Obama Trips

Posted on April 13, 2008 by billmanzi

Senator Barack Obama continues to take heavy incoming fire for his remarks on small town voters, and has attempted to clarify those remarks in light of the political criticism. From the Washington Post:

“I didn’t say it as well as I could have,” Obama (D-Ill.) told a crowd in Muncie. Later, in an interview with a North Carolina newspaper, he said, “Obviously, if I worded things in a way that made people offended, I deeply regret that.”

Obama’s comments were obviously not well thought out, and give some political cover to the notion that these voters will not make a connection with him in the general election. The Clinton team, (as well as John McCain) have pounced.

“I was taken aback by the demeaning remarks Senator Obama made about people in small-town America,” Clinton (D-N.Y.) told several hundred voters at a factory here. “Senator Obama’s remarks are elitist and out of touch. They are not reflective of the values and beliefs of Americans, certainly not the Americans that I know. . . . Americans who believe in the Second Amendment believe it’s a matter of a constitutional right, Americans who believe in God believe it’s a matter of personal faith.”

Obama has managed to take the focus away from the remarks of President Clinton on Hillary’s trip to Bosnia, and refocus attention on his own poorly worded statement. The Clinton folks get a two-fer. No video is yet available of the specific remarks, although the event was taped. I have posted the available video here. The audio is at the Huffington Post website. Did Obama trip and fall, or did he just trip? The Clinton’s are great at the attack, and with the PA primary coming they will drive this ruthlessly. Read the Washington Post story here.

http://services.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/271543887

Posted in National News | 6 Comments

Put a Muzzle on Bill

Posted on April 12, 2008 by billmanzi

Bill Clinton, in an Indiana speech, managed to bring back an issue that Hillary had moved out of the news cycle by rehashing the reasons why Hillary “misspoke” on the facts surrounding her arrival in Bosnia. Not only did he bring it back, but he seemed to say that Hillary may have memory problems because she is sixty. Hard to believe that a great political mind could make such a stupid mistake. The “fact checker” over at the Washington Post has awarded Bill “three Pinocchios” for his recollection of events. They awarded Hillary “four Pinocchios” for her version of events. Read the fact checker Post story at this link.

Posted in National News | 1 Comment

U.S. Water Infrastructure Aging

Posted on April 11, 2008 by billmanzi

A Washington Post article details the aging U.S. water infrastructure, and how a massive amount of investment will be needed to upgrade systems that in many cases date back to the 1800’s.

The tunnel is leaking up to 36 million gallons a day as it carries drinking water from a reservoir to the big city. It is a powerful warning sign of a larger problem around the country: The infrastructure that delivers water to the nation’s cities is badly aging and in need of repairs.

The Environmental Protection Agency says utilities will need to invest more than $277 billion over the next two decades on repairs and improvements to drinking water systems. Water industry engineers put the figure drastically higher, at about $480 billion.

And the horror stories about deferred maintenance abound:

He said the situation has not reached crisis stage, but without a serious investment, “it can become a crisis. Each year the problem is put on the back burner, the price tag is going to go up.”

Catastrophic problems can arise when infrastructure fails. An 84-year-old steam pipe erupted beneath a New York street last year, creating a mammoth geyser that rained mud and debris down on the city.

In Chicago, an 80-year-old cast-iron water main broke earlier this year, spilling thousands of gallons and opening up a 25-foot hole in the street.

In Denver, up to 4 million gallons of water gushed from a ruptured 30-year-old pipeline in February, gouging a sinkhole across three lanes of Interstate 25. The lanes were shut down for nearly two weeks.

Cleveland has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on infrastructure in the past 20 years but still must repair daily breaks. Last month, a break in a 2 1/2-foot-diameter water main turned a downtown square into a watery crater and knocked out other utilities.

The effect on ratepayers will not be good:

Around the country, water rates are going up to help pay for the repairs, estimated at anywhere between $550 and $7,000 per household during the next three decades.

