Gov. keeps your $$ working for hacks

While your paycheck decreases, managers get $4 grand pay raise

There are two Americas. John Edwards was right.

But not in the way that the Anthony Weiner of the last decade could have ever imagined.

The two Americas are the Dreaded Private Sector, where the real unemployment rate hovers close to 20 percent, and housing prices have taken a bigger plunge than they did during the Great Depression.

And then there’s Public Sector America, where the good times never end.

Just ask Gov. Deval Patrick. On a day when the stock market lost another 172 points, he announced that he’s handing out still more pay raises, this time to 4,000 state “managers,” also known as hacks.

What a week. The secretary of state, Bill Galvin, gets a $10 million settlement from the thieves at Goldman Sachs, and the very next day Deval hands over the entire score to a different group of sticky-fingered payroll patriots.

No money for the state workers who actually do the menial labor, but plenty for the “managers.”

You know the kind of people who “manage” in state government. A lot of them drive state cars — with untraceable license plates, if they’re really connected. And they’ve all got fancy titles loaded with diminutives — “special assistant to the deputy director for the associate undersecretary.”

They telecommute on Fridays. And on snow days, well, would you care to guess if they’re essential or non-essential, or should I use the new hack euphemisms, “emergency” and “non-emergency.”

In case you were wondering, Deval’s 4,000 campaign contributors, I mean managers, didn’t really get a raise. It was a “wage adjustment.”

It had to be done, Deval said in a statement, in order to “retain and recruit a talented and competitive work force.”

Are you kidding, Deval? Has anyone ever quit the public payroll except under extreme personal duress? Like, as part of a plea bargain. Deval’s flack said that state managers have made “incredible sacrifices.” Right — several agencies have cancelled their weekly popover eating contests at Anthony’s Pier 4.

There’s a Robert Frost poem, “The Road Not Taken.” It sums up the difference between the two Americas.

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by.”

The hack road, in other words. It’s less traveled by because it was Monday and everybody phoned in sick. Then they “worked” for three days and all of them banged in sick again on Friday. The road less taken . . .

“And that has made all the difference.”

It did for Tom Kinton. If the outgoing boss of Massport had taken the DPS Road, he’d probably be working now at a service desk somewhere in Shoppers World. Instead, he walks out the door groaning under the weight of all his gelt — a $200,000 pension, $459,000 in what is called unused sick time, another $80,000 in insurance policy dividends . . .

Getting a hack job at an early age. To paraphrase Frost, that makes all the difference.

GOOD TIMES ROLL: Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick
just OK’d a raise for the state’s 4,000 managers.




Donnie Howie Michael Bill

Unlike the others, we tell you what's really happening.

Taxes keep rising despite property Deval-uation

How can this be? The value of your home keeps going down, yet the property taxes never stop going up.

Back in 2006, didn’t candidate Deval Patrick promise to cut property taxes? If he does have to testify under oath at Sal DiMasi’s corruption trial next week, I hope someone asks him about that pledge, just to establish his reputation for veracity, or lack thereof.

“Governor, did you know you were lying when you vowed to cut property taxes, or maybe we all misunderstood you, and you really meant to say you were going to cut property values? Which is it?”

It’s that time of year again. Proposition 2 1⁄2 override season. Saturday they passed one in Scituate. Wherever you go, it’s the same old story. The selectmen say they’ve made “Draconian cuts.” They’re dealing with “fixed costs.”

Fixed costs means they can’t lay off their wife’s nephew.

Isn’t municipal government grand? I can sum it up in two words: Willie Lantigua.

And so the tax bills just keep on rising. Just ask Kathy from Foxboro.

“I bought my house in 2006 for $330,000, it’s now worth $240,000,” she was saying the other night. “The town claimed I had a ‘finished basement.’ I took the assessor down to see it. It has a dirt floor, only it was mud, because it still had 3 inches of water in it from the flooding last spring.”

Surely the town did the right thing by you, Kathy.

“I got a $17 reduction. I thought it was a joke when I saw the bill. Seventeen bucks.”

Another Draconian cut. Nowadays, everybody is running down to City or Town Hall to file for an abatement. But don’t forget to call ahead. A lot of these places close early now.

Town Hall’s got a million excuses for why your tax bill keeps going up.

