Blue Mass Group

Today I introduced a revolutionary new global warming bill, the Investing in Climate Action and Protection Act, or iCAP. It will reduce global warming pollution to meet scientific targets, reinvest the revenue back in American workers and technology, and re-establish America as a leader in solving the globe’s greatest challenge, climate change.

Two Green Line D trains have collided in Newton.  Story here.  Best wishes go out to all.  I hope my friends are ok… UPDATE  The operator of one of the trains, Terrese Edmonds of South Boston, was killed in the crash.  She was only 24, and had been on the job since August.  There were some other injuries, but apparently nothing too serious.  It will be 12 to 18 months before a report on the cause of the crash is released.  A very sad day.

Governor Patrick signed the Oceans Act 2008 today at the Aquarium. Massachusetts is leading the way on the important issue of managing offshore resources more effectively and if used correctly, the measure should allow for a proper balance to be struck between environmental protection and commercial development. Conservationists see this as a potential model for other coastal states going forward and there is nothing I like better than seeing us lead — not lag — in developing innovative policy.  Here is the link to the AP story. I think what the passage of this Act also shows is that Governor Patrick is fully engaged with the legislature in shaping important initiatives and getting good bills to his desk, regardless of whether he initiated them or not.  In the previous session, due to neglect or because of his opposition to Cape Wind, Governor Romney didn’t lift a finger for this bill and the House ran out the clock on what has been a Senate-led proposal (championed by Cape Cod Senator Bob O’Leary and Senate President Therese Murray).  But with an engaged Governor getting his administration behind this and the Senate President pressing hard to get the House to pass this (by [...]

Better the Commonwealth Corps then the School to Prison Pipeline

Here is a quote from today’s Boston Globde:

A 13-YEAR-OLD girl was handcuffed and arrested at Brockton High School last June for wearing a T-shirt. The T-shirt, which she was asked by school officials to remove, bore the image of her ex-boyfriend, 14-year-old Marvin Constant, who had recently been killed in a Boston area shooting. The girl refused to remove the memorial shirt and was arrested for “causing a disturbance.”

In Texas, 14-year-old high school freshman, Shaquanda Cotton, was sentenced to seven years in prison. Her crime was pushing a hall monitor out of the way when she was stopped from entering a school building. The official charge was “assault on a public servant.”

You may think this is extreme or unusual.  It is not.  I was appointed an educational guardian for a girl facing prosecution for “causing a disturbance” and “assault”.  Here are the facts.

This 13 year old was calling her mother on her cell phone at the guidance office.  According to a so-called “504 accommodation”, this teen was supposed to call her mother when upset, as part of a preventative for her leaving the building and going AWOL or creating a disturbance.

Her family had recently been burned out of their home, with this 13-year old barely escaping, and one famly member still in a wheel chair.

She became upset due to peer taunting about her families circumstances.  She went to the guidance office, but was told that she would have to wait because the phone was in use.  She took out her cell phone instead to call her mother.  The police duty officer in that school saw her take out the phone [in the guidance office, mind you].  He advanced on her and demanded the cell phone, backing her into a corner.  She began to yell and scream and flail.  She was arrested.

Her family is very poor; her mother delivers newspapers to make ends meet to assist in making rent, for example while this 13 year old watches siblings.  However, while poor, they are hard working and try to stick together. She is, however, a candidate for the Commonwealth Corps.  

Least you think her situation is unique:

Darius was only nine when he was locked up. For two months, he languished in a juvenile facility — alone, frightened. He missed his 10th birthday party. He missed Thanksgiving. He missed his stepfather’s funeral.

His offense: He had threatened a teacher with a plastic utensil.

  See:  http://www.alternet.org/rights…

Our teens and young adults need the opportunity to work, and to serve others.  There are not enough such opportunities.  For those who doubt the good will and positive energy in the Commonwealth Corps, why not go on in and become involved, rather than criticizing and contributing nothing?

