On the fifth anniversary of the signing of the Affordable Care Act, I ponder how non-Americans view our momentous and controversial health reform law. Like many US health policy analysts, […]
Explaining Obamacare to foreigners
Posted inOlympics, The Download
Marty’s Games
Think of it as the Pottery Barn rule turned on its head. While he was tending to mayor-type things such as snow piles and the search for a new school […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
The dawn of a new era in savings
Not since the 1970s, when IRAs and 401(k)s were created to encourage retirement planning, has the issue of savings raised so much interest. Several bills have been filed on Beacon […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
The T must succeed
THIS WINTER’S MBTA debacle has focused attention – as it should – on how the T does business. But it is important not to lose sight of why the T […]
Posted inThe Download
It’s good to live in a two-paper town
With advertising revenue drying up for newspapers – actually, revenue of all types – the scramble is on to find cash flow from any legitimate source possible. Over the last […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Kid-free Boston
IN A 2011 Boston Globe op-ed, columnist Scot Lehigh asked: “Where are the snow shovelers of yesteryear?” He suggested that the once-eager entrepreneurs must be more consumed by Facebook, texting, and video games than […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Galvin dishes out blame pie — but none for him, thanks
There is an old saw about accountability that says when you point a finger of blame at someone else, there are three more pointing back at you. Secretary of State […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics
Gants argues against mandatory minimums for drug offenses
The following is a transcript of Chief Justice Ralph Gants’ keynote address at the second annual Massachusetts Criminal Justice Reform Coalition summit on Monday, March 16th, 2015 at UMass […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Healey’s e-cigarette move lights up Legislature’s inertia
What happens when an unstoppable attorney general meets an immovable Legislature? She works around it. Attorney General Maura Healey’s plan to ban the sale of e-cigarettes to minors has once again highlighted […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Deval Patrick, living la vida loca
The whispering surrounding a future Deval Patrick campaign for president got full voice when Slate’s Reihan Salam recently put the former governor on a short list of alternatives to Hillary Clinton, […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics
Crime brings together unlikely bedfellows
WHAT DO THE liberal Center for American Progress, tea party-infused FreedomWorks, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the ultra-conservative Koch brothers have in common? Not much, but they have banded […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics
Gants blames DAs for lack of reform
THE STATE’S TOP judge went all-in on his call to eliminate minimum mandatory sentences for drug offenders, saying the state’s prosecutors “hold the cards” and are the biggest obstacle to […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
On public records law, a full-court press
It is an issue that is uniting usually warring competitors, one that may have reached a breaking point in the same way some hope our winter of transit misery will […]
Posted inHealth Care
Steward reports $52m loss for 2013
STEWARD HEALTH CARE reported a net loss of nearly $52 million in fiscal 2013, according to financial statements the for-profit health care company released after more than a year of […]
Posted inOlympics, Opinion
Olympics bad news for W. Mass
THE OLYMPICS IN Boston in 2024 sounds like a grand plan. It certainly would put Boston and the Commonwealth on the international map; but, leave western Mass off the same […]
Posted inOlympics, Opinion
Boston Olympics? Yes!
IT’S TIME TO get serious about a possible Boston Olympics – and to ensure that the benefits of such a global event are shared fairly with all. While there is […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Health Care, Opinion
Doctors should talk to patients about guns
IN 1991, PRESIDENT George Bush proclaimed March 30 as National Doctors Day, to salute physician leadership in the “prevention and treatment of illness and injury.” Physicians honor the designation; few […]
Posted inThe Download
Greater Braude
Jim Braude’s ease before the camera doesn’t come packaged with the polished pacing (or perfectly coiffed hair) of a television anchorman. It comes instead with a breezy manner and quick […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics
Healey comes out strong for renewables
What follows is a copy of Attorney General Maura Healey’s prepared remarks to the NECA Renewables Conference minus her introductory statement. Today, I would like to talk to you about […]
Posted inThe Back Story, Transportation
Keolis accused MBTA of meddling in hiring
THE TOP OFFICIAL at the state’s commuter rail operator raised concerns in a December letter to the MBTA that agency officials were undermining efforts to hire an experienced executive to […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, The Download
Tuning into two trials
There are two trials right now in Boston that are riveting those who live here as well as people across the country. In the US District Court on Boston’s waterfront, […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
$5m offered as compensation for poor transit service
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE PUBLIC TRANSIT RIDERS will see free access to the MBTA and the commuter rail for one day, while corporate and other passholders will see a 15 […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
Tackling MBTA’s debt problem
THE MBTA’S EFFORTS to spare Boston-area riders fare increases and service cuts by restructuring its debt service payments made a bad financial situation worse, according to a new report by […]
Posted inThe Download, Transportation
MBTA critics pile on
The evidence is mounting, as if more was needed, that the MBTA is in an epic freefall. The agency is on its way to being a Harvard Business School case […]