Trashing Politicians

I love to do the “I told you so” but I was 100% correct in the fact that Deval Patrick (D-Transparency) should never have been given a second term. Patrick clearly displays his disdain for anyone or anything that does not neatly adhere to his far left mindset.

Recently he managed to reject some rather luke warm reforms to the Industrial Welfare Complex that were subject to a 152-1 override of his veto. This was worse than the beat down MiMi and Marsha got a few years ago. The governor clearly supports the concept of fraud as he stated something ( I was - like the Legislature - partially asleep) about the “most vulnerable” being victims in this. IMO the “most vulnerable” have been the taxpayers.

Now The Herald - the only real newspaper in Boston - is after records to show who came into the State House parking lot and their times coming and going. The “Governor” has refused to release the records with - of course - the big cravat being “Safety.” Of course no one in the administration has come forth with any even slightly reasonable explanation on that topic. Guess we will never know who is really padding the books on travel perks.

The “Governor” has gone all Sergeant Schultz on the Lt. Governor Tim Murray (D-NASCAR) who had an early morning wreck back in what seems the last century. First came the stonewall in which the “Ticket Monkeys” - AKA state police were quite compliant but soon enough the manure started to hit the fan and drips and drabs of information and story changes came out. Murray made several appearance and did his best Phineas T. Bluster (look it up) to take the - in his mind “high road.” Murray seems to tie into that mindset of having a loud voice and displaying indignation means you are right. I see it as just the opposite.

What the stonewalling on public records regarding the State House coming and goings is really about is it would cause a public embarrassment for public officials.

What Mitt Romney does with his money is the business of no one as long as he does it legally. His taxes are his own and he is under no obligation other than public pressure to release them. Maybe each member of our BOS will release their taxes for the last ten years? I could care less if Romney sends his dough off to some tax shelter since I would do the same if I had that kind of cash flow. In fact last year 1,800 Americans decided to renounce their citizenship primarily for tax reasons.

Now if Romney did anything illegal it would be a matter between him, the IRS and dueling CPA’s. Romney could very well have had “issues” that were “resolved” internally with the IRS. Very, very few cases actually go forward.

Next on the agenda is his stay at Bain. When he came and when he left and their actions. Bain has one of the best reps in what they do and their current leadership is sprinkled with high profile Democrats and Obama supporters but, I guess, that is all meaningless. Why let facts get in the way of a good story? Even former Present Bill Clinton (D-Foxy Lady) had the old “Nothing there, move along - folks.” Venture Capital firms by their very nature will have enough disgruntled folks to really make some good sound bites. Twice in my illustrious business career I was with companies that ended up with a Bain. Both times the companies were subject to massive restructuring and it both cases the eventual outcome was failure.

IMO the current frothing by the left and the Obama minions is pure deflection away from the only issue that matters - the economy. Obama has failed miserably. His economic team projected 5.6% unemployment at this point if the stimulus was put in place. Didn’t happen. The economy is like having your car stuck in snow - just as soon as those rear tires are about to pull you out you slide back in. All the bully pulpit rhetoric will not change the fact things are a real mess.

So what is Romney’s solution? He puts on the table his “Business background” but exactly what does he really offer? You can go to his web site and get talking points which is the usual blah…blah…blah. Bullet points. Obama with a name change IMO. You get the rambling about what a mess Obama has made of things - no kidding, Mitt, thanks for that piece of information. So maybe he’ll offer up some real economic magic rather than the failed “trickle down” of the stimulus but when will this happen?

What amazes me most about Romney is his pathetic pandering to the far right especially the fundamentalist element of the party. As governor he was a moderate. Since Obama has made “flip-flop” a passé term Romney “evolved” with his various positions especially social ones. Now he has back tracked especially on Romneycare. Maybe his “Repeal and revise” will have some meat to it but seems like Romneycare and Obamacare are first cousins. So what it all comes down to is the usual political expediency of saying what folks want to hear just to get the nomination. Saw that four years ago.

Now the latest faux pas from Obama is his statement about not building a business without government help. How amazingly out of touch this proponent of income redistribution is. Doesn't he even comprehend the idea of "residential" and "commercial" tax rates?

