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Portland is a City that Doesn’t Work?
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, Economic Opportunity, Housing, News /by Scott W. Graves and Micaela DawsonI walk to work, and I cannot for the life of me understand how people can sit in traffic for hours. I love cars–especially fast cars. Schizophrenic? No, just a pretty even-handed observer of the Smart Growthies’ passion for mass transit and walkable cities and the car-lovers’ and business’ passion for get up and go. I have given up on seeing an absolutely objective narrative of how well or poorly Portland’s Urban Growth Boundary/transit-oriented development experiment has gone. I would note that Randal O’Toole of the Cato Institute, long-time resident of Portland and author of the about to be released The Best-Laid Plans: How Government Planning Harms Your Quality of Life, Your Pocketbook and Your Future, is as systematic an […]
Shoot, did I miss Bastille Day?
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /by Liam DayFirst of all, let me just say how proud I am of my fellow Pioneers: eight, now nine, blog posts in a single day. A new Institute record, I do believe. And let me just also say how honored I am to have inspired two of them, which, I suppose, require me to respond. I was looking forward to posting on the Red Sox’ disappearing lead, but no matter. My own research had led me to believe the ancient Egyptians invented the tie, but I will defer to my learned colleague. Where we agree is in its modern inception: the court of the Sun King. Where we also agree is Jim’s suspicion of my revolutionary tendencies, but, alas, I am […]
Questionable ties
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /by Scott W. Graves and Micaela DawsonFrom a website providing “the history of the necktie” come several hypotheses re: M. Day’s refusal to provision himself of a necktie: He is anti-Chinese: The first neckties, it seems, date back to the China B.C. He is anti-Croat or anti-French. Per the above-mentioned site: “The Sun King,” Louis XIV of France, was intrigued and delighted by the colorful silk kerchiefs worn around the necks of Croatian mercenaries. A crack regiment, the soldiers were presented at court around 1660 so the King could thank them for a victory against the Hapsburg Empire… Many experts believe the French word for tie, cravat, is a corruption of “Croat.” Or he is a revolutionary. Per the same: In fact, French kings maintained an […]
The Emerging Anti-Necktie Consensus
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Better Government, News /byThe necktie debate has roiled through our office several times. The following was brought to our attention by the Liam Day Joint Harvard-Oxford-Middlebury Institute for the Elimination of Class Distinctions: The National Health Service of Britain has called for the elimination of neckties for health workers, based on sanitary reasons, claiming that: Ties are rarely laundered but worn daily. They perform no beneficial function in patient care and have been shown to be colonised by pathogens.
A LOT of GBH tote bags
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, Economic Opportunity, Housing, News /byI like “Sesame Street,” as I don’t think pre-school children should be exposed to the latest in advertiser-driven brain-stem stimulation. I also enjoy “Greater Boston.” That said, I do object to the Olympian enshrinement of Ken Burns, Buster Bunny, and Emily Rooney in WGBH’s new technicolor monstrosity of a road hazard. How can a place that really, really needs $20 gifts from Inspector Lynley-loving librarians toss so much coin around? Is anyone else nervous about Boston’s annexation by Nonprofitstan? Private citizens and businesses default and run, bridges rot and slot machines jingle as colleges and “non-commercial” media outlets splurge on name-brand architects. [Black Kettle Alert: Yes, Pioneer is a nonprofit too. If anyone would like to engage Renzo Piano or […]
Great Pension Resource
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, Blog: Better Government /byWe did a paper last year detailing the cost of pension gaming to the Commonwealth. The Herald has just put up a database of all the pension recipients and their yearly payouts. Many old friends show up….
