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Gratuitous Yankee Bashing
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Better Government, News /byNot our traditional topic, but who can resist kicking the Yankees when they are down. This post is dedicated to Pioneer’s own embedded Yankee fan, Mr. Chieppo. If you’ve followed Roger Clemens’ return, you’ve undoubted heard the live call of his reintroduction to Yankee Stadium, where WCBS Broadcaster Suzyn Waldman makes a home town call that would have made Johnny Most blush. He’s now 1-3 with an ERA of over 5. A less charitable colleague might be tempted to echo Edward G. Murrow in The Ten Commandments and ask “where’s your messiah, now?”. But not this correspondent, no sirree.
Movement on Pension Fund Consolidation
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, Blog: Better Government, Economic Opportunity, News /byPioneer brought up the idea of consolidation underperforming local pension funds in our May 2006 paper, Leaving Money on the Table. We noted that underperformance (relative to the major state fund, PRIM) had left $1.6 billion on the table in the ten year period ending in 2004. We recommended folding all the underperforming funds into PRIT. The Governor recommended folding all the funds that underperformed by 2.25% over 5 years and were below 80% funded into PRIT. Now, the Joint Committee on Public Service has recommended folding all funds that underperformed by 2% over 10 years and were below 65% funded into PRIT. The bill would have an immediate effect on 25 public pension funds that have left an estimated […]
Sure, fight the housing shortage, just not here.
/0 Comments/in Blog, Economic Opportunity, Housing, News /byIs what’s good for Springfield also good for Amherst? Friend of Pioneer Peter A. Gagliardi, leader of nonprofit housing developer HAP, Inc., has found that where one stands on affordable housing depends on where one’s property sits. Qualified families in both towns languish on waiting lists for decent homes, yet Springfield welcomes new construction, while Amherst fought a HAP project in court for five years. Gagliardi is the author of both a Pioneer housing paper and one of the best “Dear Deval” pre-inauguration Globe op-eds. He’s also a veteran, having slogged for decades through the mud hidden behind good intentions and pretty speeches about affordable housing. As proven by Gagliardi’s experience, as well as his research, those who would increase […]
Jim Stergios on MCAS
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Better Government, News, Related Education Blogs /byPioneer Executive Director Jim Stergios appeared on NECN’s Newsnight last evening. He spoke in favor of the MCAS on a panel with the decidedly anti-MCAS Lisa Guisbond of FairTest. Check it out here. (Bear with it, you have to sit through an ad first.)
Tooting My Own Horn – Biotech Edition
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, Blog: Better Government, Economic Opportunity, Healthcare /byPioneer has had a lot to say about the Governor’s biotech proposal — some positive, some negative — but the exact parameters of the proposal are not yet clear. There’s a lot of discussion around research grants, paying for equipment, and tax incentives, but a many details remain to be filled in. The Administration is having its first meeting of a large advisory group to begin the work on those details. My thoughts, from an article in this morning’s Globe: Patrick has won praise from life-science leaders for the inclusiveness of his approach to building and luring a competitive industry. But as his plans become more concrete, letting biotech leaders suggest ways to give cash to their own industry raises […]
The Vatican takes on its most daunting target
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, Blog: Better Government, News /byThe Vatican has just put out its “Guidelines for the Pastoral Care of the Road“, which I have to believe is aimed directly at Massachusetts drivers, rated as the worst in the nation. A brief snippet: Sometimes the prohibitions imposed by road signs may be perceived as restrictions of freedom. Especially when unobserved and unmonitored, some people are tempted to infringe such limitations, which are in fact designed to protect them and other people. Some drivers thus consider the duty to respect certain prudent regulations that reduce traffic risks and dangers as humiliating. Others deem it intolerable – almost a curtailment of their “rights” – to be obliged to follow patiently another vehicle that is travelling slowly, because, for example, […]
More Pension Fun
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, Blog: Better Government, News /byToday’s Globe has two stories on pensions today. In the first, it reports that the Board of Higher Ed has changed its policy to include housing allowances in the calculation of pension benefits for its college presidents. Former UMASS president Bulger won his court case on this matter, so it appears that the board really had no choice. But the whole matter prompts some questions: How did we get into the practice of paying housing allowances in the first place? I’ve heard several times that this is ‘standard practice’, but the Globe reports: Last year, the American Council on Education surveyed 2,148 public and private college presidents nationwide and found that 20 percent received housing allowances and 28 percent lived […]
Naples v. Massachusetts on the Seat Belt Freedom Index
