Why? Because the state’s budget chief is now saying that the millionaire’s tax is expected to rake in nearly $3 billion – or more than double what it was originally estimated to raise, according to a SHNS report at Banker & Tradesman. …  It’s so much extra money that lawmakers are trying to figure out how to spend it all within the surtax’s fiscal confines. … Btw: I don’t want to hear any more about a new “candy tax” or “pharmacy tax” etc. Nor for a long, long while. …And if lawmakers say they’re being pushed to the budget brink due to skyrocketing health-care costs, then reform the health-care system. Stop throwing so much additional taxpayer money at it till that’s done. … And that’s my “Abundance” rant of the day.

A new Suffolk University/Globe poll confirms what Jon Keller was saying the other week: People are in a bad mood and it’s indeed a crappy time to be an incumbent. … In Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island, they’re rejecting Trump, rejecting Dems, and even rejecting dog catchers (if they could) etc. etc. … I’m waiting for the Globe to drop the latest Maura Healey poll numbers in the wake of the recent (somewhat surprising) UNH data

… Meanwhile, Jon Keller notes one incumbent in particular may be vulnerable during these crappy political times: Sen. Ed Markey, who Jon not-so-kindly describes as an “overripe baby-boomer about to turn eighty who insists he’s hanging around.” … Are state Dems about to commit their own original sin? We’ll see. … Anyway, Jake Auchincloss and Seth Moulton are reportedly eyeing Markey’s seat. But they’re incumbents. Jon suggests Earl Martin Phalen might be a sleeper candidate.  Jon provides the bio. But note Phalen’s impeccable Ivy League credentials. … OK, that’s a minor pet-peeve of mine. Still, it does sort of fit into the Dems-are-the-party-of-the-college-educated narrative.

Update — The Globe has dropped another poll story showing voter discontent with RFK Jr. and his policies. No big surprise. Unfortunately, no Healey numbers yet.

It’s richly deserved. The Boston Convention & Exhibition Center will be officially rechristened next month as the Thomas Michael Menino Convention and Exhibition Center, in honor of the late mayor who pushed, cajoled, strong-armed and did just about everything else it took to get the center built two decades ago. The moment it opened in 2004, everyone knew it would and should be named after Menino. It was his pride and joy. … 

Fyi: I occasionally catch myself still referring to the center as the “new” convention center – though not as “the gleaming new convention center,” as reporters used to routinely describe the facility for years after its opening. … The Hub Blog mind drifts to San Francisco’s Moscone Center, named after another proud Italian-American mayor (and in a city with so many similarities to Boston). The Moscone Center. The Menino Center. They both have a nice ring to ’em.

Pats coach Mike Vrabel has been busy beefing up the team’s analytics staff, according to reports at NESN and Sports Illustrated. MassLive’s Karen Guregian writes that Vrabel isn’t a Bill James-like devotee of stats. Instead, it appears he mostly uses analytics as a guide, she writes. … But you have to wonder after reading Christopher Gasper’s piece in the Globe about how Vrabel is changing the team’s culture in his first season as head coach. Here’s Vrabel’s response when asked about the importance of culture on wins and losses: “I don’t know what the analytical number is, but I think that there’s a style in which you can play that can lead to success.” … An analytical number for a team culture? Yes indeedy: “The Impact of Team Culture on Team Performance and Athlete Fulfillment” … I should have known.

In most mayoral races, candidates joust over issues such as snow plowing, garbage collection, potholes, public safety, etc. But in Boston these days? They’re fighting over office-building valuations and vacancy rates. Who would have thought? Anyway, B&T reports on the spat between Mayor Michelle Wu and mayor wannabe Josh Kraft over a new report predicting a huge decline in office valuations and a potential plunge in commercial property tax revenue. Wu comes across as more than a little testy, trying to blame the report’s messenger while dismissing its message. … Meanwhile, the Herald has a piece that basically alleges the Wu administration is slapping improper property-tax assessments on commercial-building owners who dare appeal city property valuations. It’s a serious matter if true.

Two quickie takeaways 1.) Wu is obviously trying to kick the office-valuation can down the road, knowing full well a likely city budget reckoning is coming after the election. 2.) She’s not wrong to wonder who’s backing the Boston Policy Institute, one of the authors of the recent report. The commercial-valuation issue is legitimate, but it also comes across as a ginned-up issue by people with a strong interest in the matter. Put another way: I seriously doubt lefty activists are behind the institute.

Update — 6.12.25 – From the Globe’s Larry Edelman: “Boston’s office market goes from bad to worse. What’s Wu’s Plan B?”

The NYT’s Ezra Klein is confirming that most of the backlash to the so-called ‘Abundance’ movement is coming from a faction of the progressive left that fears it might displace the rise of its own views within the Democratic Party. … I wrote about  ‘Abudnance’ – an agenda pushed by some Dems to reform government so it performs better –a few weeks ago. And I’ve previously touched on the general subject in posts here (“Wanted: Progressives who actually care about huge building-project cost overruns and delays”) and here (“Blue State Dems’ high-cost-of-living problem”)

To mark yesterday’s 81^st anniversary of D-Day, the Atlantic has republished a story from 1960 recounting what happened at Omaha Beach on the morning of June 6, 1944. It’s more shocking than anything I’ve ever read or viewed before about Omaha, more shocking than the famous opening scene of Saving Private Ryan. … The graphic description by author S.L.A. Marshall — whose stated goal was to provide a non-sanitized account of the landing — starts at the seventh paragraph after a rather odd introduction.

Trump loves it when people grovel. From Mediate: “Elon Musk Scrubs Trump Epstein Attacks From X as Trump Threatens Payback.” … But Musk has much more groveling to do. Maybe he’ll declare drugs were to blame, check himself into a rehab clinic, write some big checks to certain people and causes, and – voila – reconciliation has a chance.

Update — From Yahoo: “Trump says he has no desire to fix his relationship with Musk, even after the former ‘first buddy’ deletes his X posts.” … Like I said, Musk has much more groveling to do.

Update II – 6.8.25 — Elon’s dad has started the excuse making. Via U.S. Sun: “Elon Musk has ‘White House PTSD’ and thinks he made a mistake by helping Trump get re-elected, his dad has claimed.” … And where and when did his father say this? While attending a recent ‘Kremline-backed’ forum in Moscow. … Yes, it’s that weird. … It just hit me: Maybe I should have called it the Musk Rehab Clinic Watch, which may or may not lead to a Musk Rehabilitation With Trump Watch. Or maybe just the Musk Groveling Watch?

Update III – 6.11.25 — He’s getting there. From the Globe: “Elon Musk backs off from feud with Trump, saying he regrets social media posts that ‘went too far.’”

Update IV – 6.11.25 — He’s now going directly to the source. Via the NYT: “Musk Spoke With Trump Before Posting Message of Regret.”

I had a hunch the bromance couldn’t, and wouldn’t, last long. It’s why I started the Musk Downfall Watch way back when. But I had no idea it would end in such a spectacular, freak-show fashion. … I’m actually tempted to start a Musk Rehabilitation Watch. You can’t get too weird with this administration. And they’re both weird enough guys to do it.

Bruins fans still bummed about the Brad Marchand trade probably shouldn’t watch this video of Brad scoring a clutch Double OT goal last night in the Stanley Cub Finals. … The celebration after his game-winning goal is painful to watch, seeing how joyous he looks out of a Bruins uniform. … At least the B’s got a first-round pick out of the deal.