From HeartlandDem, on how Gov. Patrick has dealt with the fiscal crisis vs. Romney and current challengers:
*[new] Seriously, may I interject? (6.00 / 3)
Thank you.
Answer: The budget process is the most difficult in the many years that I have been an observer. Republican Governor Mitt Romney was elected during the mini-recession of the early part of this decade and cut with a hacksaw into budgets. There was little communication or prioritization, just whack. There was no recovery on the local level before the current fiscal downturns hit. Therefore, the hopes of improving funding for services from the years of the Romney cuts have not materialized, as it has been virtually impossible to achieve.
The Patrick Administration has managed the most difficult budget crisis since the Depression. Education has been largely spared, public safety promises were not achieved but working with stimulus funds some of the impacts have been diminished. The same is true for infrastructure projects.
Real reforms (ex. transportation) that have saved millions of dollars have been implemented. These reforms cost the Governor serious political capital with Legislative leadership and some rank and file egos. Flaggers at traffic/construction sites cost him the IBPO.
Cahill has stated that he would not have approved a sales tax increase…despite the disastrous impacts. Easy to say “no” to taxes Timmy when you don't have the responsibility of the human beings who are impacted. Mihos likes the idea of gambling everywhere, all the time to fund government services.
That's just openers. Thank you.
I don't want to sugar-coat the bad poll numbers — bad is bad, and there are some good reasons for them, that we can all repeat. But the Governor is doubtless also suffering from the fallout from the things he had to do. In this respect, he has a lot of company among governors.
Less charitable, but here's comment of the day 1a, from YellowDog:
Values aren't enough. (0.00 / 0)
You have to start with competence in governing and in politics.
Patrick's record is startlingly incoherent on progressive values. Patrick's record as a politician is, to be frank, embarassing, in governance, to say its mixed is charitable.
Yeah, credit him with bringing up the gas tax. It was the stupidest political move he could have made: a proposition that was going nowhere and ate into his shrinking capital like a starving dog.
Politics and ideals are like love and marriage, love and marriage, go together like a horse and carriage, you can't have the latter without the former.
Sorry, for the lack of rhyme.
So here's the very strong impression I get from the governor: He doesn't care about politics, per se. Not really at all. It's not his staff, it's not his administration, it wasn't Doug Rubin … it's him. He doesn't care about the political impact of proposing a gas tax increase if he thinks that's the policy that will fix the problem. He doesn't care about the political impact of hiring someone like Aloisi if he thinks Aloisi is the guy for the job.
I don't say this to celebrate or justify this characteristic — nor to criticize it in every case. While Harry Truman is the patron saint of unpopular politicians, political stubbornness is not its own justification.
The governor sees the job essentially as an executive position: You get things done, and you count your chips at the end of the term. The truest campaign promise he ever made was railing against “governing by photo-op and press release” — which is not to say I don't get press releases. But town hall meetings notwithstanding, he has actively refrained from — shunned — the role of political figurehead.
In the governor's mind, next year he will come to the public with a portfolio of stuff he's done; and the public will decide whether it was good enough — and salient enough in their lives.
…which I recognized in June 2007 in a brief conversation I had with him…it gave me the feeling of Dukakis 1. During the campaign, I thought he proved me wrong…but in the end I was right.
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p>One more adage to add into the conversation from former House Speaker David Bartley (who I’m sure got it from someone)…Good Politics makes good governing (or something like that).
“Politics is the art of getting things done”
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p>”Politics is the art of convincing more than one person to do anything”
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p>”Politics is the art of compromise, so that the glass is always at least one half full.”
to make a very good point
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p>The correct order is,I think,
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p>Good Government is Good Politics.
I try to decriminalize the word and the profession of “politics” with this hybrid definition borrowed very roughly from the philosophers Hannah Ahrent and David Bartley:
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And then go on a little bit with Hannah’s observation that “Politics is the pacific alternative to war.”
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p>Of course “politics” is played in private institutions like Coke as well, but Coke’s corporate governance scheme is accountable only to stock holders who are not permitted to participate in the policy making process anyway.