State law, don’t you know. What’s theirs is theirs, and what’s yours is theirs.

And God forbid anybody suggests maybe level-funding the school budget. They immediately threaten to cancel the football season.

“I bought my house in Springfield in 2005 for $150,000,” a guy named Joe was saying, “and I just sold it for $95,000. But my property taxes went from $2,500 to $3,000.”

And why do you have to file for a new abatement every year? If the house was overvalued last year, why does it go back to the old overvaluation this year?

Meanwhile, on Beacon Hill, the state hacks were holding a hearing last week to raise the income tax. They call it “An Act to Invest in Our Communities.”

Invest in our communities — sorry, I already did. In my own, and in Willie Lantigua’s.

What promise? No wonder why Deval Patrick will
not run another term. So many broken promises.
Property tax relief was just one of them.




Donnie Howie Michael Bill

Unlike the others, we tell you what's really happening.

Fuel for firing Obama

by Michael Graham


President would raise dependency on foreign oil


This is the headline from The New York Times Web site yesterday: “Obama Lays Out Plan to Cut Reliance on Fuel Imports.”

Did I say “headline?” I meant “laugh line.”

Because President Barack Obama giving a speech on increasing U.S. oil production is like Charlie Sheen lecturing me to “Just Say No.” It inspires more than merely a raised eyebrow. We’re in full-on Pelosi Forehead territory here.

Obama yesterday set a goal of reducing the amount of oil we import by 3 million barrels a day over the next 10 years. And part of the solution is his hard work promoting more domestic production, he managed to say with a straight face.

Barack Obama — oil producer? The same Obama who rejected any new drilling during the 2008 campaign?

Who actually suggested we forget drilling and “properly inflate our tires?”

Who imposed a moratorium on all new drilling in 2010?

The same President Obama who . . . well, I’ll let the liberal-leaning Washington Post take over from here:

“When was the last time an American president stood before an audience in a foreign country and announced that he looked forward to importing more of its oil? Answer: Just over a week ago,” the Post wrote, referring to Obama’s visit to Brazil, where he promised American subsidies for Brazilian offshore drilling, and the promise that “when you’re ready to start selling, we want to be one of your best customers.”

So Obama’s plan to reduce our dependency on foreign oil is to travel to other countries, offer to pay them to drill off their own coasts so we can buy more of their oil? Please tell me I’m missing something here.

If Obama were urging everyone to develop their oil reserves, that would be one thing. But while he’s subsidizing Brazil’s oil workers, he’s simultaneously punishing ours.

In December, he announced that his moratorium on oil exploration off our own East and West coasts and the eastern Gulf of Mexico would continue “indefinitely.”

He still opposes drilling in the vast, empty Alaskan wasteland that is the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. And the American Petroleum Institute pointed out yesterday that “based on current policy, that this could be the first year since 1957 the U.S. doesn’t issue a single new drilling permit.”

In other words, “Read Obama’s lips: No new oil.”

So how do we cut down on imports?

Why, by getting more production out of our existing wells, of course!

Yeah, about that . . .

“[The Department of Energy] predicted that domestic offshore oil production will fall 13 percent this year from 2010 due to the moratorium and the slow return to drilling,” The Wall Street Journal noted in an editorial earlier this year, “ . . . a loss of about 220,000 barrels of oil a day.”

When Obama claimed yesterday that existing oil production is high, he’s telling the truth — but it has absolutely nothing to do with his anti-production policies.

According to Amy Harder at National Journal magazine, “most, if not all, of the production increase recorded is likely due to action that predates Obama, since Obama didn’t take any major action expanding offshore drilling his first year in office.”

Guess what, Amy — he still hasn’t.

“Barack the Internationalist” I’ll believe. “Barack Obama, Repairer of Race Relations,” I’ll tag along. Even “Barack Obama, Savior Of The Banking Industry (especially Goldman Sachs)” I can take.

But “Barack the Oil Bringer?” No way.

Everyone already knows about the president’s true energy policy. In fact, this headline appeared in the Christian Science Monitor just a couple of weeks ago:

“Gas prices too high? Obama may not think so. He’s pumped to use high oil prices.”

Tell us something we don’t know.

President Obama, salutes as he steps off of Marine One onto the

South Lawn of the White House, to announce his 10 year plan on

reducing dependency on foreign oil.

