The governor: A pop quiz

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2010/01/27/the_governor_a_pop_quiz/


The governor: A pop quiz

By Scot Lehigh, Globe Columnist | January 27, 2010

WE ALL know Governor Deval Patrick is in trouble. After all, he got off on the wrong foot with the new drapes and the Cadillac back in 2007, and he hasn’t done anything except screw up since then, right? Any casual observer of Beacon Hill can tell you that.

So today, rather than chronicle the incumbent’s failings, let’s play “Name That Governor.’’

Ready? Pick the recent Massachusetts CEO who best fits the bill. You can also answer “all of the above.’’

QUESTION 1: Which governor’s tenure was marked by testy spats with legislative leaders?

A) Mike Dukakis B) Paul Cellucci C) Mitt Romney D) Deval Patrick

Well, let’s see. Things became so strained under Dukakis that George Keverian, then the speaker of the House, temporarily stopped speaking, at least to the Duke. Cellucci got into an ugly hissing match with then Senate President Tom Birmingham. Romney became so enraged when a legislative agreement fell apart that, one senator said, “his hair was shaking.’’ So while Patrick has had some chilly relations, that’s about par for the Beacon Hill course.

QUESTION 2: Which state CEO actually did something on the thorny issue of replacing paid police details with civilian flagmen?

A) William Weld B) Cellucci C) Jane Swift D) Romney E) Patrick

Weld made a brief effort, but gave up when angry police officers spooked spineless lawmakers. Neither Cellucci nor Swift even tried. Romney led reporters to believe he’d address wasteful details, but never followed through.

Details weren’t a priority for Patrick, either, but when the Legislature tossed that hot potato in his lap, his administration developed a plan for using civilian flaggers on certain state-led construction projects.

QUESTION 3: Which governors advocated for - and got - truly significant education reform?

A) Dukakis and Weld B) Weld and Swift C) Cellucci and Romney E) Weld and Patrick

The most important education legislation we’ve seen in recent decades came in 1993, under Weld. But a clear second is the bill Patrick just signed into law, legislation that will increase the number of charter schools in the worst performing districts and impart new powers for turning around underperforming schools. As was true in 1993, the House and Senate education chairs - in this case, Marty Walz and Rob O’Leary - deserve mega credit as well. Others also played important roles. Still, it’s unlikely this would have happened without Patrick and Secretary of Education Paul Reville.

QUESTION 4: What governor pushed a political ally for a highly paid patronage position?

A) Patrick B) Dukakis C) Weld D) Cellucci E) Swift

Easy, right? After all, Patrick tried to plop Senator Marian Walsh into the number two slot at the Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Authority. But don’t forget that Dukakis made state Senator Allan McKinnon chairman of the Turnpike Authority. Or that Weld installed defeated US Representative Peter Blute, he of subsequent Booze Cruise fame, as Massport chief. Or that Cellucci shoehorned Representative Gus Serra into a plush post at Massport and gave the highway commissioner’s job to former Senator Matt Amorello, whom Swift later elevated to Turnpike Authority chairman. Swift also rewarded Democratic Senator James Jajuga for supporting the 1998 GOP ticket by making him public safety secretary. And that’s just a sampling. So a patronage impulse isn’t just a Patrick failing.

FINAL QUESTION: Which governor won passage of important laws restructuring the state’s transportation bureaucracies and strengthening state ethics laws - and helped push the legislature to curb some of the worst public pension abuses?

A) Weld B) Swift C) Romney D) Patrick

That would be Patrick. Sure, some legislators - Senator Steven Baddour, to name one - also deserve bouquets, but that’s always the case.

So here’s the real point of today’s quiz. The derisive narrative about Patrick has grown stale. Yes, he’s made some clumsy blunders and yes, he’s had some rocky going with peevish legislative potentates, though that experience is hardly unique to him. Certainly his problematic poll numbers reveal the difficult spot he’s in as the election year commences.

