Scott Brown: Fighting For Massachusetts

The Boston Globe has published story critical of Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) and his assertion that proposed financial overhaul bill would result in lost jobs in Massachusetts.

Senator Scott Brown’s use of as-yet-unsubstantiated industry estimates to predict the number of jobs that would be lost to greater financial regulation drew fire yesterday as partisan debate continued to heat up in the US Senate.

Brown said yesterday that his weekend prediction on national TV Sunday that tightening Wall Street rules would kill 25,000 to 35,000 jobs in Massachusetts was “based on my speaking with industry leaders’’ in recent weeks, but he did not cite any specific analysis.

That varied from an explanation offered by his representatives on Sunday, when his office said Brown was given the estimate by the chief executive of MassMutual, a large insurance company headquartered in Springfield.

MassMutual officials said Sunday, and again yesterday, that they did not give Brown any firm estimates of projected job losses in the Bay State.

The company said it warned of unspecified job losses in the future and provided him with estimates — dramatically inflated estimates, the company acknowledged yesterday — of jobs lost thus far in the current recession.

I’m not what the problem is. Estimates are exactly that: estimates. Based on information Senator Brown has, he gave an estimate of the number of lost jobs and has brought that issue to the forefront. Forget about the specific number of jobs lost…the real point is:  jobs will be lost.

The idea that the financial overhaul bill would cost jobs has not, until Brown’s weekend assertion, been part of the debate in Washington.

“No one has argued to us this is going to be cutting jobs as an overall in the economy,’’ said Representative Barney Frank, a Newton Democrat and chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, who authored the House version of the financial overhaul. “I have no idea where that figure came from. I don’t think anybody does. It may have just been spewed out by the Icelandic volcano with some of the other debris.’’

If Brown’s estimate on “Face the Nation’’ were true, the measure would eliminate up to 17 percent of the 207,000 jobs in the Bay State’s financial services sector.

“I stand by them,’’ Brown said in a brief interview yesterday in which he defended the remark. “And there will be larger numbers nationally.’’

Pressed to describe the source of his estimate, Brown said the figure was “based on my speaking with the industry leaders over the last month or so.’’

Brown aides last night also cited a study by the Business Roundtable — which largely opposes the current bill — estimating that a crackdown on a financial tool called over-the-counter derivatives would cause companies to be less profitable, resulting in 100,000 to 120,000 direct and indirect job cuts nationwide. The industry group did not provide any Massachusetts-specific figures.

Although MassMutual’s initial calculation put the number of financial sector jobs lost to date at 33,000, data compiled by the state’s Department of Labor and Workforce show there have been 18,700 jobs lost in all financial activities — including finance, insurance, and real estate — over the last three years.

There were 225,700 jobs in those categories in March 2007, and 207,000 as of last month.

The Boston Globe’s story is completely missing the point. As it stands today, this financial overhaul bill is will subject Massachusetts companies that didn’t take TARP funds, or contribute to financial meltdown, with huge fees and burdensome regulations, and will certainly cost the Commonwealth jobs. That is what Senator Scott Brown was saying on Sunday. Whether is 2,000 or 20,000, jobs lost in the Commonwealth is an end result we sent Scott Brown to Washington to prevent from happening. Thanks to him, now it’s being discussed.

Scott Brown is in Washington standing up for the interests Massachusetts. This bill, as currently written, would negatively impact the more than 200,000 Massachusetts employees. The financial services industry is important to the Massachusetts economy; and Scott Brown is fighting to keep those jobs. What more could we ask for?

Thank you, Senator Scott Brown, for doing exactly what we sent you to Washington to do.

Governor Patrick Proposes New Hack Job

Deval Patrick wants to create a job…unfortunately, it’s one that is not at all needed, and is only open to current hacks.

Gov. Deval Patrick – who just days ago insisted his plan to install electronic tolling on the Pike was preliminary – has hit the gas on the proposal and is conducting an under-the-radar search for a big wheel to steer the high-speed drive-through system.

The new internal position – posted two days ago – is open only to state employees and could pay up to $102,000 a year to implement “the planning, design, and construction of the future electronic toll system for (the Massachusetts Department of Transportation),” according to a job posting obtained by the Herald.

“I’m sure they already have somebody in mind,” said House Minority Leader Bradley Jones (R-North Reading), who was surprised how quickly Patrick’s election-year push was fast-tracked. “It’s just consistent with him saying one thing and doing another.”

Isn’t there someone already on the payroll of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation who, as part of their regular stated duties, could do exactly what this job entails at no additional cost to the taxpayers?

The new “deputy director of statewide tolling” would study several electronic systems that would get rid of toll plazas and install sensors to toll motorists as they drive at highway speeds. They’ll also explore other changes such as getting rid of the paper tickets used on the Pike.

“This is an internal job search that will identify existing talent to help the Highway Division explore efficiencies in tolling that would make things easier for drivers and more cost-effective for MassDOT,” Durrant said.

The job description, however, said the employee will “transition . . . existing toll collection operations to Open Road Tolling or All Electronic Tolling.”

The tolling deputy director would also assess installation costs, savings from axing toll takers, and traffic improvements, according to the job posting.

The position would “appropriate outreach and communication effort for the project, designed to ensure awareness and understanding of (electronic tolling) for customers, media, elected officials, and key stakeholders.”

