Fox News viewers will not know this

No news is ...well, Fox News
and ...
Link 2

$12 billion


Try #3, Have tax cuts helped the economy grow?
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Too far?

At what point do Democrats say enough is enough? I say, let the government run out of funds, let tax rates return to Clinton era levels. Go home and let Boehner and McConnell figure it out next year.
And yes, the unemployment insurance will run out for millions. Our military will continue to kick out highly qualified personnel for no good reason. Young Americans with undocumented parents will continue to live in the shadows. Emergency workers will not be provided with health care.
Merry Christmas from the GOP!

Our corporate media will tell us it is all the fault of poor people and liberals.
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Mass Budget has new fact sheets

The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center has a new video on the Chapter 70 funding formula at this link.
Another new fact sheet examines the Massachusetts state income tax The Income Tax
Finally, their paper on why taxes and spending are often compared based on their percentage to overall earned income is found at this link.
The Massachusett state budget is likely to be ...

... $1.5 billion dollars in the red for the next fiscal year. The shortfall will undoubtedly result in lower aid to municipalities and school districts. Mass Budget has a tool, the Budget Browser, which can be used to explore the effects of the cuts as the budget proceeds from the Governor through the legislature. The tool has information on the years 2000 until today. The fiscal year 2012 budget which begins on July 1, 2011 has not yet been submitted by the Governor Click here to read on!

Massachusetts health care coverage leads the nation

Blue Mass group has a post on the high rate of medical insurance coverage in our Commonwealth. As Charley on the MTA notes this is a success story on a human level. Our state's health reform includes a personal mandate which may now be called into question with a recent ruling by a Virginia federal judge.
Individual mandates are needed in a system, such as the one enacted nationally and in our state, for a very simple reason. If individuals choose not to participate ...
...and then are sick or injured and cannot pay for their care, someone is going to foot the bill. That someone is everyone else who uses the health care system. If the argument is for freedom to not buy health insurance, then you must also assume the responsibility to pay for your own care. Given the enormous cost of even relatively routine procedures like a heart bypass, all but the wealthiest people are going to be unable to pay unless insured. Does your freedom from having to buy insurance, also carry the consequence that you will not receive care if you are sick or injured? I do not think many would support that position.
What are your thoughts? Tell us in comments. Click here to read on!

Senator Brown votes against repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Senator Brown voted against cloture on the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy today in the Senate. The measure needed 60 votes to close debate and bring it to the floor. The tally was 57-40. TPM blog has the story here
This vote raises a serious question ...

... I think must be addressed soon. Why does it take a super majority of the Senate to get anything done. I understand the filibuster rule but shouldn't a majority be enough. This bill passed the House and had 57 Senators vote for it.
The tax bill passed the House last week and 53 Senators voted for it. That bill extended tax cuts on all income up to $250,000. Despite having a majority of both houses of Congress vote for them, neither of these two bills are law. That is not the way it should work.
What do you think? Tell us in comments.. Click here to read on!

Sec of State looks to increase foreclosure protection

The Taunton Daily Gazette reports here that Secretary of State William Galvin will file legislation to require banks to go before a judge in order to foreclose. Massachusetts does not require court review on a foreclosure proceeding.
There have been a lot of questionable practices on the foreclosure process around the country. Yves Smith over at Naked Capitalism blog has some great posts about the abuses and why they are important. This post is a good start. Select "real estate" in topics on her blog and read a few posts. Don't think that fraud and sloppiness in foreclosures is a problem. Someone did not pay their mortgage, right?
It gets a lot messier than that. Like the securities sold by the banks ...
...which were not properly constituted and the banks have to buy them back or a foreclosed home is sold twice.
Yep, two different buyers both paid for the same place. How does that happen? Could it happen to you? Maybe, and that is a big problem for our economy. Click here to read on!

Probation Department civil service bill in the works

Charlie on the MTA over at Blue Mass Group says State House Speaker DeLeo will file a bill to place the Probation Department ...

.. under civil service. Sounds like the right move to me.
What do you think? Click here to read on!

Unemployment insurance, tax cuts and recovery

This post at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities talks about the effects that unemployment insurance and tax cuts have on the recovery and the long term deficit. The finding was that extending unemployment insurance ...
... and tax cuts targeted at low income taxpayers cost less and create more stimulus than extending tax cuts to the wealthiest 2% of taxpayers.
What do you think? Click here to read on!