Donnie Howie Michael Bill

Unlike the others, we tell you what's really happening.

No leadership on Libya

Obama's crafty but not smart

by Michael Graham
Tuesday, Mar. 22, 2011

Building on the success of “Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?” Fox Television has begun production on a sure-fire hit: “Are You Smarter Than The President Of The United States?”

And in this show — everybody wins!

That’s because almost every American citizen — with the possible exception of the members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation — is smarter about Libya than Barack Obama

Really — you are, right now, more intelligent than the Smartest President Ever.

For example, would you launch a military attack in Libya without being able to answer the question: “Why am I attacking Libya?” No way.

But that’s just what Obama has done. Are we attacking Libya to get rid of kooky Col. Moammar Gadhafi? Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says yes.

“We do believe that a final result of any negotiations would have to be the decision by [Gadhafi] to leave,” she told Reuters on Friday.

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Gen. Carter Ham, who’s overseeing the action, both say “no.” They can see Gadhafi still being in power when this mission is over.

And Obama?

He’s playing soccer on the streets of Rio with some school kids. Apparently “My Pet Goat” hasn’t been translated into Portuguese.

“The international community rallied and said we have to stop any potential atrocities in Libya, and provided a broad mandate in addition to that specific task,” Obama said yesterday after arriving in Chile.

So it’s just a humanitarian mission. Obama says “no” regime change.

But wait — there’s more!

“I also have stated that it is U.S. policy that Gadhafi has to go,” he added. So we’re finally going to get rid of the terror-sponsoring SOB who’s killed hundreds of Americans in terrorist attacks, including the Lockerbie bombing. Right?

“We’ve got a wide range of tools in addition to our military efforts to support that policy,” Obama concluded.

So we’re just on a humanitarian mission that has nothing to do with toppling Gadhafi, except that it’s our policy to topple him, only we’re not going to use the military.

We’re only going to blow up stuff that won’t knock Gadhafi out of office? Terrific.

At this point, allow me to be the 3,749th opinion writer to point out that a policy which a) stops Gadhafi from committing atrocities against his people while b) leaving him in power to commit future atrocities is idiotic. It’s like saying, “We don’t want to catch the Boston Strangler, we just want to make sure he stays home watching TV for now.”

Some smart people believe that America standing aside and allowing Gadhafi to turn eastern Libya into the new Bosnia or Darfur would be a geopolitical disaster. They say it would undermine our allies and hurt America’s credibility across the Middle East.

Other smart people say Tripoli isn’t worth the blood of a single American airman, and we should leave the Libyans to have their civil war.

But nobody, other than the president, is saying both.

Rudy Giuliani, who knows a thing or two about leadership during crisis, told National Review yesterday that “if [Obama] thought that it would be in America’s national interest to remove Gadhafi, he should have already outlined steps two, three and four. It does not seem like he has done that.”

As for launching a no-fly zone and promising no ground forces, Giuliani notes, “I don’t know why he has to decide that right now except for political reasons. Strategically, you want Gadhafi thinking that we might use troops.”

What the president really wants people thinking is “Whatever happens in Libya, none of it is Obama’s fault.”

In this image taken from Libya State TV, broadcast,
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi says he will fight
imposed "no fly zone."

Donnie Howie Michael Bill

Unlike the others, we tell you what's really happening.

'D'stands for dysfunctional, not dynasty

Patriot fans finish last again


by Howie Carr
Thursday, Jan. 20, 2011

There is no joy in Shillville — the “dynasty” got a bone in its throat for the sixth consecutive year.

It’s over. Now, please, can all of you jock-sniffers, cheerleaders, frontrunners and pom-pom boys just Get Over It and move on to the next overhyped sporting event.

I’ve got it — Beanpot Fever Sweeps Hub!

Oh, the inconsolable gloom that envelops Patsies Nation. I heard that on Sunday night after the stomping, some local loser issued this plaintive cry:

“My win-tah is spoiled!”

On Sunday, “we” were going to the Super Bowl. Then “they” lost.

Really, it would take a heart of stone not to laugh. But now it’s time to take the Patriots flag down from your front door, and it’s way past time to get that Patriots spare-tire cover off the back of the SUV, not to mention to put away the Triple XL Brady No. 12 sweatshirts.