Are we to believe that once a “Toll Czar” position is filled, said “Toll Czar” won’t need a staff of underlings to do the work of the “Toll Czar” in his or her stead? I believe it’s safe to say that this is not merely a $102,000/year commitment to the taxpayers; expect a full staff of people to handle the job that should be the responsibility of the current staff of the Department of Transportation.

Side note: does the Commonwealth know how to create jobs that are under $100,000/year?

The Maine Reason

Last week, Maine became the 31st state to reject a referendum that would have legalized gay marriage.

With 87 percent of precincts reporting, gay-marriage foes had 53 percent of the vote in a referendum that asked Maine voters whether they wanted to repeal a law allowing same-sex marriage that had passed the Legislature and was signed by Democratic Gov. John Baldacci.

“The institution of marriage has been preserved in Maine and across the nation,” said Frank Schubert, the chief organizer for Stand for Marriage Maine, which lobbied for the repeal.

For the gay rights movement, which has gained a foothold in New England, it was a stinging defeat. Gay marriage has now lost in every state — 31 in all — in which it has been put to a popular vote. Gay-rights activists had hoped to buck that trend in Maine, framing same-sex marriage as a matter of equality for all families in a campaign that used 8,000 volunteers to get out the message.

Five states have legalized gay marriage — Iowa, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Connecticut — but all did so through legislation or court rulings, not by popular vote.

Portland resident Sarah Holman said she was torn, but decided — despite her conservative upbringing — to vote in favor of letting gays marry.

“They love and they have the right to love. And we can’t tell somebody how to love,” said Holman, 26.

Hold on a minute here…let’s get the record straight. This vote did not outlaw homosexuality, it only outlawed gay marriage. They are still free to love to each other.

While the gay marriage opponents claimed victory, Jesse Connolly, campaign manager for No on 1/Protect Maine Equality, held off conceding until early Wednesday, when he issued a statement vowing to continue to press the issue.

The fight for marriage equality will continue, he told supporters at the Holiday Inn ballroom, where a buffet table included a three-tiered wedding cake — with two grooms standing side by side, two brides standing side by side and the inscription: “We all do!”

And this is why you will never, ever, ever see gay marriage be voted on by the people, and not ushered in by a small handful of judges. The pro-gay marriage movement knows that gay marriage will not survive a vote by the people…and they will stop at nothing to keep you from voting on it.

But hey, if you want to keep electing people that choose to effectively put duct tape over your mouths, by all means…

Boston City Hall: Productivity FAIL

So much for productivity in the workplace….employees of the City of Boston are being paid with tax dollars to go on Facebook, Twitter and admittedly, do nothing.

Bored Boston government workers are goofing off on Facebook and other popular social networking sites on taxpayer time, boasting of napping during meetings, playing “Mafia Wars,” creating anagrams of their names and planning Halloween costumes.

The poster girl for the on-the-clock cyber-slacking is Amy Derjue, who earns $39,000 a year as Boston City Council President Michael Ross’ communications director.

The former Boston magazine blogger regularly updates her personal status on Facebook and Twitter throughout the work day, brazenly joking to her online pals about snoozing at a hearing, writing snarky comments about the reality TV show “Jon & Kate Plus 8,” opining on an article about Boston being one of the best cities to meet guys and babbling about her Halloween wig.

“Amy Derjue is going to sit in the Council meeting and nap,” she wrote on Facebook at 11:49 a.m. last Wednesday. The next day, she spent the morning complaining about her chilly City Hall cubicle on Twitter. “Somebody bring me a hot coffee and fluffy sweater, please,” she wrote at 9:32 a.m.

Another workday posting was a link to a cartoon “menstrual flow chart,” to which she commented, “Look at the uterus. It is so cute.” And she was apparently eager to punch out that day, writing at 4:40 p.m.: “20 minutes and I am OUT. Gone. No longer present. Do not contact unless you want to drink, shop, or watch sporting events.”

Really? Must be nice to be communications director at Boston City Hall…goof off all day, and leave early.

Ross said one of the reasons he hired Derjue was to “broaden” his social networking and develop a personality for his office.

“I like what Amy’s doing,” said Ross, adding he encourages Derjue to use Facebook and Twitter to spread his message to constituents. “It’s not so that she’s fritting away her time. . . . She doesn’t have time to waste.”

It think Mr. Ross has a bit of disconnect here. Do you want constituents to know that their tax dollars are being wasted on employees like Ms. Derjue to leave work and go shopping or hit the bars? I certainly wouldn’t. If you want her to use Facebook and Twitter, and other social networking sites to connect with constituents, then Facebook status updates and Twitter tweets would perhaps look like, “City Council President Michael Ross is in a meeting,” or “Boston City Council wishes you a Happy Thanksgiving,” or “We launched our official iPhone app, Citizen Connect,” not links to xkcd, failblog, Texts From Last Night or Graph Jam (to name a few).

In an economic climate that has resulted in fewer services and higher taxes, how can you justify this poor use of tax dollars? You can’t.

This kind of behavior would be completely unacceptable in the private sector, and would be grounds for being dismissed.

Remembering 9/11

On this eighth Anniversary of the 9/11, our thoughts and prayers are still with the victims and their families. Of the three thousand people who lost their lives, over 200 people had ties to Massachusetts. The following is that list: (more…)