And I'm not going to repost the school closing, tax giveaways, etc.
Just go here for more please.
"$13m software deal is called unnecessary: Ethics investigation set; state's rush is unexplained" by Stephen Kurkjian, Globe Correspondent and Andrea Estes, Globe Staff | July 1, 2008
Governor Deval Patrick's administration overspent by millions of dollars when it rushed to sign a $13 million computer software contract that has since been canceled and is now the subject of a state ethics investigation, according to technology analysts.
In making the purchase last year from
While the Patrick administration paid $13 million to Cognos, Ohio put similar Cognos software in the hands of 6,000 employees. The Ohio price tag: just $2.9 million.
A spokesman for Cognos declined to answer questions about the difference in the prices charged the two states or about how the company negotiated its contract with the Patrick administration.
Sigh! The only one taking a sticking is the TAXPAYERS!
The Patrick administration rushed to sign the contract with Cognos, the highest by far of three bidders, at the same time last year that House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi was expressing a strong personal interest in the software procurement. The Globe reported in April that a sales agent working on behalf of Cognos, Joseph Lally, boasted of his personal connections to DiMasi and told a key state official involved in the selection process that DiMasi wanted Cognos to win the bid.
Oh, so it was just ANOTHER CASE of SPECIAL INTERESTS and FAVORITES LOOTING the TAXPAYERS!
Brrggggggghhh!!
There goes another hole of any belief in government at all.
My new philosophy in ALL THINGS now is LOCAL, LOCAL, LOCAL!!!!
The MORE LOCAL the BETTER!
The Globe has also reported that Cognos was a top sponsor of a charity golf tournament hosted by DiMasi at his home course, Ipswich Country Club.
The Cognos contract was harshly criticized last year by the state inspector general, and state Republicans have asked for an investigation by the State Ethics Commission.
DiMasi has repeatedly declined to be interviewed about the contract. A spokesman for DiMasi has said the speaker had "absolutely no involvement" in the administration's bidding process, but confirmed that DiMasi had met with the head of the state's technology division, Bethann Pepoli, to advocate generally for the software.
Patrick administration officials have also declined to be interviewed on the details of the contract. Anne Margulies - the state's current chief technology official, who did not hold the post at the time of the award last year - said she believes that the state did not overspend.
Patrick officials could have avoided the excessive price tag of the Cognos contract if they had looked in their own files.
(Blog author just gathers this all in and sighs while shaking his head)!
In March, Inspector General Gregory Sullivan sharply criticized the Patrick administration, saying it used a rushed, corner-cutting process to award the contract to Cognos. His report said the state violated fundamental state bidding rules.
That negative review prompted the administration to rescind the Cognos contract;
Oh, so all that was a BIG WASTE of TAXPAYER'S TIME and MONEY, huh?
Gotta start ALL OVER AGAIN, do ya?
Any wonder why I come on here so pissed in the mornings, folks?
While reversing its actions, the administration still has not explained why it set aside standard purchasing practices in its haste to pick Cognos.
Because it was FAVORITISM?
Among the key criticisms by Inspector General Sullivan in his March 2008 report on irregularities in the Cognos contract award was a scathing observation that the state had not even performed a detailed assessment of its needs before seeking bids from vendors.
That assertion is striking, considering the detailed, 24-page assessment provided by the 2005 report.
Specialists said such a plan makes no sense for two big reasons: It unnecessarily inflates the price of the contract, since the cost is dependent on the number of people who are licensed to use it, and it is likely to lead to wasteful use of the software.
Three companies submitted proposals last year; Cognos's $13 million bid was accepted, even though it was nearly twice as high as the next highest bid, SAS Institute Inc. of North Carolina, which bid $7 million for the contract.
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Oh, and they even took the HIGHEST BID!!!
Hey, why not: It is NOT THEIR MONEY they are SHOVELING OUT the DOOR!
It's OURS!!!!!!!!
And OUR SCHOOLS around here are LAYING OFF 60 TEACHERS and running a $2 million deficit!
You know, WE COULD HAVE USED some of that DOUGH, dick farts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Meanwhile....
"State's $28b budget delayed; Taxes, healthcare are sticking points" by Matt Viser, Globe Staff | July 1, 2008
House and Senate budget writers were not talking yesterday, but officials said the main sticking points blocking agreement on the $28 billion plan were corporate income taxes, legislative earmarks, and how much federal money to expect to support the state's health insurance efforts.
While they were not able to produce the fiscal 2009 budget on time, legislators did approve one aspect of the plan yesterday, a $1-per-pack hike of the cigarette tax rate. The increase, which still needs the governor's signature, would raise an estimated $174 million in revenues. It would push the price of a pack of cigarettes to $6.41, nearly 40 percent of which would be taxes.
--MORE--"
I'm quitting -- and I DON'T EVEN SMOKE (cough, cough)!!!
And what do you do when a newspaper CONTRADICTS ITSELF in the SAME PAGES (sigh)?
"Legislators near trimming tax loopholes" by Casey Ross, Globe Staff | July 1, 2008Massachusetts lawmakers have struck a deal to raise taxes on corporations by as much as $500 million a year by eliminating tax loopholes and preventing businesses from shifting profits to their out-of-state operations.
After weeks of contentious talks, negotiators from the House and Senate reached an agreement late yesterday that would help prevent budget cuts and pave the way for final approval of the $28 billion state spending plan, which is now a day late.
WTF?! The guy above said they weren't talking?
Sigh. Lies. It's all lies, all the time!
The lawmakers dropped from the compromise a controversial provision that Democrats said would have allowed large multinational companies to lower their taxes in the state by shifting profits to foreign divisions. The provision was included in the version the House approved in April.
Also yesterday, the Legislature approved a $1-per-pack increase in the cigarette tax, which would raise $175 million.
The corporate tax bill, expected to be voted on by the Legislature today, would close several so-called loopholes that companies have used to lower their payments to the state.
The biggest money-raiser is a provision known as combined reporting, which is designed to prevent companies from shifting profits to other states with lower tax rates. The measure would require companies to combine income from all their operations, then apportion a profit for tax purposes based on the amount of business activity they have in Massachusetts.
--MORE--"
Well, as Billy Joel used to sing, I can hear the corporation's telling Massachusetts I'M MOVING OUT!!!!
Of course, that isn't counting the corps that are RECEIVING the LARGESSE!!!!
