Alternate View of Speaker Contest

For John, BLUF:  It is easy to take something at face value, but sometimes it is deeper, as with the Contest for House Speaker.  Those 20 Republican House Members really are interested in changing how the House does business, to move away from the more Massachusetts General Court approach of the Pelosi era.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

A Significant Majority of Republican Voters Agree With the GOP Rebels

From Pajama Media, by Reporter Stacey Lennox, 4 January 2023, 1:36 PM.

Here is the lede plus two:

The Republican establishment that still believes they can manage voters’ expectations to maintain the status quo may want to do a reality check.  The base had high expectations in 2022, and the elections did not meet those expectations.  Many voters suspect that at least some establishment Republicans put a greater emphasis on ensuring that candidates tied to President Trump did not win than on winning back the Senate and a more significant majority in the House.

Then, the GOP members they did manage to elect voted to keep the wildly unpopular Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) as Senate Republican Leader.  Then, with a RealClearPolitics average favorability rating of -33%, McConnell turned around and betrayed Republican voters by helping Democrats pass a $1.7 trillion Omnibus package along with 17 of his colleagues.

No one should be surprised that Republican voters are fed up.  They organized the Tea Party and elected candidates who promised fiscal responsibility.  When that did not work, they elected a reality television star as president.  Yet the incumbents in Washington still don’t learn.  So while CNN wrings its hands about Republican chaos and Karl Rove lectures the Freedom Caucus on TV, voters want change and are getting ready to close their wallets.

This all looks like 20 Republican representatives mad at Houose Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, of San Diego.  However, that is a surface analysis.  As I said on City Life (or was it The Dawn Patrol) this moorning, they re really mad at our own Rep, Ms Lori Trahan (D-MA).  She, and a lot of Democrats, and 17 Republican Senators, raided the Pork Barrel last month to give us a 1.7. TRILLION dollar Omnibus Spending Bill, when our Budget deficit and national debt are both out of control.♠

The Omnibus spending bill is the grab bag of what is supposed to be a dozen different appropriations of discretionary spending.♥

Part of the problem with the National Debt is the need to be paying the annual interest.  This is happening in a borrowing market where the interest keeps going up.  Several media sources (e.g., CBN News) say things to the effect:  "In fact federal interest payments are on track to cost more than the defense budget in the coming years."

Regards  —  Cliff
♠  According to the U.S. Treasury Department, the current national debt of the U.S. is $31.3 trillion.   Roughly 12% of total government spending for the year, or $48 billion, was employed in maintaining the U.S. national debt as of October 2022.
♥  FedSmith dot Com described the bill thusly:  The Omnibus Spending Bill (Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023) is a monster bill. It is a 4,000+ page amalgamation of a wide variety of topics, many of which could not get passed as individual bills in Congress. Some of these bills are inserted together in one large bill and passed into law as the government budget has to be passed for the federal government to continue to function. It was not read before it passed. No amendments were considered.

Suppressing Candidates?

For John, BLUF:  The coronavirus is making campaigning hard, and harder still is the need to collect signatures in order to get on the ballot.  And our General Court is not doing much to help.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Why did Democrat leaders on Beacon Hill fail to address signature requirements in elections bill?

From a Mass GOP Press Release, Commmunications Director Evan Lips.

Here is the lede plus six:

Entrenched Democrat leaders on Beacon Hill appear to have ignored an electioneering factor they somehow never saw coming during the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic -- the crucial person-to-person gathering of ballot signatures.

“From my own perspective I’m doing most of it (signature collecting) by mail,” House Speaker Robert DeLeo told reporters Monday, after he and Senate President Karen Spilka finished touting an elections bill fast-tracked to Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk.

Massachusetts Republican Chairman Jim Lyons pointed out that most candidates -- especially challengers -- don’t have the luxury of DeLeo’s $780,000-plus campaign war chest.

“The so-called ‘robust mail-in balloting’ program promoted by Speaker DeLeo and President Spilka only addresses the upcoming special elections and not upstart campaigns preparing for November,” Lyons said.  “We even saw the Massachusetts Teenage Republicans and the Massachusetts High School Democrats -- two opposing groups made up of young people typically on the front lines of signature-gathering efforts -- join together to urge the Legislature to act on this problem, only to see Democratic leadership ignore it.