Still, the fact of the matter is that Patrick is coming off a year or so of impressive accomplishment. He’s got a much better story to tell than most people realize. It’s a story that, properly told, should be a real asset in this year’s campaign.

Scot Lehigh can be reached at lehigh@globe.com.
© Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company

State of the Commonwealth Address

Governor Deval L. Patrick
State of the Commonwealth Address
State House, Boston, MA
Thursday, January 21, 2010

Governor Patrick delivered his third State of the Commonwealth address in the House Chambers in the State House in Boston, Massachusetts, on Thursday, January 21, 2010.

Address as delivered

Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Madame President – there we go – Mr. Speaker, and all of the Members of the House and Senate, Lieutenant Governor, Fellow Constitutional Officers, and Members of the Cabinet, to the Members of the Honorable Judiciary, Congressman and Mrs. Capuano, Mayor Menino and other municipal leaders, Reverend Clergy, Distinguished Guests, and above all, to the People of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

I want to first acknowledge and thank my First Lady and yours, Diane Patrick. You should all know that Diane has done marvelous work around the Commonwealth on domestic violence issues. And Diane, I think people have come to be almost as grateful to have you in their lives as I am to have you in mine.

I want you all to please join Diane and me in thanking the men and women of Massachusetts who serve in the United States military – and their families. We are every one of us in their debt.

Special thanks to Pastor Laguerre, who joins us tonight for the invocation. We pray with you for the rescue of the Haitian people, for comfort for their families and friends here in the Commonwealth, for strength for the relief workers from Massachusetts who are on the ground now in Haiti, and for blessings for all of the good people of this Commonwealth who have offered support to the victims.

I want to commend all three candidates in the special election for a spirited campaign – Attorney General, thank you for being here tonight. And I want to congratulate United States Senator-elect Scott Brown. I spoke to Scott on election night and again this afternoon, and we pledged to work together, as I do with the whole delegation, on behalf of the best interests of the people of the Commonwealth. The best news is that – even on a cold, snowy day in January, for an out-of-cycle election – the voters came out in force and engaged in their democracy. At a time when many feel powerless, people reminded themselves and us that they have all the power they need to make all the change they want. That’s good news.

Three years ago when I took the oath of office on the steps just outside this building, I described a vision for a better, stronger Commonwealth. I talked about good jobs at good wages all across the state, a great school in every neighborhood, and citizens with a renewed sense of community, where each of us sees the stake we have in each other's dreams and struggles.

I knew the challenges before us, and acknowledged them. Young people were leaving our state. There was no real plan for job growth. Our public schools were too often failing poor children. Our roads and bridges were broken. Health care reform had passed, but had not been implemented. And the culture of Beacon Hill, with due respect, was famously resistant to outsiders and to change.

We chose to confront these challenges, not because it was politically expedient or popular, and certainly not because it was easy. But because we understood the stake we each have in each other; because people need not big or small government, for its own sake, but good government; and because confronting these challenges was the only way to build a better, stronger Commonwealth.

Our task was made harder by bumps along the road - some of my own making I acknowledge, others left behind by predecessors, but most the result of a global economic collapse that no one foresaw and few living have ever experienced. The economic meltdown produced $9 billion in budget gaps, cuts to worthy programs, and elimination of thousands of state jobs. Just like in household after household, and business after business, we in state government have had to make do with less, to improvise and innovate, to work harder. But because we made it personal, because we understood that a better, stronger Commonwealth would lift us all up, we kept going.

The toll this global economic crisis has taken on people here at home has only served to make me even more determined. I meet people every day, and I see the anxiety in their faces. I hear their stories of lost jobs or lost homes, of lost retirement accounts or lost hope. I know they are stressed not just for themselves, but because there are still kids to be educated and parents to be cared for. I met a grandmother at the Career Center in Lynn this month who told me about moving her son and daughter and their kids, 9 of them strong, into her home because they're out of work and strapped for cash. Now she has lost her job. She's not asking for much, just a chance to work to provide for her family, and a little help holding on until she can make her own way. Meanwhile, like so many other citizens, she is feeling powerless against forces beyond her control. This is not the American Dream she counted on. And it is not the American Dream we will accept.

