Blue Mass Group

I’m an engineer, and I’m about to talk about the economy. It’s dangerous, I admit. But I won’t be stopped. I have this crazy idea for something I wish Barack Obama would say to the country to address the economic issues. But I realized, the best thing to do is just say it myself.

Work harder.

I know…I sound like the horse in Animal Farm. Whatever. This is a valid solution, and it is entirely in the control of YOU.

In case you thought he might be taking it easy (as would be his right) — Ted Kennedy has been meeting and strategizing with advocates and interest groups, and will make Obama's health care plan the absolute first priority of his committee.  Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) — Senator Edward Kennedy's staff is holding regular meetings with interest groups to translate President-elect Barack Obama's health-care plan into legislation that can be passed by Congress, an aide said. Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, will take his “cues from the Obama White House'' and expects that Congress will act on a measure in Obama's first term, said Michael Myers, staff director of Kennedy's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, at a conference today in Washington. … “The question is no longer whether we will pursue health reform, but when and exactly in what form,'' said Myers, speaking at a forum organized by the Washington policy group Families USA. “It's the first, second and third item on our committee's agenda.'' There have been suggestions — even from progressive quarters — that Obama forego health care reform, either because it would require too much money in a recession, or too much “political capital” for a president's first [...]

I don’t have poetry in my soul, but Barack Obama’s election keyed a thought I want to share, a thought of a specific moment next year. Not Inauguration Day, or even President Obama’s first State of the Union, but the opening of the Session of the United Nations General Assembly, when the heads of government of the world take turns to speak.

For once, the President of the United States will look at the assembly of the heads of world government, and his face, his life, will reflect the diversity of those United Nations. It will represent the tapestry of our United States.

Our president will stand before the peoples of the world, and for the first time in history, as Americans we will be able to honestly say:

“This is our President. This is what we believe, and this is who we are.”

Because of her massive screw-up that resulted in 6,400 names being missing from the voter rolls Tuesday morning, the Cambridge Chronicle has called for Marsha Weinerman to resign. The comments of others show that this wasn’t a fluke. She simply does not care about doing her job properly. A commenter on Wicked Local asked her how many people are registered in Cambridge, and she didn’t even have an estimate, she just answered “I can’t let my head be crowded with such details“.

Watch this, the first thing Ralph Nader had to say in public after America elects a President with African heritage: Remember what Ralph said in 2000? When asked if someone put a gun to his head and told him to vote for either Gore or Bush, which he would choose, Nader answered without hesitation: “Bush.” Whatever he was in the 1970s and 1960s, Nader has been part of the problem for the past decade.

I’d been wondering how the aftermath of the election was going to turn out. For some time it’s been obvious that, save for ballot shenanigans, Obama would be the next President. So what next?

Here in Massachusetts our governor ran a campaign premised largely on the idea that it wasn’t his campaign; it was our campaign. In the aftermath, we saw the launch of devalpatrick.com and its attempt at gauging what issues were important to the masses. It was a revolutionary idea that seemed to fall flat. After the initial roll-out, I hardly ever heard people discuss it, and certainly never heard government officials push it as a way for people to express their concerns and ideas.

So it will be interesting to see how Change.Gov will fare. Based on a similar premise (and following in the footsteps of a similar people-owned campaign), it has a place for people to tell their stories and policy ideas. I wonder if it will fare better and serve better than devalpatrick.com has…

Dear BMG: Early in 2008, political novice, Sara Orozco, of Needham announced her plan to run against Republican incumbent State Senator, Scott Brown, a person who holds vastly different core values than does Sara.  With each person she met, her campaigned gathered steam and by late October she had won the endorsements of the Boston Globe, over 20 important organizations, countless political leaders and hundreds of committed grassroots volunteers.  Though her bid was not victorious on Tuesday, she walked away with 41% of the vote and her opponent had to spend down his much larger war-chest to defeat a virtual unknown.  Just imagine what Sara will do next!  I’m writing to share with you the very personal thank-you note she wrote to her supporters so that you could see for yourselves, who she is and why so many are signing up to help her tackle her next challenge. Dear Friends, This has been an incredible journey.  This thank you letter has been very difficult to write because I wish I could’ve given you a win, something to show for all of your hard work.   Today I woke up very early, my heart racing, feeling like I had somewhere to [...]

(Posted at LiL)

In an article addressing the shrinking revenues and the tough time facing the new session of the state legislature, Matt Murphy (my fave local [Lowell] journalist by the way) tells us that government officials, while cutting as much as they can, may be looking at revenue streams such as an increase in the gas or sales tax, or casinos (ug, more on that later).

I have a fix! It will solve all our problems, and be a much fairer tax system than increasing the sales tax (which hits the lower and middle classes disproportionately harder). You can even call it a tax cut for middle income and lower income families. We need a progressive income tax.

I was wondering if any site existed to manage a Fantasy Football-like/College Pick’em game where we all pick the various cabinet posts for points.

I was envisioning a game where you make 3 picks for each post, and if your #1 is picked, you earn 3 points, 2 points for your  #2 pick, and 1 point for pick #3. maybe even weight Secretary of State as 5 or 6 points and 5 points for AG, Treasury, and Defense (and #2 and #3 picks be minus 1 and minus 2 respectively).

When should we expect the first picks, anyway? Is there time to organize a game here in a thread?

And can my February data be used as evidence to show just how instrumental a tough Hillary campaign was to Obama’s Victory?

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Yeah, I’m tooting my own horn it’s easy to highlight the rare prediction that pans out and ignore ones that miss the mark.

Still, in February with clear prescience I channeled my inner Miss Cleo. And based on Dem primary voter turnout I identified Virginia, Iowa, Missouri as states flipable from red to blue:

People in VA are less enthusiastic about voting for John McCain in 2008; the Dems won 685,485 more VA primary votes; the republican voting base shrank – Virginia is in play this November.

Missouri is also in play. The Dems outvoted the GOP by 235,214 votes. The number of MO Dem primary voters has more than tripled since the 2000. Not a guaranteed win, but in play.

I’d also throw in play Iowa, based on the record caucus turnout, and Louisiana, based on the 223,000 Dem voting edge and Bush’s response to Katrina. The voting edges in SC and GA give me hope for November, but I wont hold my breath. I see these states as currently red, but should not be written off yet.

I know higher voter turnout in the primaries does not equal a November win, but these numbers should make any GOP’er pessimistic. Whichever Dem candidate you dig in’08, momentum is on our side.

OK, South Carolina and Louisiana were blowouts. But…