“Their inaction guarantees well-heeled incumbents will receive a free pass.”

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kevin O’Connor, whose 86-year-old father has been hospitalized as a result of the virus, must gather 10,000 signatures by the Massachusetts Secretary of State’s May 5 deadline to ensure his place on the ballot.

“We want the Legislature to bring the law into alignment with the social distancing requirement,” O’Connor said in a recent interview.

This seems like negligence on the part of the General Court.  Or, it is self-serving political skullduggery.

I ma not impressed by this.

Regards  —  Cliff

Dustup in the 17th Middlesex

For John, BLUF:  Running against David Nangle is, historically, a losing proposition.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Three more pull papers

Here is the sub-headline:

17TH MIDDLESEX SEAT

From The [Lowell] Sun, by Reporter Elizabeth Dobbins, 19 March 2020.

Here is the lede plus six:

Three more people have pulled papers to run for the 17 th Middlesex District, adding to a quickly crowding race for a seat held by longtime state Rep. David Nangle.

Republican Martin Burke, who challenged Nangle in 2012, pulled papers as well as independents Donald Persons and David Richmond.

Two Democrats — Lisa Arnold and Zachary Stinchfield — previously joined the race.  Incumbent state Rep. Dave Nangle has also announced his intention to run for re- election while facing a 28count federal indictment.

Nangle has not pulled papers.  Candidates can, though rarely, bypass this step through obtaining copies of these documents from someone who has pulled papers, according to a spokesperson from Secretary of State William Galvin’s Office.

Burke, 46, runs a real estate appraiser business from an office in downtown Lowell.  He said Nangle has “ failed the public’s trust,” prompting him to run for a second time.

Burke challenged Nangle in 2012 and received 23.2% of the vote.

If elected, Burke said he would like to push for an audit of the MBTA, create more revenue streams for the transit service, oppose gas taxes, introduce term limits and advocate for more senior housing.

Having run twice against Representative Nangle myself, I know what an uphill battle it will be to oppose him this year.  However, contrary to what the City Life Show producer says, Candidates are not wasting their Summer.  Anything that creates public debate is good for the public.  Those who raise issues are doing a public service.  And, as elections across the nation show, sometimes the correlation of forces is such that the incumbent is thrown out.

The above is not to suggest that I think the Federal charges against our Neighborhood Guy, Dave Nangle, are necessarily true.  In fact, I see this as looking like it is part of the pattern of charges that have plagued the Trump Administration, due to abuses by a DOJ filled with partisan actors.  For example, why all the theater of an early morning arrest at his house, with the Press invited.  Why was he not invited down to the Federal Attorney's Office?  Do we have a pattern and practice of politicians indicted fleeing the country or barricading themselves in homes or offices?  Not that I have seen.

My issues with Representative Nangle turn to issues, such as who he votes for to be Speaker of the House.  Let us fight this out on the issues  And may the best Martin Burke win.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Near Term Future

For John, BLUF:  IF Our State Rep David Nangle should resign, and I am not saying he should, but if he should, a snap election before November would be the decision of General Court Speaker Robert Alfred DeLeo.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

In preparing my blog post on the accusations against our 17th Middlesex District Representative David Nangle I wondered about the procedure should he resign.♠

There was not much information out there on the issue.  So, I did a general search on the World Wide Web, and found Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 50: GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATIVE TO PRIMARIES, CAUCUSES AND ELECTIONS.  From there I went to Section 6A: Vacancies in elective offices caused by retirement; notice:

Section 6A. If an elected state, city, or town officer is to be retired on or before the next regular election by reason of superannuation before the completion of the term of office to which he was elected, thereby causing a vacancy in said office, such vacancy shall be filled at said regular election as provided by law for such office.

The retiring authority shall notify the county commissioners, mayor and aldermen in cities, or the selectmen in towns, as the case may be, of the impending retirement of such elected officer at least six months preceding the next state, city, or town election, as the case may be.

Not that helpful, so I went to the Secretary of State's website, Elections Division.  Then I found "Publications" and looked for rules.  Nothing popped out at me, so I called the local Elections Office and the Commonwealth Secretary of State Election Office, where a very nice gentleman told me the story.  It depends on what the local authority, in this case the House, wants to do.  IF Representative Nangle were to resign, the House could decide to hold an election to replace him, or it could ignore the whole thing and wait for Tuesday, 3 November 2020, which is the next scheduled general election.

