Patrick’s vulnerabilities

Here’s why I see it as a no-brainer to vote for Healey, no matter what party you’re in:* Unless and until the MA GOP bestirs itself enough to get enough legislators elected to systain a veto, no GOP governor will be able to block anything the Dems really want (so the liberals don’t have to worry about some eeeevil Republican torpedoing their core agenda (alas)).* However, every now and then the fringier Dems go off the rails and pass through the legislature some insane thing by a majority but not a veto-proof majority.* Having a GOP governor saves us from that craziness — the GOP governor can veto it, and if there aren’t enough Dems to override the veto, well that tells you what a horrid idea the vetoed legislation was in the first place.* With a Dem in the corner office — especially a leftie like Patrick — this vital check is removed in two ways. One, any insane thing will be gladly signed off on. Two, since the leftie forces in the legislature know they finally have a fellow traveler in the corner office, they’ll start pushing through all sorts of garbage they didn’t try with a GOP governor, since they knew that if they got it through it would be vetoed and not overridden.

Gotta agree with richc. Most people are centrists, once the hangover of “seemed like a good idea at the time” deserts them. I see Gov. Deval leaving in a New York minute for a cabinet position in a Democrat presidential administration. That leaves Lt. Gov. Urban Mechanic, whose city had 3 drive-by shootings while he was accepting the nomination. (Think Menino with articulation.) Even Hillary Clinton has moved to the center,(ostensibly), mindful of the fact that failure to do so divorces her from the votes she covets. Too bad it has to be this way, but this will boil down to a vote against the Legislature as much as a vote for or against Healey. Are voters stupid? Ask Dianne Wilkerson…..

“…no GOP governor will be able to block anything the Dems really want … Having a GOP governor saves us from that craziness — the GOP governor can veto it, and if there aren’t enough Dems to override the veto, well that tells you what a horrid idea the vetoed legislation was in the first place.Gee, haven’t we been facing the same thing in Washington for 6 years? And hasn’t that been spun by the Right as being “a good thing?”Look, it was GOP governor after GOP governor who raised income taxes. It was GOP governor after GOP governor who named cronies to the Mass Turnpike Authority and who have in turn raised the tolls. It was GOP governor after GOP governor who had such lousy fiscal awareness that the state fell harder than almost any other into recession and has been hands down the slowest to recover. Yeah, we sure need another Republican, all right.I remember a guy by the name of Clinton who balanced the federal budget, lowered taxes, didn’t get Americans killed in war and oh yeah…is a Democrat.

Small reality check here, guys. One of the true weirdnesses of politics in this state is how utterly ineffectual the Republican party is. They’ve been horrible at building grassroots support, building party image, managing the state, or (as claimed) providing a counter to the legistlature. Republicans in Michigan are running attack ads saying only three states have lost jobs and people: Michigan, Missouri, and Lousianna. Guess what folks, we’ve had worse losses than Michigan. And who is the biggest basher of this state? The Republican party, especially as personified by Mitt Romney. At the same time, the Democratic party here is utterly schizoid. How does one party contain Jarrett Barrios and Marie Parente? In any other state, Tom Finneran would be a proud Republican (quick: name one “liberal” view he holds). To pretend that the Democratic party here speaks with one voice, so we need Republicans to “balance” them is to ignore the realities of MA politics. To pretend that Kerry Healey will be an improvement over Romney is just bizarre.

Is Patrick soft on crime? I know of nothing to suggest that this is even remotely true. If Healey wants to pull that old canard out of the Republican playbook, good luck to her.I can see four possible vulnerabilities offhand:1) Patrick’s opposition to the death penalty,2) Something that got too technical in the last Dem debate about CORI records3) Given he worked with (as?) public defender and in the Clinton AG office, maybe something happened during those tenures that they’ll try to pin on him4) Just the usual anti-Dem smears

Regarding taking college discounts from U.S. citizens and giving them to citizens of other countries who are here illegally and thereby not only encouraging more illegal immigration but also devaluing U.S. citizenship, I guess it all depends on how you frame it, right?http://lonewacko.com/illegal-immigration-introduction.html

mike from norwell, that’s nice for civics class but in the real world everything starts at the top and works its way down. The governor states the agenda, the governor submits the budget, the governor vetos that which he (she) doesn’t like. Neither Weld nor his spinoffs did jack about correcting a budget that has spiraled out of control. They failed to follow through on what was pledged in 1989 to be a temporary tax hike, which amount to raising taxes themselves. Given the population of this state and its minute area (which should mean less spending on infrastructure), there is no reason in hell our taxes should be as high as they are. But I have yet to see a GOP governor do squat about it.