Augusta, Ga., raised rates 11 percent from 2001 through 2007 for a $300 million program to improve the deteriorating water system. Cleveland gradually increased rates by about 6 percent for more than 15 years to fund a $750 million project to address aging and inefficient pipes. Springfield, Mass., doubled rates for its 250,000 customers. Philadelphia, Kenosha, Wis., Portsmouth, Va., and other cities have followed suit.

Many engineers and water utilities say water bills around the country are too low. In New York City, where a studio apartment can rent for more than $3,000 a month, the cost of water and sewage is about $60 for an entire single-family home.

“We are the only utility where the raw material is free, but the infrastructure is the most expensive,” said Nick DeBenedictis, chief executive of Aqua America, a water company that serves 3 million people in 13 states. “We have to dig up streets in order to do it, but once we make investments it’s good for years.”

Bridges are not the only area where maintenance bills are now coming due because of a refusal to spend infrastructure money to keep our systems up to speed in years gone by. The infrastructure repairs due across the country will be staggering.

Read the Washington Post article here.

Posted in Methuen, National News, State News | 4 Comments

Obama Closing the Gap in PA

Posted on April 9, 2008 by billmanzi

Senator Barack Obama is inching closer to Senator Hillary Clinton in the latest polling done for the all important PA primary. From the Washington Post:

Two weeks before the Keystone State primary, the Quinnipiac University poll shows Hillary Rodham Clinton still out front among Democratic voters there. Fifty percent of those surveyed favored Clinton, while 44 percent said they were backing Obama.

Clinton’s margin in the survey has been shrinking over the past few weeks. In mid-March she had a lead of 12 percentage points. Last week, that had dropped to nine, and now it’s six.

An Obama win in PA would end this contest but that is what was said about Ohio and Texas. Clinton is living dangerously, but can Obama close the deal in PA?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/24020827#24020827

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Mark Penn Bites the Dust

Posted on April 6, 2008 by billmanzi

Senior Hillary Clinton strategist and pollster Mark Penn has resigned from the Clinton campaign after the Wall Street Journal reported that Penn had met with Colombian government officials to advise on the free trade agreement between Columbia and the United States. Senator Clinton is opposed to that free trade deal. From the Washington Post:

The event Williams is referring to is a meeting between Penn and the Colombian government as he sought to help them negotiate a bilateral free trade agreement between themselves and the United States. Clinton is on the record in opposition to the plan, and, Penn was forced to issue a quick apology once the news of his meeting was reported. Several labor unions called for Penn to be fired from the campaign, however, and it appears as though Clinton took the moment to rearrange her political operation.

Penn has really done himself some damage here, as he was fired by the Columbian government after his comments about his meeting being a “mistake”. I guess paying clients don’t like to be disowned publicly by the people they are paying. Many had been calling for Penn’s head in light of the ascendacy of Barak Obama, but Hillary had stuck with him (until today). I don’t see a major change in course for Hillary, but it was an embarassing gaffe by Penn in light of the unpopularity of NAFTA and other free trade deals, and Clinton’s attempt to distance herself from the free trade agenda.

Posted in National News | 2 Comments

And the beat goes on

Posted on April 6, 2008 by billmanzi

The Boston Globe today highlighted some of the many problems facing cities and towns throughout the Commonwealth.

Across Massachusetts, cities and towns face the prospect of deep cuts in what appears to be the grimmest fiscal year since 2003. Local revenue and state aid can’t keep up with such rapidly rising expenses as employee health insurance, heating oil, and even street paving. School costs, like special education requirements, are sapping local budgets.

Different approaches are being made to the problem everywhere, but I think Beverly Mayor Bill Scanlon has it right.

Town and city officials face a difficult choice: cut staff and programs, or ask voters to override Proposition 2 1/2 and approve still higher property tax bills. In Beverly, for example, officials tried to avoid a tax hike by drafting a budget that would cut 61 full-time positions and close two elementary schools.