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, News /by Scott W. Graves and Micaela DawsonWearing your seat belt is a good idea. Full stop. Please do not write in telling me that I am urging people to break the law. I am simply recounting a story from 1986, the first time I ever stepped foot in Naples, Italy. Lots of people hate the place — chaotic, sometimes 3 people and furniture driving down the road on a moped, sometimes those mopeds on the sidewalk (but only when cars aren’t parked there)… There is the Mergellina district with heroine and, uh, other things. There is also one of the most beautiful bays and overlooks around, the best, best, best pizza, and there are beautiful women who actually read books (unlike in Rome). So, on balance, […]
Putting mother in the back seat
/2 Comments/in Blog, News /by Scott W. Graves and Micaela DawsonI adore my mother. She complains this year that I put in too many tomato, cucumber, eggplant, pepper and basil and parsley plants in her backyard; I tell her that she still has way too much grass. While she says she doesn’t mind, in the end, she doesn’t water the plants in that quiet revenge that mothers are so good at. She cooks good stuff for everyone and stuffs the kids with baklava, so no one takes the complaints too far. It’s called love. Well, now, mother, whether you water the plants or not, you are going to have to sit in the back seat! Seems that there is consideration being given to bill H 2361 requiring children smaller than 4’9″ sit in a booster […]
Two-fer from the Globe
/0 Comments/in Blog, Healthcare, News, Related Education Blogs /by Scott W. Graves and Micaela DawsonYesterday’s editorial in the Globe on the Governor’s veering away from support for MCAS was spot on. It’s a must read. Today, again, the right stuff and the right tone on the Quincy teachers’ strike (click here). The money quotes (not in the order presented in today’s paper) are: The Quincy strike — which was still under way as of yesterday evening — is illegal under state law, and should be ended immediately. Like municipal leaders across the state, Quincy Mayor William Phelan can’t keep asking the city’s taxpayers to pay the same share of escalating healthcare costs, which in Quincy have almost doubled since 2002. A bill before the Legislature would allow cities and towns to purchase insurance for […]
Market approaches to blogging
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, Housing, News /by Scott W. Graves and Micaela DawsonSubsequent to a number of emails on the post mentioning Tom Waits, which ranged from deranged and delightful to slightly frightful, I have decided to push the celebrity mention scheme for drawing traffic to the blog. Here goes: Paris Hilton Lindsay Lohan Brad Pitt George Clooney Please note that, henceforth, in accordance with Pioneer General Laws, Chapter 39B, Section 3(a)4.t: All blog entries forthwith must begin with, or within the first 17 1/2 words utilize celebrity names according to the provisions set forth in the present statute. No more than two names shall appear in the blog title, which shall appear at the top of the blog entry. Up to three names can appear in the first 17 1/2 words […]
Great Moments in Powerpoint
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, Blog: Better Government, News /byNo, not the Gettysburg Address. (Full site is here.) At a recent conference for government procurement officers, the chief procurement officer of the Director of National Intelligence’s office gave a powerpoint presentation. She hid the labels on Slide 11 that gave our national intelligence budget, but after it was posted online, you could double click on the chart to see the (understandably classified) actual numbers. Using the data on Slide 11, and dividing by the ratio on Slide 10, inquiring minds now know that our government spends $56.52 billion on intelligence. Ooops. Tip of the pen to Slate for the initial links.
Worcester’s Heroine of Education Reform
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, News, Related Education Blogs /byA heartfelt thank you to Dr. Roberta Schaefer of the Worcester Regional Research Bureau (WRRB) for all her hard work and efforts on the Board of Education (BOE) over the last 11 years. Roberta’s work on the BOE has been both tireless and exemplary. And, like Tom Birmingham , Roberta is worried about the future of education reform in Massachusetts. As she has told the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, the appointment of MCAS opponent Ruth Kaplan to the BOE highlights a disquieting trend: This appointment, coupled with the governor’s refusal to fund the Education Quality and Accountability Board and the recent legislative hearings directed at removing MCAS as a graduation requirement, unfortunately indicate that the governor and his legislative allies […]
Tom Waits and Jack Markell running for Governor of Delaware
/2 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, News /by Scott W. Graves and Micaela DawsonFrom a website (DownWithAbsolutes) that is so cool it starts with a quote from Tom Waits (“I offer champagne to real friends, but real pain to sham friends.”), we get the news that Jack Markell (D), three-time State Treasurer (click here for his website), has thrown his hat in the ring in the race to become governor. Jack would be dumb not to run. I mean this guy won the 2002 Treasurer’s race with more than 66% of the vote. In the most recent race (2006) he received 70.5% of the vote. So why bring all this up? Ha-ha, you have a mind like a trap! Well, near the top of his list of accomplishments on the www.markell.org site is–you […]
Media hounds…
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, News, Related Education Blogs /by Scott W. Graves and Micaela DawsonWho is? We are! Two op-eds in two days. Ahem, you might want to dig Jamie Gass’ piece in the Metro West Daily News entitled “Teacher licensing rules just got more complex“. How about Alice White’s “City officials silent on looming health care liability” in the New Bedford Standard-Times? Then there is a wonderful piece by Howard Greis entitled “Lawmakers should reject Patrick proposal to drop EQA” in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.