by the Beacon Hill Institute. The study estimated that cities and towns spent $93.3 million in police details in 2003.

Our Senator, Steve Baddour, expressed some optimism but acknowleged the heavy pressure:

“I now understand why reform sometimes doesn’t rise to the surface,” said Senator Steven A. Baddour, a Methuen Democrat who was chief sponsor of the legislation and remains optimistic that it will bring about reforms. “It was the most difficult two weeks I’ve had in the Legislature.”

If the final product does not allow details to be reformed at the local level outside of collective bargaining then from a local perspective nothing will have been achieved.

“There ultimately will need to be change so that communities won’t have to negotiate changes to use civilian flaggers,” said Geoff Beckwith, executive director of the Massachusetts Municipal Association. “Otherwise, what happens is the unions ask for other concessions like pay increases or additional benefits in exchange.”

I am glad I did not wager any coffee with Jules over this one.

Posted in Methuen, State News | 13 Comments

Gordon Brown on the Ropes

Posted on May 23, 2008 by billmanzi

What is a story about the English Prime Minister doing on this blog? Well, we need a foreign policy in Methuen, you know. As a long time fan of Prime Ministers questions on C-Span I have been fascinated by the British system and a big fan of Tony Blair. Blair’s love-hate relationship with his Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown provided a great sub-plot to his tenure as the savior of the modern Labor Party, and its longest serving Prime Minister. That relationship, and the war in Iraq, deeply unpopular in Britain, led to Gordon Browns ascension to Prime Minister after the Blair resignation. Now Brown has come to a critical point, with a telegenic and youthful David Cameron leading the previously moribound Conservative Party back to life. From the New York Times:

Now, embattled at 10 Downing Street by the most dismal poll ratings for any prime minister in recent memory and sniping from Blair loyalists in the governing Labor Party, Mr. Brown is fighting for his political life.

Two weeks ago, in an election widely seen as a referendum on Mr. Brown’s national leadership, a joke-cracking Conservative with a flop-top haircut, Boris Johnson, romped to victory in London’s mayoral race over the hitherto popular two-term Labor incumbent, Ken Livingstone.

The Livingstone defeat in London, coupled with a Conservative romp in local council elections, has the Tony Blair wing of the party sniping at Brown. And in an interesting twist Blair’s wife Cherie, a high powered attorney, has blasted Brown in a new book recently excerpted in the British media.

The latest salvos began exploding around Mr. Brown last weekend with the newspaper serialization of the memoirs of Cherie Blair, the wife of the former prime minister. In her book, “Speaking for Myself,” due for publication in the fall, she wrote that Mr. Brown had been “rattling the keys” to Downing Street over Mr. Blair’s head in the period before his third election victory, in 2005. … In an excerpt from her book published on Monday, Mrs. Blair hinted that Mr. Brown might have leaked word to newspapers when she was pregnant with her fourth child, Leo, in 1998, suggesting that perhaps Mr. Brown, then still a bachelor in his mid-40s, wanted to spread the impression that Mr. Blair was too distracted by family matters to be effective as prime minister. A spokesman said Mr. Brown, now married with two small children, was “totally baffled” by the suggestion.

With the British economy tanking Brown may be in real trouble. Attacked by within and without he now trails the Conservatives by twenty percent in recent polling. The analogy has been made to John Major, who succeeded Margaret Thatcher but was done in by a young, smart and telegenic star named Tony Blair. These days David Cameron looks more and more like Tony Blair. Read the Times story here.

Posted in International | 4 Comments

Farmers Raid the Treasury

Posted on May 23, 2008 by billmanzi

Congress succesfully overrode the Bush veto of the Farm bill, in spite of a legislative glitch that actually left an entire bill section out of the submission to President Bush. That omitted section will be dealt with separately and likely overridden after the holiday. The Farm Bill united an unlikely group of opponents, with President Bush, the New York Times editorial page, and the Wall Street Journal editorial page all slamming this huge porkfest for agri-business. In this time of fiscal crisis Congress merrily approved a bill worth 307 billion dollars. From the New York Times editorial entitled “A Disgraceful Farm Bill”:

The bill is an inglorious piece of work tailored to the needs of big agriculture and championed by not only the usual bipartisan farm state legislators but also the Democratic leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Every five years we get a new farm bill, and each time we are reminded that even reformers like Ms. Pelosi cannot resist the blandishments and power of the farmers.

The bill includes the usual favors like the tax break for racehorse breeders pushed by Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate minority leader. But the greater and more embarrassing defect is that the bill perpetuates the old subsidies for agriculture at a time when the prices that farmers are getting for big row crops like corn, soybeans and wheat have never been better. Net farm income is up 50 percent.

The Times acknowleges some good in the bill:

The bill has some virtues. It increases spending for food stamps. It encourages farmers to preserve land that would otherwise be lost to suburban development and provides modest help to organic farmers. It trims (but not nearly enough) the unnecessary tax subsidy for corn ethanol. It provides $400 million to reduce polluted runoff into Chesapeake Bay.

Congress just believes that it is business as usual, and that these boondoggles can go on forever. They are wrong, and the President, the Journal, and the Times are right. Somebody needs to sober these fiscal drunks up, and I hope it is not a financial meltdown that brings reality to Washington. I believe that Barack Obama voted for the bill, while John McCain voted against the bill. Read the Times editorial here.

Posted in National News | 9 Comments

McCain Rejects Hagee Endorsement

Posted on May 23, 2008 by billmanzi

John McCain finally rejected the endorsement of John Hagee, the anti-Catholic crackpot whose endorsement gave McCain nothing but political headaches after some of Hagees anti-Catholic statements had come to light. The new revelations of Hagee saying that the rise of Hitler was God’s way of returning the Jews to the homeland of Israel was apparently the final straw for McCain. From the Washington Post:

When asked what McCain thought of the remarks, spokesman Tucker Bounds responded with an e-mail from the candidate denouncing Hagee. “Obviously, I find these remarks and others deeply offensive and indefensible, and I repudiate them,” McCain said. “I did not know of them before Reverend Hagee’s endorsement, and I feel I must reject his endorsement as well.”

