"The atmosphere this week has been like those last few days of high school."
Now I'm just embarrassed and ashamed!
"So many bills, so little time on the Hill; Lawmakers race to finish session in frenzy of deals" by Matt Viser, Globe Staff | July 31, 2008
Standing in the powder-blue Senate chambers, hovering over a wooden desk with busts of presidents Washington and Lincoln on each side, Senate President Therese Murray might as well have been an auctioneer.
"Allthoseinfavorsayaye, opposedno, theayeshaveit, amendmentadopted," she said, not even pausing to take a breath on matters that had already been determined in private. At one point late Tuesday afternoon, she steered the 40-member body to decide on 10 amendments in just one minute, one every six seconds.
As the Legislature's 2008 session speeds to an end tonight in a frenzy of horse-trading and late-night sessions, lawmakers are wading through mounds of unfinished business that they have left until the last minute.
So WTF have then been doing all year -- other than LIVING IT UP at OUR EXPENSE?!!!!!
This week members have flipped from a complex debate over global warming to a proposed ban on pet rentals, from an eye-glazing rescue of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority to a successful push to allow out-of-state gay couples to marry in Massachusetts. Sometimes they act without discussion.
This state IS a DICTATORSHIP!! A ONE-PARTY DICTATORSHIP!!!
The atmosphere this week has been like those last few days of high school, when students cram for exams and stay up late. But these are the state's top officials who have been caught proscratinating, and under legislative rules they have until midnight tonight to finish their business for 2008.
Major items that remained on the agenda late last night and today included whether to allow residents to register to vote on election days, proposals for curbing rising healthcare costs, and deciding which of the governor's $122.5 million in budget vetoes to override.
Sometimes it's more than a perception. Memories of the notorious late-night budget session in 2000 still linger, when members drank beer and wine, slept during debates, and were caught voting for other members. That year, Salvatore F. DiMasi, then assistant majority leader, gaveled for "order in the Animal House" as members chanted, "Toga! Toga!"
Un-fucking-real!!!!
Yup, can't punch a time clock for a fellow employee, but our state fascistas can VOTE for other members!
WTF kind of SHIT GOVERNMENT is this?!
Read on for MORE OUTRAGE, readers!!!!
In the major subplot of this year's waning days, DiMasi is again at the center of things. This time he is House speaker, and he is trying to contain a House chamber that is rife with intrigue over his own political problems. For months, the speaker has been facing allegations that he has steered legislation to benefit his friends and business associates.
The reports have contributed to an atmosphere of unrest in the House and questions about whether DiMasi will remain as speaker. The speaker took members of his House leadership team into his wood-paneled office Tuesday and indicated he plans to continue his term, said sources briefed on the meeting. He also phoned the two men who are competing to take his place, House Ways and Means chairman Robert A. DeLeo and majority leader John H. Rogers, to tell them to stop their jockeying, said a source briefed on the discussions.
Both Rogers and DeLeo have insisted that they would not try to unseat DiMasi, but by collecting commitments from their colleagues they are fueling rumors that he may step down. Both sides are counting votes and maintaining spreadsheets. Some lawmakers are on both lists, and each side is pointing fingers at the other for starting the latest round of support-gathering.
Question: Why did this article on the budget mess turn into a SPECULATIVE POLITICAL PIECE?
Yes, dear readers, the Boston Globe is a shit rag!!!
Most of the hardnosed political action takes place behind closed doors.
But it is a PUBLIC GOVERNMENT!!! Sigh!
A member of the public visiting the State House would see lawmakers milling in the hallways, mingling with lobbyists, and waiting to be summoned by the speaker. When the speaker wants them to report to the chamber to cast votes, a court officer steps into the marble hallway and bellows, "Roll call in the House!" so loudly that he can be heard on every floor of the building.
The frenetic pace can make the legislative action difficult to follow. The House last week decided that it would adopt amendments to a $3 billion bond bill without even reading them aloud.
That's how we get TYRANNY like the Patriot Act!!!
All in "liberal" Massachusetts!!!!
Waiting until the last minute increases the pressure leaders can wield to their advantage, and force opponents to make deals.
You know, AmeriKan "democracy!"
But it also has to do with the nature of procrastination.
Meanwhile, Governor Deval Patrick is largely staying out of the thicket - he was holding a town meeting last night in Athol - but plans to be at the State House until midnight today, spending his 52d birthday wrapping up any last-minute legislation.
The governor is also planning what he hopes will be a more dignified affair, an end-of-the-legislative-session bash for all House and Senate members at his estate in the Berkshires."
