Earlier this month, members of the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee met and elected several dozen additional members. Out of a large field of candidates – all of whom were talented, accomplished and committed Democrats – we are honored to have been elected to fill the 4 Male Youth Add-On seats. We are thankful to the members of the MDSC for the opportunity to serve our Party, and we look forward to further supporting our Party’s candidates as they seek to make Massachusetts the state we all know it can and should be. We would also like to thank Chairman Walsh for running a pleasant and incredibly efficient meeting on April 14th. Dozens of candidates sought to join the State Committee, and each candidate was given the opportunity to speak to the crowd assembled. Despite the list of speakers, the crowd listened respectfully, and the Chairman and Party staff deserve to be commended for their organization that day. Thank you for such a pleasant experience. From President Obama, to US Senate and Congress, to our State Reps and State Senators, here is to a successful 2012! Jim DiTullio (Saugus) james_ditullio@hotmail.com Jason Palitsch (Shrewsbury) Jason@JasonPalitsch.com Phil DeCologero (North Andover) decologerop@gmail.com Dylan Hayre (Natick) [...]
Romney’s victory speech
Team Romney has let slip excerpts from the speech he plans to give tonight after he all but wraps up the Republican nomination. It’s on the flip. See how many Etch-A-Sketch moments you can count! Fun for the whole family.
The neverending battle over Level 4 Biolab in Boston continues…
The Boston Globe printed the latest on last week’s community meeting on the Level 4 Biolab (in case you missed it): http://boston.com/community/blogs/crime_punishment/2012/04/fatal_flaws_in_biolab_report.html Considering that today also saw Mad Cow confirmed in the US http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/24/mad-cow-disease-california-usda_n_1449871.html and BP Oil Spill Criminal Charges http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/24/kurt-mix-bp-engineer-oil-spill_n_1449316.html the rush to endanger everyone in Eastern Mass continues unabated.
Brown Voted to Gut Pell Grant Funding by 25%
Instead of character attacks of the Brown campaign, Elizabeth Warren released a great ad highlighting the scheduled rate increase of Stafford student loans. As noted in the original post, Warren also placed a petition to call on congress to not double the rate. In Brown’s defense, alert commenter bradm noted the amount of money that is dedicated for Pell Grants when arguing against the Warren ad. While Scott Brown later decided to get on board with Elizabeth Warren on Stafford Loans (I wonder if he signed her petition). Scott Brown’s quote from the hard hitting Jon Keller piece about what kind of hamburgers Brown likes: “Yeah, I’m for (the new bill). It’s something we’ve been working on for awhile,” said Sen. Brown. Well it has been something that Brown has been working on for a while, March 2011, Scott Brown voted for Republican budget bill H. R. 1 which would have slashed Pell Grant funding by 5.7 Billion, that’s billion with a “B” folks, or nearly 25 percent of Pell Grant funding. Candidate Scott Brown has a problem on his hands, he can’t pretend to champion helping students with secondary education while Senator Scott Brown votes to gut programs.
Smell the fear
Just wanted to revisit the Brown campaign’s “elitist” line of attack against Elizabeth Warren. Gosh, I hope they keep it up; I hope they use that line every day and twice on Sundays. Because when they bring it up, it prompts one to ask: What does “elitist” mean? Is Warren more or less “elitist” than Brown? and, Is it actually important who is more or less “elitist”? The Brown campaign is blowing the Newt Gingrich/Howie Carr whistle for “elitism”. It is a cultural distinction, saying that this person isn’t like you and me, and that they want to tell you what to do. Gingrich popularized the “liberal elite” idea, in order to mask policies that keep wages down and profits up. Howie uses it to tell people that someone else, someone less deserving, is eating their tax-money lunch. Scott Brown’s camp raises money off of the fear of “insiders, celebrities, elites, occupiers, leftists” who support Warren. (He neglected to mention the opera singers. Wah!) But when one tries to cleave the electorate, one should be certain that one will retain the bigger chunk. (Remember this one?) We, on the other hand, define elitism as economic: If you continue to favor [...]
Prescription Drug Addiction: A Medical Condition, Not A Moral Failure
Close to Home Prescription drug abuse and addiction is prevalent in America yet it lurks in the shadows. We don’t like to talk about it because of the stigma associated with it. But if you are still reading this, you probably know someone close to you it has affected. This is an issue that is near and dear to me and my family. Both of my parents own pharmacies (my father’s is in Attleboro and mother’s is in Plainville). Both have had their share of robberies from persons suffering from drug addiction. In September 2010, there was a well publicized case of a 17 year old boy found nearly comatose in the ceiling of Plainville Prescription Center. That is my mother’s store, and it wasn’t the first break-in she or my father has experienced. A few weeks ago, an old friend recently succumbed to a long fight with mental illness and she intentionally overdosed on pain killers – mental illness is a serious risk factor for drug abuse. Another person close to my family, who has long suffered from back pain, also became a victim to pain killers, which many people fall victim to. He is currently in residential rehab with the full support of his [...]
