I’m not wild about the strike by bar advocates over their pay. But at the same time they are paid considerably less than their counterparts in other New England states — and the bill just signed by Gov. Healey doesn’t adequately address that disparity. The state’s counterproposal comes across as a take-it-or leave-it offer with more than a little spite. Unfortunately, bar advocates will probably respond with their own righteous spite. …
Just a passing thought: Why didn’t lawmakers show similar frugalness when the state was blowing through billions of dollars on emergency shelter programs?
Via Scott Van Voorhis, we learn that some of our state Democratic leaders, including Gov. Maura Healey, are fans of the book ‘Abundance,’ which basically argues blue state pols haven’t been managing blue states all that well over the years. Here’s hoping local leaders take some of the ‘Abundance’ lessons to heart, as they apply to housing, energy, and transportation issues, etc. … And here’s hoping they might also apply ‘Abundance’ lessons to the increasingly radical agenda of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, which, every day, seems to be testing and pushing the limits of its power in Massachusetts. The union’s latest political antic: sinking a million bucks into local school-committee elections, as Contrarian Boston also reports. That effort comes as the MTA explores backing yet another new wealth tax to pay for free public colleges, pushes to legalize teacher strikes (while backing illegal teacher strikes), fends off repeated accusations of sponsoring antisemitic initiatives and politicizing school curriculums, revels in past political wins involving MCAS, charter schools, the millionaire’s tax, etc., etc. … Considering how much the MTA has pumped into Dem campaign coffers over the years, it’s unlikely Dems will stand up to the union any time soon. But it sure would be nice if they could at least firmly say ‘no’ to the MTA now and then.
Update – 8.11.25 – From the Globe: “State’s largest teachers union makes big play to influence more municipal elections.”
So Harvard is bristling over the $50 million deal Brown University recently cut with the Trump administration, as the NYT reports. Can’t blame them. Harvard is looking at a deal that could cost it $500 million, or ten times more than what Brown is paying. It’s not fair. It doesn’t make sense. But of course it’s not fair. And of course it doesn’t make sense. That’s because Harvard is dealing with an irrational, unpredictable, impulsive president surrounded by hand-picked loyalists whose top priority is to obey his every irrational, unpredictable, impulsive demand. The president has privately decided Harvard must pay more for its transgressions, and so it must be, his followers have concluded. …
They’re going wild over Joe Milton in Dallas. … OK, maybe I’m obsessing too much about the loss of Joe. Maybe Mike Vabrel made the right call when the Pats traded him away in April. But I still have this awful feeling the Pats made one of worst trades in the team’s history when they unloaded Joe for a measly fifth-round draft pick. … Meanwhile, Drake Maye continues to not impress.
As the nation marks the 250th anniversary of the start of the American Revolution, Eliot Cohen at the Atlantic has an interesting article on George Washington’s seemingly undramatic days in Boston in 1775. They didn’t include dramatic battles, marches, meetings and pronouncements. But they were still critical days. From Cohen:
“What happened that summer outside Boston was of monumental importance. If this was to be an American army and not just an assembly of colonial militias, then Washington would have to be the first American general, and not just a provincial. He would have to create a system out of chaos, and hold together a force against a dangerous enemy.”
And he did so while experiencing a major culture clash in New England:
“A slaveholding Virginia gentleman and loosely religious Anglican was going to lead an army that was mainly made up of New Englanders—including both psalm-singing, Bible-quoting descendants of the Puritans and dissenting freethinkers. For his part, Washington was appalled at what he saw: militia units that elected their own officers and called them by their first names, free Black men carrying weapons, money-grubbing Yankees (as opposed to land-grubbing Virginia gentry), and general squalor. ‘They are an exceeding dirty and nasty people,’ he told his cousin Lund Washington.”
Update — He just confirmed the severity of the jobs news. From CNBC: “Trump fires commissioner of labor statistics after weaker-than-expected jobs figures slam markets.”
Update II — 8.2.25 — From the WSJ: “The Wild Week in the American Economy.”
Former Gov. Deval Patrick set the precedent years ago when he proposed spending $1 billion to boost the local biotechnology sector. So Gov. Maura Healey’s plan to spend $400 million to boost scientific research across the state, amid Trump administration cuts, isn’t exactly radical. In fact, it’s a good idea in general. But I have problems with the timing and proposed funding sources. Re the timing: let’s see how negotiations go between the Trump administration and Harvard before jumping into the funding breach. After Harvard, MIT and possibly Tufts etc. are next on the Trump ideological shakedown list. Let’s see what happens with them too. … Among other things, my fear is the Trump groupies will see the Massachusetts funding moves and conclude they can simply deduct that amount from final federal funding tallies. … Re funding sources: dipping into proceeds from the millionaire’s tax is a real stretch in terms of what the surcharge is supposed to fund (transportation and education). And using interest from the state’s rainy day fund? That fund is for recessionary periods – and for all state programs. Leave it alone. …
What the state needs is a well thought out funding plan, similar to what was done in 2008 with Patrick’s 10-year Massachusetts Life Sciences Initiative, half of which relied on revenue from long-term bonds. … Bottom line: don’t rush into this. Think long-term.
Times sure have changed. Nearly twenty years ago, the mayor of Boston and leaders of community health centers and hospitals were freaking out over CVS’s planned introduction of for-profit health clinics at its stores. For-profit health care! The horror! … But today the for-profit CVS MinuteClinics and the non-profit MGB, the state’s largest health care provider, hope to join forces — with the former expanding into primary care and then referring patients to MGB’s regional provider network, as the Globe’s Jonathan Salzman reports. … Is this good for patients? I suppose so, on the surface, if it really provides health-care services where they’re needed. But I remember a time when CVS’s MinuteClinics were touted as a for-profit alternative – actual competition – to non-profit provider behemoths like MGB (formerly known as Partners) and a way to help control skyrocketing health costs while providing easy access to basic care. Now the two are allies? How does funneling patients to the most expensive care network in the state help reduce health costs? How does this help struggling community health centers and hospitals left behind in the underserved areas that CVS-MGB plan to target? …
Fyi: I’ve used CVS’s MinuteClincs a number of times in the past. Ditto WalMart’s mini-clinics. They’re handy, particularly for getting necessary vaccine shots. I’m glad they’re around. But count me a skeptic when two former health-care foes –- one a publicly traded corporation and the other a giant provider network viewed by some as semi-monopolistic -– band together and say it’s all about altruism.
The Globe’s Dana Gerber has a fun piece comparing Market Basket’s prices to other supermarkets’ prices. And a spoiler alert: The results aren’t a big surprise (though Wegman’s close second–place finish was impressive). … Reading the Globe piece, I was struckby the obvious: Market Basket is an old-fashioned high-volume seller, following a long New England tradition of high-volume/off-price/discount businesses over the years, including Mr. Hamburg, Filene’s Basement, Lechmere, Spag’s, Boch Toyota, TJ Maxx/Marshalls, etc. But a key to MB’s appeal, besides its low prices, is that you don’t necessarily feel like you’re in a high-volume environment (crowded, yes; treated like cattle, no). MB goes that extra mile to make its food displays look attractive, even intimate, and the wide selection of its well-stockedproducts sometimes awes (particularly its poultry and meat offerings). And, of course, MB has down-to-earth employees. They’re considerate. Nothing more. No forced smilesand fake fun. No flairs, etc.… So, yes, MB is a high-volume seller. But it’s a high-volume seller that provides that little bit extra for its customers.
Hub Blog 