…that conversation with Patrick occurred in June of 2005…well before he was elected in 2006.
I’m a musician. Music is about a necessary tension between passion and discipline. In order for gunpowder to explode, it must be constrained — a loose pile of gunpowder burns vigorously with a puff of smoke. Discipline without vision is meaningless empty keyboard exercises. Every competent musician does it, every day, and few people choose to listen to it. Passion without discipline is vapid, empty sentimentality. Like constraining gunpowder, music explodes only when passion is constrained by discipline. A passionate musician needs excellent chops to keep up with that passion. A musician with great chops needs passion to bring life to those chops. When the two are combined, the music explodes to fill the room.
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p>Governor Patrick, so far, has been all show and far too little discipline. A governor who “doesn’t care about politics” is analogous to a musician who doesn’t care about performance. That is a devastating outcome for this state at this time.
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p>The job of being governor is an executive position, and an effective executive does far more than “getting things done” and “counting chips”. More than anything else, an executive is expected to:
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p>a) Articulate a commonly-shared vision.
b) Articulate a set of missions that make that vision real.
c) Present a set of goals that allow progress for each mission to be measured.
d) Create plans for carrying out each mission.
e) Execute those plans.
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p>All five steps must happen. Success in carrying out those five steps covers a multitude of sins, as exemplified by FDR, LBJ and Bill Clinton. I offer Kevin White as a local example.
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p>We know, now, that Governor Patrick is not an effective executive. He hasn’t been in his first term, and I see nothing to suggest he’ll be any different if re-elected.
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p>The question now is what we progressives do about it.
and that’s vote for either Cahill, Mihos, or Baker.
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p>Progressives do run for local office and push the obstructionist right-leaning legislators out of office. They do pressure their elected officials to see things their way. They do participate at the local level by running for local office and becoming visible. They go to the state house and have a chat with aids and reps. They donate money to the candidates that see things their way.
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p>They don’t vote for Republicans whose philosophy and ideology is anathema to progressive change. They don’t whine to their neighbors and do nothing. They don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. They don’t vote against their own best interests or ideals. They don’t withhold their vote, either, and stay home. Purity in politics is a fool’s errand, both immature and counterproductive.
I’ll not be staying home, and I’ll not be voting for either Mr. Cahill, Mr. Mihos, or Mr. Baker.
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p>I asked, months ago, for names of alternative progressive Democratic candidates. None have been offered.
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p>While I agree that purity in politics is a fool’s errand, I hope you’ll agree that re-electing an executive who has demonstrated his inability to do the job is neither mature nor productive.
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p>Suppose our own Ernie is right, and Governor Patrick steps down to replace Senator Kennedy? Can Tim Murray do the job? If so, then perhaps Mr. Murray should be in the top slot? If not, then is Mr. Murray the right choice for Lt. Governor?
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p>We pride ourselves in our identity as a reality-based community. The reality is that Governor Patrick’s first term has been a disaster. Is there a better time to confront that reality than right now?
I thought the law required a special election within 160 days — with no temporary appointee.
It’s all via special election.
Are you suggesting that Governor Patrick could not step down in order to run in a special election?
He’ll obviously have to step down if he wins. Depending on the timing we’ll need a special gubernatorial election too. Ideally, the timing of a Senate vacancy would be such that we could have the special election on the regularly scheduled 2010 cycle.
Nope. There’s no provision for that. If the Gov resigns, the Lt. Gov. becomes Acting Gov until the next regularly-scheduled gubernatorial election.
From the 91st amendment to the MA Constitution –
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p>”If a vacancy in the office of governor, as described in this Article, continues for six months and if such six-month period expires more than five months prior to a biennial state election other than an election for governor, there shall be an election of governor at such biennial state election for the balance of the unexpired four-year term.”
