News Corp chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg came to Boston Tuesday to hail immigrants' contributions to our economic vitality. Touting the findings of a report by the Partnership for a New American Economy, the two cited the shortage of skilled workers in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields, …
Continue reading Murdoch, Bloomberg call for GOP to have courage on immigration
Most attorneys general don’t go after political corruption because acting against colleagues can translate into a dead end politically. But Martha Coakley has a new Public Integrity Division, a welcome addition. And she has the new 2009 ethics law, which criminalizes behavior previously treated civilly. Still, there are questions about whether she is being too …
Continue reading Charging Tim Cahill: too much or about time?
Boston Mayor Tom Menino’s 19th state-of-the-city speech last night was a welcome relief from the nasty partisanship and overheated rhetoric of the national political scene. Locally, Boston’s unemployment rate is 5.7 percent, two points lower than last year. Menino noted that the Innovation District he created in the Seaport area is bringing jobs to the …
My friend and colleague Tom Waseleski, editorial page editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, always prepares for New Year’s Day an aspirational list of headlines from which many of us could benefit. Here, with my own imprint, are the headlines I’d like to see in 2012.National Jobless Rate Drops Below 7 PercentThose Benefiting from New Health …
The unidentified “they” have often said that Boston’s three favorite pastimes are sports, politics and revenge – and not necessarily in that order. Thursday night’s MassInc’s 15-year anniversary celebration at the Kennedy Library brought together media and pols to wallow in a hilarious celebration in a bipartisan spirit of humor and across-the-aisle friendship that, I …
Continue reading MassInc shows how humor can bridge the political divide
Can you say “Mayor for life?” That was the unspoken message of the love-in Wednesday when Mayor Tom Menino spoke to the Boston College CEO’s Club. He has been at the helm in the Hub for an unprecedented 18 years, and still, according to Weber Shandwick executive Micho Spring, who introduced him, has a 74 …
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino this morning delivered one of the best speeches of his political career, and it brought the crowd of several hundred at the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce breakfast to their feet in an enthusiastic ovation. In it, he laid out a compelling vision for a comprehensive overhaul of the Boston Public …
Continue reading Menino links proposed school system changes to potential economic growth
Nearly a year ago, I used the word “circling the drain” in writing about Deval Patrick’s inauspicious prospects for reelection. I’m not the only one whose premature assessments proved wrong. Patrick turned around his campaign. And, in the end, the voters of Massachusetts definitely preferred his message of optimism and his ability to build on …
Continue reading Deval Patrick: Basking in the afterglow of election victory is sweet but short
For some observers, Don Chiofaro is a character out of Ayn Rand, the larger-than-life developer who muscles aside naysayers to create huge and exciting structures that fulfill his vision. For others, he is simply a bulldog, who insists on doing things his way, a person who, as WBUR radio put it yesterday, sees “development as …
Continue reading Don Chiofaro going at it again: building on the Greenway?
Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker’s main issue differentiating himself from Governor Deval Patrick has for weeks been his emphasis on cutting state spending, including eliminating 5000 jobs. But he hasn’t been specific about where those jobs are, so his criticism of the Patrick administration has lacked clarity, credibility and clout, easily dismissible as campaign rhetoric …
Continue reading Charlie Baker: Right on Municipal Workers’ Health Insurance
Marjorie Arons-Barron 