GOP Rep Says ‘No’ To Pay Raise (UPDATED)

So far, one Beacon Hill pol has refused the pay increase recommended by Governor Deval Patrick–Rep. Karyn Polito (R-Shrewsbury).

One Republican lawmaker has already refused a pricey 5.5 percent pay increase for state legislators Gov. Deval Patrick recommended yesterday, saying the raise is a slap in the face to struggling families.

The hike would raise legislators’ base pay from $58,237 to $61,440, even as they consider slashing millions from the state budget.

“I cannot in good conscience accept a raise in legislative pay when there are so many families across the state who cannot afford to meet their household expenses,” said Rep. Karyn Polito (R-Shrewsbury) in a statement.

“I believe the $640,600 in additional pay for legislators could be better spent if it were devoted to offsetting toll increases, increasing local aid and paying for other services that would benefit the people we represent.”

It’s about time that state legislators feel the burden the way the rest of us real people do. When times are tight, most of us don’t see raises–heck, some of us are considered lucky if we got a Christmas bonus this year, while others are feeling the stress and burden of unemployment.

For us in the real world, pay increases come for a variety of reasons, most importantly: job performance. Can anyone in their right mind suggest that our state legislature deserves a pay raise due to excellent job performance? Yeah, I thought so–that would be a big fat “no.”

The Massachusetts Republican party also slammed lawmakers who are accepting the $3,200 raise.

“At a time when people are losing their jobs and just trying to figure out where their next paycheck is going to come from, what makes the DiMasi Democrats think that the legislature deserves a raise at all? This is an outrage and yet another example of why we desperately need new leadership on Beacon Hill,” said GOP spokesman Barney Keller.

Let’s hope many more legislators follow Rep. Polito’s lead.

UPDATE 6:24PM: More pols say “no thanks” to pay raise.

In addition to Polito (R-Shrewsbury), Sen. Steve Panagiotakos (D-Lowell), Rep. Garrett Bradley (D-Hingham), Rep. Jen Callahan (D-Sutton), Rep. Lew Evangelidis (R-Holden) are also refusing the raise. Minority Leader Brad Jones (R-North Reading), Rep. Vinney DeMacedo (R-Plymouth), Rep. Paul Frost (R-Auburn) and Rep. George Peterson (R-Grafton) said they will give the raise to charity.

Deval Patrick Thinks You Are Stupid

When Joe the Plumber asked Barack Obama a tough question, Barack Obama attacked Joe the Plumber.

The citizens of the Commonwealth are complaining about Pike toll increases, Bechtel Parsons getting a $30 million parking garage contract, the Turnpike Authority giving out raises, all this while Massachusetts is losing jobs and trying to impose a gas tax hike, and Deval Patrick is calling us cynics, and stupid.

Enough with the “cheap shots,” said Gov. Deval Patrick, complaining again about media coverage and blaming criticism of his proposals on “cynicism.”

Oh yeah? Enough with the whining, countered a couple of critics.

Patrick was at Suffolk University to mark the state’s No. 1 ranking in a national survey of economic competitiveness when he made his remarks.

“We are awash in cynicism in the commonwealth, but the cynical are not smart; they’re just pretending to be,” Patrick said. “The truth is, we’ve got big problems, and we better start thinking big about the solutions. Ideological purity from the left or the right, in times like these, is like trying to put a Band-Aid on a broken bone.”

He wouldn’t say who he was talking about. Some pols have criticized Patrick’s proposal to abolish the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, and other plans out of the Corner Office have been tossed back and forth on talk radio and in the opinion pages. GOP political consultant Holly Robichaud and state GOP party chair Barney Keller said Patrick has been his own worst enemy, citing unkept promises, such as lowering property taxes and adding 1,000 new cops.

Governor Patrick, GO SCREW! Who do you think you are calling stupid? Take a long, hard look in the mirror buddy, because staring back at you is the face of a man who will undoubtedly go down in Massachusetts history as the worst governor…ever. Go screw, Governor. We are tired of your broken promises.

If you are fed up with Deval Patrick and these cockamamie plans to jack up the Pike tolls while the Turnpike Authority is giving out raises, and Beacon Hill schemes to raise our taxes, think about attending the ‘Stop The Pike Hike’ Rally on December 3rd. For more information on the rally, visit stopthepikehike.org.

More on this story at Deval Patrick Watch.

UMass Chaplain Giving College Credit to Volunteer For Obama?

Is anyone surprised that there was an effort by a University of Massachusetts Amherst chaplain to offer college credits to students willing to help out Barack Obama? I’m not.

University of Massachusetts officials on Monday quashed efforts by an Amherst campus chaplain to offer two college credits to any student willing to campaign in New Hampshire this fall for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Chaplain Kent Higgins told students in a Sept. 18 e-mail, “If you’re scared about the prospects for this election, you’re not alone. The most important way to make a difference in the outcome is to activate yourself. It would be just fine with (Republican candidate John) McCain if Obama supporters just think about helping, then sleep in and stay home between now and Election Day.”