For that election, there is the Primary on Tuesday, 1 September for the regular November General Election. And, for that Primary, 2 June 2020 is the Deadline to file party nomination papers with the Secretary of the Commonwealth.  (5pm last day and hour.)  Yes, there is a State web site with an election calendar, either as a calendar or as a list.

But, that is all in the future and may well never come to pass.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  IMHO he should not resign based on accusations that have not been proven before a jury of his peers. This could turn out to be like the Senator Ted Stevens case, where there were hot accusations, but in the end he was a free man.

Our State Rep, Mr David Nangle

For John, BLUF:  I have known State Repreentsative David Nangle for over 20 years, and in the years 2000 and 2002 I was his Republican opponent for this State Rep seat.  I was trounced.  The reason is that Rep Nangle is from a large and well established family and has been well liked by the local voters.  And few voters are worried about the legislature, the General Court, turning into some sort of harbinger of political, economic and social disaster.  Further, while a Democrat, Rep Nangle is very close to the Republican Governor Charlie Baker and Lieutenant Governor Karen Polito.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Here is the WCVB (TV Channel 5) report I read yesterday:

Massachusetts state Rep. David Nangle charged with misuse of campaign funds

Here is the lede plus three:

Massachusetts state Rep. David Nangle was arrested Tuesday morning on charges stemming from the misuse of campaign funds, according to federal authorities.

Nangle is accused of using the campaign money to pay for personal expenses, including purchasing thousands of dollars in gift cards for personal use. He was arrested at his home in Lowell by agents of the FBI and IRS.

He appeared in federal court Tuesday afternoon, where he pleaded not guilty. Pending a trial, the judge allowed his release on the conditions that Nangle must surrender his passport, stop gambling and remain in either Massachusetts or New Hampshire.

According to an indictment, Nangle was heavily in debt, had poor credit and had incurred "tens of thousands of dollars in gambling-related spending and losses."

I tried to get the Lowell Sun article, but the program I am signed up for doesn't give me a URL.  So, I went to its partner, The Boston Herald.  The article is by Reporter Colin A Young, 19 February 2020.

The day after he was indicted on a laundry list of federal charges connected to bank fraud and the improper use of campaign funds, Rep. David Nangle on Wednesday stepped down from his leadership and committee posts in the Massachusetts House.

In an email to the House Clerk at 11:01 a.m., Nangle cited “recent, unfortunate events” as the reason he will step down as second division chair in the House and remove himself from his assignments to serve on the House Committee on Ethics and the House Committee on Rules.

“Due to recent, unfortunate events I believe it would be in the best interest of the House of Representatives that I step down from my leadership position and committee assignments,” Nangle wrote.  “It has been an extreme honor to serve you, my colleagues and the citizens of the Commonwealth in my position as Division Floor Leader.”

Nangle’s position as a division leader carried a $30,000 stipend on top of his $66,257 base salary as a legislator. On Tuesday, Nangle pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of wire fraud, four counts of bank fraud, nine counts of making false statements to a bank, and five counts of filing false tax returns.

Magistrate Judge Page Kelley ordered Nangle to be released on a $25,000 unsecured bond with several conditions on his travel and a requirement that he not gamble.  He is due back in court in mid-March.

House Speaker Robert DeLeo said in a Tuesday statement that the allegations against Nangle are “serious and troubling and, if true, represent a significant betrayal of the public trust,” but he had not said whether Nangle would retain his leadership and committee posts while awaiting trial.

I hope the report is wrong.  And, it could be.  Remember Senator Ted Stevens, Republican from Alaska?  He was indicted and tried and convicted and then lost his reelection in 2008.  But, before the sentence was handed down an FBI Whistleblower spoke up and the DOJ asked to withdraw the case, with prejudice.  Sadly, one of the Prosecutors committed suicide.  But, Senator Stevens lost the reelection bid.  David Nangle is innocent until proven guilty, and it is up to the Government to prove him guilty.

