As the article points out, the standard vehicle for the governor under the Mitt administration was the Ford Crown Vic. Your typical cop car blacked out with leather seats, etc. The article goes on to say
Patrick’s new car is one of Cadillac’s finest vehicles with a price tag that starts at $42,000. By comparison, Crown Victorias, which are the vehicle of choice for police and government agencies, start at $26,000.
This appears to be factual, Ford has a “detailed comparison” portion of their website where you can compare to vehicles from other manufacturers. Looking at this, the vehicles appear to be about the same in everything except cost.
The Herald article calls car “tricked-out” because things like tinted windows, flashing lights, sirens, security features, etc. have been added. Well dugh! He is the governor and the state police would mandate these on any vehicle he travels in. (Could this have been a quasi racist statement? I wonder if the first draft called it “pimped-out”?)
A Patrick aide said the car was selected from a short list of vehicles that meet state police security specifications. The aide said the governor had sought to obtain the same kind of car used by Romney but claimed that vehicle was no longer in production.
According to the Ford website, the Crown Vic is offered in 2007 so this seems to be spin, but I never take things from an anonymous “aide” to seriously.
Like I said before, I can’t tell if this is a real story or just distracting, partisan bickering. Yes it appears the governor has spent more on his vehicle then Romney did. We can’t expect him to be driving around in a Prius or Civic, that’s just not practical from a security stand point. Is this a just a one time expenditure or an example of how Deval will act financially for the rest of his tenure?
The fact that about half of this short article is related to Republicans bickering makes me lean towards this article being meaningless partisan bickering.
What do you think?
UPDATE: Deval defends his choice of the Caddy
DP has defended his choice of the Cadillac according to an article in today’s Herald.
“I asked whether the extended cab version of (the Crown Victoria) was in production, and I was told it wasn’t,” Patrick said. “If that’s wrong, then take it up with the state police.”
An aide to Patrick said after the press conference the governor’s explanation was incorrect and sought to clarify his comments. Ford is currently selling a 2007 model of the Crown Victoria for about half the price of the $46,000 Cadillac DeVille.
The aide said state police had told Patrick’s office that the Crown Victoria is still available, but does not meet their security specifications.
In the end, the governor was offered a choice between the Cadillac DTS and a Chrysler 300c that would have cost about $37,000, or $9,000 less than the sleek Caddy he selected.
The article goes on to offer some criticism from Barbara Anderson from Citizens for Limited Taxation and Senate Republican leader Richard Tisei.
The only other noteworthy thing I pulled out of this was this line attributed to the Governor:
Patrick strongly defended his choice of vehicles yesterday, saying it was a “trivial” decision that draws far more attention from the media than it does from ordinary citizens.
It would appear that based on the 37 comments on this topic, as of the time of this update, that the Gov. is wrong and we do have some interest in this subject.
“After reading the article and pondering on the subject I honestly can’t decide if this is really a story or just partisan bickering.”
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Wow let’s take a poll on the BMG
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GEE I wonder which way people at the BMG are going to vote?? HMMM HMMM
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This is a tough one. HMMMM
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“Is this a just a one time expenditure or an example of how Deval will act financially for the rest of his tenure?”
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What do you mean “one time” Isn’t this the same guy that took the state police ‘chopper’ out for a spin twice last month?????
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“The fact that about half of this short article is related to Republicans bickering makes me lean towards this article being meaningless partisan bickering.”
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Not to be confused with some articles written from a liberal slant. Because we all know “bickering” is not something Democrats are guilty of.
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Pa – lease
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Carpundit:
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I thought two of the comments on the carpundit site were interesting.
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This one:
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But this one is really revealing, isn’t it:
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Hmmmm.
The racism of that last comment on Carpundit’s page (at http://www.typepad.c…) is clearly racist. Anyone who questions that has his/her head in the sand.