“It’s very difficult medicine, and something we’d all rather avoid, but we’re on our own,” said the city’s mayor, William F. Scanlon Jr., an ex officio member of the school board. “The state can’t help us, and we have to find a way to live within our means.”

Some stats on the real problems are in the story:

About half of the school districts in Massachusetts are planning some reductions next year, and one in four expect the most visible cuts, like teacher layoffs, program reductions, or steep fee increases, said Glenn Koocher, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees.

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation has been sounding the alarm bells:

“More and more communities are going to hit the wall,” said Michael J. Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. “It’s not a pretty picture, and it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

A good example is Swamscott:

Swampscott, which has about one-sixth the population of Newton, opened a new high school last year at the same time it was closing an elementary school and imposing more than 30 layoffs. More layoffs are needed this year, in part because utility costs for the new high school are $1 million more than the old one, said David P. Whelan Jr., chairman of the School Committee. Swampscott has no appetite for an override, he said, so the school board is cutting instead, with technical education at the high school and band at the elementary school slated to go.

The district still provides a strong education in core college-prep classes at the high school, Whelan said, but cuts and expanded class sizes are eroding the overall school experience.

“We’re unable to provide a well-rounded education for kids at this point, and we’re not going to be able to do it anytime soon without additional funding,” he said.

While each community is in a different place all are headed in the wrong direction. Service cuts at the local level, along with school cuts and larger class sizes and an eventual cessation of elective activities in schools, are what is in store for many communities. It will not be pretty.

Read the Globe article here.

Posted in Methuen, State News | 5 Comments

Tribune Editorial Right on Mark

Posted on April 4, 2008 by billmanzi

The Tribune today editorialized in support of Methuen’s stand on the grievance and arbitration request of the Methuen Patrolman’s Association. Read the Tribune editorial here. And while a story yesterday had the union indicating that they had made every attempt to “negotiate” this matter the truth is vastly different than their statement. From yesterday’s Tribune.

“We exhausted every opportunity to negotiate short of filing this grievance. There was no attempt made to mediate,” the union leadership said, adding that the only correspondence received from the mayor was the one that said “DENIED.”

The Union did not place one call to my office to negotiate this matter or to schedule an appointment to speak with me on it. I am not sure what is meant by “exhausting every opportunity” but I can assure you all that phrase has a significantly different meaning in the private sector. I will post an estimate of the cost to the taxpayers of the union “request” on this blog at some point shortly.

And that number, by our estimate, is $20,729. With all of the financial difficulties we face the union expects the taxpayers to pay close to twenty one thousand dollars to fund a non-existent benefit. I would like to point out that the Fire Union did not file a grievance on this matter.

Posted in Methuen | 2 Comments

Methuen High School Gets the nod

Posted on April 3, 2008 by billmanzi

I attended a meeting in Boston yesterday of the Massachusetts School Building Authority. At that meeting Treasurer Tim Cahill and Executive Director Katherine Craven announced that Methuen High School is one of three High Schools in Massachusetts that has been chosen to move forward with a major renovation. From the Eagle Tribune:

The Massachusetts School Building Authority yesterday announced that Methuen High is among 11 public schools in the state and one of just three high schools ready for “schematic design.”

That means the school has moved to the next phase in the process of getting funding for a large-scale renovation, said Executive Director Katherine Craven.

We have worked very closely with Katherine Craven, who is one of the most capable individuals in State Government. Our agreement on the initial scope of the project has shaved a good chunk of time and money off of the project.

“I think this outcome of Methuen and the SBA working together so well has saved the taxpayers and the students of Methuen time and money,” Craven said, adding the agreement has likely shaved at least a year off the project.

This project will be a major renovation that includes the possibility of expansion to deal with space problems and our lack of adequate science labs.

“Where this is a 1970s-era structure and it seems to be structurally sound, we think this is a good candidate for renovation,” she said.

Workers will renovate the majority of the building.

“It’s not just about replacing a few pipes and some paint, this is going to be a major project,” Craven said.

