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Happy 234th Anniversary: On Virtue

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In just a few days, we will be celebrating the 234th anniversary of our republic. To mark the occasion, I thought it would be fun to go back to one of the great acceptance speeches of the past 50 years – Ronald Reagan’s speech at the 1980 Republican convention – and pull out eight important themes for 2010: You know, the first Republican President once said, “While the people retain their virtue and their vigilance, no Administration by any extreme of wickedness or folly can seriously injure the Government in the short space of four years.” If Mr. Lincoln could see what’s happened in these last three and a half years, he might hedge a little on that statement. But […]

Happy 234th Anniversary: On Standing United

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In just a few days, we will be celebrating the 234th anniversary of our republic. To mark the occasion, I thought it would be fun to go back to one of the great acceptance speeches of the past 50 years – Ronald Reagan’s speech at the 1980 Republican convention – and cull eight important themes for 2010: More than anything else, I want my candidacy to unify our country, to renew the American spirit and sense of purpose. I want to carry our message to every American, regardless of party affiliation, who is a member of this community of shared values. He went on to criticize his opponents for saying that the United States has had its day in the […]

Why is Mike O'Brien Smiling?

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Because he just got an awesome deal on the Worcester Airport, that’s why. The city just got paid $17 million by Massport (and here’s the build-up behind the number). Now, don’t get me wrong, I love the Worcester Airport and I hope it one day becomes a thriving hub. There’s a lot of potential there but the reality is that it loses money, so getting $17 million in value is a great one for Worcester (and an…ahem…challenging one for Massport, no?).

In-Sourcing?

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MassDoT Secretary Jeff Mullan used this term yesterday in reference to a move to have more snow plowing done in-house, rather than by private contractors. I’m skeptical to say the least — the Turnpike to MassHighway analogy used in the article (where the Turnpike uses in-house staff while MHD uses a lot of contractors) is a false one — Turnpike is a discrete asset, MHD has lot more miles spread out over the state. And I hope any analysis done is all-in — you’ve got to count the capital cost of any new equipment plus factor in the maintenance of that equipment (or the reduced lifecycle if you don’t do it). Plus the overtime and/or lost productivity (for other tasks) […]

$75 Million Reasons to Move?

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We picked on Curt Schilling a few months back for considering a move to Rhode Island. And we maintain our position that firm relocation, in the aggregate, is not an important creator of jobs across the entire MA economy. That said, Schilling’s firm has been offered a $75 million loan guarantee (note the difference — a guarantee on a private loan, not a direct loan) by Rhode Island, according to the Providence Business News.