I am bothered by the reports on the arrest.  Has the Federal Government Roger Stoned Mr Nangle?  Why an early morning visit with Agents from both the FBI snd IRS?  Why not just invite him down to the Courthouse?  Was the Press invited along, or tipped off?  This kind of thing does not give confidence in how our law enforcement agencies operate.  It is prejudicial against the defendant.  This is terrible.  What happened to innocent until proven guilty.

I send my good wishes to Representative David Nangle.

Regards  —  Cliff

May I Say That?

For John, BLUF:  We seem to be heading into an era where the bien-pennant decide what the rest of us may and may not say.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Freedom of Speech Under Attack

From The Victory Girls, 23 October 2019.

Here is the lede plus one:

Our republic is under attack.  The enemy isn’t standing on the outside, lobbing artillery across the border. The enemy is here, in our halls of justice and corridors of government.  They are the politicians who appear devoted to not just limiting but tearing down our First Amendment right to freedom of speech.  They are the men and women who won’t be satisfied until the nanny state they dream of becomes a reality.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

Those 45 words form one of the cornerstones of our nation.  Freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the right to peaceably assemble and the right to petition the government for redress.  We fought a revolution to insure those freedoms and now too many of our elected officials want to sweep them out the door.  They don’t care that doing so will cause the foundations of our republic to crumble.  In fact, I have no doubt some of those pols hope that is exactly what happens.

In the last 24 hours or so, we’ve seen the three latest examples of lawmakers using their position to not only limit the freedom of speech but to do so in such a way that many of us could easily find ourselves in trouble with the law.

Here are the three:

• Some college students in Connecticut shouting the n-word to no one in particular.
• The President saying Lynching while Republican,
• A Mass General Court State Rep introducing legislation to ban the use of "Bitch".

In fairness to State Rep Dan Hunt, he introduced it at the behest of one of his constituents, who asked him to.  It is his responsibility as a legislature in Massachusetts.

Free speech that does not allow for offensive speech is NOT free speech.  It is rank conformity and unworthy of a Democratic People.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

"Fixing" The Electoral College

For John, BLUF:  The Electoral College serves an important function, in ensuring the smaller and less populated states feel they have a stake in the larger Federal Government.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Challenging the Electoral College’s winner take all system in Massachusetts

From The Boston Globe, by Globe Staff Member Michael Levenson, 10 August 2018.

Here is the lede plus one:

A Harvard Law professor, former governor William F. Weld, and Al Gore’s onetime attorney are making a long-shot bid to change the Electoral College system, arguing that it encourages presidential candidates to devote all their time to a handful of swing states and ignore the vast majority of the country.

The high-powered group is suing two blue states, Massachusetts and California, and two red states, Texas and South Carolina, arguing that the winner-take-all system that they and 44 other states use to allocate electors to the Electoral College effectively disenfranchises millions of voters who back the losing candidates.

For Massachusetts it meant rounding up three non-Democrats to file suit against the Commonwealth.  They even found a Republican Student at Harvard who joined the suit.

Sure, this might be a good idea, but having the courts force it seems like a vote of no-confidence is the legislative process.  Why go to a Federal Court to deal with something the General Court could fix itself.  Are we in some sort of "death pact" with most of the other states, where we cannot take the lead without hurting ourselves (or the Democratic Party)?

Regards  —  Cliff

Improving Driver Licenses

For John, BLUF:  Holding the Democrats to their own standards.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Jim Lyons out-PCs the Democrats

Here is the sub-headline:

Doubling down on gender recognition for all

From The Boston Herald, by Your Captain, Howie Carr, 5 August 2018.

Here is the lede plus four:

I’m going to nominate Rep. Jim Lyons for a Profiles in Courage Award.

You’ve heard of No Child Left Behind?  Well, on Tuesday night, in the waning moments of the legislative session, the Republican from Andover took a stand for America’s newest civil-rights movement.

No Gender Left Behind.

The smugger-than-thou PC Democrats at the State House were trying to add a third “gender” to the Massachusetts driver’s license — Gender X.

But of course, as everyone knows, or would know, if they were “woke,” there are an infinite number of genders — literally.  Ask any two-spirit that you know. Every neutrois understands this, you damn ’phobes!