Mike,What’s the difference between raising taxes and 1) cutting the state budget by pushing costs down to the county level level and 2) raising every possible state level fee? In the last few years, my out of pocket costs for everything from registering my car to going to the beach have gone up. And then there’s my property taxes.All of this was driven by Mitt Romney.

I’m with richc on illegal aliens. I go left in general but in-state tuition and drivers licenses seem plain daft to me. Right out of a Monty Python skit–so you’re here illegally? Welcome! Have a cigar! Anything I can get you? Pillow for your feet perhaps? Back rub?They are so zany in fact that it seems to me they will render any candidate who espouses them unelectable, even in Massachusetts.Mickey Kaus has been haranguing about the border fence over on Slate. Fence first he says, enforcement later–no need for a “comprehensive” solution all at once. Otherwise any “amnesty”-style solution will just encourage more illegals to easily sneak in, to wait for the next amnesty. Interesting issue–it crosses the usual partisan lines. That is, concessions on illegal immigration will hurt any candidate around here, be they liberal or conservative.

I find it amusing (and befuddling, given the extremely limited power of a GOP governor in the Commonwealth) to pin all of the bad on the republicans. When you are facing a bulletproof veto override, it is disingenous at best to point fingers at Romney et al for taxes.but in the real world everything starts at the top and works its way down. The governor states the agenda, the governor submits the budget, the governor vetos that which he (she) doesn’t like.Civics class my eye. Not sure which “real world” you’re referencing here. What were Weld/Celluci/Swift/Romney supposed to have done? Turn MA into a banana republic dictatorship to get their wishes fulfilled?

Anon 10:19 — The gobbledygook coming from Healey in the Globe article confirms that Healey won’t lift a finger to help those attempting to ban same-sex marriage. The fact that Romney is a flip-flopper tells me nothing about Healey. He is unusually cynical and opportunistic, even by the low standards of politics. The fact that she was his #2 means nothing. She’s already disagreed with him in public so much on reproductive choice, stem-cell research, etc., that I’m surprised they’re still talking. (Or maybe they’re not!)

Civics class my eye. Not sure which “real world” you’re referencing here. What were Weld/Celluci/Swift/Romney supposed to have done? Turn MA into a banana republic dictatorship to get their wishes fulfilled?Look around: that’s precisely what they’ve done. In less than four years, Romney alone has overhauled the Turnpike Authority, forced out the president of UMass, stuck his nose in various internal Harvard issues, robbed the counties blind in order to make the state budget look good … oh sure, he hasn’t done a damn thing about any actual state problems, but did anyone really expect him to?When Weld came into office the state budget was $10 billion. This year it was $26 billion, a 160% rise. Tell me: have the wages of the typical Mass taxpayer gone up 160% in that time? Republican governors are bad news.

Anon 12:41 – An absolutely legitimate question, and one that somebody should ask Patrick.

On the oversight front, here’s a fun history of the Big Dig from the Globe:http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2006/07/23/and_the_buck_stops__where/- Weld appointed Kerasiotes- Kerasiotes transfered the project to the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and introduced the “manager as dictator” philosophy- Kerasiotes was forced out during Cellucci’s tenure and replaced by multiple people- Cellucci introduced Mihos and Levy- Swift brought in Amorello – Romney fought with Amorello, Mihos, Levy and attempted to replace them all with his croniesAll Republicans… none willing to take responsibility.

Kerry Healey is a woman? (Be prepared to gasp.) I almost never vote for a woman. Does she have children she should be home with?You know me. . . .

The Governor does fire people, or is Billy Bulger still running UMass? That wasn’t his cronies in the legislature that pushed BB out.

Bostonph:Enough with the Beacon Hill Salute, you have a Democratic Supermajority, take a little resopnsiblity for what happens in this state. Food For Thought: If the Big Dig is run by Republicans and unions support Democrats why was the big dig only built with union labor.