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As for the Herald’s comment, well, I do have to wonder if they’d refer to any other Governor as driving a “tricked-out” car. I’d guess not. And moreonver, unless Deval’s car has some kind of features that aren’t mentioned in the article, it’s an inaccurate description as well as an inappropriate one.
I will give you a benefit of a doubt.
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I am a conservative. I have been one of the dissenting views on most topics on this blog.
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If this is Deval having a preference for a different brand of car and he needed a new car (don’t know this from the article) then I don’t see the big deal for the difference of about $17K. If he went for the 7 series BMW (over $100K) I would think that was a big deal.
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Most articles are written from one slant or another (this is a problem with modern journalism on both sides) but my question is whether or not this is a big deal or just a Republican slanted article. I think this is a fair question and if you ever tried to form your own opinions and not just take them from the likes of Rush Limbaugh or Jay Severin, you might see that.
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As far as asking the readers of BMG their opinion, why do you bother reading a blog from “the other side” if you don’t care about knowing their opinions?
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Maybe you are just a troll.
The Herald did a very effective hit job; no one seems to have noticed the flaw in this article yet.
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They listed the final price of the Caddy, outfitted for options that any governor would have. They then compared to the base price of a Crown Victoria and arrived at a $17,000 difference.
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They did not compare Deval’s Caddy to the cost of Romney’s Crown Vic. Why not? I bet because they wouldn’t have been able to write a slanted front-page story that plugs into several existing frames — “limousine liberal” and “Blacks prefer Cadillacs”.
Upon another re-read, the Herald did compare base models for each car. My bad.
with respect to their framing?
The Ford website allows you to compare various models of the each car. The price comparison I gave was for the basic Crown Vic and the basic Caddy. The price difference between the basic Crown Vic and the LX model is only about $2k.
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Now we don’t know what model Deval got but the Caddies range from $47K to $49K, about the same $2K.
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It does appear that Romney did go for a cheaper car no matter how you slice it. But still, is a difference of up to $17K a big deal?
and of course he didn’t use the chopper.
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Because neither was suitable for making the trip to Iowa.
but irrelevant to the subject.
In the big picture this car controversey means nothing unless Deval continues to make Swift like miscues.
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I think a Governor should lead by example and using a Cadillac as your state vehicle just does not send the right message to the average taxpayer.
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A civilian police type vehicle would have been just fine and the Governor knows this.
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Just in another Swift miscue. A personal scheduler for his wife at State expense. I think our Governor just does not get it.
So basically you have No IDEA what the price difference is between Mitt Romney and Deval Patrick’s Governor-mobile. NO CLUE WHAT SO EVER.
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typical
If they knew, then they wouldn’t be printing “starting” prices for either model.
Why not share you data with the rest of us . . .
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I’ve got no data — but neither does the Herald. The Herald printed the base cost of a Crown Vic vs. a Caddy, not the actual cost to the state of Patrick’s car vs. Romney’s. I mistakenly thought that they were comparing the base model of Crown Vics to Patrick’s car — and copped to that mistake — but they were comparing base to base, something not quite relevant.
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But the issue is manufactured to begin with. What is the standard for a governor’s car? Should it be the cheapest? The safest? The fastest? Why didn’t Romney drive in a Ford Taurus? What did Jane Swift, Paul Celucci, or Bill Weld drive in (I read someone who claimed that Swift used to drive in a Tahoe — I can’t verify that though, perhaps someone here can). Is Patrick saving the state money by leasing vs. buying? Did Romney trade in his car at all during his time in office?
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We don’t know any of that because no serious analysis has been done here. This is a clearly manufactured partisan story, ala the fake Nancy Pelosi 757 story, built to go along with the frame of Democrats as tax-and-spenders. No investigative reporting took place here, no thought, just “nyah nyah”.
“and if you ever tried to form your own opinions and not just take them from the likes of Rush Limbaugh or Jay Severin, you might see that.”
