Blue Mass Group

Elizabeth Corcoran-Hunt for State Committee

I was introduced to the state Democratic Party when I was six. My mom had me help her hand out Gerry Studds bumper stickers at the Cohasset town dump. I’ll never quite forget that, and not just because it’s a legendary Republican stronghold.

On Saturday, I hope you’ll elect me to one of the Gay and Lesbian Seats on the State Committee. I want to increase Democratic Party enrollment and participation among young people and families that are past the “youth vote” label, lose touch with the Democratic Party, and eventually show up as Independents.  

http://iddybudjournal.blogspot… One of the intended consequences of when John Edwards suspended his campaign appears to be privacy for the Anania family.   My thanks, again, to John Edwards for the reminder of what really matters, and for how he has chosen to handle the bittersweet in life.

On the eve of this latest super Tuesday, let’s see what the most recent polling has to say: A University of Cincinnati poll out today taken March 1-2 (613 likely voters polled): Clinton 51, Obama 42. McCain 53, Huckabee 28, Paul 7 A Suffolk University Poll out today taken March 1-2 (400 likely voters): Clinton 52, Obama 40 A Rasmussen poll from 3/2 released today (858 likely voters): Clinton 50, Obama 44 Public Policy Polling conducted March 1-2 (1112 likely voters): Clinton 51, Obama 42. A SurveyUSA poll conducted March 1-2 (873 likely voters): Clinton 54, Obama 44, Undecided 1 Now…onto Texas: A Public Strategies poll released today (730 likely voters): Conducted 2/27 – 3/1 Clinton 46, Obama 46. McCain 56, Hucabee 31, Paul 6 Rasmussen poll released today conducted 3/2  (710 likely voters): Obama 48, Clinton 47, Undecided 5 Insider Advantage Poll conducted 3/2 (609 likely voters): Hillary 49, Obama 44, Undecided 7 Public Policy Polling conducted March 1-2 (755 likely voters): Clinton 50, Obama 44, Undecided 6 SurveyUSA conducted March 1-2 (840 likely voters): Obama 49, Hillary 48, Undecided 2 It looks as though Hillary Clinton has taken a clear front-runner position in Ohio, coming in ahead of [...]

Absolutely hideous weather for Ohio tomorrow. They're used to it there, but still — driving grandma to the polls on freezing rain is gonna be a real hoot, I'm sure. I'm just baffled by the gigantic beer advertisement on the north face of the Garden that promises “ENDLESS REFRESHMENT/SUPERIOR DRINKABILITY”. “Endless”? (Wow! Must be a big can.)“Refreshment”? (Like Gatorade? What exactly is this beer “refreshing” in you? Why not just say “This beer refreshes all the beer that you've been excreting throughout the day.”) “Superior Drinkability” (to what? Motor oil? Broken glass? Can one really claim that other beers are actually less drinkable — unless they're actually, literally, non-potable? Like, say, a frozen beer? Why not be more specific and advertise its “superior potability to frozen beer“?) Seriously, every time I see this thing it makes me all kooky for about 10 minutes. Fewer people using the free care pool. That's good! Does it mean fewer people going to the ER for a pregnancy test? (True story, I'm told.) I really don't get Goolsbeegate. He is alleged to have said you had to take Obama's trade rhetoric in the larger context of his stated beliefs on free trade. Surely that's not [...]

Did Steve Kroft really ask Hillary Clinton, “Is Obama Muslim?”

More than once?

I mentioned this yesterday; today Sen. Murray came out with her health care cost agenda. AP's got the rundown: BOSTON—Massachusetts would be required to adopt a statewide electronic medical records system and be the first state to ban pharmaceutical marketing gifts under a bill unveiled by Senate President Therese Murray on Monday. The bill is also designed to rein in spiraling health care costs in part by authorizing a public review of any insurance company submitting rate increases of more than 7 percent a year. (There's a lot more in the article, and as I type, now John McDonough has posted his thoughts. OpenMass.org has the text of the bill, and Jim has collected links to the various news orgs' stories.)  Naturally, the pharma companies are real, real concerned that the marketing ban could “negatively impact information flow to practitioners and ultimately hurt patient care.” Well, something's flowing, that's for sure … The insurers are on board — not too surprisingly, since the cheaper they can make their plans (at the same profit margin, of course), the more folks can be required to buy them. The question is how much they're willing to take a grilling on how their own [...]

Cross Posted from Gladys Kravitz Blog

Last May a lawyer told the town of Middleboro that an Indian casino within their borders was “a done deal”.

Governor Patrick and others have since signed onto that assertion, and now want to head Indian gaming off at the pass by establishing a trio of commercial, state-run casinos.

Further obscuring the issue are the morass of Indian Gaming laws, the subject of Land into Trust, statutes, rulings, precedent and acts of Congress which make the matter difficult to understand.

And, if we look to Connecticut, our neighbor to the south, and home to two of the world’s largest casinos, it might appear that tribal casinos are holding the cards.

It’s not the easiest thing to explain, but in the end, the real answer is, no – casinos are not inevitable in Massachusetts. It is absolutely NOT a done deal. And here’s proof.

Has anyone else gotten this e-mail about Marie St. Fleur’s fundraiser tomorrow morning? The text is below. Considering that it’s smack in the middle of Supplicating Time toward the House Ways and Means Committee for consideration in the FY09 budget, I’d say it’s the height of unsubtlety for Rep. St. Fleur to be asking a high-priced admission to her breakfast. Is this just how it works hereabouts? Pardon my pesky naivete. 8:30 am Breakfast Tomorrow Please Join Representative Marie St. Fleur Vice-Chair, House Committee on Ways and Means Scollay Square 21 Beacon Street Boston, Massachusetts Tuesday, MARCH 4TH TOMORROW 8:30 am- 10:00 am Suggested Contribution $500, $250, $150 RSVP 617-418-4581 stevenjhoward@earthlink.net

I avidly supported Governor Patrick during the election, but since then I have sometimes gone back and forth on how I think he is doing. A friend sent this to me today and I thought it would be good for people to take a look at it. It is nice to get a reminder that the Governor’s agenda doesn’t begin and end at casinos and that real, substantive progress is being made on hundreds of issues that don’t always get attention from the media (or on this blog). The following is excerpted form the remarks of Wayne Burton, Chairman of the North Shore Chamber of Commerce. The full text is here

When he spoke to us in 2006, he spoke of new jobs for the commonwealth through the biosciences. He is keeping this promise with the $1 billion biosciences initiative that passed the House just a few weeks ago and that will bring progress on medical cures, clean energy and other breakthroughs, along with hundreds of new, well-paying jobs, especially important here in the North Shore. As a parent of a Type 1 diabetic, this is particularly meaningful to me.

Read more after the jump.  

Tomorrow, March 4th, the Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing on House Bill 1722 — an incredibly important piece of legislation which would add gender identity and expression to our state non-discrimination and hate crimes laws. Transgender people in Massachusetts face discrimination every day — in employment, housing, credit, education, and public accomodations — yet there are currently no laws to protect them. It’s time we change that. Take a moment and contact your legislators today to ask them to support H1722. It’s easy to do: just click here to use MassEquality’s Contact Your Legislator tool, and we’ll do the work of looking up your legislators and their contact info for you. You can also go here to learn more about H1722. Your voice can make a real difference. Opponents of equality have put the word out on the rightwing radio stations and conservative networks, and they’re flooding the State House with calls opposing equal rights for transgender citizens. We know legislators are closely monitoring the calls and emails they receive from constituents — and we can’t let the other side dominate the debate. Please take a moment to contact your legislators in support of equality today!