MORE ARTICLES
Massachusetts’ Workforce Growing Older and More Diverse, Remains Highly EducatedApril 18, 2024 - 9:26 am
Johns Hopkins’ Ashley Berner on Educational Pluralism & DemocracyApril 17, 2024 - 2:53 pm
Why the secrecy? Pioneer Calls for Open Meetings Dealing with Steward’s Impact on Patient Care.April 16, 2024 - 1:59 pm
Industrial Policy Reimaged: Can Government Improve Free MarketsApril 16, 2024 - 12:34 pm
39th U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky for National Poetry MonthApril 10, 2024 - 12:16 pm
A Practically 100% Guaranteed Free RideApril 9, 2024 - 1:21 pm
Posting Patient Prices: Transparency Cure for Hospital Blank ChecksApril 9, 2024 - 11:51 am
Pioneer Institute Statement on the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ March Tax Revenue CollectionsApril 4, 2024 - 3:34 pm
U.S. Chamber Foundation’s Hilary Crow on K-12 Civics EducationApril 3, 2024 - 12:08 pm
Constitutional Property Taking: Exclusionary Zoning’s Costs to Owners and SocietyApril 2, 2024 - 10:54 am
Giving the Convention Center Its Due
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Better Government, News /byLet’s hear it for the MCCA — they just posted their audited financials online. Good for them. A tip of the pen to Jim Rooney and Mac Daniel. And to make it more impressive, they did it on a day while they are simutaneously dealing with a State House protest by Patrick Administration appointee (and union head) Janice Loux about the Authority’s new food service vendor. Let’s hope the other authorities follow suit. They may have to — the Senate’s economic development legislation (filed yesterday) contains no less than 12 provisions about transparency at the quasi-publics — including the disclosure of audited financials.
NY and IL Always Make Me Feel Better
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Better Government, News /byThis has been a tough year for MA politics, with multiple indictments and arrests of public officials. But we always can fall back on our friends in New York and Illinois to make us feel better. New York, fresh off a summer of discontent where leadership of the Senate shifted back and forth (at times, it seemed based on who could physically control the chamber), is now facing some weird sort of slow-motion-sorta-crisis with Governor Paterson. Paterson is desperately unpopular and the NYTimes, allegedly has some sort of ‘bombshell’ story that it is preparing with some observers whispering that it might force him out of office. Its gotten to the point where a Republican gubernatorial candidate has actually called for […]
Small thought on TV personalities
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /byI have always been more interested in U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan – what he is about and how he thinks about stuff – than any other of the president’s entourage because he seems real and he seem to really care without wearing it on his sleeve. He’s not the best speaker, and he’s not “colorful” or a “celebrity.” Nor does he cultivate that. On the other hand reading in The Hill about the flak that Rahm Emanuel is getting for the “collapse of healthcare reform” seems only poetic justice. The Hill‘s Alexander Bolton notes: The emerging consensus among critics in both chambers is that Emanuel’s lack of Senate experience slowed President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority. Bolton is […]
Globe Metro Columnists Take A Victory Lap on UMASS Law School
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Better Government, News /byAdrian Walker picks up where his colleague Yvonne Abraham left off last month. While Abraham’s column was primarily a 640 word exercise in ad hominem attack, Walker actually talks to the current SNESL (and future UMASS law school, apparently) dean. It’s a shame that neither columnist could divert from their talking points to ask a few basic questions, like 1) Why isn’t the current performance of the students at SNESL mentioned in UMASS’ proposal to take over the law school, 2) How do you reconcile the almost $10m discrepancy in library assets between UMASS’ proposal and SNESL’s tax return, and 3) Why would current SNESL leadership (which has failed to achieve accreditation for ten years) be retained? But don’t worry, […]
Let's Lose the Fast Lane Gates on the Tobin
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Better Government, News /byOn Jan.1, MassDOT took over the Tobin Bridge from MassPort. Sadly, my Boston MPO monthly TransReport informs me that: Drivers who pay tolls in cash or by using Fast Lane or E-ZPass transponders will not experience any changes when they travel over the Tobin Bridge. That’s too bad, because I’ve always been perplexed by the Tobin’s insistence on using gates in conjunction with their Fast Lane electronic tolling system, slowing down throughput. None of the many Turnpike Fast Lane stations use gates. Are Tobin users less trustworthy than Turnpike users? Let’s take them down and get traffic moving.