Thomas Menino is “Mayor for Life” in Boston but also has his own unique perspective on business operations - that’s what happens when your service in the real world is rather limited. His latest target - after WalMart - is Chick-fil-A since the owner is an outspoken critic of Gay rights. So naturally the Mayor decides that is reason enough to give a big “No” to opening a Boston location. Now from what I have been able to read “Chick” has managed to run a rather pristine operation in regards to the myriad of compliance regarding hiring practices. I guess that is not enough. I also assume that the only businesses allowed to open in Boston will be those who are termed PC. What a strange little man?

Patriots/BOS/Health Care/Paid Details

The Patriot Way now appears to be a trip over Viagra Falls. Sometimes when males get older and have financial resources they are able to date women who are young enough to be their daughter and some date women young enough to be their grand daughter. Step right up, Bob Kraft! Mr. Kraft has made a rather salty video with his 32 year old squeeze that was finally pulled from YouTube. Mr. Kraft has also been seen about town with the young lady in tow.

The Patriots have a history of stepping into players personal actions (think Gronk) when they exhibit behavior that the team does not consider conducive to their pristine and squeaky clean business model. The aforementioned Gronk was reprimanded for a public exposure to a porn star. But I guess management has a different criteria especially aged management.

Bob Kraft has done nothing wrong except create fodder for the likes of me and - of course - the tens of millions who despise the Patriots. So Kraft can join the ranks of embarrassment of all those aged millionaires - including an increasing number of females - who somehow thing they are soooo physically attentive that young hard bodies are just flinging themselves at them. Money has nothing to do with it.

I guess no fool like an old fool applies.

I hate to give any positive feedback - really hurts since I prefer being a curmudgeon. Our BOS actually displayed some common sense with the recent Hillcrest hearing regarding rents. A three year phase in seemed quite appropriate. The lawyer representing Hillcrest said something about never hearing anything like this. Well - he is a lawyer and the law and common sense are two mutually excluded terms.

If Stockton, California was in New England it would be the second largest city in the area. Stockton has also gone bankrupt thanks to the eventual cost of paying out public service employees an superlative benefit package and compensation. The retirees health benefits finally became the tipping point.

The Enterprise recently had an article showing the health care obligations for various towns and cities and another local tipping point could potentially be in the offing. These are the kinds of situations that should be emblazoned on those who negotiate contracts especially with a vision of what happens down the road. Eventually the bill becomes due and in a bad economy that bill becomes difficult to pay.

Now that Obamacare may be finalize - depending upon elections this year - you could see a health care system that may either be a smooth and efficient operation or a total disaster for both delivery and in the pocketbook. The document of 2,100 pages is mind boggling and buried within it will be many traps. The core issue is the Obama and his minions feel that the government can regulate and regulate efficiently. The government has shown a splendid ability to mandate and an almost total inability to manage. Programs like Social Security and Medicare had good intentions and continue to be of extreme value but the holes are quite apparent especially the fiscal ones.

The Red Sox appear to be lifeless with injuries and severe under performance the contributing factors. The new playoff structure allows glimmers of hope. Too bad - this team needs a serious overhaul.

The regulator issue is one that puzzles me as I see agencies such as the EPA and OSHA that have gone from judicious enforcement into the realm of punitive enforcement.

A brief job description of a paid detail:

1. Have a refreshing beverage handy.

2. Examine your cell phone consistently.

3. Try to keep your back turned to the roadway 75% of the time.

4. Practice rudimentary geometry by determining the volume of the hole being dug.

5. Seek out shade whenever possible.

Once again I witnessed the gauntlet of R105 as three details were in place with heavy traffic. None paid the slightest attention to their prime directive - traffic control.

Deval Patrick has once again to the surprise of no one decided to not support any significant EBT reforms. Patrick firmly checked in on the side supporting fraud.

The con game continues as another stimulus is being discussed - the administrations version of trickle down economics. The last one was suppose to have projected unemployment at 5.6% by now - I think they missed.

The Legislature will be out of session starting 7/31 and that will mean a sigh of taxpayer relief. The longer they are out the less damage can be done.

The garden harvest is starting to come through and as usual the beans lead the parade. Some plants do very well and others have a lackluster performance. The birds did enjoy the blueberries and now a rabbit has decided to make itself a known target. Time for my wife’s 4,365 cats to do their thing.

It was “inevitable.”

Paul Krugman was on TV discussing his philosophy on the recovery. He state he believes in a “free market welfare state.” Krugman has a Nobel in economics.

The Nobel in economics is issued by the Swedish Central Bank.