Most of all, it’s time for these overwrought, overweight yahoos to stop thinking. There’s something not quite healthy about this obsession a certain class of males around here has for Mr. Gisele Bundchen.

Like, why do they hate the supermodel so much? Are they ... jealous? Some of these guys, when you hear them breathing heavily as they gush about Brady, you start thinking two words: restraining order.

The fellowship of the miserable, as Rick Pitino once described this sad collection, gravitates to two radio outlets: one appeals to 30-year-old men who live in their mom’s basement — the other to 50-year-old men who live in their mom’s basement.

Remember Brady’s fender-bender in the Back Bay in September. The basement boys reacted as if al-Qaeda had struck New York again. One of the room-temperature-IQ producers called 911. Like, it’s, like, Tom Brady, man, the greatest quarterback ever.

Host No. 1: I love Tom Brady more than you!

Host No. 2: No you don’t, I love Tom Brady much more than you do!

Host No. 1: Rah-rah-rah....

Host No. 2: ... sis-boom-bah.

The fans, the hosts — everybody sounds the same. Listen for two minutes and you’ll feel like you’re home on the range. Seldom is heard a discouraging word. There’s a bar right between the two stations, Hogan’s Run. If the two stations put up microphones at either end of the bar and let every Brighton boozer who wandered in just belch and burp to their heart’s content, no one listening in their car would ever notice any difference.

Hey, Brady, one last thing to think about in the offseason. A haircut.

A depressed fan remains sitting in the stands at Gillette
Stadium Sunday in disbelief over the Patriots shocking
loss against the Jets. He was later escorted by security out
of the stadium.



Donnie Howie Michael Bill

Unlike the others, we tell you what's really happening.

Hey pols, keep the $300 and buy a clue

Gov. Patrick trims legislative salaries


by Howie Carr
Thursday, Jan. 6, 2011

A $300 pay cut for the Legislature? Gov. Patrick, is this some kind of joke?

Six bucks a week? As in, that was how much the tolls were supposed to go up a few years back for most commuters, and somebody like Jim Aloisi scoffed and said it was only a sandwich a week.

So six bucks a week was nothing when it was coming out of our hides, but now that it’s coming out of yours, it’s... symbolism.

You want some symbolism, solons — let me give you a symbolic number.

The number is 100. You might even call it iconic. One hundred dollars, as in, the annual pay of a New Hampshire legislator. You know, New Hampshire, the state with no income tax and no sales tax.

Massachusetts has a 6.25 percent sales tax and a 5.3 percent income tax, and our reps’ base pay — and probably half of them are now at least $7,500 above because of their “leadership bonuses” — is now $61,133.

What is wrong with this picture?

I suppose any cut is better than nothing, but a savings of $65,000 is thin gruel indeed. Another Felon Finneran scheme goes awry — back in 1996 none of the hacks ever assumed their pay would go down, but now it has. But only until something can be worked out, perhaps by jacking up the per diem, the daily travel allowance that ranges between $10 and $110. After all, the price of gas is going up.

So, they get base pay of $61G, probably half of them (including everyone in the Senate) gets that “bonus,” the third that live more than 50 miles from the State House get a $150-a-day write-off every day the Legislature is in session.

Then there are the per diems, and the campaign-finance accounts that pay for their cars and their cell phones and their bar tabs and every other damn thing . . .

Three hundred buck pay cut?

This new year is getting off to a rather strange start at the State House. The Parole Board is enmeshed in scandal, and has the Globe even mentioned that the chairman is a former cop who was Deval’s driver in the 2006 campaign? (That’s OK, we’ve mentioned it enough for both papers.)

The new, unindicted speaker, up to his eyeballs in the Probation Department scandal, is now screaming about parole — call it Operation Change the Subject.

Deval, meanwhile, says let’s not rush to judgment, meaning don’t rush to judgment about me.

All the statewide officeholders below Deval will be sworn in on Jan. 19. That’s the first anniversary of Marsha Coakley’s stomping in the special Senate election by Scott Brown. Marsha has decided to be sworn in on the big day at the Perkins School for the Blind. No, I’m not making this stuff up.

In an interview, Gov. Deval Patrick says he will
trim salaries of lawmakers mounting the state's
$2 billion deficit



Donnie Howie Michael Bill

Unlike the others, we tell you what's really happening.