DiMasi Rex

Ready, AIM, fire! Call it what you want–line in the sand, declaration of war, shot across the bow. Can it be that, a few years into his reign as Speaker of the House, DiMasi is morphing into Amicus Consortii, the grown-up in the room, DiMasi Rex ready to brandish the sword of fiscal discipline? To push this overwrought string of descriptors further than it ever ought to have gone, is he the “salvatore” of business?

OK, if you read on, I promise to cut that junk out.

The Associated Industries of Massachusetts event on Friday showcased House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, and as the State House News noted he asserted that

state government does not need ‘new revenue sources’ and proposed economic growth through other avenues, including cost-savings for employers and investments in the manufacturing industry.

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I don’t understand why people continue to say that we need all of these new revenue sources to pay for everything. We are balancing the budget, and we know that we can balance our budget without increasing the burden on businesses or individuals. It makes no sense to me.

Moonbats fly into a rage at such talk. Well, if so, they will flip out at DiMasi Rex’s follow-up broadsides:

• He is going to let cities and towns, and the unions, work on moving into the state’s Group Insurance Commission for another year, after which, if not enough progress is made, he intends to “take the labor unions out of the equation.”
• He committed to freezing unemployment insurance rates next year.

And for a closer, how about this:

It’s funny the way people look at things. When people say we need new spending, I like to say, what about cutting spending? When people want to say new revenue, I like to say what about efficiencies and cutting costs?

In and around the state capital, that sort of talk can make you feel like a court jester. But in the case of one Egregissimo Salvatore DiMasi, he knows that it is likely to ensure that he is King of the Hill.