Blue Mass Group

I'm hearing that Terry Murray doesn't have the votes for an override of the Gov's veto, so DeLeo's giving up. No special session. Right now … this is kind of a win-for-losing thing for the gov. He doesn't have to stand by an indefensible outcome — slots — coming up on the election. OTOH, he's 0 for 2 on resort casinos. (Charlie Baker thinks there should be more slots. And that they should be banned. And he totally could have done it better.) UPDATE: From State House News Service: “I think the Senate president’s been pretty clear that she’s about a couple of votes short in terms of coming back, so right now I don’t look that as an option for us. So, I’m moving ahead accordingly,” DeLeo said. Asked if the chances were “pretty low” for action on the gambling bill this fall, DeLeo replied, “Well yes.”

Can anyone breathe right now?  It’s a concern because the Tea Partiers and anti-Muslim bigots are using up all the air.  The media can only collectively pay attention to so much apparently and the cost of these people’s fighting to get their lunacy on TV and into the mouths of pundits and politicians too scared to defy the mob has a real cost to us as a society.  For example, in all the distraction going on with regard to Mosque this and Socialism that, we might miss an actual scandal  (h/t Ed Brayton): For at least a year, the Homeland Security Department detoured hundreds of requests for federal records to senior political advisers for highly unusual scrutiny, probing for information about the requesters and delaying disclosures deemed too politically sensitive, according to nearly 1,000 pages of internal e-mails obtained by The Associated Press. The department abandoned the practice after AP investigated. Inspectors from the department’s Office of Inspector General quietly conducted interviews with employees last week to determine whether political advisers acted improperly. OK, everyone, this is what an actual scandal looks like.  This would have been a major scandal under Clinton, but I suspect slightly less so under BushII [...]

Yes, no, and why?

Funds sent by text will go to the State Department’s Pakistan Relief Fund. Or Click here to donate to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF’s flood disaster relief for the children of Pakistan. For a list of various non-governmental organizations working on flood relief, click here. Senator Kerry, more credit to him, recently send an email packed with information, including a link to this MSNBC report. Incredible satellite photos here. NY Daily News photo from the end of July:

Originally posted on Citizen Orange.

The “DREAM Now Series: Letters to Barack Obama” is a social media campaign that launched Monday, July 19, to underscore the urgent need to pass the DREAM Act. The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, S. 729, would help tens of thousands of young people, American in all but paperwork, to earn legal status, provided they graduate from U.S. high schools, have good moral character, and complete either two years of college or military service.  With broader comprehensive immigration reform stuck in partisan gridlock, the time is now for the White House and Congress to step up and pass the DREAM Act!

Dear Mr. President,

My name is Carlos and I’m a 23 year old undocumented immigrant from Caracas, Venezuela.  I want to legalize my immigration status in this country through the passage of DREAM Act this year.  For too long have I lived in the U.S. without papers.  It has been over 20 years, now.  I want to legalize my immigration status in order to fulfill my dreams of becoming a young professional in architecture.

Conservatives and ed reformers tried to spin insignficant changes in the state’s education frameworks as a loss for the state’s children.  Criticism of the frameworks change was a weak meme for the summer news season.

It will be hard for Chuckles Baker to criticize the $250 million coming to the state through Obama’s Race to the Top Program.

The Globe reports:

Hoping to spur innovation and boost student achievement, the US Department of Education today awarded Massachusetts $250 million under the Obama administration’s Race to the Top program.

Massachusetts will be among 10 recipients to win money in the second round of the $4.35 billion competition, said Justin Hamilton, a US Education Department spokesman.Massachusetts was the top scorer in this round.

The program aims to reward states aggressively pursuing innovative educational programs and overhauls of failing schools.

The other winners in the second round of the competition were: Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Rhode Island. The District of Columbia also won.

Tennessee and Delaware were named winners in the first round, sharing $600 million. This time, recipients will share more than $3 billion in the coveted grants.

Dear Friends,

We are now just about 10 weeks – 70 days – away from a critical election.  Voters will decide if we will continue to move our country forward, of if we will return to the failed policies of the past.

That’s why I need your help before midnight on Wednesday, August 25th.  We’re just $3,000 away from our fundraising goal for this period.  

Donate now at the link at the top-left of the page to help us reach that goal.

This public service announcement brought to you by the Young Democrats of Massachusetts…

Have you changed addresses?  Are you a new student in Massachusetts?  Are you turning 18 before September 14? 

No matter what the reason, make sure that you update your voter registration by tomorrow to have your voice heard in the Democratic Primary election on September 14.

Voter registration forms must be postmarked or turned in to your local City or Town Clerk by the deadline, tomorrow, Wednesday August 25, 2010.  Your Clerk's office will be open until 8:00 PM on Wednesday, so be sure to get in and complete your voter registration after work tomorrow if you're unable to do so sooner.

AP reports: The U.S. Education Department said Tuesday that nine states and the District of Columbia will get money to reform schools in the second round of the $4.35 billion “Race to the Top” grant competition. Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island and Washington, D.C., will receive grants, department spokesman Justin Hamilton said. The amounts for each state were expected to be announced later…. The applicants named winners Tuesday will share a remaining $3.4 billion. More to come, including the amount MA will receive.  For now, it’s good news, so kudos to those who put together MA’s application. UPDATE: MA’s share is apparently expected to be about $250 million.  That should come in handy.

The loan received by the ethically-challenged Guy Glodis isn’t going away.

The Globe reports to day that after borrowing the 20,000 grand from hedge fund pal Richard Zanotti, Glodis deposited $22,000 of his own money into his campaign coffers.

In September 2004, when he was a candidate for Worcester County sheriff, Guy W. Glodis lent his campaign $22,000 just days after receiving a $20,000 personal loan from a controversial hedge fund manager, his political finance records show.

Glodis, a Democrat and now a candidate for state auditor, has declined to disclose what he did with the loan that he received from Amit Mathur just 10 days before the Sept. 14, 2004, primary, in which he defeated the veteran incumbent sheriff. Yesterday, however, Glodis insisted that the money was never used for political purposes, despite the subsequent deposit into his campaign account.

“The loan was used for a personal issue; it was not a political loan,” said Glodis, who at the time was a state senator from Auburn. He went on to handily win a three-way race in November. Four years later, Mathur was convicted of bilking his clients of $12.5 million.