So for her, for every other striver who aches for a better, stronger Commonwealth, we kept faith with our vision and kept going. Too fast for some, not fast enough for others, learning from our mistakes as well as from our triumphs, but always forward. Without ever losing sight of who we are working for.

And so, working together, we closed that $9 billion budget gap and delivered a third consecutive budget that was responsible, balanced and on time – which is not something that many other states can say. But we also worked to understand and address the impact that each cut would have on the people who depended on the program, and to deliver the service in better and more efficient ways. We made it personal.

To create jobs, we leveraged our world-class universities and health care
institutions, making investments in biotech, life sciences and green technology so that the people of Massachusetts would have opportunities in the innovation economy of tomorrow. But we also went to work every day calling individual business leaders about locating or expanding here, working out ways to help them prosper and create jobs - 10, 50, 200 at a time, making sure the workforce was trained, and extending unemployment and health care benefits to help families hold it together in the short run. We made it personal.

We did the hard work – the hard work – of implementing health care reform so that now nearly every man, woman and child in the Commonwealth has reliable health insurance, and we are a model for the Nation. But because we know many families and small businesses are struggling to afford the premiums they pay, we went to work to drive down costs, hauling insurance companies into public hearings to explain why premiums keep going up when everything else is coming down. We made it personal.

In a time of dwindling state revenue, we funded public schools at the highest level in history. In the budget I file next week, I will propose to do it again by fully funding the education budget through Chapter 70 next year, so that no school will see a cut in state support. But because schools need innovation as well as money in order to be great, we made law and history this week by signing an education reform bill that will put a great school within reach of every child in every corner of this Commonwealth. We made it personal. Thank you.

We did all of that and more this past year. And I want to thank you. I want to thank President Murray, Speaker DeLeo and each member of this Senate and House, for their willingness to work with us, frequently across Party lines, and take the tough votes that will make a better, stronger Commonwealth.

I also want to thank the members of the Cabinet and their teams for your
creativity and tenacity, and the state workers who – despite furloughs and contract concessions, pay freezes and increased health care contributions – go to work every day trying to do right by the people we serve.

Change is never easy and rarely quick. Woodrow Wilson once said, "If you want to make enemies, try to change something." And Lord knows he was right! But it is worthy. It’s worthy. Because we are together building the foundation for a better, stronger Commonwealth.

And I ask you, don't just take my word for it. Here are some facts:

For the first time in twenty years, more people are moving into our state than are moving out.

Business confidence has improved 9 of the last 10 months, which means more investment and more jobs ahead.

Home sales are up for the fifth consecutive month - 59% in the month of November alone.

All three national rating agencies have affirmed the state's AA credit rating and stable outlook for the future, expressly citing our successful management of this fiscal crisis.

Massachusetts is one of the few states in the country able to access the bond markets to fund our student loan program.

We are first in the Nation in student achievement for the third straight year and first in the Nation in health care coverage for our residents, with over 97 percent insured.

Our clean and alternative energy initiatives set national standards. We will
increase wind power 10-fold and solar power 15-fold by next year, and in the solar industry we have already more than doubled the number of jobs and quadrupled the number of companies.

But still, still, people sometimes ask: What does all this mean for them?

Well, a good credit rating means that we can do construction projects like Assembly Square in Somerville, or the Appleton Mills redevelopment in Lowell, or the Route 7 improvements in Pittsfield, or the Route 24 ramp in Fall River, and on and on and on. Projects that put people to work now, create other jobs shortly, and improve the quality of life for years. It means people like R. Evans Stewart can get a state-subsidized student loan to help his grandson pursue his dreams at Western New England College. That’s what it means.

Implementing health reform well means peace of mind for people like Jaclyn Michalos from Norwood, who would not have had her breast cancer diagnosed and successfully treated without access to affordable care. It means finding a cost effective way to cover over 26,000 immigrants who live and work here legally and pay taxes into the system.