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p>The rest of the article refered to above provides for the Governor to step aside in a manner similar to the 25th amendment to the Federal Constitution, with the SJC being assigned the role that the Cabinet is on the federal level. On a more careful reading I realize two things:
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p>1) It may only refer to a situation that is intended to be temporary based on an illness for example, but ends up stretching more than 6 months, as opposed to a permanent resignation. The question is does “unable” mean just that in a physical sense or can it expand to a legal sense or be interpreted as “unwilling”. I think the interpretive case can be made for either one.
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p>2) It does not call for an unscheduled special election, but rather that a gubernatorial election be held at the regularly scheduled midpoint (e. g. 2012). I forgot this detail when I commented above.
that that refers only to declarations of incapacity, IMHO.
Patrick has achieved some admirable objectives. Personally, I’m very comfortable in supporting him and voting for him again. And I disagree with your sense of reality. In practical terms, the first term has not been a disaster by any stretch of the imagination. A disaster is California or Michigan. Massachusetts has made it through so far in fairly good shape. That’s anything but disastrous.
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p>Has Patrick’s execution always been agile or polished? No. Has he been hampered by a legislature that is competitively self-interested to the detriment of the citizens? Yes. Has he made some bone-headed moves like Walsh? Yes. Again, I’m not a purist; I’m a pragmatist. I’m voting for a governor, not a hero.
His accomplishments do not line up with my priorities or, in my view, with the priorities he identified during his campaign and early in his term.
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p>I grant you he’s made progress in marriage and environmental issues. Neither makes my list of top priorities. Same with auto insurance reform. In my view, whether auto insurance premiums are a little higher or a little lower is not nearly as important as whether or not folks who live within, say, Rt128 can get to a business meeting in downtown Boston in less than an hour door-to-door. The state needs a new I95 bridge across the Merrimack in Newburyport far more than it needs lower auto insurance premiums.
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p>The “overhaul” of the ethics, pension, and transportation systems strike me as having more form than substance, and especially when the form was done so ineptly. The most egregious abuses of each continue unabated. In my view, his run at civilian flaggers is a microcosm of that. How many police details have actually been replaced by civilian flaggers?
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p>If anything, the flaggers brouhaha illustrates my point. Police thugs disrupted construction sites and nobody did anything. Governor Patrick took a well-aimed and appropriate action. The police screamed and hollered, and proceeded to bully construction workers and motorists at construction sites. The Governor caved. If anything, the episode underlined the fundamental self-centeredness of the police. Same with the pensions, disabilities, and the rest.
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p>I’m not sympathetic to whining about how uncooperative the lege is — they are what they are, that’s why we have a problem. The Governor’s job is to figure out how to change their behavior. It is analogous to a concert pianist flubbing the performance of a difficult piano concerto and then explaining that “the music is really challenging”. Making gains in the areas cited is like a pianist changing the program during the concert. When I buy tickets to a Chopin program, I expect to hear Chopin.
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p>Close counts in horseshoes, hand-grenades, and atom bombs.
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p>Because the state had done so little transportation planning, most of the federal stimulus money is being spent to resurface existing roads (link).
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p>For example (from the above link), $4.1M has been ear-marked for new signals and sight lines at the intersection of Rt 110 and Rt 225 in Westford. Another $5.7M to resurface parts of Rt 2.
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p>Is there a transportation master plan for Massachusetts? Is anybody talking seriously about how to balance road and rail traffic in various areas of the state ten years from now, and evaluating current proposals in that context?
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p>It looks to me as though we’ve essentially funneled the stimulus plan into providing 200-300 short-term construction jobs (again, from the above link).
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p>I didn’t say that I wanted his execution to be “agile” or “polished” — I said that I want it to be effective. That means making substantive progress on the highest-priority missions of his administration. I didn’t say I wanted a “hero” — I said I wanted an executive.
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p>We apparently have different views of what we want in a governor. Fair enough, that’s why we have a democracy. He has your vote. He doesn’t have mine.
Depressing that in a state of 3 million or so Democrats, our leader is the guy who isn’t as bad as some real idiots.
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p>That’s like saying your starting quarterback has the position because he doesn’t drop the ball every time.