Law Professor Glenn Harlan Reynolds, in posting this to his blog, said:

SAUL ALINSKY SMILES

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Too Many Laws

For John, BLUF:  Too right.  Way too many laws on the books.  You don't expect any change from the General Court do you?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

The next step in criminal justice reform is fewer laws

Here is the sub-headline:

Donald Trump has supported the First Step Act to reduce minimum sentences, but more can be done.  For one thing, we need fewer crimes.

From USA Today, by Law Professor Glenn Harlan Reynolds, 7 August 2018.

Here is the lede plus five:

It’s time and past time to do something about the criminal justice system, as I’ve been arguing for years.  But with last week’s White House conference on criminal justice reform, it looks as if we might just see progress, though I think we need real structural fixes too.

Right now we have both an over-and an under-incarceration problem.  The over-incarceration problem is that too many people are sent to jail for things that shouldn’t carry much jail time, if any:  nonviolent regulatory crimes, low-level nonviolent drug crimes, etc.  Even crimes that are punished with fines can turn into jail time if the defendant can’t pay the fine, as is often the case with poor defendants.  (At the same time, people who commit serious violent crimes often get out too soon.)

Then, when people do get out, they have a hard time making it honestly.  Many people don’t want to hire an ex-con, even when the crime was a comparatively mild one.  And many ex-cons lack the skills to make it in the employment world, though the current booming job market is helping with that.

And here is how it ends:

One solution is to have fewer crimes.  There are — literally, as I noted in the Columbia Law Review a few years ago — so many crimes that not even the government can keep up with them all.  The more crimes we create, the more criminals we create.

And that’s bad, because enforcing the law, as Yale Law professor Stephen L. Carter points out, is inherently violent.  The more laws, the more violence:  When New York made it a crime to sell loose cigarettes for tax reasons, Carter notes, it set the stage for Eric Garner’s death.

As Carter writes, “This is by no means an argument against having laws.  It is an argument for a degree of humility as we choose which of the many things we may not like to make illegal.”

I think we’re much too quick to criminalize conduct without thinking this through.  The next step in criminal justice reform should be to drastically prune the criminal law.

The old saw, "Ignorance of the law is no excuse" is worthless in the face of all the laws on the books, both Federal and State.  I fully agree with Professor Reynolds.

Further, passing more laws is the Legislators' lazy way of dealing with problems.  We don't need more laws, we need more understanding.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Minimum Wage in Canada

For John, BLUF:  At a certain price some times are just not worth having.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Ontario’s Minimum Wage Hike Has Been Disastrous, Especially for Disabled Workers

Here is the sub-headline:

The move was predictably praised by union leaders and most of the general public as a compassionate policy that would help workers.

From Foundation for Economic Eduction, by Mr by Matthew Lau, 2 July 2018.

Here is the lede plus five:

The Canadian province of Ontario began 2018 by raising the minimum wage from $11.60 to $14.  The move was predictably praised by union leaders and most of the general public as a compassionate policy that would help workers.  Equally predictable was the damage this would do to unskilled workers, much of which is already clearly visible, only half a year into this unfortunate experiment.  And given that the damage caused by minimum wages takes time to unfold, more carnage is surely on the horizon.

Disabled Workers Lose Their Jobs

When the Ontario government raised the minimum wage, it also terminated an exemption for organizations providing jobs to the intellectually or physically disabled.  As a result, The Globe and Mail reports, most of these organizations “have opted to stop hiring people with cognitive disabilities.”  Not only was hiring stopped, community centers and non-profits were also forced to let go of their existing disabled workers.

I am sure the outcome will be much different here in our Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  I am sure the General Court has put fine print in the bill that will protect us from the dynamics of economics.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Selective Feminism

For John, BLUF:  Including in our own partisan General Court.  Shame!  Shame!  Shame!  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

The anti-woman violence feminists are afraid to confront

From The New York Post, by Ms Ayaan Hirsi Ali, 24 May 2018.

She knows of what she speaks.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Justice Delayed

For John, BLUF:  Here is another reason to think the courts are non funzionale.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Bryon Hefner, Rosenberg’s husband, pleads not guilty to multiple charges

From The Boston Globe and the keyboard of Crack Reporter Joshua Miller, 24 April 2018.

If you want to learn about the sordid details you can go to the link, where Reporter Josh Miller lays it all out in a well crafted article.

