Fire the clowns on November 2nd

If deficit spending really acted as an economic ‘stimulus’, the MA economy would be booming. According to Moody’s Investors Service, Massachusetts has the second highest state debt per capital in the country – only Connecticut has a higher debt burden on its citizens. The financial hole dug by our politicians is a big one that will weigh on economic growth for years.

Now, the Legislators will point to municipal healthcare costs, and pension obligations, and say “there’s nothing we can do”. And yet, 48 other states, including California, seem to have figured out how to manage things without digging a huge fiscal hole. The problem in MA is two-fold: the elected Democrats do not understand economics, and those same Democrats believe tax dollars are there to buy votes for the next election. Every few years it is necessary to elect Republicans to clean up the spending mess. This is one of those year. Vote Republican on November 2nd.

Same old, same old

Speaking of a total lack of ethics at the State House, here is yet another story of politicians lining the pockets of family and supporters at the expense of the rest of us.

A legislative leader whose wife, former aide, and scores of financial supporters have received jobs in the state Probation Department is fighting a subpoena ordering him to appear before an independent counsel investigating allegations of corrupt hiring practices within the agency.

Independent counsel Paul F. Ware had ordered Representative Thomas M. Petrolati, the third-ranking leader in the House of Representatives, to appear before him last week to answer questions about his efforts to secure probation jobs for his family, friends, and supporters. Ware also demanded documents about Petrolati’s relationship with Probation Commissioner John J. “Jack’’ O’Brien, who was suspended from his job in May after the Globe revealed a pattern of political favoritism in hiring.

Catch that? “Third-ranking leader of the House of Representatives”. In the tradition of Salvatore DiMasi, Tom Finneran, and Charles Flaherty – the last three leaders of the House of Representatives, all of which resigned due to ethical lapses – Petrolati saw how the system worked, and worked the system. How many other Representatives learned the same lessons? It’s time to clean the House – vote the clowns out on November 2^nd.

Thanks a lot, Dems

There’s an interesting article in today’s Boston Globe talking about the weakness in the healthcare sector, and how that weakness is likely to pull down the MA economy.

From the article:

A slowing health care industry would have broad implications for the Massachusetts economy. Health care is the state’s biggest employment sector, accounting for about one in six jobs, and has provided stability through downturns and support for recoveries.

If health care continues to sputter now, the state conomy would lose an important engine of growth as it tries to sustain a still nascent recovery. In addition, the state is more vulnerable to economy, regulatory, and policy changes buffeting the industry since Massachusetts has a larger helath care sector than the nation as a whole. Health care accounts for more than 15% of employment in Massachusetts, compared with more than 12 percent nationally.

The federal health care overhall, which will be phased in over the next few years, will add more pressure to control costs, analysts said. And in an industry where labor accounts for 70% of expenses, controlling costs means slower employment growth.

The national debate on whether to ‘constrain’ healthcare costs is certainly one worth having, but if you are an elected official from Massachusetts, it would be insane to support Obamacare’s effort to cripple the healthcare sector. And yet, 9 of 10 of our congressmen did just that (only Stephen Lynch, MA9, voted no). Barney Frank in MA4 voted for it. So did Ed Markey in MA7. So did Jim McGovern in MA3. What are these politicians thinking? Why would they vote to infuse government control of the state’s growth sector? Now that engine for economic growth in the state is stalling, and the unemployment hole is set to get deeper. Thank your elected officials on November 2^nd.