Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

Baker and cops: A little history

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Charlie Baker's little flirtation with the police unions on traffic details and the Quinn bill is certainly not politically courageous; it is certainly not fiscally “conservative”; and it is certainly inconsistent with his heretofore blank promises to cut public sector jobs.

Let's remember that there's a little history here. Back in 1998, Governor Cellucci wanted the endorsement of the MBTA Carmen. And, you know, times were relatively flush. He gave them the deal they wanted: 23-and-out, the whole nine yards. Cellucci cruised to re-election and the Carmen got paid and played golf in their 40s.

Is this is the pattern for administrations that include Charlie Baker? Get challenged by a special interest, give up the farm and let future administrations and taxpayers figure it out?

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Comments

  1. It’s not like backing down when getting challenged by a special interest, it’s picking your special interests for their visual power.  Republicans like to be seen as strong law and order types, so they court the police unions, support the Quinn Bill even when it’s unaffordable, run away from civilian flaggers, and talk about getting tough on crime while the crime rates sky rocket.  Just so they can get those photo ops for their campaigns with a bleacher of cheering cops behind them.  Weld, Cellucci, Swift, Romney, and now Baker, they have no shame.

    • The soft spot for the photo-op useful law and order props is obvious–what is the actual take home pay  (not just salary) when police details,  and the like are factored in for police union members?

      • Use this link to get to the Cambridge Chronicle website for City of Cambridge salaries, where you can see the highest paid city employees, their gross incomes, and what their base salaries are.  It’s pretty amzazing, and I think it’s consistent with what you’ll find in other cities and towns:

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        p>http://spreadsheets.google.com…

        • Maybe this explain why so many police officers seem able to explain large numbers of expensive toys that other public employees could never afford.

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          p>I believe police officers should be paid a fair salary, but since when did they fall into a totally different economic world than virtually all other public employees?

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