The conference committee budget is nothing like the House budget. Pangi kicked ass.
Now you have to explain to voters why all the new taxes, why was Sal so popular with you, why so much State House corruption being reported in the papers, why is there a push back for ethics reform, why do you deserve to be re-elected.
If you are a freshman Democrat that ran on Deval’s coattails sighting change and transparency and blah blah blah you have to answer the same thing but also why you are feuding with Deval over change.
And why after you got sworn in for the first time you immediately voted for a crook then voted for the most conservative guy in the house to replace him?
And if your district borders NH, RI, CT, VT you have some real splainin’ to do.
Bobby DeLeo and his weak leadership team are going to cost many members their seats next year.
Unless things change there should be more than a few surprises in turn over.
And by change I don’t mean the ethics bill that Deval is forcing them to come out with.
Good job Deval.
These freshman wont lose. Not because they shouldn’t, mind you. Rather because they won’t face legitimate challenges.
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p>First they will lock up the D primary with hack-union support. If anything, they are probably more vulnerable from angry cops and Pike workers than people upset with the sales tax or their disagreement with Gov. Patrick.
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p>And then they will be safe in the general because a rational person would rather kick themselves in the balls all day than join the 15-person R caucus.
I particularly enjoyed this:
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p>”And then they will be safe in the general because a rational person would rather kick themselves in the balls all day than join the 15-person R caucus.”
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p>Oh my. What a circus.
Being a new R person, I would rather be one of the growing 15%, than a meaningless digit in the 47% D group. I am going to make myself heard. And perhaps I can persuade enough of the unenrolled 35% or so that this absolute corruption thing just isn’t working out. I have been invited to observe a meeting of the Republican State Committee this week. And I was tweaking them too. Maybe they wanna beat me up.
The number of Republicans elected to the General Court has been shrinking over time. No easily obtainable numbers, but if anybody’s got a plot of percent of Dems in State Court over time I’d love to see it.
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p>The number of Republicans registered in MA (per capita) has been shrinking over time. 13.8% in Oct 96, 13.0% in Oct 2004, peaking at 14% at the Aug 2000 primary. Numbers terminate at Oct 2004, but I’d bet GOP registration has fallen below 13.0% by now.
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p>
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p>MA Republicans may be a (growing) legend in your own mind, but that’s about as far as they get.
Registered democrats as percent of registered voters. Not exactly a healthy slope to that trend line either.
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p>1982 45.30%
1984 48.51%
1986 46.65%
1988 46.42%
1990 42.88%
1992 40.96%
1994 40.22%
1996 39.09%
1998 37.56%
2000 36.38%
2002 36.37%
2004 37.25%
2006 36.90%
2008 36.95%
one can hardly argue that the Dems’ falling party registration numbers have corresponded to declining election results. Would be interesting to plot party registration against, say, percentage of legislature held by that party.
plot party registration against, say, the party of Executive branch over that time period.
But I didn’t claim a “growing 15%”. I merely refuted the claim of someone else, using facts.
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p>Somehow, that earned me a 4.00 / 1 rating, but whatev’.
It is posts like this that drive middle-of-the-road Dems away from these blogs. Sure it is easy to throw stones at DeLeo, if you want to ignore the world around you. From the day the House passed the budget, consensus revenue dropped like $1.5 billion. OF COURSE the budget looks a lot more like the Senate’s than the House’s… if it looked more like the House’s, it’d be out of balance.
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p>That has nothing to do with DeLeo or his leadership team. What would you have preferred, that they stuck to their now out-of-date guns and now out-of-date bottom line? Would have rather they say no to the additional revenue and cut more than the $2.4 billion they already cut?
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p>DeLeo is hardly the most conservative Dem in the House… I think his ideology is most closely reflective of the real world of Massachusetts. I can name a dozen of more conservative Dems… and most backed the other guy. But I guess that is inconvenient to this post.
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p>Yes these fresh-Reps have had a tough first few months… too bad… these are the times in which they chose to serve. If they aren’t up on Beacon Hill to make tough decisions and stand behind them, then we don’t need them up there… I think the best thing we could have is Reps who actually took the tough votes… one tax vote, or 4 tax votes aren’t at issue, what is necessary tax votes.
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p>1. Where is the fake world of Massachusetts? Unless you can provide me a roadmap to the one where unicorns poop gumdrops, drop the “real world” schtick designed to belittle liberals/bloggers/acadmics, as if they don’t work, don’t have bills to pay, etc.
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p>2. There’s over 140 Dem legislators in the House. If you “can name a dozen of more conservative Dems” then you’re about 60 more conservative Dems short of pinning DeLeo in the middle of the MA Democratic party. Heck, you’re about 40 legislators short of pinning DeLeo in the middle of the House, GOP included. Now, maybe you’ve got that list handy. I doubt it.
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p>I’m not suggesting that the Speakah ought to be the ideological median of the Democratic House. However, I’m also not suggesting that the Speakah is in the median. I can’t figure out how anyone could claim that DeLeo is anythingbut on the conservative side of the state House Democratic caucus.
is here.
New identity created ten minutes before the post? “Middle-of-the-road Dems” being driven away from this blog? Nice try.
Ernie, you shifting from the 53-member “leadership team” to the “freshman Democrat who ran on Deval’s coattails” so quickly I almost couldn’t notice…but I did.
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p>Who are you saying has problems — the leadership that consistently enjoys easy re-election in their own districts, or the freshmen who are consistently voting with the leadership and against Deval?
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p>So far, the machine that controls the Mass. Legislature may not be covering itself in glory on the front pages, but they continue to win at the ballot box (see Passoni-Michlewitz). Unless/until Deval shows a fraction of the ability to bring home the votes for other people, I’m sticking with the machine if I’m a freshman. who am I going to be afraid…Republicans?
we’re glad you’re not a freshman legislator.
I don’t plead for affection convincingly enough.
The 53 leadership people (minus Vallee and a few others) feel like they got bamboozled. Where is the leadership. They are pissed at DeLeo. That was my point on leadership.
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p>They put their faith in Deleo and now they look stupid.
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p>Sure they are safe in their seats (remember Jack Murphy?)
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p>The liberal freshman and some liberal non-freshmen have some explaining to do. They are the ones that should be nervous. And pissed.
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p>But having an issue is 10% of the battle. It takes a hard working hard working hard working opponent.
It ain’t rocket science.
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p>Get you goddamn ass out there and work. Personally ask as many people as possible for their vote.
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p>Do that from dawn til dusk.
categories:
most useless rep
most invisible rep
biggest blowhard rep
phoniest rep
best dressed rep
worst dressed rep
etc
I’m left with a question about the freshman, though.
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p>At the debates the reps have with their opponents, Republican or Democrat, how many questions will take this form?
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p>Why weren’t you with Deval on A?
Why weren’t you with Deval on C?
Why weren’t you with Deval on 9.2.X?
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p>All the rep has to say is, “I tried to bring change by voting for [B, D, and 9.1.0]. There had to be a budget, we had to pass it. You don’t want a rubber stamp for the governor, do you?”
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p>