The State Senate race to replace Sen. Antonioni took a stranger than fiction turn last week. Seems Rep. Knuuttila called for a private meeting with his opponent and the incumbent last Friday at which he informed both of them that he was quitting the race…he wished Rep. Jen Flanagan luck…hugs all around…oops!…new week, new story…he now denies calling for OR attending the meeting and says he is still in the race!… GOOD ADVICE FOR REP. KNUUTTILA: 1) Never have a witness at a meeting you may deny or renege later, and 2) Don’t lie to reporters. it’s a bad habit to get into and always backfires! The Worcester TELEGRAM got the scoop on this one: Wednesday, May 28, 2008 Former state rep denies he’ll quit Rival says Knuuttila talked of bowing out By John J. Monahan TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF Former state Rep. Brian Knuuttila of Gardner, who insisted yesterday that he is continuing in the race for the state Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Robert A. Antonioni, met with his Democratic opponent and Mr. Antonioni on Friday and, according to them, informed them he had decided to quit the race. Mr. Knuuttila said yesterday he never told Mr. [...]

The goods on that tale-spinner Obama: The Republican National Committee today issued a list of Obama “tall tales:” 1. Mistaking the Nazi concentration camp his uncle helped liberate, saying it was Auschwitz, when it was Buchenwald. Translation: “We got nothing. Sorry for wasting your time, everyone.” 

There is a tsunami coming and we are missing the signals some one needs to wake up and fast. “We just had a Half tank delivered and it was almost $500.00 my husband said if this continues I don’t know how we are going to heat the house this winter” “I am a member and know that I save on oil as a result but the cost is still exorbitant. My oil bill for 2007 was $2600. That’s for one person in 4 1/2 rooms. I shudder at what it will be this year….filling my oil tank was $784 for the month of March alone. (I read an article recently that said oil prices are likely to DOUBLE in the next three years. If that’s true, a lot of us are going to be in real trouble (it’s sure a disadvantage heat-wise to work in the home; I have friends who work mostly out of the home and save money by dropping their thermostats down to 55 degrees all day long)” “I have been for several years. Got my estimate for next year’s monthly heating bill, and it’s huge. I’m wondering if I should sign up or wait and see [...]

If any institution has failed America, it has been the televised media, especially in discussing political news.  There’s no excuse for the litany of prejudiced behavior from our media personalities in this compilation by The Women’s Media Center.   What really is frightening is that one of the worst voices in our nation’s discourse, Nantucket weekend resident Chris Matthews, is considering running for Senate as a Democrat.  I don’t know how the Democratic Party could continue to work for women’s equality with a braying sexist like Matthews in the Senate actually voting on legislation and Federal Judges & Justices.  

Rep. Markey proposes 85% reduction in CO2 by 2050 with a cap-and-trade program. Auctioning pollution credits would raise $8 trillion for renewables in that time. Wow. It's my impression that Sen. Kerry is likely to support the flawed Lieberman/Warner legislation, even in the face of a Presidential veto. This is in order to demonstrate to India and China that climate change legislation is indeed on its way, with what is likely to be a more progressive Congress next year. I'm concerned, though, that Lieberman/Warner not be seen as the left-limit of possible legislation, since its auction program is considerably more generous to industry and therefore less helpful to subsidies for renewables. In this light, Markey's stance is helpful. UPDATE: NYT says support Lieberman/Warner for Big Mo going into next year: Mr. Bush, predictably, opposes the bill. Add that to the slim Democratic majority and the complexity of the bill itself, and the chances of getting 60 filibuster-proof votes are modest at best. Even so, a majority vote would create positive momentum for the next Congress and send a strong signal to the country and the world that help on this issue is on the way. I still don't totally understand [...]

From Mark Halperin’s The Page Party’s legal experts write in memo ahead of Saturday’s meeting that the two states must lose at least half of their delegates for moving up their contests. Says the Rules Committee doesn’t have the authority to seat full delegations, something the Clinton camp has been advocating. UPDATE: Politico provides the challenges and analyses for FL & MI here This is an open thread.