Simplifying the transportation network and abolishing the Turnpike Authority means we saved taxpayers a quarter billion dollars and can put toll and T fare hikes off a little while, while we focus on better service for commuters.

Holding the line on funding for schools or passing the ed reform bill means the kids I meet in Arlington or East Boston High Schools, or the South Middle School in Brockton, or the University Park Campus School in Worcester, or the Walsh School in Framingham, or the poor and special needs kids I carry around in my heart, will get the chance I got to make a better life for themselves and their families.

Let me tell you what it means.

Investing in clean and alternative energy, or the life sciences and biotech, means Dan Leary, an Iraq War vet, can hire more people at his solar installation company in North Andover (I think he's up to 45 so far); and Randy Moquin can get trained, get off unemployment and go to work as an energy auditor out in Springfield; and Josh Hamilton can build a Center for Regenerative Medicine in Woods Hole and start to transform the future of human health.

Investing in infrastructure means that, now and even moreso in the coming spring construction season, new bridges will be built; exit ramps and roads are being restored; broadband cable is being laid under 1-91; stations, office parks, medical research buildings, parking garages are all going up – investments that put people to work today and become the economic enabler of tomorrow.

And ending the abuse in the state pension system and tightening the ethics and lobbying rules means that people can trust that state government is focused again on their business and not personal gain.

Governing for people, the ways your government can help you help yourselves, is why we come to work every day. By investing in people, by making it personal, we are building a better, stronger Commonwealth for all of us.

I know there's much more work to do. And I will not be satisfied until it's done.

Unemployment, even with the disappointing numbers released today, is not as high here as the national average, but I will not be satisfied until we have put all our people back to work.

More people than ever are insured, but I will not be satisfied until the cost of health insurance is lower, especially for small businesses and working families.

I will not be satisfied until CORl and sentencing reform are enacted into law and we start getting as smart on crime as we are tough.

We, all of us, have worked together to give local communities new tools to cut costs and raise revenues, to regionalize more municipal services. But I will not be satisfied until we find a way to bring property taxes down.

I will not be satisfied until we have reshaped and reinvented state government itself, consolidated more agencies and wrung out of them every inefficiency.

That must be our agenda and I will not be satisfied until it's finished. And neither should you.

These are each of them tough issues, I know that. But you ought to know by now – friends one and all – you should know, my friends, not to doubt my resolve or my determination. I hear the detractors who fiercely or passively defend the status quo. I hear the challengers pressing to return to old, familiar ways, even policies that failed us in the past. But I also hear a public deeply frustrated with the pace of change, who need a little help from us right now so they can help themselves. Our job is to be leaders for them. To stand up and make the hard decisions that are necessary to build a better, stronger Commonwealth. We must make it personal.

To the people of the Commonwealth, above all, especially those whose lives have been turned upside down by this economy, you are not powerless. And you are not alone.

If we here work together and creatively, we can make a difference where it matters, not on our resumes but in your lives. We have shown we can do this with historic reforms already, and we must redouble our efforts. We will do our part. Now you must also do yours.

Be angry - but channel it in a positive direction. It's easy to be against things. It takes tough-mindedness and courage to be for something.

In Massachusetts, at our best, we are for each other, we are about seeing our stake in our neighbors' dreams and struggles as well as our own.

And I know some kids who understand this especially well.

The high school in Brockton, Massachusetts is the largest in our Commonwealth. 4,100 young people go to that school. Sixty-four percent are on the free lunch program. For nearly half of them, English is a second language. I visited the school last spring to announce some of the federal stimulus funding for education and arranged to meet beforehand with parents of special needs students.

I sat with about a dozen of these parents in the school library, surrounded by members of the student council who had come to observe. And at first we talked about programs and policies and information, but the conversation got personal, when one mother asked me, she said: “Governor, imagine what it is like to have a child in school who has no friends.”

And as a parent, the comment was searing. Her child's learning issues were so profound that other kids just shunned him.