The renovation could involve adding onto the building if they cannot find space for new science labs, Craven said.

Treasurer Tim Cahill has taken the time to come to Methuen and has been a driving force in modernizing our approach to School Building Assistance in the Commonwealth. State Senator Steve Baddour and Representative Linda Dean Campbell worked tirelessly making Methuen’s case to MSBA, and this project could not have happened without them.

Read the Tribune story here.

Posted in Methuen, State News | 3 Comments

Flag Man Proposal draws flak

Posted on April 2, 2008 by billmanzi

The legislative proposal to allow civilian flagmen to replace police officers on paid details began drawing the anticipated opposition yesterday, with a mobilization by the forces opposed to reform. From the Boston Herald:

The hotly debated proposal to curtail police road details – part of a series of transportation reform measures – veered toward another public showdown yesterday, with labor leaders passing out literature in the State House and urging lawmakers to oppose the legislation.

The police unions seek delay by asking for additional hearings on the bond bill that contains the legislative language at issue. The legislature appears to be rejecting that delay tactic.

However, top senators said yesterday they intend to insert the reforms into a $4.8 billion transportation bond bill that has already been vetted in multiple hearings. The Senate would take up the bond bill tomorrow, add the reforms and send it back to the House for final approval next week.

“The support from the leaders of the House, Senate and governor’s office is evidence that this bill will move forward in spite of the opposition,” said state Sen. Steven A. Baddour (D-Methuen).

Baddour, co-chairman of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Transportation, said efforts to curb the use of costly police details have already been discussed in several hearings this year.

In order to block this change the unions will apparently have to defeat the entire bond bill, which will not be an easy task. The language would then have the Governor write new regulations allowing flagmen at certain defined areas. I think the unions will likely lose this legislative battle, and then try to influence the regulation writers in the executive branch.

Read the Herald story here.

Posted in Methuen, State News | 3 Comments

Gore comes storming back on stage

Posted on April 1, 2008 by billmanzi

Al Gore is returning to center stage with a big ad campaign on the threat of global warming. The Washington Post blog “The Fix”, referring to Gore as “the Goreacle”, has written a pretty entertaining entry on the Gore return.

After months and months of lying low in the political sphere, former Vice President Al Gore is back with a vengeance — launching a new campaign focused on climate change and appearing on “60 Minutes” last night to promote his group.

Gore’s reemergence on the political scene comes not a moment too soon in the eyes of The Fix — an unabashed analyzer of the Goreacle and his on again, off again relationship with the political world.

And the endless speculation over what role, if any, Gore would play in the protracted Democratic nomination process, is just to juicy for any media source to pass up. From the Fix, homing in on the Gore exchange with Lesley Stahl on 60 Minutes.

“And what about the idea of an honest broker who goes to the two candidates and helps push one or the other of them off to the side?” asked Lesley Stahl.

“Yeah, kind of a modern Boss Tweed,” Gore said.

“Except his name would be Al Gore,” Stahl replied.

“Well, I’m not applying for the job of broker,” Gore retorted.

Those comments are a fascinating window into the mind of the Goreacle worth analyzing closely. Gore seems extremely skeptical of the idea of stepping in to the role of party boss in the race — telling either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama to step aside.

The Fix speculates that Gore, in making this huge p.r. push on global warming, has entered a phase where partisan politics is behind him.

Gore’s latest gambit — a massive, multimillion effort to convince politicians of the need for action on climate change — is a perfect example of his post-partisan approach to politics. The entire theme of the “We” campaign is the need to move beyond politics in order to solve a pressing crisis.

A pretty convincing analysis from The Fix, but the last question asked by Chris Cillizza, author of The Fix, is this.

Gore has clearly moved on. But can the Fix?

The fascination with Gore will continue, regardless of his stated antipathy to a political return. I have posted Gore’s new ad.

http://www.miclients.com/alliance/we_website/embed_player/we_embed_player.swf

Posted in National News | 1 Comment