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Obama-Day Mind-Meld
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, News /by Liam DayTo a comment left on a post on state budget cuts I made the other day at Blue Mass Group, I suggested that federal stimulus dollars might only exacerbate the structural problems in the Commonwealth’s budget because money that flows in this year that is applied to operating expenses will, eventually, have to be supplemented once federal stimulus is off the table. As I wrote, Relying on federal money to close an FY10 budget gap would simply be kicking the difficult decisions we need to make down the road. Well, now, in a meeting with the Washington Post’s editorial board, President-elect Obama had this to say when discussing Social Security, Medicare and the country’s long-term budget deficits: What we have […]
Someone please strip of him of his chairmanship
/3 Comments/in Blog, News /by Liam DayIt seems Edolphus Towns, the incoming Democratic Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, is calling for hearings on college football’s Bowl Championship Series. He’s even considering subpoenas for NCAA officials, coaches, players, athletic directors and college presidents. So, let me get this straight. The economy’s in meltdown, Israel has launched a war on Hamas in Gaza, we’re fighting two wars of our own, Russia’s doing it’s annual cut-off-the-gas-to-Ukraine routine, no one seems able to account for the first $350 billion distributed during phase one of the financial sector bailout, the national debt is about to cruise by $10 trillion at 65 mph, if there’s a single state out of the 50 that isn’t staring a yawning […]
Tax Time
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Better Government, News /bySome smart aleck once said that the two most effective reforms would be to require every elected official to send their kids to public school and to fill out their taxes without any outside assistance. The second part of that point is reinforced today by the story of Treasury Secretary Geithner’s tax problems — he failed to pay a portion of his taxes during his term at the IMF and had a housekeeper who was briefly out-of-status. The point here is that the head of the New York Fed and presumptive Treasury Secretary, using an accountant, can’t properly understand the tax code. What are mere mortals supposed to do?
Who's the DINO Now
/1 Comment/in Blog, Blog: Better Government, News /byAfter a legislative hearing on public-private partnerships last month, the Governor reportedly tee’d off on one of the hearing chairs: Patrick….suggested that Baddour’s [the hearing chair] preference for privatizing roads and bridges suggested Republican leanings, according to people familiar with the conversation. Now comes news that the Mass Turnpike is indeed planning to put the turnpike service plazas out for a long-term lease. We are pleased to see the Administration’s new-found openness to the concept and hope they have had a chance to read our analysis of PPPs and case studies on their usage in Massachusetts. Given the Governor’s control of the Turnpike, this is doubtless being done with his blessing. However, with no comprehensive transportation reform plan out publicly […]
Moral Hazard
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, News /by Liam DayThe outcomes of the various bailout and stimulus packages already passed or currently being contemplated, and the lessons to be drawn from them, won’t be known in their entirety for quite some time, if ever. There is, however, one quite basic premise that is once again being revealed by the federal government’s current attempts to step in and bolster the economy. Government spending creates moral hazard. Check out the lead story in this morning’s USA Today – States continue spending sprees. Why is that? As the national daily reports, though a few states have attempted to curb spending: Most have taken a wait-and-see attitude because spending cuts may not be needed if Congress approves a large federal aid package, and […]
The Free Market Reponse to Partners-Blue Cross
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Better Government, News /bySeveral folks, including a recent commenter, have posed a similar question — if the handshake agreement between Partners and Blue Cross has raised healthcare costs so much, why hasn’t someone come up with a non-Partners insurance product? I can’t say that I have an absolute answer. But, I would point you in the direction of the closest analogue I can think of — Unicare’s Commonwealth Choice PPO plan, which is available to state employees. It limits you to a variety of community hospitals, BIDMC, and Children’s Hospital (the only contact with the Partners network, as far as I can tell. Jump on our GIC health insurance comparison website — www.gicestimator.com — and pretend to be an employee of one of […]
More Bailout Fun
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Better Government, News /byFirst, the nonsense — signaling the illogical end of this process, the…ahem…adult entertainment industry has put in for its share of funds. Next, the impossible overreach — a Massachusetts firm has put in for $1.84 billion loan to construct production facilities. Now, don’t get me wrong — I hope the company succeeds in its efforts to make next generation batteries that might catalyze the use of more electric vehicles. But, for a company with around $40 million in yearly revenues and only $205 million in assets, this is a massive bet with our money on a specific company and a specific technology. Its good business on the company’s part — they’ve found an investor willing to take equity-type risk that […]
I hope I am or at least the Governor is misinformed