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Oh yeah like so many of the original thoughts here at the BMG. Yeah right, no talking points here. Tell me another one JK….nice try anyway
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“Maybe you are just a troll”
maybe you have just been served.
shouldn’t you be over in Iraq putting your money where your mouth is? Oh, I see. You’re an ARMCHAIR warrior who fights the blog wars. Since you don’t have the necessary knowledge or armor to adequately defend yourself on the ‘internets’, I’m sure there’s a recruiting office within spitting distance of that basement where you live with your parents. Maybe you could learn some real skills in the military, because you’re obviously lacking any ability to cogently argue facts.
Kathy – when you don’t approve of an argument or a poster, you can’t just begin to sqawk ‘Iraq! Iraq!’ like a demented parrot, regardless of topic. It makes you look silly.
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BTW – is there some reason YOU haven’t enlisted to serve your country?
And I come from a long line of veterans. How about you?
I have a disabiltiy which prevents me from passing a military physical (kept me out of the Peace Corps, too!).
…until our state officials are transported in vehicles on the verge of failing inspection.
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Deval should be forced to travel in a 1994 Kia Sedona.
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Will that make you happy, GOP?
…Trabants. No faster than 40KM/hr, and lots of pollution, but cheap. Lots of them could probably be obtained from the former East Germany.
I think the Yugo could get up to 40 mpg on the highway and could go from 0 to 60 in 5-6 minutes.
has been turned off? i thought it had only been reversed that one time. if it is going to remain off, why have the ZERO rating available? teasing the electorate – not nice! 😉
Honestly, Laurel, I think that sometimes it is better to have someones idiot post left there for all to see.
To delete them (unless they are truly profane) is to pretend that they never existed.
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If someone is a real troll or a constant flamer, just kick ’em off the board.
that would happen. but in a recent diary conversation it seems the powers that be decided to not kick out trolls (or not trolls as most of us define them). now it appears they have also disabled the ‘citizens petition’ mechanism provided for circumventing their troll charity. ultimately, any rating system is fine as long as the rules remain stable. but that doesn’t appear to be the case here. surprising, since at least some of the editors profess to be ‘by the book’ sticklers. i’d like to know which edition of the book is in use today.
our little keyboard commando upthread excluded.
that the editors have disabled the ‘vote the post off the page’ function. what is the point of having it appear to be available but turned off? turn it on, or remove the ZERO option.
Especially when it is someone’s express intent to disrupt and not add constructively to the conversation.
This story is a shrug and not worth much discussion, IMO.
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I’m sure he saved $10K here and there too. And probably made some dumb choice that cose $20K somewhere else. Let’s spend our time on the big things: tax policy, health care, infrastructure, job creation, local aid – things that actually matter to the budget.
In a perfect world this is a meaningless story, but this is not a perfect world. Deval by all means get a Cadillac near the end of your 4-year term. Not the first couple of months. Did no one think to tell Deval maybe this is not a good idea from a PR perspective? Do not give your critics ammunition to use against you. I gave you my support knowing you would make mistakes, but I expected you to be intelligent enough not to make PR 101 mistakes like this.
I would like to say my PR 101 post was my frustration with this story and a not a smug attack on others who have taken the time to comment.
I think its typical liberal hypocrisy: try and force massive wealth redistribution while living in fantastic luxury yourself. Attack the rich as greedy and unworthy to keep their incomes (tax giveaway!) but obviously thats just hollow populist rhetoric, used to get elected and increase your own power and luxury. Ouch, exposed!
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Hyperbole aside, I think its a minor story of no real import.
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Well, let me help you decide.
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What would posters on BMG be saying if this were a GOP governor or candidate?
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Would there be pious assertions that there is no need for the Governor to have the cheaper car, that safety should be a consideration? That the Governor’s time is valuable, and the carbon footprint of the mode of transportation should be balanced with the crowded schedule and stringent demands on the Governor’s office?
