Blue Mass Group

It seems like with each new rebrand of the Baker campaign they start with a new commercial and slogan then come out with new attacks.  Past attacks have gone nowhere as the details of the half truths become public knowledge.  One might also argue that Baker should instead focus on providing voters honest answers to difficult issues.  But alas the Baker campaign decided to go a different route.  This time the Baker campaign is going hard after the property tax issue.  Today in Milton Baker goes on the attack: He said the property tax was the tax to cut, and Treasurer Tim Cahill endorsed the governor and together they campaigned and governed for the past four years. It is another broken promise of Deval Patrick and Tim Cahill.” Baker said property taxes have gone up in the last four years by 11 percent. The Baker campaign then puts up a web ad on property taxes which is gleefully posted on BMG.  Interesting, right?  But when you look at the Property Tax Information in the DOR website you see a different picture.  The fact of the matter is Deval Patrick lowered the rate increase on property tax in each year he [...]

It’s hard to see Sen. Orrin Hatch’s comments regarding the “Ground Zero Mosque” as anything other than a slap right across Mitt Romney’s devastatingly handsome face. Senator Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican, said mosque proponents “have every right” to carry out their plans in New York, just as Mormons had a right to build their temple, despite neighborhood opposition…. “I remember when the Belmont, Mass., temple was going up … the local people got up in arms,” he said. “They didn’t want a Mormon church there to begin with. They couldn’t stop that, but then they tried to stop the steeple with the angel Moroni.” Mitt Romney, as you may recall, lived in Belmont not too long ago.  He was a major force behind the building of that temple, despite stiff local opposition that took the matter to the Supreme Judicial Court.  But Romney is against the Ground Zero Mosque.  According to the awesome Eric Fehrnstrom, speaking on Romney’s behalf: “The wishes of the families of the deceased and the potential for extremists to use the mosque for global recruiting and propaganda compel rejection of this site.” Now, do you think it’s a coincidence that Hatch happened to pick the [...]

 Americans to some degree and particularly those on the Right are now beset by a true conundrum. Is Barack Obama a Christian or a Muslim? According to the latest Pew Research polling: “nearly one-in-five Americans (18%) now say Obama is a Muslim, up from 11% in March 2009. Only about one-third of adults (34%) say Obama is a Christian, down sharply from 48% in 2009. Fully 43% say they do not know what Obama’s religion is.” Well, it’s no wonder people are so confused, especially when two of the most prominent talking heads on the far right differ as to what is the actual religion of the President. If Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh aren’t on the same page on this, how can we expect the lowliest schlep to know what’s real and as opposed to contrived? In a recent anti-Obama rant, Mr. Limbaugh intoned: “Imam Hussein Obama is probably the best anti-American president we’ve ever had.” Limbaugh has been at center stage in railing against the proposed “Ground Zero Mosque’ while trying to somehow insinuate that Obama’s defense of the constitutional right to religious freedom somehow proves that the President is an Islamic. Meanwhile just this past Sunday, in [...]

In the 20th century our politics resembled the Two Santa Claus Theory of my old guru, Mr. Jude Wanniski, the architect of the Reagan revolution. He pointed out that each party could offer something from the Santa Claus of Tax Cuts, or the Santa Claus of Spending Increases. The Democrats for the large part were Santa Spending, while the Republicans were naturally more inclined to be Santa Tax Cut. The Democrats tended to wisely steal the position of Santa Tax Cut during elections, and then give it up upon election. The Republicans generally avoided success by coming out in favor of cancelling Christmas in the name of balancing the budget. Probably the only Republicans who truly embrace the tax cut approach were Calvin Coolidge, Ronald Reagan and some might argue George W Bush. This year has been no different. While Republicans emphasized the foolhardy repeal of the Bush Tax Cuts they had a good lead. Now that they have decided to become the party of spending cuts, largely as a matter of envy and laziness, the door is open for the Democrats to make a comeback. In the recent roundup of a debate among the Republican challengers to Niki Tsongas, [...]

I wish I hadn’t said that!

Not afraid of the hard issues, Carlos Henriquez wants to tackle high unemployment, struggling schools, and crime…as one piece. He’d replace Rep. Marie St. Fleur for the MA 5th Suffolk District.

He spoke with Left Ahead! today. He stressed that you can’t really separate those issues and can only solve all three at the same time. Click on the player below to hear how he expects to take on all three of the issues of greatest concern to residents of Roxbury and Dorchester.

Dear BMG Community:

I’m writing to invite you to the candidates’ forum that is being held tonight at 7 p.m. at Lesley University (located in the Porter Exchange Building, 1815 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge).

With only two weeks remaining until the Democratic primary on September 14th, I encourage you to take the opportunity to come out tonight and hear about what I have been able to accomplish during my time in the Senate, as well as hear about my vision for this seat and goals for the next legislative term.

Is BlueMassGroup a libertarian blog?  How many people here consider themselves libertarians?  Please take the poll. Also, it wouldn’t hurt to identify yourself in the comments.

[Crossposted from ONE Massachusetts]

Massachusetts stands out as the top 2 state in terms of clean energy leadership among states in the US. The federal government recently awarded an important financial award to the state for investments in our education system. But while it is clear that all of this is only possible with our shared support, it often feels uncertain how this support should best be provided.

A recent report from the Tax Foundation shows us the importance the personal income tax has in the overall state's finances:

“Massachusetts is the third most income-tax-dependent state in the nation, deriving 36.8 percent of its revenue from its 5.3 percent tax on individual earnings, and nearly cracked the top-ten list of states most dependent on property taxes, according to a new report from the Non-partisan Tax Foundation”

“Massachusetts derives 34.3 percent of its total government revenues from property taxes, 18.4 percent from sales taxes, 6.4 percent from corporate taxes and 4.2 percent from licenses and other taxes, according to the report.”

Update This really is getting crazy: http://www.boston.com/news/loc… The police report claims rolling papers were found and says Jon admitted smoking half a joint, the statement submitted on his behalf in court says that he took a hit from a communal joint, and now he claims no toking. Jon Golnik, who many have been saying was the strongest candidate against Niki Tsongas, has admitted an arrest for DUI. Link here:  http://www.eagletribune.com/lo… Vetting – Public Record – Look into it MAGOP!