Beer Diplomacy

A date and time has been set for the infamous beer date between Cambridge police Sgt. James Crowley, President Obama and Harvard Professor Henry Gates.

The most-anticipated beer of the Obama Administration is set to take place on Thursday at 6 p.m., a White House official told the Herald.

On Friday, President Obama announced the peace draft to be shared with Cambridge police Sgt. James Crowley and Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. to discuss the scholar’s controversial arrest on July 16.

Crowley and Gates have agreed to the suds session. Obama extended the invitation in an effort to make peace between the two after the arrest flared a national debate about racial profiling.

Obama escalated the controversy during a prime-time news conference last week in which he said Cambridge cops “acted stupidly” by arresting his friend, Gates, in his own home.

The president later said he did not intend to malign Crowley or the Cambridge police by his comments.

And what happens to be the most interesting part of this beer date? What would you think it is?–it’s the beer choices, of course.

Cambridge, Mass., Police Sgt. James Crowley requested Blue Moon as his beer of choice at the upcoming meeting with President Barack Obama and Harvard Professor Henry Gates, according to the Wall Street Journal.
[...]

Gates is expected to drink a Beck’s or a Red Stripe at the gathering, while Obama is likely to have a Budweiser, according to a transcript from Monday’s White House press briefing.

It’s so good to know what the important issues of the day are, and what important issues have to take the time of a sitting president. But heck, let’s run with it.

In all honesty, I’d prefer Obama stay as far away from this story as possible. His involvement turned a local story into a national hoopla that has, without a doubt, set back race relations in this country. Are we to expect an early evening beer is going to solve everything?

Who’s next to be invited to the White House for some beer diplomacy?

This shameful attempt to make Obama appear like an everyday man is just laughable. Even with your cliché tongue-in-cheek comment that any time he’s not spending screwing around with health care or the economy is time well spent, I strongly suspect he could be doing other things, particularly considering the gravity of the items that will be sitting Oval Office desk unperturbed while the President kicks back a lousy Bud.

We might as well milk the discussion for all it’s worth… if it was you who got to sit with the president (one of your liking), what would you pick for your brew?

To me, this is an easy question. Despite the wonderful selection of imported beers from all over the world that are available, for a White House meeting it’s time for a Samuel Adams Boston Lager, in a Samuel Adams Boston Lager glass.

Everybody Hurts–But Some Less Than Others

Five non-profit executives came out in support of the gas tax hike.

Why? The Boston Herald has an idea…. Five of those executives earn six-figure salaries.

Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, supports the drive to hike the gas tax even higher than Gov. Deval Patrick’s 19-cents-a-gallon proposal. Widmer rakes in $375,000 a year in salary, $19,000 in benefits and deferred compensation and was paid $2,837 for expenses, according to 2007 IRS filings. Widmer said his compensation includes a car allowance and reimbursement for fuel expenses.

“I understand these are very difficult times for people and I respect that,” Widmer said. “But the commonwealth has this huge problem where we have two agencies heading to bankruptcy – the (Massachusetts Turnpike Authoritiy) and the MBTA. We’ve been warning for years now that we’re sacrificing the transportation network around this state because we’re not investing enough in it.”

Joining Widmer’s call for the 25-cents gas-tax increase are:

Alan MacDonald, executive director of Massachusetts Business Roundtable Inc., who earns $317,000 plus $76,000 in benefits and expenses, which include a company car;

David Begelfer, chief executive officer of the National Association for Industrial & Office Properties Inc., who earns $426,000 plus $50,000 in benefits and other compensation, including a company car;

Paul Guzzi, president of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, who earns a $331,000 salary plus expenses and other benefits, bringing his total compensation to $429,600; and

Richard Dimino, president of A Better City Inc., who earns $335,200.

It’s safe to say that for these executives, some of whom enjoy company cars and gas reimbursement, don’t quite understand what a 19 cents (or perhaps 25 cents) per gallon gas tax increase will feel like.

Begelfer said he didn’t factor his personal compensation into his decision to back doubling the gas tax.

“This is not just the top CEOs making this determination who could care less,” Begelfer said. “We have a fiduciary responsibility to our members and to the commonwealth. We need to do whatever we can right now to encourage the economy to turn.”

Guzzi, who does not have a company vehicle, defended the proposed hike, saying, “Our system is broken. To fix it, we need to step up to the plate. We need major reforms – painful but necessary. We need new revenue – painful but necessary.”

Yes, we need reform–but new revenue in the form of tax cuts? There is this saying that a penny saved is a penny earned. It’s time we cut spending and turns those saved pennies into earned pennies.