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Would they argue that the story is just a distraction from the real mission, a mere kerfluffle, or argue that it is indeed revaltory of a deeper problem, an insight into – oh, I don’t know – latent anti-Semitism by scheduling an event at the Transportation Innovation Museum and taikg about innovation in government by comparing a Rambler and a hybrid?
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I thought so. And he isn’t even foregoing his salary to subsidize is choice.
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BTW – what is Tim Murray driving?
Any idea if there’s ever been a chief-of-staff for a Governor’s wife before this administration?
Insinuations like this bug me a lot. The last time I was on Blue Mass Group commenting that a story is unimportant and being overblown was in the case of a Republican saying “fuck” at a high school. The fact that he’s Republican didn’t prevent me from seeing it as trivia, nor does the fact that Deval’s a Democrat cause me to think this is trivia.
I get tired of this whole ‘two scorpions in a bottle’ thing too.
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The municiapl tax relief non-plan? That is worthy of comment.
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Angus McQuillken protesting with FIVE (is that ALL he could find in Mass.?) others at Romeny’s announcement? Foolish to comment.
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But I am bothered by the trend to excuse the missteps of one side as trivial and not germane, and the missteps of the other side of deep revelations of fatal and sinister flaws, complete with amateur psychoanalysis. (what did it mean that Bush had his two-hour press conference in front of a GOLD curtain…ooooo….) To a certain extent, BMG is merely reflecting MSM as far as that goes.
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I’m hoping for the day when EITHER side makes a dumb move, and the thread reads – Tin-eared dumb stunt. And the response is Yep. Now, about that social security reform package…..
Did anyone here ever question Mitt Romney’s vehicle? Did anyone in the press? This is pretty obviously being manufactured by the Mass GOP and Barbara Anderson. Their fingerprints are all over it.
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The GOP can’t make arguments on policy, so they go after stuff like this, stuff that they do themselves and never get called on.
As the article pointed out, Romney went for the Crown Vic. He was questioned on plenty of other things, if that makes you happy 😉
The point is, when Romney selected a Crown Victoria at a time when there was a significant deficit in the state’s budget, did anyone question why he was spending $26+k on a new car when he could have taken one of the state’s existing cars (like the one Swift drove), or he could have spent less on a Taurus?
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If not, then why not?
…which has apparently now become toxic and unsafe.
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I don’t know why al the cops are driving them – at least the ones manning speed traps….
The state police have a list of cars that are approved for handling, speed, safety, etc. and the car selected by the Governor has to be on the list. By all accounts the Crown Vic is the cheapest car on the list. They can’t transport the governor around in a Honda Civic for safety and security reasons.
Honestly, a P71 Crown Vic would smoke a Caddy DTS.
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Plus, they’re cooler, more customizable, and already come with most of those “tricked out” features standard.
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The main difference between these two cars is the difference between a State Trooper uniform and a an expensive suit. You show up in that Versace suit and people know you’re important. You show up in a Statie uniform with knee-high jackboots, Rommel-style balloon trousers and crushed officer caps, there’s an aura of fear-induced respect.
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That’s the only reason why I can think he would say no to a badass Police Interceptor.
So I can’t speak authoritatively on the difference between the the two cars. Though, my understanding is that the Interceptors have superior speed & handling, which I would want from a security standpoint.
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The perception of the guvs choice is ably noted above. And I think someone dropped the ball on this one, though it probably wasn’t the Governor himself.
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Like it or not, clever monikers like “DeVille Patrick” have a way of sticking.
Someone wasn’t watching the boss’s back.
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On another note:
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Yes, we now have our first black Governor. But are we now going to have to put up with these cheap innuendoes that there is a racist message between every line??
I mean, really! Words like articulate, heretofore a compliment, and now, “tricked-out”?? These are racist??
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And yes I know that context counts. I need no admonishments in that regard.
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But honestly, people, aren’t there enough real examples of bigotry out there, that we don’t need to imagine that one lurks behind every damned innocent phrase?
Who cares?
