I am proud to be a Democrat. I contribute to other Democrats who run for office. I do not contribute to Republicans as a rule. I don’t contribute to people […]
Argument
The vanishing T token
The world of high technology has transformed Massachusetts economically. Could fare collection at the T be the next inroad for electronica? Thanks to an overhaul this year in the way […]
Summer school scenes
Like a lot of other students in the Boston public schools this past summer, 15-year-old Christine Dihigo needed a little push. By her own admission, Christine, a self-confident girl with […]
Revolvingdoor prisons
Urban anti-crime activists say they have two groups of people to worry about in the coming years: the large cohort of youngsters now aging into their teenage years and the […]
Pay hike for prosecutors
The Legislature may have granted the wish of the Commonwealth’s assistant district attorneys for more pay, but in doing so law makers have opened a budgetary Pandora’s box for their […]
Tapped Out
The signs posted all over town proclaimed, “Water Ban in Effect.” But it was hard to take them seriously. July in Massachusetts was unusually cool and wet, and Franklin, an […]
Education reform for adults
Meet young Dale Hollingsworth and don’t be surprised if Matt Damon’s Good Will Hunting comes to mind. Like the hit film’s title character, the attractive, charismatic 25-year-old spends his days […]
CPR for the GOP
Despite national ascendancy and a 10-year hold on the governor’s office, Massachusetts Republicans seem weaker than ever. We asked diagnosticians from both ends of the political spectrum how to revive […]
McDonoughs adventures in politics and political theory
Experiencing Politics: A Legislator’s Stories of Government and Health CareBy John E. McDonough University of California/Milbank Memorial Fund, Berkeley, 2000, 336 pages.Several years ago, I worked in Congress on a […]
Hoff Sommers and the war between the sexes
The War Against Boys: How Misguided Feminism is Harming Our Young Men By Christina Hoff Sommers Simon & Schuster, New York, 2000, 253 pages. The War Against Boys is an […]
No parking in Amherst
AMHERST — This is a town that prides itself on the elevated nature of much of its civic discourse. Amherst town meeting regularly takes stands on issues of high philosophical, […]
Ethically challenged in Randolph
RANDOLPH-The state’s conflict-of-interest law provides little wiggle room for volunteer members of town boards, as two Randolph officials found out this year–the hard way. In June, Philip Nelson, a landscaper […]
Adult educational attainment
Massachusetts residents are among the country’s best educated, but not everyone is prepared for a knowledge-driven world. Bay State adults rank fourth in college education, with 31 percent holding a […]
How to avoid sentencing scandals
The furor over Superior Court Judge Maria Lopez’s sentence of Charles Horton to home confinement and probation for abducting a child and sexually assaulting him at the point of a […]
The daddy track
A little time off at birth doesn’t solve the working-parent dilemma So Tony Blair is back at the office, his parental leave fading into memory. The arrival of little Leo […]
Robert Putnam on the decline of civic life
IF ANYONE HAS ever put to the test Andy Warhol’s famous thesis that everyone is accorded 15 minutes of fame, it is Robert D. Putnam. A former dean of the […]
Understanding the health care crisis that isn’t but could be
At a regional health forum in March, House Speaker Thomas Finneran bluntly told an audience of 300, “I do not believe our health care system is in crisis.” During a […]
Counterpoint
There are two separate components to our current housing problem–the need for “affordable housing” and the equally important need for housing that can be made affordable. The distinction might be […]
Argument
During a two-week period this spring, 27,000 low-income households in Massachusetts applied for federal housing vouchers to help pay their rent. They joined at least 60,000 families already waiting for […]
The debt cap that isnt
When state leaders approved a $2.4 billion Big Dig bailout this spring, they said their plan was responsible. And they said it was fair to taxpayers. What they didn’t say […]
State seal
Native American wearing moccasins, a disembodied arm holding a sword, and some words in Latin that hardly anyone can understand. How did Massachusetts end up with this conglomeration of images […]
Massachusettss overseas sales force
Gov. Paul Cellucci and other state officials have caught flak over the years for their frequent trips and trade missions to foreign countries. But some state workers who promote Massachusetts […]
Dwyer leads lawyers lobby for legal aid
The crowd assembled inside the State House to lobby for more legal aid for the needy didn’t exactly fit the stereotype of poor people’s advocates. These were no law students […]
Banking on sick leave
There’s nothing like providing a job benefit one worker at a time. But that’s the way it is when it comes to supporting some government employees during an extended illness. […]