My concern is that the trial date is set for 25 March 2019.  That is almost a year from now.  How is that justice for Mr Hefner?  How is that justice for those who claim they were his victims.

Regards  —  Cliff

Mass General Court Senate in Turmoil

For John, BLUF:  Up North here we just don't get any respect.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Amid scandals, future of Mass. Senate leadership still uncertain

From The Boston Globe, by Analyst Matt Stout, 31 March 2018.

And no mention of Eileen leaving.

That is pretty clueless.

Regards  —  Cliff

Beacon Hill Calls Attention to Itself

For John, BLUF:  Poor General Hooker.  Known for ever for his camp followers.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

THERE’S NO IQ TEST FOR BEING A POLITICIAN

This is a blog post by Law Professor Glenn Harlan Reynolds, posted today, at InstaPundit.

Here it is:

Sign Referencing Civil War Hero Is Sexual Harassment, Says Massachusetts Lawmaker:  Rep. Michelle DuBois wants to remove a statehouse sign that reads “General Hooker Entrance” because it is an affront to “women’s dignity.”

But if there were such a test in Massachusetts, it would feature an IQ ceiling, not a floor.  .  .  .

Plus: “Of course, DuBois is positioning herself as a crusader against sex-based harassment and patriarchy.  But attitudes like hers—which treat women as excessively fragile beings, and which posit that female ‘dignity’ is diminished by even so slight an association with sex work as walking under a door that says ‘hooker’—just props up old-fashioned and patriarchal ideas about sex and gender.”

It would be easy to write an argument for restoring the patriarchy based solely on feminists’ statements about how weak, fragile, and stupid women are.

Surely State Rep DuBois was joking.  As a joke it works.

Top Comment so far:

stosh
Everyone wants to be Maxine Waters.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

"Associate Democrats"

For John, BLUF:  You may not like political parties, but that is what you get when people band together to follow an ideology.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Peter Lucas: State Senate's lone bright spot -- L'Italien's outspoken courage

From The [:Lowell] Sun and Columnist Peter Lucas, 8 December 2017.

Here is the key paragraph:

While all her fellow Democrats in the Senate were running for cover -- or quietly plotting to succeed Rosenberg as Senate president -- L'Italien, 56, publicly insisted that Rosenberg step aside.

But, this is also an interesting paragraph:

The minority Republicans, who are like associate Democrats, hardly objected to Rosenberg staying on as Senate leader.

"…who are like associate Democrats."  That is a terrible indictment of the Republicans in the Massachusetts State Senate, all seven of them.  On the other hand, there are forty senators over all and there are not enough Republicans to sustain a Governor's Veto.  Even with the recent election of Republican Senator Dean Tran, from Fitchburg.  It would take about twice as many.

While it will be an uphill fight, here in the 1st Middlesex District we do have Candidate John McDonald opposing incumbent Eileen Donoghue.

But, back to the State Senate, Ms Harriette L. Chandler, PhD, is currently acting as the President.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Germans Have a Word For It

For John, BLUF:  There is no reason to think we are immune from really terrible ideas.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Emotions high on both sides of L'Italien's right-to-die bill

This is from The [Lowell] Sun, Reporter J.D. Capelouto, Statehouse Correspondent, Datelined 27 September 2017.

The article is at the link, above.

The two things to remember are one, once legal there will be pressure for folks to follow through and die. Second, after they come for the terminally ill they will come for the worthless eaters and then they will come for those with birth defects.  Just ask those who actually follow history.♠

This is an old idea.♥  And a slippery slope.

This is wrong and for members of our society not to recognize it is disturbing.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Think about the poem by German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984), "First they came …".
♥  The Germans had a term for it back in 1939.  It was Gnadentod.  You can get a Kindle version of the 1920 book Permitting the Destruction of Life Unworthy of Life for $4.99.

Going Backwards

For John, BLUF:  The Draft Bill gives no explanation as to why this additional law and additional administrative burden is needed.  I wonder if Lowell Schools will have to hire an additional Administrator?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

An Act requiring state agencies to collect Asian American aggregate data

I suspect this is a duplicate blog post, but it is strange proposed law at a time when Asians are being treated in higher education the way the Jews were before the 1960s.