Dr. Russell and School Committee at loggerheads

The Standard Times reports that the School Committee and Superintendent are unable to come to terms on a new contract in this article. The sticking point, according to the second hand information of which I am aware, is compensation.
Mr. Lenz is quoted in the article saying the school department is funded at the minimum required level. That is not correct. Dartmouth schools are funded above the minimum required. Also, Town Meeting has provided hundreds of thousands for texts and technology above the budget. The Select Board has included $91K and $47K in the budget in addition to get the School Committee not to charge fees for high school transportation and activities. There is no question that the schools are funded at above the minimum required.
This leadership change also may be an opportunity to make some changes in the way that the school and town interact. The school business administrator is retiring this year as well. I would like to see the school business functions integrated into the town and the town's personnel functions integrated with the schools. The schools and town run separate and redundant purchasing and accounting functions. The town's personnel functions are not good and the schools, who have many more employees, do a better job. Combining these functions could save expense and give better services. The Town of Barnstable has successfully gone to this arrangement.
Another area that might be ripe for integration is custodial services. The school department has a much larger and more capable staff than the town does. The school department has licensed plumbers and electricians on their staff while the town does not. Town departments frequently have one or two employees which provide these services but are paid out of each departments budget. There may be opportunities for savings and efficiency there,
Finally, this might be a good time to look at regionalizing our schools. The obvious candidate for a regional partner is Westport. Combining our districts would save administration and transportation costs.
What do you think? Are any of these worth pursuing?

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We Are In DEEP Trouble

The Labor Department reports that the labor market remained weak last month. Nationwide 39,000 jobs were created and the unemployment rate was 9.8%. There are 15 million unemployed in the nation.
Meanwhile the GOP is preventing extension of unemployment benefits and have no plan on how to increase demand for goods and services. Increased demand must occur before we will see a decline in unemployment. Unemployment compensation is the most effective means to counter cyclical recessionary declines. But the Republicans will not continue the benefit unless tycoons get a tax cut. In fact, the House Republicans (all but three) just yesterday voted against extending tax cuts on the first $250,000 of earnings by the nation's taxpayers.
Some comments here have placed the blame on the unemployed for needing the benefit. I don't believe that 15 million workers are kicked back on their couches waiting until their $300 a week benefit runs out. Think about that. The average unemployment benefit is $300 a week. Think about how your household would get by on $300 a week.
There are no jobs out there ... .
... and won't be until there is increased demand for goods and services. There will not be increased demand without someone spending some money. That is where the federal government must step up. People have no money to spend, states have no money to spend, businesses don't hire people unless they need the additional labor to produce for the market. Even now states are facing budget shortfalls that will throw even more people out of work. Something needs to be done and I don't see a plan from anyone in Washington on what to do. The Center for American Progress lays out the case for more stimulus at this link. All the talk is about deficits and I maintain that most Republicans (those not in the Congress) and most Americans don't give a flip about the deficit. Remember just a decade ago, the federal government had a surplus and was projecting surpluses in the future. That was before the ill-advised Bush tax cuts (trickle down does not work, never has), two expensive and ridiculous wars and a $500 billion unpaid for prescription drug benefit. We need to get our economy working again, get revenues up, and health care costs down. If Congressional Republicans won't allow more stimulus or even continue anti recessionary policies like unemployment, and want to repeal the only legislation that can curb health care costs, then please tell me what should be done. Please just skip the part where Barney Frank made all the banks give mortgages to poor people. It is not true and it doesn't matter now.
The country is in real trouble and our leaders fiddle while Rome burns.
DEEP Trouble Click here to read on!

Senator Brown blocks unemployment

Our Senator Scott Brown took to the floor of the Senate to block extension of unemployment benefits. Blue Mass Group has the details here. The unemployment benefits of an estimated 2 million Americans will expire before Christmas unless Congress acts to extend them. While our Commonwealth did not reach the depths of unemployment that other areas are experiencing and is recovering jobs more quickly than the nation, there are still thousands of Bay Staters out of work with no prospect for employment because there are no jobs to be filled. Merry Christmas from the GOP!
To compound matters, unemployment payments are anti-recessionary. Unemployed workers spend their benefits and stimulate the economy. Which helps to reduce unemployment and spur demand. Demand creates jobs, ...

... not small business and certainly not tax breaks for the wealthiest 2% of our population. It is simple. A well run business has exactly the number of workers needed to fill the demand for their product. Giving them a tax break adds to their profit, not their payroll. Click here to read on!