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p>It is my hope that you don’t extrapolate, as some might do, to the notion that anytime a quarterback drops the ball provides confirmation that a poor decision was made.
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p>Interestingly, at least according to Wikipedia, in the 2008 Pres election some 3 million votes (total) were cast. Of those three million, 1.1 million (or nearly 36%) voted for the Republican candidate and his nutzoid running mate. About that same percentage and amounts voted for the dumbest president in the history of both dumbness and presidencies.
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p>What’s further interesting is that, in 2006, 1.2 million people voted for Deval Patrick, or only slightly more (about 126K more) than voted for McCain in 2008.
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p>What’s the point, I hear you ask? Just that the electorate in Mass, though saner than other states, isn’t particularly all that sane.
Hall of fame coach Joe Gibbs always emphasized turnovers as the key to winning championships.
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p>Every time a quarterback (or any other ball-handler) drops the ball, the team’s chances for victory are diminished. No ball-handler who commits more than one or two fumbles in the same number of games will stay on the field for a Joe Gibbs team.
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p>Governor Patrick has, in his first term, fumbled the ball (or thrown interceptions) at least as often as he has completed a play. I grant you he’s made some key first downs.
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p>I don’t see any touchdowns yet, we’re still behind, and the clock is running down.
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p>Surely it’s time to at least look at the bench and see if we have any options. After all, Billy Kilmer won a number of games even though Sonny Jorgensen was far and away the better quarterback.
Interesting analogy, Tom. (By the way, what sort of musician are you?)
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p>But I wonder whether you’ve got this right:
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p>I kinda think you’ve got it backwards. The Gov’s record of things actually accomplished — what I’d analogize to “discipline” — is pretty darn good, as Charley’s post outlines. He’s advanced some important progressive goals — on the marriage and environmental fronts, in particular — and he’s also advanced some sensible (IMHO) policies that should please Republicans (auto insurance reform, civilian flaggers), but that Republican governors could never get done. And that’s not even mentioning the overhauls of the ethics, pension, and transportation systems, which aren’t perfect but which do hold considerable promise. That legislative record easily matches, and in most cases exceeds, that of any recent Governor.
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p>What Patrick has failed to do, though, is (a) get the general public excited about what he’s done, and (b) appreciate how important certain symbolic gestures are — Marian Walsh being the most recent example. So I think the Gov has got a solid A- going on the “discipline” part of your analogy, but no better than a C+ on the “passion”/showmanship part. And the unbearable irony of it all is that he had the latter nailed during the campaign.
has passion coming from every orifice, but it sounds like crap if he hasn’t already exhibited great discipline in learning his scales.
… but doesn’t actually have any substance whatsoever and doesn’t address a single thing David said.
I personally find Deval’s lack of polish refreshing. Having seen Mitt Romney’s photo op team in action, I think the state is better off without the hard sell.
There’s a metaphor gleaning from the thickness of the make-up worn by Governor Romney vs. Governor Patrick.
or else it sucks. Discipline without passion is boring.
… still doesn’t address a single thing David said. In fact, David was already responding to this point which means all you’ve done is repeat it, not address his response.
I’ve been looking for someone to play four hands with…
I do mostly jazz, blues, and standards. My classical chops aren’t nearly strong enough to keep up with anybody in four-hands material.
Except the first paragraph isn’t quite accurate. It’s inaccurate to suggest there was “little communication” when in fact, the Democratic legislature VOTED to give Governor Romney the power to make the 9C cuts mid-term. They chose to cede their powers and stay out of the loop. It also ignores the fact that the legislature also had the power and opportunity to veto any non-9C cuts…so I don’t think it’s quite right to say there was little
“communication or prioritization.” There was an entire Democratic legislature sitting on their hands in the state house at the time.
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because it provides useful information, but in the future, please limit your quotation of copyrighted material to the amount you actually need to make your point. Useful discussion of “fair use.”
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p>Thanks.
I couldn’t link it because it was archived. I paid for the article, but cut and paste it to provide the proper back up for my comments. It won’t happen again.