Republicans Begin Doublespeak on Budget Cuts

Posted on January 24, 2011 by billmanzi

The House Republican majority has already begun to send mixed signals on just what it is they they would like to see cut, with the Republican leadership and the Republican House Study Committee appearing to differ greatly on what should be cut in this fiscal cycle. The Study Group has pushed for budget cuts in this fiscal year that would be roughly double that of the recommended levels of the Republican leadership. And as the attached clip of Eric Cantor on Meet the Press clearly shows the Republicans, at this point, are just not ready for prime time on balancing the federal budget. Two things that I took out of the clip.

1) When pressed for specific cuts the best Cantor could point to was an abolition of public financing of Presidential elections, a $500 million dollar savings. Yes $500 million seems like a lot, but is is a joke when talking about addressing fiscal imbalances. The Republicans apparently forget that the campaign is now over and that they actually have to make governing decisions as the majority.

2) Cantor, when pressed about the real meat in the federal budget, (Social security and Medicare) took a pass. He cited book passages from his new work with Paul Ryan, but as in the campaign he just refused to talk about the reality of the medicine that would be needed to bring the budget in balance. A book passage? Funny stuff. He did cite the Ryan Roadmap, but failed to note that that Roadmap has scant Republican support in the House.

He and the Republican leadership have also started gaming the numbers already, saying that the $100 billion dollar cut in spending in this fiscal cycle they promised was actually a $100 billion dollar cut over two years. Good luck to Cantor and Boehner in dealing with their caucus, many of whom believe that you can reduce the deficit without cutting entitlements and defense. The Republican Study Group proposal should be an interesting starting point for the Republican caucus. Cantor said Defense was on the table, but the Republican Study group seems to disagree with their leader. The debt limit vote should be the political flash point, with all signs appearing to point to great difficulty in getting that through the House. Can’t wait to see the specifics. But it looks like we will all have to continue to wait.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640

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Rebecca Armstrong Wins SOAR Award

Posted on January 24, 2011 by billmanzi

Congratulations to Rebecca Armstrong, recognized at the January School Committee meeting with the SOAR Award.

SOAR AWARD

Department: Career and Technical Education

Student Name: Rebecca Armstrong

Parents: Robert and Alice Armstrong

Address: 4 Dracut Street, Methuen, MA 01844

School Activities:
• Varsity Field Hockey, Team Captain
• Merrimack Valley All Conference Field Hockey
• Varsity Softball, Team Captain
• Merrimack Valley All Conference Softball
• Eagle Tribune All Star
• Key Club Member
• Senior Citizen Olympics Volunteer
• Dream Factory Member

Community Involvement:
• Relay for Life, Team Captain
• Santa Parade Volunteer
• Hike for Hope Volunteer

Work Experience:
• Softball Umpire
• Independent Childcare Provider

The Career and Technical Education Department is proud to present Methuen High School senior, Rebecca Armstrong, as this month’s SOAR Award recipient. Rebecca has participated in most of the courses the CTE department offers including Exploring the Business World, Desktop Publishing, Microsoft Office, Marketing, and Personal Finance. Her dedication and hard work has allowed her to maintain an A average in all of these courses. Her noteworthy academic performance has also led Nicole to take Advanced Placement English Literature in her senior year. As an athlete, a scholar, and a team leader, Nicole has earned the respect of both students and staff alike. In addition to all of this, she works as an umpire for various softball leagues and as an independent childcare provider. With a definite plan to study business, Nicole’s top college choices are Bentley College, Merrimack College and Assumption College.
Rebecca Armstrong Wins January SOAR Award

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President Obama on Jobs

Posted on January 23, 2011 by billmanzi

President Obama gives his State of the Union speech on Tuesday night, and this weeks message will likely be a small preview of what is to come. The President talks about competing economically with the rest of the world, and creating jobs through increased exporting, referencing the recent visit of China’s President Hu and trade deals with China and India. The President, according to the New York Times, will be looking to continue to appeal to the center of the political divide by emphasizing cooperation with Republicans and deficit reduction. But he will also emphasize needed investment in education, infrastructure, and technology. (Sounds a bit like some of the priorities outlined by Governor Patrick in advance of his budget submission.) The President has been on a political upswing, with an uptick in favorability, especially amongst independents.