And at that point, one of the student council members raised her hand and said, "I want to be your child's buddy, right here in the high school." It was a beautiful and spontaneous thing.

Another parent then said her child had similar issues but wasn’t in that school. Which prompted another student to raise her hand and say, "Why don't we have a program where high school students can be buddies for special needs kids in whatever Brockton school they attend?"

The superintendent was there and had a natural reaction in these times: he began to worry aloud about how, in these times of scarce resources, he could possibly pay for such a program. To which another student replied, "We don't have to be paid. This is our community." His message was plain and powerful: "If there is a need, send me."

That program now has a name, the Boxer Buddies, it’s going strong, and I want to acknowledge the Buddies who are here tonight. I am so proud of you.

The point is this. In a city as hard hit as any by the economic crisis, these young people did not sit around wondering and worrying what to do and who was going to do it. They didn’t accept that they were powerless. They saw a need and met it, and found power in service itself. And through that not only have they inspired me and many others, but they have built a better, stronger Commonwealth.

Brick by brick. Block by block. Neighborhood by neighborhood. Town by town. That is what each of us must do. That is who each of us must be. That is the opportunity this crisis presents. If we seize it, I am certain our best days lie ahead.

Thank you everybody. God bless you all and God bless the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Top Ten Surprising Facts About Scott Brown

http://www.cbs.com/late_night/late_show/top_ten/

Thursday, January 21, 2010

David Letterman: Top Ten Surprising Facts About Scott Brown

10.He's the nephew of Godfather of Soul James Brown

9.Climate change is partly the result of his smoldering hunkiness

8.His response to the health care reform crisis: "Don't Blame Conan"

7.Got start in politics by rounding up illegals to work in Mitt Romney's yard

6.Once in state senate, cracked a walnut with his ass

5.Purchased his first car at Harrison Ford

4.Promised people of Massachusetts he'd bring back witch trials

3.When his daughter was finalist on "American Idol," he exchanged beauty tips with Ryan Seacrest

2.His election helped GOP ratings skyrocket to 17%!

1.So cold today in Boston today he actually put on pants

1934 All Over Again

from the Chicago Tribune....

The Day After

Dear Democrats and Friends,

A disappointing result statewide, a victory in Newburyport, less success in Newbury, Salisbury, West Newbury and Amesbury...

Thank you for giving your time, caring about the issues, talking to your neighbors, holding signs in freezing weather, and putting yourself out there for values and principles you believe in.

It ain't over till it's over. Many more races to come.

Onward,

Ed Cameron

P.S. A little John Stewart to put things in perspective:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/121479/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-mon-jan-18-2010

Comparisons: Scott Brown and Martha Coakley

Straight from their campaign websites, here are comparisons between the candidates for the US Senate seat. If you're thinking I selectively edited to make Brown look bad, I will say, "Okay, I am biased, of course, but the Brown website has one page on issues with little paragraphs explaining his stand on very complicated issues, while the Coakley website has in depth descriptions on these topics." Judge for yourself!

Sources: http://www.brownforussenate.com/issues and http://www.marthacoakley.com/about/Issues