Speaking to reporters later, McCain said: “I just think that the statement is crazy and unacceptable,” adding that while “Pastor Hagee is entitled to his views,” he does not want to be affiliated with them.

Crazy and unacceptable? Do you think so, Senator McCain? What about the Catholic comments? From the Post:

Hagee has called the Catholic Church a “false religious system” and a “false cult system” and has suggested that the church played a role in the Holocaust.

I think McCain has done what he needed to do here, but it is a little late. This guys crackpot status has been known for some time, and his Catholic bashing alone should have led McCain to where he is today.

Posted in National News | 8 Comments

The Dream shall never die

Posted on May 21, 2008 by billmanzi

Ted Kennedy’s 1980 concession speech at the 1980 Democratic Convention remains one of his finest. I have posted the speech in two parts from you tube. It is truly a classic. Enjoy.

Posted in National News, State News | Leave a comment

Summer Concert Series at Greycourt Park

Posted on May 21, 2008 by billmanzi

I am pleased to announce the summer concert series at Greycourt Park. This series is free to the public, and will feature some great musical talent. The first is Thursday June 5th at 7:00 p.m., featuring the sixteen piece Artie Barsamian Jazz Orchestra, with Steve Marvin. If you have heard Steve Marvin you know this will be a treat. Frank Sinatra has been re-born when Steve is onstage. Please call the Mayor’s office if you need additional detail.

Poster 2

Posted in Methuen | Leave a comment

Obama nears the magic number

Posted on May 21, 2008 by billmanzi

Senator Barack Obama continued to move closer to the Democratic nomination with a split of the two primaries held last night. In Kentucky Obama was once again handily defeated by Senator Hillary Clinton. In Kentucky the results were:

Clinton 459,145 65%

Obama 209,771 30%

Other 32,211 5%

In Oregon Obama coasted to victory. Those numbers (88% reporting):

Obama 330,533 58%

Clinton 235,937 42%

Obama, despite Hillary’s continued insistence that a path to victory exists for her, is begining to re-tool his operation for the general election. He has now claimed a majority of the pledged delegates, and is inching towards the number currently needed (without FLA or Michigan) to win the nomination outright. Despite that he walked gingerly on the Clinton issue. From the Washington Post:

Recalling the lengthy road he has traveled, Obama told a boisterous crowd gathered near the Iowa state Capitol: “Tonight, Iowa, in the fullness of spring, with the help of those who stood up from Portland to Louisville, we have returned to Iowa with a majority of delegates elected by the American people, and you have put us within reach of the Democratic nomination for president of the United States.”

The sniping with McCain has already begun. In Iowa (Washington Post)Obama said:

“This year’s Republican primary was a contest to see which candidate could out-Bush the other, and that is the contest John McCain won,” Obama said.

Where does Hillary go from here?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/24745502#24745502

Posted in National News | 3 Comments

The huge footprint of Edward Kennedy

Posted on May 21, 2008 by billmanzi

On behalf of the City of Methuen I would like to extend our best wishes and prayers to Senator Edward Kennedy and his family. Senator Kennedy has been a true giant in the Senate, and I know that in spite of the fact that he is a Senator with national stature he has never forgotten some of the smaller issues that have helped this state progress. He is truly a great Senator, and a real master of the nuts and bolts of government. The political folks know that he is without a doubt the go-to guy in Washington for Massachusetts. He has delivered again and again for our State. We are pulling for him, and his personality is that of a strong fighter. We know he will prevail.

Posted in Methuen, National News, State News | 3 Comments

Methuen Health Care Legislation

Posted on May 19, 2008 by billmanzi

With state aid to Methuen’s general government side level funded from last year, and with all of the increase in local tax receipts mandated by the state to go to the school department it has become necessary to come up with new ways to save money at the local level. Local government, by necessity, must shrink. As we explore ways to fund the upcoming budget I had proposed a series of modest changes to our health care plan. These changes, which would have saved both employee and city, have been rejected by the coalition. While much debate in health care has centered on cities and towns being able to join the state health care plan (GIC) the ability of local unions to block such a move has meant that almost no movement has occurred in this area. As many of you know from prior posts it has been my contention that the advantage enjoyed by the state plan in terms of rate inflation has not been due to better management (as some at the state would have you believe) but rather from the greater management flexibility that the governor can exert on the plan itself outside of the collective bargaining process. In this budget cycle alone unilateral changes made by management to the GIC will save the State some 50 million dollars. Such authority needs to be vested in local management in light of the state’s inability to provide additional funding to support these benefits. On the basis of that belief I have submitted to the Methuen City Council a Home Rule Bill that would create a local health care commission (in Methuen)analogous to the state GIC Commission, which would have ultimate authority over plan composition and rate structure. This Commission would have no more authority over the local health care plan than the Governor’s Commission has over the State plan, and would have a majority of management appointees. While I am sure there will be opposition to such a proposal I believe that conditions on the ground make such a choice unavoidable for Methuen, and in the short to medium term for all other localities as well. I will attach a copy of this legislation to this posting shortly.

Methuen GIC

Posted in Methuen, State News | 9 Comments

The Consistency of John McCain

Posted on May 19, 2008 by billmanzi

Blog contributor Jim has sent along a link to a you tube video that I cannot help but post. It is an unflattering view of John McCain, but should raise some legitimate concerns. Thanks Jim!

Posted in National News | 9 Comments