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Massachusetts Politics

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Lt. Gov. Tim Murray to Resign

CBS Boston reports Murray has a new job lined up already.

UPDATE, 12:15 p.m.: The Massachusetts Republican Party was quick to jump on the reports about Murray's resignation, saying Murray is trying "to outrun the scandal that dogs him" in a statement on their website. MassGOP attempted to liken Murray's exit to that of former House Speaker Thomas Finneran, who was convicted of obstruction of justice in 2007. “History doesn’t always repeat itself, but in this case it looks like Tim Murray is following the same path as a previous, disgraced Democratic official,” said Nate Little MassGOP Executive Director in the scathing statement. “Only time will tell if Murray follows the Finneran playbook to the end, complete with indictment and guilty plea.” UPDATE, 10:45 a.m.: Boston.com has updated their …

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Senate OKs $200M Withdrawal From Rainy-Day Fund

Part of the money will also be used to help employers pay for a rise in unemployment insurance rates.

  The state senate voted  Feb. 12 to spend $200 million in rainy day cash to balance the budget and freeze the unemployment insurance rates businesses pay, according to The Republican. The bill is part of an effort to close a projected $515 million shortfall in this fiscal year's $32 billion budget, caused by lower-than-expected tax revenue.  The reserve fund money will also be used to help employers avoid a projected 28 percent increase in unemployment insurance – knocking that rise down to 4.4 percent. About $30 million of the $200 million withdrawal will be used to pay costs incurred in the state drug-lab scandal, The Republican reported.  The spending would still leave Massachusetts with $1.2 billion in reserves, which is more than …

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Tarr, Winslow Considering Runs for U.S. Senate

Money will play a key role in race that’s right around the corner.

Republicans continue to come forward exploring the possibility of running for the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by the appointment of John Kerry to Secretary of State, but so far only one has officially announced a run. With just 21 days until nomination papers have to be filed, two more Republicans announced on Tuesday that they were exploring their options – State Rep. Dan Winslow (R-Norfolk) and Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester). Also in the mix: Former Nantucket selectman and county commissioner Douglas Bennett says he’s making a bid for the seat. And according to the Boston Globe, former Navy Seal Gabriel Gomez, of Cohassett is considering a run. Several Republicans have already been down this path in the past week and …

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Patrick Names 'Mo' Cowan Interim Senator

Markey is in, Lynch set to make an announcement Thursday and Brown reportedly considering throwing his hat into the race following Tuesday’s nomination of John Kerry as Secretary of State.

With Tuesday's official nomination of U.S. Senator John Kerry to the post of Secretary of State, the field is opening up with folks vying for Kerry's seat in his unexpired term in the U.S. Senate. But before that even happens an interim senator has to be named. On Wednesday, Governor Deval Patrick announced his former chief of staff William “Mo” Cowan will be the interim senator and will serve until a new senator is elected in the June 25 special election. Patch reported in December that Cowan, a Stoughton resident, would be stepping down this month and returning to the private sector. Besides being Patrick’s former chief of staff, Cowan also served as chief legal counsel to Governor Patrick, having served in the Patrick-Murray …

Monday, January 7, 2013

Warren Sworn Into Senate

In an interview with Fox 25 news after her Thursday morning swearing-in ceremony, Warren told reporters she'd "work her tail off" in Washington.

  Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, who was sworn in to office on Thursday, told reporters she plans to "work her tail off" and will work with "anyone who will fight for America's families" in Washington D.C. "I am honored to have the opportunity to serve as your Senator, and I'll never stop fighting for you," she said via Twitter on Thursday morning after she sworn in by Vice President Joe Biden in Washington D.C. Warren told reporters she was "delighted" by her committee assignments.  "I'm going to be on the Banking Committee which is something I really wanted to do," Warren told Fox25, "And I'm going to be on the HELP Committee which means we deal with health, education, labor, pensions…really the economics of working families." …

William Dawes

7:42 am on Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Warren will be our first Native American Senator from Massachusetts. This is an historic first. When she looks back on the history of her people, and how the government of the United States treated them and violated every treaty they signed, she may come out as a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. As a Native American, her family must have stories and lore about how her ancestors fought …   more ›

Friday, January 4, 2013

Massachusetts Legislators To Receive Pay Cut

A drop in the state's median household income led to the salary reduction.

  Massachusetts lawmakers will get a pay cut this year, in accordance with a state law that links legislators’ salaries to the state’s median household income. Governor Deval Patrick’s office announced the drop in wages this week. “As required by Article CXVIII of the Amendments to the Constitution, for the purpose of adjusting the base compensation of members of the General Court, we have ascertained, from the federal census American Community Survey and reports of average weekly wages, that the median household income for the Commonwealth for the preceding two-year period decreased by 1.8 percent,” Patrick said in a Jan. 2 letter to State Treasurer Steven Grossman. The pay cut amounts to about $1,000 annually from legislators’ current …

Friday, December 21, 2012

Obama to Pick Kerry as Sec. of State Nominee

The Massachusetts senator reportedly will be the pick to replace Hillary Clinton as the country's top diplomat.

  John Kerry will be President Obama's pick to become the next Secretary of State, and replace Hillary Clinton as the nation's top diplomat. The New York Times, among others, reports that the Massachusetts senator and former Democratic presidential nominee will be the selection for the post.  Many expected Kerry to be the president's pick after U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice took her name out of the running last week. Rice had been under scrutiny by Republicans in Congress for statements she made in the aftermath of the attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya.

Friday, December 14, 2012

Susan Rice Out. John Kerry In?

Pres. Obama's candidate for Secretary of State has withdrawn her bid to be top diplomat. Does that mean Mass. Sen. John Kerry is next up for consideration?

  President Obama said today that U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice had withdrawn from consideration to be the next Secretary of State, saying conservative opposition would make her candidacy too "disruptive." With Rice out of the picture, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry is seen by many to be the frontrunner to replace current top diplomat Hillary Clinton. On Huffington Post and elsewhere, there has been speculation that the reason for such fierce opposition to Rice was to get Kerry into the Obama Administration and get back the U.S. Senate seat recently lost by Republican Sen. Scott Brown to his successful Democratic rival, Elizabeth Warren. We asked last month about who you think should run for the Senate seat, if, in fact, Kerry is …

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