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Opportunity
April 20, 2007

What a Difference 100 Days Makes......

Remember the early days: “We strongly believe that good governance means taking the best ideas from the best people, no matter what their Party.” Ehh, maybe not so much anymore: [The Governor’s informal group of advisors] agreed on a major priority: to...
April 19, 2007

The Winter Moth

As winter turns to spring, or the day of it, anyway, we can expect before summer arrives, I would like to turn my attention to nature. The winter moth was introduced to North America from Europe and has now spread over much...
Education, Opportunity
April 19, 2007

School Choice in Boston

A brilliant author has crafted a masterwork on school choice, entitled School Choice That Works For Boston in this week’s Dorchester Reporter. Oh, that was me, wasn’t it? I’ve been interested in this issue from a policy and a personal perspective for...
April 18, 2007

Earmarks and Elections

As a young man I always marvelled that the day for filing my taxes was as far as can be on a calendar from election day. Whatever politician dreamt that up is a genius. But taxes aren’t the only things located around...
Opportunity
April 18, 2007

Be Careful What You Wish For: Participatory Democracy Dept.

The relaunch of devalpatrick.com was accompanied by great fanfare, with high hopes for energizing the netroots and building coalitions on-line. But as of today, the top issue on the site is a ‘fathers’ rights’ proposal. And among the top 15 issues on...
Healthcare, Opportunity
April 18, 2007

BAKER - LEVY HEALTHCARE SMACKDOWN!!!!!

Ok, maybe that’s a bit dramatic. Or a lot dramatic, but interesting nevertheless. Paul Levy and Charlie Baker Jr. are two of the state’s healthcare leaders. And each is blogging. Charlie just started his, and Paul has been going for awhile (and...
Healthcare, Opportunity
April 17, 2007

Budget Minutiae - Part 2 of a 700 part series

More interesting fun with amendments and earmarks — What if your favorite non-profit isn’t getting the state funding it so richly deserves? Hire a lobbyist (type “International Institute” into here). Get three amendments to the House budget for $150,000, $100,000, and $163,642...
Opportunity
April 17, 2007

Crime in Urban Areas - Perception and Reality

At Pioneer’s February conference on Revitalizing Middle Cities (where we released this paper), we had the opportunity to hear from the Police Commissioner and Economic Development Director for Springfield. Dave Panagore, Springfield’s Economic Development Director, noted that the police force (and public...
Opportunity
April 16, 2007

Budget Minutiae - Part 1 of a 700 part series

Spring in Massachusetts! Ahh, the joys… Opening Day, bulbs blooming, and, of course, budget season. House Ways and Means filed last week and amendments are due to be debated next week. The power and specificity of these amendments are little noticed and...