Higgins added that an unnamed “sponsor” in the university’s history department would offer a two-credit independent study for students willing to canvass — identify supporters — or volunteer on behalf of the Democratic nominee.

University officials disavowed the effort after inquiries Monday by The Associated Press. They said it could run afoul of state ethics laws banning on-the-job political activity, as well as university policy.

“We do not engage in or sponsor partisan political activity,” said Audrey Alstadt, chairwoman of the history department. “We certainly do not give academic credit for participation in partisan politics.”

UMass-Amherst spokesman Ed Blaguszewski said Higgins had previously arranged history department credit for students working on disaster relief efforts or other humanitarian ventures, and had raised the idea of similarly rewarding students who got involved in the political process during the 2008 election.

Blaguszewski said university officials had envisioned that the efforts would involve nonpartisan work such as get-out-the vote campaigns, but changed their minds about the proposal when they saw a portion of Higgins’ e-mail.

Of course, after the fact, Higgins said he didn’t intend for it to be just volunteers for Obama.

Higgins said he never intended for the program to be limited to supporters of Obama. Regardless of the opinions expressed in his e-mail, he said he would also have been open to those students who wanted to canvass for McCain.

“The idea was there just to see if we could help with folks who want to be active with any of the campaigns in New Hampshire,” he said during an interview with the AP. “We have to be bipartisan, multilateral.”

That’s some serious backpedaling isn’t it? The text of his email is pretty clear; what he means to say now is that he regrets he got caught. Higgins won’t release the name of the unnamed history department sponsor, which, if this was meant to be a bipartisan/multilateral effort, there should be no shame in revealing the sponsor.

The Massachusetts Republican Party is disappointed “but frankly not surprised, that the liberal academic elite have once again decided to promote one candidate over another. Our tax dollars pay their salaries so they can teach our children how to make up their own minds, not to advance a partisan political agenda,” said GOP spokesman Barney Keller.

Chaplain Higgins should reveal the name of the sponsor, or lose his job. I certainly don’t believe for one second that his intentions included volunteers for McCain, and that kind of blatant disregard for school policy and not-so-subtle interjecting of politics into the academic arena should not go unpunished. It should be important for the University to know who was going to sponsor this charade, but it could have been almost anyone in the history department–this is UMass, after all.

Plain and simple: reveal the sponsor, or lose his job. Students have a right to be educated, not indoctrinated–especially when taxpayer dollars help pay for their education.

Olver Goes Double-Dipping

U.S. Representative John Olver (D-Amherst) has it made. He collects a nice congressional salary and he’s collecting a modest state pension. Life is good for Rep. Olver.

In these days of government penny-pinching, nonstop override requests and an overall sagging economy, nothing really angers the masses like a good, old-fashioned double-dipping hack.

And it turns out that a member of the Bay State congressional delegation is doing exactly that.

Not only is U.S. Rep. John Olver (D-Amherst) raking in a $165,000-a-year salary in Congress, he also takes home a $27,000 annual state pension, records show.

Olver, who has been in Congress since 1991, is a former state representative and senator who served 22 years on Beacon Hill. Before that he was a chemistry professor at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. His wife, Rose, is a professor at Amherst College.

State GOP spokesman Barney Keller said of Olver: “It’s fine if Congressman Olver wants to Double-Dip with a waffle cone, but it shouldn’t be O.K. for him to do it with taxpayer dollars.”

Olver, 72, did not return calls.

Nathan Bech, candidate for Congress running against Olver, said “if Olver wants to collect his pension, he should at least have the common decency to retire.”

From now, just take one dip and end it.

True Hollywood Story: Deval Patrick

Governor Deval Patrick is going to Hollywood. Despite his experience with speech writing, he’s not vying for a writing job. The State House News Service has the story.

Patrick administration officials are planning a visit to Hollywood next week when they travel to San Diego for a biotechnology convention, according to sources with direct knowledge of the schedule, though aides to the governor declined to discuss the side trip.

A visit to the silver-screen capital during the largely taxpayer-funded trip would likely afford Gov. Deval Patrick and other officials the chance to highlight the state’s efforts to lure film industry incentives to Massachusetts. It was unclear late Monday how large the traveling contingent would be, or where in the city it would visit.

While Patrick aides refused to release information the Hollywood trip, sources said the governor and other officials were scheduled to meet with studio executives Thursday, the final day of the convention. Patrick aides have also remained tight-lipped about whether Patrick will travel to Chicago for a political event with Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and other governors.

Officials have been guarded about discussing details of the West Coast swing, saying the list of attendees has not been finalized yet. At the international biotech convention, they are hoping to draw attention to the 10-year, $1 billion life sciences proposal the Legislature appears likely to pass this week.

Patrick aides said they would discuss the details of the trip this week.

That should give them plenty of time to figure out what is the most palatable story to tell the taxpayers. “Sounds like Governor Patrick is ready for his close-up. Is he heading to Hollywood on state business or to option his book for a movie?” asked Barney Keller, Communications Director of the Massachusetts Republican Party. “The taxpayers have a right to know.”