	Brown	Coakley
Health Care	I believe that all Americans deserve health care coverage, but I am opposed to the health care legislation that is under consideration in Congress and will vote against it. It will raise taxes, increase government spending and lower the quality of care, especially for elders on Medicare. I support strengthening the existing private market system with policies that will drive down costs and make it easier for people to purchase affordable insurance. In Massachusetts, I support the 2006 healthcare law that was successful in expanding coverage, but I also recognize that the state must now turn its attention to controlling costs.	The American health care system is broken and the time to fix it is now. Martha supports comprehensive health care reform now because America cannot afford to wait. As Attorney General, Martha filed lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies and health insurers that drive up health care costs and achieved record recoveries in Medicaid fraud cases. Martha believes health care reform should build on the successes we’ve had in Massachusetts and focus on accomplishing three key goals: (1) expanding coverage; (2) improving quality; and (3) reducing costs.
Economy	I am a free enterprise advocate who believes that lower taxes can encourage economic growth. Raising taxes stifles growth, weakens the economy and puts more people out of work. Our economy works best when individuals have more of their income to spend, and businesses have money to invest and add jobs. I have been a fiscal watchdog in the state legislature fighting bigger government, higher taxes and wasteful spending.	Martha believes the best way to get our economy back on the right track is to tackle the economic crisis head on and to take all necessary steps to get people back to work. Americans continue to face the worst economic crisis in a generation. People are losing their homes, their jobs, their retirement, and many of those who have not, worry that they are next. A lifetime of savings have been ravaged by risky investments, unfair tactics, and market uncertainties. By making bold and wise investments in health care, energy and education; and restoring fiscal accountability to government spending, Martha believes we can get America working again.
Energy and Evnironment	I support common-sense environment policy that will help to reduce pollution and preserve our precious open spaces. I realize that without action now, future generations will be left to clean up the mess we leave. In order to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, I support reasonable and appropriate development of alternative energy sources such as wind, solar, nuclear, geothermal and improved hydroelectric facilities. I oppose a national cap and trade program because of the higher costs that families and businesses would incur.	Today, more than ever, America needs a comprehensive approach to lowering our energy costs, meeting our energy needs and protecting our environment. We need diverse, affordable and sustainable energy supplies that maximize the use of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. We also need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels for energy production and transportation. As Massachusetts Attorney General, I serve as the Ratepayer Advocate, working to protect consumers and keep energy prices down. I have worked to increase the use of energy efficiency and renewable energy. I partnered with the Patrick Administration, the business community, Environment Northeast and low income advocates to establish the most aggressive energy efficiency plans in the nation, which will invest more than $1 billion in low-cost efficiency over the next three years, saving consumers more than $4 billion. I also collaborated with the Union of Concerned Scientists, the Conservation Law Foundation and NSTAR on the Commonwealth’s first long-term renewable energy contracts and an option for NSTAR’s customers to purchase this green power. My office also reached a settlement with Western Massachusetts Electric Company to develop six megawatts of solar power. Throughout my tenure, I have also advocated for and obtained significant energy savings for consumers, while promoting long-term policies that will pave the way to a cleaner, more efficient, lower-cost energy future. In the process, I have saved Massachusetts ratepayers over $100 million and achieved other ratepayer protections. My office has been successful in opposing multiple rate increases by the natural gas, electric and transmission companies doing business in Massachusetts.
Education	I am passionate about improving the quality of our public schools. Accountability and high standards are paramount. I support choice through charter schools, as well as the MCAS exam as a graduation requirement. I have worked to ensure that all children have access to a quality education. I am a strong advocate for the METCO program, which provides lower income students with broader educational opportunities.	Martha believes that a quality, well-funded public education system is pivotal to ensuring a brighter future for our children and our country. The current economic crisis highlights the need for education reform that prepares students for the incredible challenges and unprecedented opportunities ahead. Martha is deeply committed to public education. As Senator, she will fight to improve teacher compensation, fund programs that connect students to innovative technologies and industries, and implement education reform that fosters and rewards innovation. Martha knows that funding for education at the federal and state levels is a long-term investment. In its current top-down, one-size-fits all form, No Child Left Behind (“NCLB”) has not lived up to its promises. However, with several reforms, NCLB has the potential to deliver the changes students deserve. As Senator, Martha will support legislation that directs federal funding to local governments to satisfy the requirements of NCLB. This way, municipal and regional school systems will have autonomy in directing funding and deciding what is best for their students.
Marriage	I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. States should be free to make their own laws in this area, so long as they reflect the people's will as expressed through them directly, or as expressed through their elected representatives.	Martha has stood as a national leader in defending same-sex couples and their right to marriage. Martha is the only Attorney General in the country to file a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act, which unfairly excludes married same-sex couples and their families from critically important rights and protections.
Abortion and Reproductive Rights	While this decision should ultimately be made by the woman in consultation with her doctor, I believe we need to reduce the number of abortions in America. I believe government has the responsibility to regulate in this area and I support parental consent and notification requirements and I oppose partial birth abortion. I also believe there are people of good will on both sides of the issue and we ought to work together to support and promote adoption as an alternative to abortion.	As Middlesex District Attorney and Attorney General, Martha successfully advocated for and defended legislation to create and expand buffer zones around reproductive health care facilities to ensure the safety of patients and staff members. Earlier this year, Martha filed a lawsuit challenging Bush Administration provider conscience regulations that jeopardized a woman’s ability to access reproductive health care from her doctor. Her office worked with the Obama administration, which then moved to rescind those regulations. In the Senate, Martha will be a leader who will always fight to ensure that women are able to access safe reproductive health care. She has been and will continue to be a steadfast champion of Roe v. Wade and its embodiment of fundamental liberty and privacy interests.
Israel	Israel has made enormous sacrifices in an attempt to secure peace – including unilateral withdrawal from Gaza. I support a two-state solution that reaffirms Israel’s right to exist and provides the Palestinians with a place of their own where both sides can live in peace and security. As our closest ally in the Middle East, Israel lives every day under the threat of terror yet shares with America a dedication to democratic ideals, a respect for faith, and a commitment to peace in the region. Until a lasting peace is achieved, I support the security barrier erected by Israel which has proven successful in protecting Israeli civilians from terrorist attacks.	Israel is one of our most important allies. Martha has traveled to Israel and has seen firsthand how important this democratic nation is in the region. In Washington, Martha will work to make sure Israel’s safety and security remain our priority. Martha supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Martha knows that a safe and secure Israel is part of the foundation of a stable Middle East, and thus America’s national security. In Washington, Martha will help continue the ongoing and gravely important work of developing a workable two-state solution so we all finally know peace in that region.