The President is finding his political balance and showing that those who were counting him out were counting too soon. It will be an important speech for President Obama Tuesday, and I see him retaking the political center from the Republicans, who are just beginning to struggle with their promised budget cuts in the House. Looks to me like the Republican House takeover will be the best thing that could have happened to the President. Lets just see how folks will react to the Republican study group proposal on the budget. Lets just see how the Republican leadership will react to the Republican Study Group budget proposal. The Republicans are about to be exposed in the House on budget issues, as they can no longer hide behind campaign platitudes. That exposure will push the President towards re-election in 2012.

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Michelle Rhee Was Right

Posted on January 22, 2011 by billmanzi

An interesting column in today’s Wahington Post by Richard Whitmire, asking the rhetorical question, “Was Michelle Rhee right?” The column centers on the analysis of Rhee’s tenure as Chancellor of schools in Washington D.C. and her insistence on rapidly moving reform forward. Whitmire, correctly I think, posits that the “conventional wisdom” is that Rhee moved too fast, and was not “inclusive” enough in implementing change. So she was right on substance but wrong on implementation. Whitmire calls this view “Michelle Lite.”

Among school superintendents and union leaders, the Michelle Lite theory is popular for different reasons. The key lesson learned in Washington, they agree, is that you can’t fire your way to success. Boosting teacher quality, they say, requires a tempered meshing of improving teacher evaluation and professional development.

Whitmire confesses he was not on board for Rhee’s philosophy originally. But the research he did on her tenure seems to have changed his mind. But more importantly he comes to the conclusion that Michelle Lite is not the answer either.

When Rhee took over in 2007, D.C. schools were tied with Los Angeles for worst-in-the-nation status. Rhee boosted the District off the cellar floor, with significant gains on the federal “report card,” widely considered the gold standard of academic achievement. Those gains came about the hard way, by firing principals and teachers with low expectations, minimal skills as educators or both.

That raises the question: Could Rhee have succeeded with a Michelle Lite approach?

I have concluded, as does Whitmire, that she would not have achieved those results with a Lite approach. Rhee has been heartily criticized for her take no prisoners style. What are the complaints? She did not include parents, she did not do enough to nurture incompetence before she fired people, that she was blunt about her goals, that she rolled over the forces of inertia without the requisite courtesy, blah blah blah. Yes folks were up in arms, but the question I have is this. Was it better to have someone like Rhee and achieve those results, or is it better to feel good but leave the kids in an educational wasteland? Truth be told I think that many adults who were offended by Rhee and Mayor Fenty would rather not have had the results. And that is a shame.

And I think that the question extends to other areas of public life as well. The American political system was designed to slow down government to ensure that majorities were not able to quickly impose dramatic change. That system is now used by the forces of the inert to slow needed change in our system. And the inert become very animated when change occurs and upsets their private domains, upsets their ego because of “lack of consultation”, or cuts out systemic incompetence. If our system is good at anything it is protecting governmental practices that are hugely wasteful, protecting incompetence, and making sure that any real change will take years and years. Rhee was not willing to settle for that, and she and her boss Mayor Fenty were the victims of the revenge of the inert. But the schoolchildren of Washington were the real winners, with the Rhee agenda taking them out of the educational no learn zone that they were occupying. Unfortunately the political business is occupied all too often by folks who do not wish to rock the boat at all. Michelle Rhee capsized the boat for the betterment of the kids in Washington, and she was right to do so.

Sunday Addition: The Michelle Rhee op-ed in the New York Times talking about her hopes for the State of the Union speech.

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Governor Patrick at the MMA

Posted on January 21, 2011 by billmanzi

Governor Patrick appeared at the MMA annual meeting today, giving a speech dealing with local aid in his next budget as well as the introduction of a new proposal for municipal health care reform. The Governor told the MMA that he would propose a cut of 7% in unrestricted local aid while proposing an increase in school aid, as well as an increase in road assistance and special education funding.

The Governor’s proposals are consistent with his philosophical view that infrastructure and education funding should be maintained, even in difficult economic times. He has consistently done that, and his recommendations for increases here are truly remarkable in a budget that has a roughly $2 billion dollar shortfall. And while no local official will be happy with a 7% cut in unrestricted local aid the Governor is proposing a grand bargain on health care that would allow locals to withstand the shock of such a cut and preserve services and municipal jobs. The details on that health care proposal are key, as we all know that the devil lies in the details.