I’m sure you all read the Herald and today’s article says:
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So we’re down to a $9,000 difference today.
This should be an update to the post.
The Globe:
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http://www.boston.co…
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So, air bags get in the way of security.
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We’ve seen alot of that lately.
It wouldn’t come with decanters, would it?
…even mean? And why do you assume something has been withheld as opposed to adding a more recent innovation?
this sort of thing has little to do with partisan bickering. It doesn’t matter to me whether a Repub or Dem governor is indulging in conspicuous consumption, most of them learned how to do that early in their careers. What bothers me is tedious non-events like this being vetted and lined up as talking points to manipulate the electorate by the usual monied interests.
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Whenever one of these pre-packaged “scandals” erupts, follow the money and you’ll see who did the packaging. Fight the real enemy!
And Patrick’s problem is that he has not yet learned how to quickly dispatch these media manufactured mini scandals. We saw this during the campaign – and we are seeing again, and we will continue to see it.
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Every politician will have certain media outlets and political adversaries throw things at them in an effort to knock them off message. No matter how virtuous a politician you might be, it doesn’t matter. They will always find something to toss in your path.
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The trick, which Patrick’s team needs to learn is how to respond effectively and knock down these things. The two day stumble of explanations as to why this car was chosen and what the alternatives were is not the way to do it.
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I can guarantee that next week, month, whatever, the Herald will have some new manufactured mini crisis, so it is important that the Governor learn how to deal with this kind of stuff, otherwise he gets knocked off message – just as he was by the Laguer story during the campaign.
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…(regardless of where it was actually assembled). Is that enough?
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Maybe he should just ignore the whole thing. Which he appears to have done.
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Maybe Dan Kennedy from MediaNation could weigh in, but it seems to me that the only reason that this is a mini-“scandal” is that the organizations who sell fish-wrappings and bird-cage liners don’t have anything to put on the paper they’re demolishing forests to get the newsprint from.
The samples said I was with Ghandi and the Dali Lama. Deval came out of nowhere, a product of people fed up with Bush, a vote of no confidence in anything rethuglican. But Deval has consistently shown himself to be his own Manchurian Candidate, beholden to insurance lobbyists who paid for the extravagant five day inaugruation ball.
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No, we don’t get the energy efficent hybrid. Some people naturally are above all that, the elite, the elite of the master race don’t you know. It’s just not up to the security code.
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Also Deval it seems doesn’t answer his emails either. It’s a continuation of Christy Miho’s famous Bechtel commercial, only this time it’s Massachusetts voters who have their heads up their ass.
Isn’t it sad that a black man makes good in Massachusetts and the white folks have nothing but complaints. Move over Diane Wilkerson. This man is an Executive. In the corporate world he would have his own jet, not just a helicopter and Caddy.
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Now the complaint is that the family is getting into the act. So what! Tell me the white politicians don’t take care of their families with public funds. I know three generation public servants with aunts, uncles, cousins, offspring, all white and slurping at the teat of the Commonwealth.
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All this cost is just a drop in the bucket, anyway. I bet the paychecks the last governor never took are still in the state’s accounts, so the money is available. What “good deed” can these small funds accomplish?
REALLY!!!
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Who takes that rag seriously anyway????
Connecticut governor: Cadillac sedan
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Gov of Tenn.: Lincoln Town Car (new starts at $43K)
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Oh, in addition, apparently members of the U.S. House of Representatives can lease cars with their office budgets using taxpayer money. Some do. Knight-Ridder reported last year:
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Over a thousand a month, according to Knight-Ridder:
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Rep. Mike Ross D-Ark. Ford Expedition $1,248.31
Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon R-Calif. Acura $1,231.51
Rep. Dennis Cardoza D-Calif. Chevrolet truck $1,227.17
Rep. John Sullivan R-Okla. Chevrolet $1,180.99
Rep. Bob Ney R-Ohio Lincoln $1,078.21
Rep. John Doolittle R-Calif. Toyota Highlander $1,073.73
Rep. Gregory Meeks D-N.Y. Lexus $1,062.85
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I really wish Governor Patrick had stuck with hybrids. He drove a hybrid through the campaign, and I was very proud about that. Hybrids are not cheaper to purchase, but they do cost less to operate, and (oh yeah) they save our plant.