Photos: Martha Coakley in Newburyport

Click on Nancy Weinberg's blog to see photos of yesterday's rally....


http://nancysnewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2010/01/martha-coakley-rally-in-newburyport.html

Newburyport Coakley Activities

This is an extremely important Senate election, not just for Massachusetts but for the entire country. If you believe in reforming health care, moving the economy forward, standing up for civil rights while standing strong against terrorism, please do what you can to elect Martha Coakley.

You can help in a variety of ways:

First the fun event!

Martha Coakley In Newburyport

Saturday, January 16 at 3PM at Michael’s Harborside, One Tournament Wharf, Newburyport.

Phoning
We have phone banks scheduled for:

Saturday Noon-3PM

Newburyport

To be scheduled for this shift, contact Paula Grover at 508-527-0711 or pjgrover@comcast.net

Sunday, 10AM-5PM

Georgetown

To be scheduled for this shift, contact Paula Grover at 508-527-0711 or pjgrover@comcast.net

Monday (what a great way to honor MLK Day) 5:30PM-9PM

Newburyport

To be scheduled for this shift, contact Paula Grover at 508-527-0711 or pjgrover@comcast.net

Election Day, Tuesday 10AM-Polls Close

Newburyport

To be scheduled for this shift, contact Paula Grover at 508-527-0711 or pjgrover@comcast.net

Lawn Signs
You have a lawn or a snow bank which will support a sign. We have signs. Please contact Mary Anne Clancy at clancymac@comcast.net (or 978-465-5314).

Visibility

Saturday, January 16^th at 8AM-10AM at Three Corners, Newburyport (Atkinson Common). Dress warm and just show up. We’ll have signs.

Election Day Poll Visibility
Put on the long underwear. We'll need coverage morning and evening, and getting the poll numbers at 8PM. Please contact Ed Cameron to be scheduled at edcameronNBPT@gmail.com (or 978-518-0786).