The press coverage of the Governor’s speech did not offer details, but Jay Gonzalez, the Secretary of Administration and Finance, offered this in the Globe:

“This proposal is a critical step towards delivering material savings in health care costs to cities and towns at a time when they need it most,” Administration and Finance Secretary Jay Gonzalez said in a statement. “In this challenging fiscal environment, taxpayers can no longer be asked to fund overly generous health benefits at the expense of critical local services.”

The Governor’s proposal seems to mirror that of the Speaker, who unveiled a proposal during his Speaker’s Address last week. If the change does indeed come then the cut in local aid will be sustainable, made up for by lowering municipal costs. Such a strategy has been at the core of the arguments made by Mayors throughout Massachusetts. In Methuen in this fiscal cycle we would have saved $2 million dollars by entering the GIC (The health care plan for state employees). Yes, you read that right. The community is spending an extra $2 million dollars on health care, and that is a conservative estimate. And I can say, without fear of contradiction, that the health care provided by the GIC is both affordable and first rate. For those who argue against such entry the question is this: Why would you impose higher costs on the taxpayers of Methuen? It just does not make any sense fiscally or from a health care perspective. So for today the Governor once again has to be commended, as he again appears to be tackling a difficult problem and taking on special interests for the good of the State and its cities. We will wait to see the proposal in written form, but I am cautiously optimistic.

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Lieberman Exits

Posted on January 19, 2011 by billmanzi

Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman will announce today that he is not running for re-election in 2012. I predicted his retirement back in November , and the reality of being in political no mans land had to impact his thinking.

Joe Lieberman has been a political oddity, raising the ire of both left and right. He has broken, in acrimonious fashion, from the core of the Democratic Party over his support for the Iraq war, his endorsement of John McCain over Barack Obama, and his reluctance to go the full mile on the health care bill. But whatever hope he might have had for securing real Republican support evaporated with his support of the repeal of DADT, his ultimate vote for the health care package, and a host of other moderate to liberal positions on the domestic front. He really had no place to go politically, and he beat the crowd coming for him to the door. The move should secure the seat for the Democrats in blue Connecticut.

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Governor Patrick Steps Up on Pensions

Posted on January 19, 2011 by billmanzi

Governor Patrick, flanked by Senate President Murray and House Speaker Deleo, introduced a new package of pension reform yesterday, taking aim at some abuses but more importantly introducing systemic change that has the potential to save real money over the long haul. From the State House News Service:

The governor’s proposal would increase the minimum state retirement age for roughly 90 percent of state workers to 60, from 55, and require that employees work two more years until they reach age 67 to receive the maximum pension benefit. Police, firefighters and some corrections officers would also be required to stay on the job five more years until age 50, and would not become eligible for the maximum pension until age 57.

The legislation would expand the timeframe used to calculate a retiree’s pension to an average of the highest five years’ salary as opposed to the current three-year average, and eliminate the incentive baked into the current system that encourages early retirement by providing less of a benefit for additional years of service than for added years of collecting a pension…. The bill includes an anti-spiking clause limiting the annual increase in pensionable earnings to 7 percent – except in cases of “bona fide promotions” or job changes – and eliminates the loophole exposed by the late-Sheriff James DiPaola that allows elected officials to collect both a salary and a pension if they had retired before seeking office.

The Governor estimated the unfunded liability of the system to be $20 billion dollars. This package will deliver a $5 billion dollar savings to the pension system over the long haul. The Governor coupled this announcement with the news that he will be seeking to extend the full funding schedule of the State pension system from 2025 to 2040, averting a roughly $1 billion dollar increase payable by the state into the pension system in his soon to be unveiled budget for FY12. Even with the schedule change the Commonwealth will still need to increase pension payments by $36 million.

Mass Taxpayers Foundation Mike Widmer praised the proposal:

Massachusetts Taxpayers Association President Michael Widmer said the proposal would bring state and municipal retirement benefits more closely in line with those provided through Social Security.

“Unlike the 2009 and 2010 legislation which simply closed longstanding loopholes, these proposals offer a more comprehensive reform of the pension system which strengthens its long-term financing while preserving a generous retirement program for state and municipal employees,” Widmer said.

I will have Widmer on the Mayor’s Corner TV show this week, and we will talk about this as well as other state budget issues.

