This is why there’s more than a little MAGA in me that welcomes taking an ax to various government agencies: they have it coming. … In this case, it’s Massport and its obnoxious proposal to make its airport rideshare fee (i.e. a tax) the highest in the nation. Uber is pushing back against the plan, as the BBJ reports. … Are MassPort officials paying attention to what’s going on in D.C.? Are they aware of the local and national mood out there? … I assume not, so here’s a reality-check primer, courtesy of Rob Gavin at the Globe: “The high cost of living in Boston is straining residents. Local policy decisions don’t always help.”
Month: February 2025
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MassPort’s ridiculous rideshare-fee proposal: are they deliberately trying to anger people?
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Please. It’s only partly about ‘reform, transparency and accountability’
The Herald’s Joe Battenfeld is having a grand old time bashing ‘deranged’ Dems fighting President Trump’s attempts at “reform, transparency and accountability.” I have to admit: There’s more than a little MAGA in me that thinks it’s about time someone took an ax to some federal agencies’ budgets. I also acknowledge: I’m so tired of progressive Dems’ indignant, moralistic, performative-politics response to anything they don’t like.
But, please, don’t tell me the Trump-Musk assault on federal agencies is all about ‘reform, transparency and accountability.’ It’s not. That’s merely the spin to cover up the fact that this is really a full-scale ideological assault on a federal government that conservative elites have long wanted to wage, as David Brooks at the NYT notes in his column this morning (“Can We Please Stop Calling These People Populists?”). … And these non-populist elites will clam up and look the other way as Trump stress tests the nation’s laws and the constitution, as I noted the other day (‘For many Republicans, the end justifies the means’).
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Mayor orders ‘Hingham Bay’ renamed to ‘Gulf of Weymouth’
MassLive reports that Weymouth Mayor Bob Hedlund has signed a Facebook decree announcing plans to change the name ‘Hingham Bay’ to the ‘Gulf of Weymouth,’ accusing Hingham of having ‘culturally appropriated’ the body of water and vowing the ‘North Weymouth Navy’ will respond to any military action undertaken by Hingham, which he described as merely a colony of “New Yorkers employed in financial services in Boston.” …
Btw – WCVB is on the story.
Btw II – Why do they call it the ‘Gulf of Maine’? I’m not sure I like that.
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Wu listens for a change, says city will remove Boylston Street bus lane
Mayor Wu’s decision to remove a dedicated bus lane on Boylston Street shows she can indeed listen and change views – particularly when a rival candidate makes an issue of hideous-looking bus-bike lanes in general. … Considering she didn’t listen to critics prior to the Boylston Street bus-lane flap, I found this comment from Wu interesting, as reported by the Globe: “We have heard from community members that this needs to be changed.” … I addressed her political stubbornness in a post last week (‘Mayor Wu’s Achilles’ heel: Her ideological certainty’). … Also recall Brian McGrory’s blistering Globe column last summer on the plug-ugly Boylston Street bike lane, which Wu now apparently wants to modify along with other bike lanes around the city, as the Herald reports.
Re McGrory’s column, the mind hippity hops to: ‘Sign, sign, everywhere a sign.’
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It’s time to change ‘New Mexico’ to ‘New America,’ damn it
Those awful AP reporters had it coming. … And from here on in we shall refer to ‘New Mexico’ as ‘New America.’ …
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Is Kraft’s housing plan good politics?
The BBJ reports that mayoral candidate Josh Kraft is providing more details about his housing plan that he first proposed last week. Housing is obviously a hot-button issue these days, no doubt. But are voters really going to think he can make a difference on the issue as mayor? Or are they going to think he’s merely the front man for real estate developers? … I don’t know. Cutting down on the affordability mandate is sound economics, but I’m not so sure it’s sound politics. … He needs a little more shameless populist punch than this, I suspect, though not of the populist variety mentioned directly below.
Update – 2.13.25 — From GBH: “Wu: Kraft is pitching ‘fake rent control.’”
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‘The Populist Cure Is Worse Than the Elite Disease’
I liked the headline. Not so much the column. … Speaking of pieces in the Times: “Trump’s Actions Have Created a Constitutional Crisis, Scholars Say.” My immediate reaction: No shit. … My other reaction to the timing of the piece: What took so long ?
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About Tom Brady’s $740K watch …
No. 12’s performance as a Fox analyst during the Super Bowl is getting panned at the Globe and Times and elsewhere. … And so is the ‘grotesque’ $740,000 watch that he wore during the game. … Flashback: ‘Where did you get that dress? It’s awful!”
Re Tom’s booth performance: forget Tony Romo and other on-air NFL analysts. The ultimate player-turned-commentator he should strive to emulate: John McEnroe. No cliches. No platitudes. Just telling it like it is, as seen through the eyes of a great ex-player.
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Mass General Brigham to cut jobs amid $250M shortfall
And this is the largest and allegedly strongest health-care provider in the state? Not good. … Here’s the BBJ’s story. No specific staff-cut numbers yet (or none I can see). But the Globe reports it’s going to be in the hundreds over two years, for the largest layoff rounds in MGB’s history.
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WSJ: ‘Mr. Trump clearly wants to intimidate the press’
Sorry for my onesidedism of late. I’m trying hard to resist TDS. … Anyway, the conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board continues to pleasantly surprise. Re President Trump’s frivolous lawsuit against CBS and the FCC’s launch of an official inquiry: “Mr. Trump clearly wants to intimidate the press, and it’s no credit to the FCC to see it reinforcing that with an inquiry.”
Dan Kennedy and Jill Abramson at the Globe have more on Trump’s aggressive harassment campaigns against the media.
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