TO BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, the concept of thrift represented a forward-looking way of life in the New World. Franklin believed that by harnessing its twin virtues of industry and frugality, which […]
Ben Franklin was right
Posted inEconomy, Politics, The Download
Gains and credit in the state’s tax foundation
The $27.4 billion budget headed for the governor’s desk contains outside sections that would attempt to smooth out the state’s year-to-year budget gyrations and reveal whether the hundreds of millions […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
May brings more service jobs, fewer construction jobs
Massachusetts gained 4,900 jobs last month, according to the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, the first time we saw an increase since May 2008. The shift from blue- […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Did the pension bill go far enough?
NECN's Jim Braude talks with CommonWealth executive editor Michael Jonas about the public pension reform bill signed by Gov. Patrick. Jonas says that the bill mostly goes after "low-hanging fruit." […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
A perfectly reasonable approach to getting rid of MCAS?
Opponents of standardized tests as a requirement for high school graduation take note. The California Legislature has made a move toward eliminating that state's version of MCAS — apparently because […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Can we talk?
Correction: My face is red. Even though the artist John Ewing received a 2009 Knight Foundation grant announced Wednesday for his Virtual Street Corners project, the dates we gave you were […]
Posted inEnvironment, The Download
Cape Wind counterpart in Greenfield?
This time it's a biomass power plant rather than a wind farm, but once again residents are protesting a renewable energy source because of local environmental concerns. From the Springfield […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
We’re not necessarily the most dysfunctional state, part two
Last week we pointed out the sandbox politics in the New York state Senate (update here). Today let's travel to California and marvel at the fleet of luxury cars that […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Plymouth Rock Studios loses state aid because it would attract too many movie projects
A proposed movie studio in Plymouth lost its bid for a $50 million state infrastructure subsidy last week largely because it would have been too successful in attracting movies to […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Bunker Hill Day bunk
If the cries of outrage over the possible elimination of Bunker Hill Day and Evacuation Day as paid holidays for government workers in Suffolk County didn't already seem absurd to any […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Candidates with more money won in Mass. last year — with a dozen exceptions
Legislative elections nearly always go to the candidate with more money, and the candidate with more money is almost always an incumbent. That's the upshot of the 71-page report released […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Billerica betrayed by town manager?
The Boston Globe reports that Billerica town manager William F. Williams resigned this morning after "peeving" selectmen by making negative remarks about the town at a Greater Lowell Chamber of […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Expectedly bad year for public pensions in Massachusetts
The Pioneer Institute's Steve Poftak looks at how the state's public pension systems fared in last year's horrible, horrible market (see full report here), and the news is unsurprisingly awful:…almost […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Menino’s changing school stories
In 2006, Boston won the prestigious Broad Prize, which each year recognizes the top urban school district in the country. It may have been the worst thing to happen to […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Patrick snubs Plymouth Rock Studios in Murray’s district
The Patrick administration late today turned down a request for $50 million in infrastructure improvements for a proposed new movie studio in Plymouth, the hometown of Senate President Therese Murray. A spokeswoman […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Lessons from the New York Senate
With a third consecutive House speaker under indictment and a membership that seems more committed to preserving "hack holidays" than enacting reform, the Massachusetts Legislature isn't held in very high […]
Posted inEducation, Politics, The Download
Will Menino campaign against the teachers’ union?
For many, the phrase "charter school" conjures up images of parental choice and innovation, of passionate young educators taking the place of frowsy, lazy clock-watchers in sensible shoes. So it […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Are Sal’s pals in trouble?
And by that I don't mean the ex-speaker's three co-defendants (who certainly are) or former aides or other business associates (none of whom have been charged in the case), but […]
Posted inEconomy, State House News Service, The Download
Senate wants to hide names of tax credit recipients
Can you have tax credit transparency without identifying who's receiving the tax credits? That's the question facing House and Senate budget negotiators as they try to resolve differences between two […]
Posted inThe Download, Transportation
Logan Airport wins arbitrary award for bewilderment
J.D. Power has ranked Boston's Logan Airport 16th out of 21 "medium" airports in its recently released "2008 North America Airport Satisfaction Study." Its best category, with four out of […]
Posted inThe Download, Transportation
The trains will be on time… ish
The old saw about the regularity of a scheduled train is "you can set your watch by it." When a train is ready to leave at 12:38, there is no "ish" attached […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Sal makes three
Today's federal indictment of former House speaker Sal DiMasi fills out the ignominious trifecta many had been anticipating for several months: three straight Massachusetts House speakers indicted on charges related to activities […]
Posted inHealth Care, The Download
The medical mystery of McAllen, Texas
Harvard Medical School's Atul Gawande has a fantastic investigative piece — with the structure of a detective novel — in this week's New Yorker. "The Cost Conundrum" is about rising […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
With charter schools stalled, poor kids lose
State Sen. Robert O'Leary, just four months into his new role as co-chairman of the Legislature's education committee, says he has a lot of homework to get up to speed on […]