Patrick should move away from his hard-line stance on local aid and work with the legislature to pass a local-aid resolution in March, specifying the amount of the coming reduction so that cities and towns can start planning their own budgets. Unfortunately, the legislature is too gutless to seriously address the state's structural budget problems — which will, at some point, require a fair, broad-based increase in revenues (translation: taxes).
Patrick has proven willing to take on serious, and obvious, cost issues. His Municipal Relief Act, for instance, would allow cities and towns to reduce health-care-premium costs by negotiating the design of their insurance plans — something currently enforced through collective bargaining. That would save Boston $1 million per month, according to the Massachusetts Municipal Association, which estimates total savings across the state of $75 to $100 million per year.
But municipal-employee unions don't like the idea, so the legislature removed that provision before advancing the bill on Tuesday. The bill is a joke without it — which makes it a perfect piece of legislation for our laughable state government. ^
Related:
Elephant in the Room, Revenge of the Idiots, State of flux, More 
- Elephant in the Room
Platoons of state Republicans, energized by Scott Brown's stunning victory over Democrat Martha Coakley last week, are setting their sights on November.
- Revenge of the Idiots
To my fellow Massachusetts Democrats: please don’t blame Martha Coakley for this shocking defeat.
- State of flux
A few weeks ago, the state legislature headed into its winter break with what might be called a flurry of inactivity.
- Brown Bagging
If you are finding it hard to get enthused about the seemingly preordained drubbing that Democratic Attorney General Martha Coakley will give to the GOP nominee, State Senator Scott Brown, in the special election for US Senate, you are not alone.
- Might as well jump
Last Thursday, Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island — the last of his legendary clan in Congress — announced that he will not run for re-election.
- Donkeys kicking Timilty
As if Democrats don't have enough problems with attacks from tea-bagging circus clowns, now one local pol is being targeted by fellow donkeys.
- Library woes
In an attempt to save four Boston Public Library branches that are slated to close due to budget shortfalls, some state legislators from Boston have threatened to block all state funding the library receives if it shutters any of its 26 branches.
- Strangely familiar
The clock struck midnight on a cold, starless night in January, 2011, signaling the end of Inauguration Day in Maine.
- Why did the liberals help construct our concentration camps for the poor?
Why did middle-class liberals, historically the leaders of compassionate social reform, allow, with nary a peep, the construction of our colossal Prison Complex? Two books, one new and one a few years old, explain why liberals not only went along with this right-wing, racist project — they encouraged it.
- Conducting tests on Maine Republicans
Here at the Institute for Advanced Studies of the Effects of Sarcasm and Derision on Political Philosophies, we've been conducting a comprehensive battery of tests to determine whether newly elected Maine Republicans really mean that stuff they've been saying about reducing the size and cost of state government.
- Maine Democrats try to put the past behind them
State Democrats may be down (in numbers) but they're not out (of ideas).
- Less
Topics:
The Editorial Page
, Deval Patrick, Deval Patrick, bi-partisan, More
, Deval Patrick, Deval Patrick, bi-partisan, Governor Deval patrick, Nation, government, Scott Brown (Politician), Government and Politics, Massachusetts state legislature, Beacon Hill, Less