Yeah, I'm sure they won't be late for that, the blood-sucking elite stink shits of state government!
Also see: Governor Patrick Parties It Up
All on YOUR DIME, Mass. citizen and taxpayer!!!
If it's quasi-public, why must the taxpayers bail them out?
The complex and divisive debate in the waning days of the Legislature's session reflects the lingering financial hangover from the $15 billion Big Dig.
Yeah, a "hangover" like Wall Street, huh, puke shit?
Also see: The Big Pit
A Republican amendment to abolish the Turnpike Authority failed in the Senate early last night.
Yup, I'm a REPUBLICAN now!!!
A Massachusetts REPUBLICAN!!!
(blog author chuckling as he reflects on earlier days when he was a staunch lefty)
In both the Senate and House versions, the Turnpike Authority, which is dependent on toll revenue, would remain primarily responsible for its debt payments. But if it defaulted, taxpayers would be on the hook for interest payments.
But Patrick officials and House leaders worry that without strong backing from the state, the Turnpike Authority could be forced into a situation it cannot afford, leaving toll payers with massive hikes or sending the agency into insolvency. They say the plan is relatively risk free.
That's EXACTLY what Paulson said... and LOOK WHAT HAPPENED!!!
What a LYING ADMINISTRATION this "peoples" governor is running!!!!
And just in case the Massachusetts fart mist hasn't made you unconsciuos yet:
The Massachusetts House gave preliminary approval yesterday to a bill that would sharply curb greenhouse gas emissions in the state. The measure has moved to the Senate for final approval. Aides said Patrick may sign it into law as early as today.
The proposed law would require that the emissions, which scientists say are causing global warming, be reduced from 1990 levels by as much as 25 percent by 2020. It also calls for a reduction of 80 percent by 2050. The bill provides fines of as much as $25,000 a day for violations.
"Now is the time to take action," said Representative Frank Smizik, chairman of the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and Agriculture. He warned his colleagues that without action, the state's climate would soon feel like South Carolina's. The bill passed unanimously on a 154-to-0 vote.
All over a god-damn, agenda-pushing lie!!!
Yup, this one took with the American people, even though it has been COOL HERE this SUMMER!!!!!
Of course, I wouldn't expect the lying, agenda-pushing press to recognize that FACT!!
All so they can FUCK the ECONOMY liked they FUCKED the FOOD!!!!
The gas emissions bill was one of a number of actions taken by lawmakers yesterday as they wind down their business before a summer recess. Hoping to give shoppers a break and to boost retail sales, Patrick signed the sales tax holiday into law yesterday. The move will suspend the 5 percent tax for many items Aug. 16 to 17.
Yeah, here's a little diarrhea plop in your palm, Mass. residents!!!!
After all the wasted taxpayer funds I've chronicled these last few months?
Patrick said he was glad the state could give people a break in time for back-to-school purchases. "We hope it stimulates all sorts of sales activity during what is otherwise a slow time of year," he said in a statement.
This guy is REALLY SICKENING!!!!
Here is going around tossing away state money to tons of things (Hollywood, biotechs, Wall Street, etc, etc) and he is GIVING US a BREAK!!!
This as he HOSTS a LAVISH PARTY at his BERKSHGIRE RETREAT!!!!
And to TOP it OFF, he's a DAMNABLE LIAR , too!!!!
"The back-to-school season is the industry's second-biggest selling period after Christmas."
The sales tax will be suspended for purchases up to $2,500 not including meals, telecommunications services, tobacco products, gas, steam, electricity, motor vehicles, and motorboats.
Then WTF good is it if they are going to play favorites?
I'm not going to buy anything either day.
Maybe I'll just pass on the Globe, too!!!!
Also yesterday, the House made a technical change in a bill allowing gays who live in other states to marry in Massachusetts. The change allows gays to marry here immediately rather than after 90 days.
And LOOK at the LIBERALS BEND OVER (pun intended) for the GAYS!!!!
The House gave final approval to the bill yesterday and attached an emergency preamble to let it take effect as soon as it is signed by the governor. Most bills must wait 90 days before becoming law.
But that 's O.K; we can SET ASIDE the LAWS as needed, especially when serving RADICAL MINORITIES!!!!
In other action, a bipartisan House committee recommended lawmakers use identification cards to cast their votes. DiMasi introduced the new, secure voting system after members were caught letting others vote for them, including one who was in the Virgin Islands at the time of a vote."
Un-fucking-real!!!
Seriously, what a SHIT GOVERNMENT this state has!!!!!
Just a bunch of SCUMBAG LOOTERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!