It’s been a generation or two since the GOP in Massachusetts – the so-called Saltonstall, Sargent, and Lodge Republicans who would now be termed RINOs on the national stage – […]
National Politics
Posted inPolitics, The Download
The whirling revolving door
What do you call a long-time congressional staff member? A chump. Lawrence Lessig , the Harvard law professor who has been on a crusade against the corrupting influence of money […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Flood insurance follies
The federal government was losing its shirt subsidizing the flood insurance of homeowners, so it passed a law in 2012 requiring the homeowners to pay more. But now that premiums […]
Posted inHealth Care, Politics
Leading the fight against e-cigarettes
When Susan Liss became the top lobbyist for Massachusetts in Washington in 2006, she had a million things to juggle, from the rollout of the state’s new health care law […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Warren and de Blasio: Dueling liberalisms
Those hungry for a liberal revival have seen the election over the last 14 months of Elizabeth Warren to the US Senate and Bill de Blasio as mayor of New […]
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Chris Christie’s bridge to nowhere
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has been touting his image as a bridge to bipartisanship in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election. The bridge, it seems, has collapsed. We […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Scott Brown’s northern exposure
Conservatives may be cheering on former Massachusetts senator Scott Brown’s likely New Hampshire US Senate run next year. But the inevitability of Brown is getting a little old for our […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics, State House News Service
Addivinola faces uphill challenge
The parking lot is overflowing at the Winchester Sons of Italy on a chilly November evening, so it’s a good thing that Frank Addivinola moved his weeknight campaign event from […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics, State House News Service
Clark coasting in Fifth District race
It seems the Massachusetts Fifth Congressional District special election is a mere formality for Nancy Pelosi, the minority leader of the US House of Representatives. “You can see how excited […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Warren: US faces retirement crisis
The following is a transcript of Sen. Warren’s speech on the Senate floor on Monday. I rise today to talk about the retirement crisis in this country – a crisis […]
Posted inPolitics
What Markey needs to do
It seems like yesterday—in fact it was in June—when longtime US Rep. Ed Markey of Malden won his race to succeed John Kerry in the Senate. Markey’s win only entitled […]
Posted inHealth Care, Politics, The Download
The first breach of the Obamacare fortress?
There have been other changes already made in the Affordable Care Act , a.k.a. Obamacare, such as delaying the employer mandate for a year and freeing religious organizations from providing […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Elizabeth Warren’s 2016 nightmare
There are a few speed bumps on the way to Hillary Clinton’s long march to a possible 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, and one of them is the senior senator from […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Katherine Clark takes the fifth
State Sen. Katherine Clark’s victory in the crowded Democratic primary field almost assuredly fast tracks her to Washington, DC, just in time to cope with the fallout from the creep […]
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David Koch: Pariah and patron
Billionaire New Yorker David H. Koch landed in both Boston newspapers on Friday for very different reasons. The Herald ran a story on an environmental group that is calling on […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Patrick embarrassed by government shutdown
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICEA sharp-tongued Gov. Deval Patrick on Wednesday said he was “embarrassed” by having to explain the government shutdown to a group of visiting students from London this […]
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Scott Brown is taken aback by politics
The sitting senator sent out a fundraising appeal, citing the specter of a potential challenge from a partisan television personality and commentator. The TV type immediately fired back, dismissing the […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Patrick indirect on ruling out presidential run
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICEGov. Deval Patrick was insistent Wednesday that he would stay involved in public discussions after leaving office, and less direct on whether he would “rule out” a […]
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Peter Beinart’s case for a new New Left
What do Bill de Blasio’s rise, Larry Summers’ exit, and Elizabeth Warren’s rosy future have to do with each other? Everything, according to Peter Beinart, whose 5,700-word essay last week […]
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Markey out front on Syria
US Sen. Ed Markey, who is facing reelection next year, says he would support President Obama if he orders a limited, surgical military strike against Syria, a position that puts […]
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Scott Brown as president?
Ed Markey must be breathing a little easier today. Ever since he won his US Senate seat in June, Markey has been worried about Scott Brown coming after him. Brown’s […]
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The GOP comes to town
Boston is a red town this week but the presence of the Republican National Committee’s annual summer meeting at the Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel in the Seaport District is another […]
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Get ready for some Fiscal Armageddon
House Republicans have all the zeal in the world. What they’ve lacked, until now, is some sexy branding. Sequestration does not roll off the tongue all that well. The fiscal […]
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The prism of the media
Holiday weekends are usually bereft of real news and five-day summertime weekends can be especially challenging for assignment desks. But anyone who picked up the Boston Herald on Friday morning […]