Regards  —  Cliff

Homelessness Gotcha

For John, BLUF:  Maybe we should invite her to talk about it.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Advocates hope to ease eligibility for Massachusetts emergency homeless shelters

This is from MassLive, Reporter Shira Schoenberg, 22 August 2017.

Here is the lede plus four:

For a family in Massachusetts to get into an emergency shelter, in many cases they must first spend a night in a car, emergency room, bus station or another place "not meant for human habitation."

"It shocks me to say it out loud," said State Rep. Marjorie Decker, D-Cambridge.  "This is no way for government to even think about dealing with homelessness."

Decker is the primary sponsor of a bill that would change the regulation, which today limits eligibility for emergency shelter to families who have already spent a night homeless.

There are other ways a family can enter a shelter -- for example, if they were a victim of domestic violence, were evicted or suffered a natural disaster.  But for a family to qualify under a rule meant to prevent children from living in unsafe situations, they must have spent a night in an unsafe place.

Decker and other advocates for homeless families say the current policy is inhumane, since it forces families to spend a night in a car or emergency room before they can get into a shelter.  Advocates are pushing for a bill, H.659, that would let families into state-funded shelters if they have no other feasible housing alternative, even if they have not spent a night in an unsafe place.  The families would still have to meet all the other requirements, such as income eligibility.

Human beings living in places, even for one night, not fit for human habitation, so they are qualified for suitable shelter seems a bureaucrat SNAFU.  We can do better.

Hat tip to the MassLive.

Regards  —  Cliff

Boston Pot Center?

For John, BLUF:  The General Court dragging this out isn't helping.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Mayor Walsh joins outrage over burbs' banning pot shops

From The Boston Herald and Reporter Dan Atkinson, on Monday, 22 May.

Here is the lede plus one:

Mayor Martin J. Walsh blasted towns looking to ban sales of recreational marijuana despite residents voting to legalize it last year, saying the state Legislature needs to put a halt on plans that could lead to Boston being overwhelmed by suburban pot buyers.

"If they voted for it, they should have a pot shop in their neighborhood, they shouldn't have to drive to Boston for it," Walsh said on Boston Herald Radio.  "I don't think the Legislature should allow exemptions, if there are I think it's unfair and unfortunate.  Shame on them if they do."

Well, he has a point.  The voters voted for Pot.

I would summarize the Mayor's viewpoint as "Let your own neighborhood go to pot."

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Another Reason to Elect Judges

For John, BLUF:  Maybe George will comment on this situation.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Tape reveals judge quick with low bail

Reporter Brian Dowling and The Boston Herald, yesterday, 28 April 2017.

Here is the lede plus one:

A state judge freed a previously deported Uber driver accused of rape on light bail even after a prosecutor insisted that federal immigration agents were drafting a detainer and asked for high bond to hold him, according to a court recording obtained by the Herald.

The stunning tape of Tuesday’s hearing reveals Newton District Court Judge Mary Beth Heffernan cutting the arguments short before a defense attorney could even counter the prosecution’s $100,000 bail and GPS-monitoring demand, interjecting, “Twenty-five hundred dollars cash.”

Cast of Characters:

• Luis Baez — Previously Deported illegal immigrant, using a false name, accused of raping an inebriated Boston College student.
• Raquel Frisardi — The Middlesex Assistant District Attorney, who requested a $100,000 bail and GPS Monitoring.
• Mary Beth Heffernan — The impatient Judge of the Newton District Court, who gave the now missing Mr Baez a $2500 bail.
• John Benzan — The Defense Attorney, who didn't even get a chance to complete his counter to the Prosecutor's requests.
• The General Court — Who will do nothing.
• The Governor's Council — Who will learn nothing.
• Unnamed BC Student — Who will not see here complaint tried in court.

Here is a poll, where you can pick as many options as you wish.

Ask yourself, if you live in our Proud Commonwealth, what your role is in this?

I have nothing to do with this.

Nothing, but I will write my three elected Reps.

I am repulsed, but what can I do?

I will write a letter to the editor.

I will call in to WCAP.

I will call City Life and stir up George.

I think illegal immigrants need to be protected.

Come November 2018 I will not vote for incumbents.

Come 2018 I will support challengers, or be one.

 

pollcode.com free polls

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff