Month: December 2025

• Healey and Dems caught in the energy web of their own making

  December 19, 2025

  I thought the partisan back-and-forth debate over the nation’s energy policy was settled way back in 2008 when Paris Hilton unveiled her bold, groundbreaking “hybrid” energy policy to the nation. But here we are, nearly two decades later, with the same old either-or arguments over oil and gas vs new clean-energy technologies, etc. etc. At the NYT, Matthew Yglesias is jumping into the fray, asking why Dems don’t adopt the pro-fossil fuel policies that liberals in Canada, Mexico, Norway and Australia are embracing, sort of along the hybrid fossil/clean-energy lines that Paris so brilliantly enunciated years ago.

  What about our local leaders’ energy policies? Well, Gov. Maura Healy is now caught in a contradictory energy web of her making, having opposed new natural-gas pipelines  when she was AG and now seemingly backing off that uber-progressive position today amid voter anger over rising energy prices in Massachusetts. Did we mention Healey is running for re-election next year? Anyway, you can dismiss the recent Mass. Fiscal Alliance and Herald attacks on Healey’s energy policies all you want. But it’s gotten politically serious enough for the state Democratic Party to ride to Healey’s rescue on the issue, as the Herald reports. Dems wouldn’t be doing this if they thought the issue wasn’t sticking. Perceptions matter in politics, even if new pipelines wouldn’t have made much of a difference in energy prices.

  Btw: It isn’t just Healey backpedaling on energy policies. Beacon Hill Dems are getting increasingly nervous about  their party’s past uber-progressive energy stands. … It’s all about affordability these days.

• Headline Shorts: Calling out Wu. … Mitt’s tax-me plan … Pantheon of Non-Shovelers … Dysfunctional Agency Alerts … Dershowitz drivel … Low-stake Bowl Games

  December 19, 2025

  — When even GBH calls out the accuracy of her assertions, you know she’s on shaky ground: “Wu again claims Boston is safest city in US. But recent data suggests otherwise” (GBH)

  — A high honor: “Councilor Weber joins John Kerry in the pantheon of public officials ticketed for not shoveling their sidewalks” (Universal Hub)

  — He’s speaking common sense like an elder statesman: “Mitt Romney: Tax the Rich, Like Me” (NYT)

  — Not going to happen, but it’s nice to dream: “Orange Line Extension to Roslindale Attracting Attention” (B&T)

  — Another dysfunctional regulatory agency? Not quite. But trending in that direction: “A fine mess at the Mass. Gaming Commission” (MassterList)

  — Another dysfunctional agency contender: “Report: Steamship Authority wasted millions in public funds on failed website” (Herald)

  — Please don’t encourage him, Alan: “Trump Told by Alan Dershowitz Constitutionality of Third Term Is Unclear” (WSJ)

  — They paid only $1 million? The golf industry is in bigger trouble than I thought: “Alliance Golf buys Central Massachusetts course as state sees more closures than openings” (BBJ)

  — This isn’t investing: “High-Speed Traders Are Feuding Over a Way to Save 3.2 Billionths of a Second” (WSJ)

  — So much for ‘give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses’: “Massachusetts, other states sue to block $100,000 visa fee for skilled workers” (Universal Hub)

  — Speaking of awful ideas: “Forcing visitors to share five years of social media history is nuts” (Washington Post)

  — It’s a shame, but their time has passed: “With dumb names and no stakes, bowl games’ days are numbered” (Washington Post)

  — More military-history-buff reporting from the WSJ: “U.S. Army Changes Tools and Tactics to Prepare for the Next Pacific War” (WSJ)

• What Boston might have looked like 250 years ago

  December 18, 2025

  
  Someone sent me this AI-reconstruction at YouTube of what Boston might have looked like 250 years ago at the outbreak of the American Revolution. Via Vanished History, it’s pretty cool. … Needless to say, some sharp-eyed students of history in the comments section have pointed out some historical inaccuracies. But it’s still fun. Check it out. … And, yes, there really was a gallows at the Boston Neck in 1775, a kind of grim ‘Welcome to Boston’ salutation of the times.

• ‘Broken windows’ theory, meet ‘environmental design intervention’ theory

  December 15, 2025

  The ‘broken windows’ theory of fighting crime has taken a reputational hit in recent years, somewhat justifiably because it somehow morphed into stop-and-frisk and other obnoxious policies of harassing law-abiding residents. But I still think some of the concepts behind ‘broken windows’ — i.e. that addressing little things in crime-ridden neighborhoods matter, such as fixing buildings with ominous looking broken-glass windows or removing derelict cars sitting on cinder blocks or cleaning up depressing vacant lots – contribute to a more positive environment that helps deter crime.

  Well, well, well. Look what we have here: a variation of ‘broken windows,’ called ‘environmental design intervention,’ and it’s working in Philadelphia via things like “cleaning up vacant lots, installing warmer streetlights and developing community gardens,” as the NYT reports. The Times article does note the similarities – and the differences – between ‘broken windows’ and ‘environmental design intervention,’ but then quickly moves on, as if the former might discredit the latter. But the connection is clearly made. … Hopefully, ‘environmental design intervention’ isn’t eventually corrupted the way ‘broken windows’ was corrupted. It sounds like a great program.

• One city passed rent control, the other reduced regulations. Guess which one has seen a housing construction boom

  December 15, 2025

  It probably won’t make a difference, but maybe some Massachusetts voters can be swayed to vote against rent control next year after learning what happened in St. Paul, Minnesota after it passed strict rent control measures in 2022 and then what happened in sister city Minneapolis, right across the river, after it passed land-use reforms to boost housing construction. The latter –- Minneapolis — saw a building boom and lower rents while the former saw housing construction plummet and rents stuck at elevated levels, according to the WSJ.

  Unfortunately, I still think that the Massachusetts rent control measure, assuming it gets on the statewide ballot, will pass next year. But here’s some good news for the pessimistic among us: St. Paul has recently walked back some of its extremist restrictions after seeing what happened across the Mississippi in Minneapolis, the WSJ reports. Maybe that’s a Plan C to keep in mind in Massachusetts.

• Headline Shorts: ‘Beat the Press’ 2.0 … Bargain-basement office prices … ‘The Charlie Baker effect’ … Immigration blunders and outrage … Starter home hopes … China invasion plans

  December 12, 2025

  — Scott Van Voorhis takes his excellent newsletter to the next level by reviving a great tradition: “‘Beat the Press’ returns with a deep dive into the media circus surrounding Olivia Nuzzi” (Contrarian Boston)

  — A good analysis of the Republican primary race for governor:  “The Charlie Baker effect looms large” (Herald)

  — We’re getting close to bargain-basement prices. Mayor Wu, take note: “Synergy buys Boston office building for $22.5M, a fraction of its assessed value” (BBJ)

  — He and his closest aides just didn’t get it: “How Biden Ignored Warnings and Lost Americans’ Faith in Immigration” (NYT)

  — Because of Biden’s immigration blunders (see headline above), we got Trump and outrages like this: “Immigrants kept from Faneuil Hall citizenship ceremony as feds crackdown nationwide” (GBH)

  — This is such a shame. It didn’t have to happen: “Sublime Systems puts pause on Holyoke facility, lays off workers” (BBJ)

  — Let’s hope there’s a huge appetite: “Developments Test Appetite for Starter Homes” (Banker & Tradesman)

  — JP Morgan’s chief is admirably worried about the nation’s defense and economic vulnerabilities: “Jamie Dimon Forms Adviser Supergroup for $1.5 Trillion American Resiliency Pledge” (WSJ)

  — Along the same lines, the Pentagon’s procurement process isn’t just dysfunctional. It’s a national-security threat: “4,000 Changes. $3.5B. Zero Ships” (NYT)

  — OK, one more national-security item for all you military-history buffs: “See How a Chinese Invasion of Taiwan Could Unfold” (WSJ)

• Did Wu win the blame game?

  December 11, 2025

  It’s an interesting way to look at Mayor Michelle Wu’s latest property-tax defeat on Beacon Hill, i.e. that she actually may have won because now she can blame others for the 13 percent tax hike that Boston homeowners are likely going to be paying next year, as the Globe’s  Joan Vennochi writes. … I think Joan’s partly right. Wu’s tardy and lackluster lobbying effort sure seems like she was going through the motions on Beacon Hill, as if she knew she couldn’t win nor really lose. Another sign she was playing a blame-game game: senators are now scrambling (or at least trying to come across as scrambling) to come up with alternative tax plans now that they’ve blocked Wu’s proposal. They know they could be on the losing side of the blame game. …

  But just to be clear: winning a blame game isn’t the same as doing the right thing. Wu just rubs a lot of people the wrong way on Beacon Hill. Personally, I think it’s her righteous nature that irks more than a few folks.