A Big Wet Kiss for Racinos
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, Blog: Better Government, Economic Opportunity, News /byThe Globe’s Stan Grossfeld plants exactly that in today’s Globe with a puff piece on Pennsylvania’s experience with racinos. Unsurprisingly, a declining industry that receives a massive subsidy experiences a bit of resurgence, but the unasked question is why should we be subsidizing horse owners above any number of other worthy recipients. Also conveniently absent is any reference to the massive profits that the former track owners made when they sold their facilities after purchasing below-market fixed price licenses. One of the details in the Patrick Administration’s casino plan that we were glad to see is the presence of a competitive bid process (as opposed to granting fixed-price licenses to racetracks, which was floated last year). Check out our op-ed […]
Darwin Award Candidate
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Better Government, News /byYesterday’s Globe reports on charges filed against a Vermont man, who may need to ponder the consistency of his actions: “A Vermont man charged with helping convicted tax evaders Ed and Elaine Brown evade authorities left a trail of evidence showing his allegiance, authorities said yesterday. Robert Wolffe showed his devotion to the Browns and his wish for an armed showdown with authorities via blogs and e-mail, even e-mailing a manual on how to kill government officials to his wife at work, an employee in the Vermont division of the Federal Highway Administration, a prosecutor alleged.” [Emphasis added]
McKay is increasingly OK
/0 Comments/in Blog, News, Related Education Blogs /by Scott W. Graves and Micaela DawsonFlorida’s McKay scholarship program is increasingly a model to other states (but, no, not Massachusetts). The McKay program provides nearly 20,000 scholarships to Florida special-needs students to attend private scools, if that is the preference of their parents. In May Gov. Sonny Perdue of Georgia signed a similar bill into law. The state senate in Nevada, which is not especially known for educational experimentation, passed a bill calling for a McKay-style program earlier this year. On October 5, Pioneer is holding an event marking the release of a report on the use of tax credits and tax deductions to promote scholarships for students in failing schools or other select groups such as students who have special needs. Boston University School […]
Taxes and Tolls
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, News /by Liam DayAs promised, today’s Mass Media headlines on the homepage will be devoted to toll hikes and gas taxes – yesterday’s were to casino gambling – and all of it – new tolls, taxes and pleasure palaces – in pursuit of revenue to cover the cost of road and bridge repair, local and state obligations to public employees and retirees, and with maybe a little something left over for property tax relief (or so the Governor hopes). I have no problem with the Governor and Legislature publicly discussing new sources of revenue to cover the cost of some pretty enormous liabilities staring us in the face. My problem is the exclusive focus on new revenues. There is a flip side to […]
Always double down on 11
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /by Liam DayThat is, of course, unless the dealer is showing a face card. There seem to be four, and as far as I can tell only four, newsworthy stories in the Commonwealth these days: the Patriot’s spy scandal, ’78 redux, higher tolls and gas taxes, and (can’t you just hear the incessant tingling of the slot machines) casino gambling. In the spirit of the press’ focus, we have devoted the entire Mass Media list on the homepage today to coverage of the Governor’s casino proposal, including editorial reaction from the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Springfield Republican and South Coast Today. Tomorrow’s focus will be tolls and gas taxes. In the interim, if the dealer’s showing a 6 and you’re sitting on […]
PACho Libre?
/0 Comments/in Blog, News, Related Education Blogs /by Scott W. Graves and Micaela DawsonOK, I swear to god this is true. Friends at the Mackinac Center passed this on. The Michigan Education Association PAC has a wonderfully revelatory video they released in the spring. It’s called PACho Libre and, yes, you can see it for yourself by clicking here. A dark day in the future pro wrestlers have wrested control of the public schools and given a body slam to thinking and learning (and of course to funding). Up steps a teacher, who, uh, wearing a Nacho Libre mask, courageously takes on the wrestlers and then goes toe-to-toe with the equivalent of Vince McMahon, the real enemy, who is “The Legislator.” Gulp. The suspense is too much. Now this 21-minute piece of nonsense […]
Not yet a Declaration of Independence but Getting There
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, News /by Scott W. Graves and Micaela DawsonIn an op-ed in the Saturday Globe, Father Monan and Michael Keating deliver some very good news on the Trial Court. In March 2002 Pioneer released A Declaration of Independence, a detailed and highly critical report on the mismatch of resources to court caseload. On the heels of the Pioneer report, Chief Justice Marshall established the Visiting Committee on Management in the Courts and invited Father Monan, Chancellor of Boston College, to chair the committee. The Monan Commission “issued an harsh assessment of court operations” a year after the Pioneer report and developed numerous recommendations. Two points of good news from the Mass Trial Court that deserve special highlight: The Trial Court has adopted the National Center for State Courts’ […]
Shameless Plug
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, News /by Liam DayActually, this is more a vain attempt to bring attention to a new Pioneer website feature, what we call Mass Media, a daily compilation of articles from newspapers across the Commonwealth. In the wake of today’s Boston Globe headline, I’d like to offer a quick thought on casino gambling. I should disclose at the outset that Pioneer has not studied the issue and, therefore, has no institutional position on the prospect of legalized casino gambling in the Commonwealth. Neither have I, personally, staked out a position on the issue. I admit to a certain trepidation regarding it, but that does not mean the potential benefits to the state wouldn’t outweigh the costs. Besides, I don’t believe government’s role should include […]
Do we know how to pick ’em?
/0 Comments/in Blog, Economic Opportunity, News /by Liam DayFrom the Worcester Telegram & Gazette: The Devens boom, an editorial extolling the recent announcement by Evergreen Solar they are building a $165 million dollar facility on the former army base. One of the deciding factors appears to have been (fanfare, please) “a streamlined permitting process.” Not to toot our horn, but we anticipated this. The Unified Permitting System for the Redevelopment of Fort Devens was, in fact, the winner of this year’s Better Government Competition. Apparently, foresight is 20/20.