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So, I would suggest that the Governor keep his eye open for an appropriate style hybrid.
There are numerous accounts of Romney showing up at official events in a black Ford Excursion. This story that Romney was being toted around in an old Crown Vic is not true.
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The Crown Vic that was left behind, the one with 90,000 miles on it – this was not the one used by Romney.
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First:
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http://www.findartic…
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I guess he decided to hold on to the SUV, because he was still being driven around in the thing, quite recently:
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http://www.theremind…
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So lets drop the “but Mitt Romney suffered by sitting in an old Crown Vic!”
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blockquote>Gov. Romney also acknowledged the times as lean, adding that in bad financial times, bad ideas are more conspicuous. Like the fleet of three gargantuan sport utility vehicles and a van, all driven to get the governor to the Wakefield hotel-conference center. This comes less than four months after the governor himself grandstanded against tax-funded sport utility vehicles, part of a call for all but “essential” sport utes to be taken off the public’s tab.
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….
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Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom says yes, the governor is “looking to downsize (the state’s fleet of) nonessential SUVs.” But, he said, the three gas-guzzlers and the van used to get Romney to Wakefield on May 30 were needed “for security reasons” on the insistence of Massachusetts State Police officials assigned to provide the governor’s security details.
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“The state police insist on using SUVs in transporting the governor,” Fehrnstrom said. “I won’t go into detail about the security he has, but they insist on using them.”
Gov Patrick chided Kerry Healy to “Get Off Your High Horse” in one of the debates.
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Add to this the scheduler hired for over 70K. As Howie Carr would say “After a nationwide search”.
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Ms. Patrick has no role / voice in government, yet we provide staff and services.
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Folks are losing their jobs in state government, we continue to outsource functions and social service agencies are fighting for pennies.
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Appearance is reality. I think the Gov needs to take some of his own advise.
the kind that we’ve been watching for years.
It reminds me of last weeks fabricated Pelosi plane smear. The GOP is pissed off because they lost the House, and Hastert, DeLay and the rest of those soon to be indicted criminals don’t like the fact that their former 3 day work weeks are now 5 days. With the end of their free reign to rob the treasury blind, suddenly the GOP is upset about the Speaker’s plane.
Rule of thumb: If the GOP is smearing a Democrat with something, you can be sure that they have a weakness that they are trying to inoculate themselves against.
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Patrick has been in office for 6 weeks, and the GOP is working hard to portray him as a wasteful spender. Besides trying to distract from real issues, who benefits?
Well, Mitt Romney is now running around the country trying to convince people what a prudent and efficient manager he is, a real CEO. Sound familiar?
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Last year alone Mitt spent 200+ days traveling out of state, launching his run for POTUS. His campaign used $64,000 worth of taxpayers money for out-of-state, MA State Police protection thru 6/05, then another $105,000 thru 6/06. I haven’t seen the numbers for Sate Police costs during his last 6 months of travel in “office”, but with trips to China, Japan, Utah, and wherever else, you get the idea.
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Exactly how much of taxpayer money was used to cover Romney’s POTUS payroll (above and beyond the State Police), is what I’d like to see. Romney apologist like to make a big deal out of the fact that Millionaire Mitt took no salary, or they argue that Romney’s flacks, handlers and hairdressers that traveled with him were paid out of PAC money for the “time” spent working on his “campaign”. It’s almost a clever dodge, except that we’re supposed to believe that a cadre of state employees, working for Mitt, would forgo a portion of their salaries, benefits and state pensions. Sure. Keep in mind that Romney created new positions for guys like Eric Fehrnstrom at $150K, immediately upon being sworn in. How about the fact that these same STATE employees, who were supposed to be working for US, spent 200+ days last year working on Mitts presidential campaign, never mind the shell game of how their salaries, pensions and benes were paid.