/1 Comment/in Blog, News /byI have heard from folks who listen to the Eagan-Braude show on WTKK that Governor Patrick today was saying that he is not anti-charter. OK. Then, according to these listeners, he went on to say that his lack of urgency around raising the charter cap was a “red herring” or similar. Not OK. The calls from the Boston Globe, Lowell Sun, and many other places to raise the cap on charters comes on the heels of a great report done by Harvard, MIT and Duke for the Boston Foundation. Is this really the Governor’s line? He is right to say that there is a cap of 120 charter schools statewide and that we have currently 61. He is right again […]
Told You So
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Better Government, News /byMy colleague, Jim Stergios, mused a few weeks ago about Bernie Madoff and the lack of trust out there right now. And Jim is exactly right. In a previous life, I was part of group that attempted to raise an investment fund (obviously it didn’t work out, did it?). My colleagues were forever pitching the idea to a variety of placement agents, fund-of-fund operators, and miscellaneous middlemen. These gentlemen were always impeccably dressed, impossibly self-assured, and gave off a well-monied whiff that, by virtue of pedigree, education and/or previous employer, each had some link to sources of capital. That fund never got raised (obviously) but I was reminded of those particular types as I read Harry Markopolos’ devastating critique of […]
Thickheadedness
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /byA rather odd article by Jamie Vaznis of the Globe on charters and pilots. The Boston Foundation-commissioned study does exactly what Vaznis notes in the first sentence: “A new study indicates that Boston charter schools significantly outperform the city’s traditional schools, but raises new questions about the city’s experimental pilot schools.” But then he goes on to use most of the rest of the article to question pilots. A little more of the clearly good news about charters would have been helpful–and less story fishing. The story is very good–just so heartening as to our ability to address the achievement gap. By comparing students who got into charter schools by lottery against those who were not chosen by lottery, the […]
Overstimulated
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Better Government, News /byEd Glaeser has an interesting and thoughtful piece in today’s Globe on the various stimulus ideas floating around. I am a bit concerned about the rush to spend billions of dollars willy-nilly. The stimulus package has turned into a Christmas Tree of sorts, with every group hanging their desired ornament on it. But I fear most people are not paying attention to the details. The State has cranked out its list. There are some worthy projects here, but there is also a lot that has not been fully vetted. $200 million for rebates for biomass pellet furnaces? $200 million buys you about 60,000 of those furnaces outright (against a housing stock base of around 2.5 million) and it increases as […]
Will they give the money back?
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Better Government, News /byAs I was walking to work this AM, a cab (thanks hackney license #385!) ran a red light, stopping only to berate me for walking in a crosswalk with a walk signal. It got me to thinking about the fare increase of this summer. Back in August, in the throes of the gas crisis, the city of Boston raised rates after a series of complaints by cab drivers and their representatives. I advocated back then for a break in the artificial monopoly that supresses the number of cabs in the city (read the comments too). As gas prices have dropped from $4+ in August to less then half that (at least where I live), the new, higher rates remain in […]
If Kant had had a nose for public policy
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /byPassed on by a friend with a mathematical appreciation for symmetry, and for that balance of responsibility and opportunity, in public affairs is a recent letter to the Wall Street Journal: I read with interest the president-elect’s appointment of Arne Duncan as Secretary of Education. Mr. Duncan may in fact be the right man for the job, but if the president-elect and his new secretary really wish to fix public education, they need only push through one change: It is hereby illegal for any member of Congress to send his or her children to any nonpublic elementary, junior or senior high school. What do you think? My guess is the whole system would be fixed over the weekend. Our friendly […]
Cut the Income Tax! Raise the Sales Tax! Lower and Raise Property Taxes!
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Better Government, News /byHey, its not my idea. It’s a proposal floated by a consultant to the the Readiness Project, tucked in an appendix to the Readiness Finance Commission, released on New Year’s Eve (see “Beware the Doldrums“). To quote from the appendix itself: 1. Increase the burdens of state-level general sales taxes by 25 percent and state-level selective sales taxes by 60 percent. 2. Create a local-level general sales tax with a burden of $2.00 per $1,000 of personal income. 3. Decrease state-level personal income taxes by 15 percent and state-level corporate income taxes by 10 percent. 4. Decrease local-level property taxes by 10 percent but create a state-level property tax with a burden of about $1.50 per $1,000 of personal income. […]
Parking garages are silly investments for the State
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Better Government, News /byToday’s Globe reports on a bond bill earmark that gives Salem funding to build a parking garage. The article focuses on environmental advocates objections. They (correctly) don’t want to see the bulk of Transit-Oriented Development funding going to a single project. And I’ll give you another reason to dislike the idea — parking garages should be able to support themselves. If there really is ‘demand’ for parking, then people will pay for it. And if parking generates a revenue stream, then it should be able to finance some portion of the garage, if not all of it. Perhaps a private developer could be given a 20 year lease to take any risk off of the community. Don’t believe me, take […]