  P.S. – Don’t miss Jon Ellis’s latest MassterList column: “Mayor Wu’s Proposition 2 1/2 follies.” … Her opposition to the statewide tax-cap provision is the clearest sign to me she’s not eyeing a statewide office – at least not now.

• College playoff selection process will always be screwed up unless …

  December 10, 2025

  The Globe’s Christopher Gasper laments the current selection process for the college football playoffs, rightly arguing “myriad agendas, interests, and opaque politics of persuasion” dominate proceedings and end up angering jilted teams like Notre Dame. But, c’mon, unless the NCAA comes up with one nationwide regular season league and playoff system, a college version of the NFL, there will always be a subjective bias about who does and doesn’t get into the playoffs. Subjectivity will always reign at the cutoff point, whether it’s a four-team, 12-team or 68-team bracket system.

  Hopefully, college football officials, who have already wrecked the once great New Year’s bowl games and regional conference rivalries, all in the name of the almighty TV buck, won’t expand the current subjective, 12-team playoff system to a larger subjective system, in the name of “fairness” to the 18 to 22-year-old players. But you never know. The adults running major college sports have been exploiting 18-22 year-old kids for decades now, squeezing ever more money out of them in return for “tuition” and NIL crumbs. The whole system stinks. The whole system is based on exploitation. And it keeps getting worse with each passing year and new multibillion-dollar TV deals.

  Btw: From the NYT: “Who’s to blame for Notre Dame’s shocking snub? ESPN, the system, the ACC and yes, the Irish.” … And I’d add college sports writers at for-profit publications like the NYT’s The Athletic, the Globe etc. Right?

  Btw II: Have you noticed how roughly the same for-profit trend, albeit at a much smaller financial scale, has been increasingly happening at the high-school athletics level, i.e., adults financially exploiting the freebie labor of kids?

• Bad and good news rolled into one: State’s faltering economy is easing pressure on rental prices

  December 9, 2025

  After reading this headline in Banker & Tradesman (“Apartment Rents Trending Downward in Some Boston Suburbs”) I thought, Aha! New housing construction is finally making an impact. And it is. A little. But what folks at Equity Residential and AvalonBay are saying is that the state’s faltering economy – low jobs growth, a weaker biotech sector, cuts in university and research funding, immigration woes, as cited in the B&T article – may be playing a bigger role in the slight downward trend in rents in Greater Boston. Needless to say, this is not how to address the housing crisis.

  As it is, the Globe’s Larry Edelman has a good piece on the murky state of jobs growth (or lack thereof) in Massachusetts, while the Globe’s Shirley Leung writes that Michelle Wu and city developers need to work together, not against each other, when it comes to producing new housing and jobs.

  Passing related thought: check out The Atlantic’s new piece on private-equity firms snapping up single-family homes across the country. The article downplays the PE trend in places like Boston. But the Metropolitan Area Planning Council thinks otherwise

• State agency dysfunction alert: This time it’s the MCCA

  December 8, 2025

  

  
  What the heck is going on at the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority? It’s starting to resemble the Cannabis Control Commission in terms of dysfunction. In this case, the Herald is reporting that the authority’s board held an emergency meeting last night (a Sunday night, mind you), reportedly to consider firing CEO Marcel Vernon, who recently welcomed a legislative investigation amid allegations of “corruption, mismanagement of public funds, and attempting to destroy evidence” at the authority, as the Herald separately reported last week.

  One assumes it all ties back to last year’s report by Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s office, which “uncovered disturbing and unlawful practices” at the authority. And of course there are past discrimination complaints at the authority as well, as the Globe reported a few years back.

  Update – The BBJ is now on the story: “State investigations into convention center authority spark leadership crisis.”

  Update II — 12.9.25 – And so is the Globe.

  Update III — 12.13.25 — From the Herald: “Massachusetts Convention Center parts ways with CEO in $500k severance agreement amid corruption investigation.”