The Governor has coupled a schedule extension with meaningful reform to move the system forward. While he will be subject to criticism for the extension I believe he had no real choice but to make that call. Municipal systems have done the same thing, and while it certainly is true that in a perfect world you would not do that, the choices are between bad and worse. The State simply does not have an extra $1 billion hanging around to pay into the pension system. The Governor’s reform package is real, and will produce substantial savings if passed as described. He has taken strong steps to help right a foundering system, and he deserves major credit for doing so, and not just kicking the can down the road. Two things of note in the Governor’s remarks. He continues to support the “defined benefit” pensions enjoyed by state and municipal employees. And he described that system, under the current rules, as “unsustainable”.

The Governor, in his new term, seems to me to be relaxed and prepared to act like a true CEO. He has taken strong action since the election, on pensions and in other areas, and really looks to me like he is hitting his stride in his job. He has been dealt a difficult hand on pensions, which he is dealing with in a forceful way that is also inclusive. I think that on pensions the Governor made the correct call on both reform and schedule extension, and even Republicans should give him some credit for being willing to introduce real change in difficult political circumstances.

http://www.statehousenews.com/video/11-01-18pension/player-viral.swf

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Dr. King Remembered

Posted on January 17, 2011 by billmanzi

Today is the day we remember and celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King. He was an extraordinary man who did so much to right the many wrongs that had been a standard part of public life in this country. Today, as time has gone on, all of us tend to forget how difficult his fight was. Many just take for granted the results he achieved without remembering the personal suffering and vilification he was willing to endure, and ultimately to forgive, to achieve progress in race relations. It is a mistake to forget what he suffered, and today’s holiday is but a very small token of the respect we now afford to him after his assassination. That was one tough fight, and Dr. King was one tough man to persevere. Our nation owes him a huge debt of appreciation for his work, and for his life.

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Speaker Deleo and Mayor Menino on Municipal Health Care

Posted on January 17, 2011 by billmanzi

Speaker Deleo was on Jim Braude’s show on NECN last week, and he reiterated his call for dramatic change in the laws governing municipal health care. The Speaker is advocating a system where if the cost estimates for a locality show a savings from joining the state GIC (health care plan) that such entrance would be mandatory. It is a huge break from past positions of leadership on Beacon Hill, and most certainly a welcome one. The Speaker tells Braude that the estimated savings would be about $100 million per year. That estimate is correct, coming right from Mike Widmer and others. The Speaker attended Mayor Menino’s State of the City speech, where the Mayor again called for plan design authority for municipalities. He cited the Mayor’s speech in his remarks to Braude.

Mayor Menino appeared on the Keller at Large show, where he again called for plan design authority. He notably said, to the disbelief of Keller, that the Governor would likely sign a municipal plan design bill if it reached his desk. The Governor appeared to sit on his hands during that portion of Mayor Menino’s speech, but the Mayor attributed that to “clapping fatigue”.

Mayors throughout Massachusetts have been making this request for some time now, and we have begun to see a wee bit of political movement. That movement would not be possible without the strong leadership of Mayor Menino, who has been a strong and tireless advocate for this change. The link to the Mayor’s Keller appearance is below, along with the Braude appearance by Speaker Deleo.

Keller at Large.

http://www.necn.com/common/thePlatform/web/swf/flvPlayer.swf

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No More Kicking Around of Michael Steele

Posted on January 15, 2011 by billmanzi

Michael Steele was dumped yesterday as Chair of the Republican National Committee, with Reince Priebus of Wisconsin selected as his replacement. Steele has been a controversial Chairman who was good at self promotion but not so good at fundraising. He leaves the RNC with a debt/deficit of $20 million. Priebus had prominent support from the Haley Barbour camp, with Barbour nephew Hank Barbour nominating him. The Barbour connection, of course, has not gone unnoticed: From the Washington Post:

But Priebus’s victory also owes something to his critical support from GOP heavy hitters. He had a raft of official endorsements, although it is perhaps the unofficial, and unacknowledged, endorsement of Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour that mattered most.

A former lobbyist, RNC chairman and consummate Republican insider who has built the Republican Governors Association into a formidable fundraising juggernaut, Barbour clearly pulled for Priebus. On Friday, his nephew, Henry, nominated Priebus with a speech that suggested he could bring disillusioned big-money-donors back into the fold.

One of the outgrowths of Steele’s tenure was the flight of traditional Republican donors to “outside groups”, like the Republican Governor’s Association run by Barbour. You should see, with Steele’s ouster, a return of some of that money to the RNC.

Where does Michael Steele land? As a Democrat I can only hope it is in the Republican presidential primaries. We will certainly miss Michael Steele.

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