Many bemoan the revolving door in government/media circles. For a while you're a politician; then you get a job as a lobbyist, retaining your politicians' access; then you're a candidate again. One day you're a journalist; the next you're a communications director for a candidate or elected official; the next you're a TV or radio analyst. …
Category: Politics
Combatting ISIS: Seth Moulton on strategy and tactics
Just 119 days into his first term in Congress, Salem's Seth Moulton, who upset longtime incumbent John Tierney in the Democratic primary last fall, brought his distinct perspective to The New England Council for the first time. He won, he said, by running to the center. And he's off to a good start, deftly responding …
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Civic leadership through robust public dialogue and love of language
At the risk of sounding immodest, I want to share with readers how deeply moved I am to be receiving an honorary doctor of letters from Regis College, a dynamic and growing university in Weston, MA. Last night I was privileged to deliver an address to the hundreds of students receiving master's and doctoral degrees. …
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Time to rewind the state film tax credit
New catering services. Sound engineering. Construction of sets. New sound stages. Trailers for sets. Porta-potties. All side businesses that claim to have prospered in Massachusetts ever since the state implemented a 25 percent tax credit on production costs and salaries plus a break on certain sales taxes to entice production companies to set up shop …
Normalizing U.S./Cuban relations a mix of nitty-gritty and key principles
I just returned from State Department briefings for editorialists from across the country and posted the following to the website of the Association of Opinion Journalists, just one of several key issues covered in Monday's day-long sessions. The announcement of a changed relationship between Cuba and the United States is not a kumbaya moment. There’s much …
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Jeb Bush – for now, more appealing than appalling
Years ago, Barbara Bush is said to have commented that son Jeb was the best politician in the family. That's the side of the former Florida governor that I saw in New Hampshire on Friday morning at the Institute of Politics at St. Anselm College. The hall was filled to overflowing and the boyish looking, …
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Presidential race will thwart progress in Congress
Very knowledgeable politicians speaking in Boston last Monday expressed qualified hopes that Congress could actually get something done. They pointed to the recent "doc fix," a remedy for the unrealistic curtailment of Medicare payments to providers. The bill passed by the House and awaiting Senate action even reauthorized CHIP (the children's health plan) and provided some …
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Can Martin O’Malley take on Hillary?
There's no doubt that Hillary Clinton will be the most experienced Presidential wannabe in either party - when she announces her candidacy. But the lead-up to her announcement has been dogged by missteps and reminders of why people don't want the Clintons back in the White House. Her baggage piles up every week. While most of …
The downhill race for the summer Olympics
Former Governor Deval Patrick seems to have caught on that the optics of his $7500 per day pay (plus expenses) for serving as a globe-trotting ambassador for Boston2024's summer Olympics proposal might not play in some future bid for the Presidency or even a U.S. Supreme Court seat. Nor was it helpful when Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, an enthusiastic Olympics booster, raised …
Ode to Bill Galvin: Let the Sun Shine In
Close your eyes for a moment and hear the refrain of Aquarius by The Fifth Dimension, "let the sun shine, let the sun shine, the sun shine in." Consider it the anthem for this week: Sunshine Week. It has nothing to do with the fact that we're back on daylight savings time, this Friday is the first …
Marjorie Arons-Barron 