The normally mild-mannered Eisenthal Report turns green, grows enormous muscles and busts out of its shirt:
Outgoing Massachusetts Secretary of Administration and Finance Eric Kriss gave an interview that appeared in this morning’s Boston Globe.In this interview, Kriss said that Massachusetts cities and towns are"in their worst financial shape ever" and that this is "a crisislargely of their own making." Kriss blames "overly generous" salaryincreases for public employees, a "failure to control"
health carecosts, and "aversion to development that could spur new tax revenue." These comments can be best described as bizarre and out of touch withthe reality that faces local governments in Massachusetts. [my emphasis]
Yup, more victim-blaming from the Romney administration. Really, municipalities are facing the same squeeze that middle-class families are facing: Spiraling health care costs and real estate prices, which make it difficult to develop because it dilutes the tax base. Add Prop 2 1/2 making it impossible to raise revenues to fill the gap, and you’ve got a nasty squeeze.
I mean, "a failure to control health care costs"? How the hell does the city of Framingham or Leominster or whatever do that? Shouldn’t that be the state’s job? The feds’?
I came down hard on Charlie Baker — probably unfairly and on too little information — for bringing these things to light with Kriss and Romney in the room. If this is what he was objecting to, then he’s got a point. My bad.
