Wonderful and perceptive piece called Locked out on Beacon Hill from MetroWest political columnist Rick Holmes.
Good sharp stuff about the lack of transparency in the process .
Here's just a couple of paragraphs from the middle. Read the whole thing.Cross posted at ONE Massachusetts
Democrats on all sides of the building are already spinning. They heard the voters' outrage and made the tough choices. They passed a good budget in the midst of an economic calamity.
They stood up to the special interests, bucking the police unions to bring in civilian flaggers and cut Quinn bill benefits. They took on the state employee unions on health care and pensions, even taking away some perks that fatten the pockets of legislators. Sacred cows are bleeding all over Beacon Hill.
There's truth to their story, but will the public give them credit? Don't bet on it. Most of the reforms are technical corrections: reorganizing transportation agencies, changing benefit formulas, tightening ethics rules. They mostly fix problems that have generated ugly headlines over the last year or so. They aren't institutional reforms; they don't change the game.
Nor are they likely to change public perception, at least not soon. There will always be another loophole for an unethical pol or a public employee to exploit.
There will always be a detail cop drinking coffee when he should be directing traffic. Howie Carr isn't about to stop talking about government hacks.
…and NO legislator should vote for something they have NOT had time to read and ponder. Oh – and bring back video of all sessions.
And the legislature overrides. Deval says “hey I tried.” And tries to remake himself as an outsider. It is not going to work. In the interest of disclosure, I became a Republican last week. YOUR ABSOLUTE CORRUPTION MUST BE STOPPED!
As for your party switch, well that was probably long overdue. You’ve constantly sniped at Democrats on this site.
It adds up in terms of wasted money. What are you suggesting be changed?
A short list:
1. Redistricting reform
2. Clean elections
3. Rules reforms to limit power of leadership (let committees pick their chairs, take away leadership control of offices, bonuses, more time to read and debate bills)
4. Apply open meeting law to Legislature