Globe's Vennochi: Brown’s glossy veneer conceals misleading campaign

from http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2010/01/14/browns_glossy_veneer_conceals_misleading_campaign/

Brown’s glossy veneer conceals misleading campaign

By Joan Vennochi, Globe Columnist | January 14, 2010

MASSACHUSETTS VOTERS have a serious choice to make.

They can fall for the frisky, truck-driving guy in a TV commercial - and end up electing a US senator who blocks much of President Obama’s domestic agenda.

Appalled at arrogant Democrats, Wall Street bankers, and terrorists who sport attack underwear, voters can turn their anger into an excuse for replacing Ted Kennedy with a state senator who is running a clever, but ultimately dishonest campaign.

It is “the people’s seat’’ as Republican Scott Brown said during his debate with Democrat Martha Coakley. And for 47 years, the people of Massachusetts elected someone who stood for political principles that are the opposite of what Brown represents.

Strip away Brown’s pretty packaging - his Massachusetts National Guard combat fatigues, his “American Idol’’- contending daughter, his warm and fuzzy ads - and this is what you get.

He is allegedly for health care reform, except he doesn’t support the historic health care reform legislation that is on the brink of passage in Washington and was Kennedy’s life quest.

He supports Roe v. Wade, except that a prominent anti-abortion advocacy group backs him as a “pro-life vote in the Senate.’’

He dispatched his 21-year old daughter to attack Coakley for stating the truth: In 2005, Brown sponsored a legislative amendment that would have allowed medical personnel to deny emergency contraception to rape victims if it “conflicts with a sincerely held religious belief.’’ The amendment didn’t pass, but Brown owned it. It was attached to a bill that he ultimately voted for, which required emergency rooms to provide contraceptives to rape victims.

Recently, Brown told the Boston Herald that gay marriage “is settled law. People have moved on.’’ Not long ago, though, he wanted to put it up for a referendum.

Brown bristles at Coakley’s persistent efforts to tie him to the Bush-Cheney years. But, he supports Bush-Cheney policies, from taxes to torture.

And he’s willing to tap into that familiar Bush-Cheney fear factor, which paints Democrats as soft and weak “I have to be honest with you, folks. . . I’m scared of some of the policies I’ve heard,’’ he said during Monday night’s debate.

You want scary?

Brown’s a lawyer. But he uses the term “lawyered-up’’ as an insult, instead of what it is - a principle that makes America different from - and better than - the rest of the world. Under the Bush administration, Richard Reid, who tried to blow up a transatlantic flight with explosives planted in his shoe, was tried in a civilian court; he will, as Coakley repeatedly points out, spend the rest of his life in prison.

Brown is also a judge advocate general, sworn to uphold the Geneva Conventions, who insists water-boarding is not torture. With that strange argument, he clashes with John McCain, the GOP presidential nominee who endorsed him.

Brown and Obama agree on the need to send more troops to Afghanistan. Yet in his book, “True Compass,’’ Kennedy wrote that his proudest vote was the one he cast against the invasion of Iraq. Kennedy was a passionate Obama supporter, and no one can project what position he would embrace regarding Afghanistan. But it’s fair to conclude that on matters of war and peace, Kennedy would do what he always did: ask tough questions, as Coakley pledges to do.

Coakley has a record that should matter to voters. She cracked down on Wall Street. She won hundreds of millions of dollars for taxpayers by taking on Big Dig contractors. She prosecuted Neil Entwistle, who murdered his wife and baby, and ex-priest Paul Shanley for child molestation.

She has run a dull Senate campaign, and she doesn’t talk in quotable sound bites. But if voters are truly tired of “politics as usual,’’ why choose artifice over a candidate who isn’t trying to be anything but herself?

She represents change, too. Coakley would make history as the first female senator from Massachusetts.

Brown represents a different kind of change. He wants voters to forget what he stood for in the past and accept him for the positions he now embraces.

Believing him is a risky choice for Massachusetts.

Who is Scott Brown? A George W. Bush Republican

From Blue Mass Group:
http://bluemassgroup.com/diary/18306/who-is-scott-brown-a-george-w-bush-republican