MORE ARTICLES
Outmigration and the Labor ForceApril 25, 2024 - 11:44 am
Study Finds Obstacles to Search for Opioid SubstituteApril 25, 2024 - 9:11 am
Annual Massachusetts Outmigration Hits 39,000, Up 1,100% Over The Last Decade: BU StudyApril 24, 2024 - 1:00 pm
Hoover at Stanford’s Stephen Kotkin on Stalin’s Tyranny, WWII, & the Cold WarApril 24, 2024 - 12:33 pm
Superior Court Judge Invalidates “Equity Theft” Law as UnconstitutionalApril 23, 2024 - 1:04 pm
Tax Man Confounded: Why High Rates Haven’t Yielded Higher RevenueApril 23, 2024 - 12:58 pm
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
Maybe Hire That Guy From the Fed Ex Ads?
/1 Comment/in Blog, Blog: Better Government, News /byYou remember him don’t you? The Fast-Talking Guy. Senate Republicans just got Bernie Sanders to withdraw his single-payer amendment to the healthcare bill. They used some kind of parliamentary maneuver that would have forced the Senate Clerk to read the amendment out loud. All 767 pages of the amendment. It has since been withdrawn.
Semantics and the Size of State Government
/2 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Better Government, News /byThe Herald took a shot at the Patrick Administration yesterday, claiming they have added 1,300 people to the state payroll over the last year. We’ve written a bunch on this issue. In particular to question why the safety net agencies are taking such a dramatic hit relative to others.) Also, to note how difficult is has been to get this administration to play straight with disclosing the numbers. In response to the Herald piece, Secretary of A&F Jay Gonzalez shot back that the Governor has eliminated 1,930 positions. Semantics matter here. The state’s human resource system is littered with ‘open positions’ that may never be filled. Taking one of these positions off the rolls might possibly prevent spending in the […]
If you do nothing else…
/1 Comment/in Blog, News /byWatch this video of Geoffrey Canada on 60 Minutes. He and so many other charter schools deserve so much credit for insisting on success at all costs and for being unwilling to blame the kids.
Will Brownsberger — Transparency Champion
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Better Government, News /byToday’s Globe story on the state’s huge legal expenditures on behalf of former Speaker DiMasi and his staff buries a nugget deep within. The data comes from a spreadsheet that Rep. Brownsberger had requested from the Comptroller, then posted on his website. It’s a truly impressive posting — Brownsberger displays a very impressive grasp of the minutiae of state budgeting and his analysis in the later worksheets is fascinating. It’s this type of thoughtful inquiry, made with a desire for hard data rather than political calculation, that we need more of. If you’d like to see more information along the lines of what Rep. Brownsberger has presented, check out our website, www.massopenbooks.org. If you go to the disbursements section, you […]
Getting Healthy
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Better Government, News /byBoston Mayor Thomas Menino made his first public appearance in several weeks today at a Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce breakfast. He’s been laid up since the election with a serious knee/quad injury. The Globe profile of his recovery noted that City Hall staffers were ferrying document out to house twice a day (be sure to hit Tutto Italiano while you are out there). All kidding and policy issues aside, we offer our good wishes for his recovery. In the meantime, the famously in-charge Mayor (who generally does not encourage subordinates to draw attention to themselves. See Bratton, William and several others) has had to delegate some of his public role. It seems odd to read about another city official […]