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This is a joke. Mitt abused the taxpayers of MA to launch his presidential campaign, and the GOP/Herald is sending up smokescreens about what kind of car Patrick is driving.
If you have a problem with the State Police security details, then take it up with the State Police.
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If you want to imply that Mitt Romney cheated the state treasury to pay for campaign costs to which he was not entitled, then you need to offer proof, cogently, without the sloganeering.
Mitt Romney spent hundreds of thousands of MA taxpayers dollars for Sate Police security, flying around the world preparing for his presidential campaign. He was out of state with his entourage some 200+ plus days last year alone, when he was supposed to be working for MA.
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The State Police didn’t make Mitts travel schedule, the `Mitt for President’ flacks did, and MA paid for it. Since there is no state law mandating State Police security for the governors global jaunts, it would have been nice if Mitt the Millionaire paid for it himself, or at least used some of his PAC money to pay for it. He was the executive, and it was his decision to stick MA taxpayers with the bill.
It was not the State Police’s decision, it was Mitt’s decision. His call. All that Mitt had to say was:
“There’s no law mandating that I use MA Sate Police security for my entourage as I travel around the globe. I’ll save the State a couple of hundred grand and pay for security from one of my PACS. Since I’m preparing my presidential campaign launch, and I like to portray myself as fiscally responsible, it’s the right thing to do”
I don’t expect Mitt apologists to acknowledge that he’s been screwing MA taxpayers, but playing dumb isn’t much of a defense. IMHO, Mitt’s traveling entourage of State employees (in addition to the State Police) was also a thumb in the eye to MA taxpayers. If you think that it was ok for Mitt to use State employees that way, just say so. But please, no more mealy mouthed excuses, blaming the Sate Police for Mitt’s decisions etc. Mitt can’t hide from his record.
It’s so unfortunate these issues always become defensive partisan bickering. Yes it’s an issue, no it’s not a partisan issue. Quite a few of the Commonwealths unenrolled voters gave Patrick the thumbs up because they believed he was truly interested in combating waste in state government. An official vehicle paid for with public funds, regardless of political affiliation or precedent, is waste. There is no arguing that. This isn’t the private sector and this isn’t a company car. I don’t care what any of Patrick’s predecessors drove, simply because I expected him to act differently, more responsible. Part of the responsibility I was hoping for is acknowledging the reality that someone who can float 6 million in personal mortgages can buy their own transportation. Oh, I know, what a crazy idea! But really, what’s the point of using public funds to buy a car for any wealthy person?
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The true believer, team players on both sides really need to check their partisan defense mechanisms at the door and realize that from the center this isn’t calling out the states top Dem, it’s calling out foolish, unnecessary spending.
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As to the claims of Racism; thats just silly. If you’re not comfortable with the lexicon of popular culture don’t take it out on those of us who are. I’m a 30yo white guy floating in the middle-class and I honestly wouldn’t know how to refer to a customized car other than tricked out or pimped out without feeling like a complete tool. If the Herald called this a ‘well equipped, high end sedan with the most powerful engine in its class’ I would know to add them to the list of intolerable, unreadable dailies catering to an aging, boring demographic all the while wondering why it seems their readership drops in direct proportion to the natural death rate. Spare me.
You think that the governor should pay for his own vehicle but the state police are the ones that mandate the type of vehicle. I think it is fair that if we expect the governor to travel around the state and not just stay in Boston and take the state police security detail with him, he should be provided with a state vehicle. That doesn’t mean Deval couldn’t have made a gesture like Romney’s and forego part of his salary to offset the extra cost of the vehicle he choose.
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As far as the racism, I agree with you. I included that poking fun at the people who find racism every where. And there is one or two posts on this thread that are trying to inject race into this.