Massachusetts Starbucks Closing List

Well, it looks like seven Massachusetts Starbucks locations are getting axed:

Seven Massachusetts Starbucks stores are are among the 600 stores nationwide slated to close. Those stores are located on the Middlesex Turnpike in Burlington, the Dartmouth Mall in Dartmouth, 70 Union St. in Newton Centre; Emerald Square Mall in North Attleborough; Five Post Office Square in Sharon; 425 Washington St. in Stoughton; and Shrewsbury Market Place in Worcester.

This is really sad, the Starbucks on Union Street in Newton Centre was the first Starbucks I ever went to. It is inside an historic train station on the Green Line. This is a tragedy, especially when there’s a Starbucks down the road on Centre Street (which used to be a Seattle’s Best Coffee) which could have gotten the axe instead. The Union Street Starbucks is a gorgeous location, and most certainly benefits by being right off the T. What are those numbskulls in Seattle thinking??

Tragic.

City Hall To Central Wharf?

State Sen. Jack Hart is suggesting a plan to relocate Boston City Hall to Central Wharf, thus displacing the New England Aquarium in favor of another brand new facility in South Boston.

A dramatic land swap giving Boston a new aquarium, moving City Hall to the waterfront and opening up a prime downtown development site is being pitched by a leading South Boston pol as a “win-win” Hub makeover.

Under the bold plan detailed to the Herald by state Sen. Jack Hart, a new City Hall would be built on the current aquarium site on Central Wharf. The four-decade-old aquarium would relocate to a new facility on the Southie waterfront. City Hall Plaza would then become Boston’s hottest property open for development.

“The City Hall downtown is abysmal and it’s prime real estate. And (the aquarium) needs a completely new building,” said Hart, a key figure in the recent transformation of the South Boston waterfront. “It’s an opportunity to build two state-of-the-art facilities. It can be a win-win all around.”

Win-win for who? Menino and his successors gets a new view from their office–big deal. Why should Boston taxpayers and Massachusetts taxpayers foot the bill to replace two buildings that don’t need to be replaced? Particularly, in this time where everyone is doing what they can to save pennies, how does paying for the design, demolition, and construction of two state-of-the-art facilities help us save money? There should be no talks of billion dollar spending ideas. I want to hear how this state is going to save money.

It makes little sense to relocate the aquarium to a less advantageous location so that City Hall can relocate. Can you imagine how many more parking tickets will be unfairly handed out to help cover the costs of this relocation idea?

Yes, Boston City Hall is a grotesquely ugly building–but we shouldn’t be talking about replacing it when times are tight for all of us. We shouldn’t even entertain the idea of relocating the Aquarium, which has enjoyed success in part due to its location. Don’t mess with something that isn’t broken. Fix what is inside City Hall first before you knock down the building, will ya?

Menino Wants New 1000ft Skyscraper

Perhaps in an effort to improve the dreaded Boston skyline, Mayor Tom Menino unveiled a new proposal for a new centerpiece skyscraper. The new skyscraper would rise 6-stories higher than the current tallest city skyscraper, the Hancock Tower.

Menino, in a speech to business leaders, called for “bold” proposals from developers for what could be the tallest tower ever built in Boston. To make his point, Menino flashed a rendering of the city’s skyline with a dramatic new tower sketched in, dead center.

If built, such a tower would rise, according to one estimate, 1,000 feet – beating by six stories the 60-story Hancock Tower.

“They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I’d say this one is worth a million,” Menino said. “Here, we will be looking for proposals that symbolize the full scope of this city’s greatness.”

Meanwhile, Boston travel and sports team magnate Steve Belkin stands at the head of the line of would-be developers interested in building a tower where a city parking garage now stands in Winthrop Square.

Belkin, head of the Transnational Group travel empire and outgoing owner of the Atlanta Hawks, owns an abutting office midrise.

Moreover, Belkin has long talked of building a tower at the site, having come up years ago with a “grand scheme” that would have at least equaled the height of nearby Financial District towers, one executive familar with the plan noted.

“I am very much looking forward to . . . working diligently with Mayor Menino to help this incredible vision become a reality,” Belkin said in a statement.

While the Boston skyline needs some serious adjustment, and the addition of a new skyscraper would help, it is only one step of many required to make the Boston skyline rival those of other big cities. While cities like New York are filled with architectural gems, Boston is notorious for lacking the masterworks common in other thriving metropolises.

One skyscraper is not enough.