Oped: Better Government

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2012/06/15/mbtas-smart-program/ Rather than big dollar expansion projects, the MBTA’s Key Bus Routes program stands as an example of modest incremental investments that can yield improved service (and potentially increased ridership). The program released its initial design for improvements to the 39 bus...

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2012/06/06/public-pension-math-state-police-version/ The recent announcement that State Police Superintendent Marian McGovern is going to retire prompted me to look into her compensation and her choices.  (Note: I don’t know the superintendent and don’t question her commitment to public service.  The point here is...

http://www.wickedlocal.com/wayland/news/opinions/x1347550267/Morisy-Poftak-Transparency-and-reality?zc_p=1#axzz2NcNYjWOG Motherhood, apple pie and transparency seem to be things every politician  supports. But Massachusetts stretches the gulf between rhetoric and the reality.  The Commonwealth’s public records law looks great — public entities must respond  within 10 days, there’s an appeals process,...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-singer/what-would-the-founders-s_b_1562689.html Zachary Karabell, writing for Time magazine, claims “One of America’s favorite pastimes is to play the ‘what would the Founding Fathers say’ game. Just pick an issue du jour, and ask the question.” Most players tend to be on the political...

http://www.commonwealthmagazine.org/The-Download/222-Warren-takes-a-pounding-but-keeps-on-ticking.aspx Elizabeth Warren continues to take a pounding about her alleged Native American ancestry, but does it matter? A poll released this week by David Paleologos of Suffolk University indicates Warren and US Sen. Scott Brown are still running neck and neck...

http://holliston-hopkinton.patch.com/articles/marty-lamb-supports-state-house-ethics-reform On Monday, in front of the State House as the Senate prepares to debate the budget this week Marty Lamb, Republican candidate for the State Representative in the 8th Middlesex District, endorsed Tom Keyes’ Legislative Integrity Plan. “When the public doesn’t know...

http://www.wickedlocal.com/belmont/features/x639949346/Republicans-in-race-for-State-Rep-meet-face-to-face?zc_p=2#axzz2NGaHxHZc WATERTOWN — Former School Committee Chair Steve Aylward campaigned for Republican  State Committeeman on a promise to put a Republican on the ballot for each  State House seat in the district, and at a May 21 “Meet the Candidates” forum,  he...

http://tewksbury.patch.com/articles/state-senate-candidate-supports-keyes-legislative-integrity-plan In front of the State House as the Senate prepares to debate the budget this week Alex Vispoli, Republican candidate for the State Senate in the Second Essex and Middlesex district, endorsed Tom Keyes’ Legislative Integrity Plan. “As a father I...

http://andover.patch.com/articles/vispoli-supports-keyes-legislative-integrity-to-plan Monday, in front of the State House as the Senate prepares to debate the budget this week Alex Vispoli, Republican candidate for the State Senate in the Second Essex and Middlesex district, endorsed Tom Keyes’ Legislative Integrity Plan. “As a father...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2884604/posts PRICES WERE OUT OF CONTROL at the end of 3rd-century Rome, and the Emperor Diocletian was determined to rein them in. In AD 301 he issued his famous Edict on Prices, a complex piece of legislation that banned speculation and established...