Dan Dunn’s Podium

Earlier this spring, Rep. Charles Murphy gave seven roll call votes - even though he was in the Virgin Islands. I haven’t heard of consequences of the deception, nor have I heard of any changes in the state house. Give credit to Robert David Sullivan and David Bernstein for refusing to let the [...]

The quarterly newsletter of the Office of Campaign Finance is often a good read. The stories themselves are boring, but the “Recent Rulings” section is often full of gems. That’s where you see which candidates lost track of the details and which ones are more likely to run afoul of the law. [...]

I’ve mentioned before how much I enjoy reading the Universal Hub every day.  I’ve also mentioned how I respect and admire the work that MassINC does on the Commonwealth magazine.  When Commonwealth writes about the Universal Hub, how could I not link to the excellent article?
Commonwealth hits some key points about UH.  It’s not just [...]

So Tom Finneran was not content to earn a few hundred thousand dollars per year with his radio gig. His original post-Speaker job as a lobbyist had been interrupted by that pesky felony conviction. The Mass Biotech Council didn’t want a felon as their public representative, and he was fired.
But a year [...]

Menino makes it easy. . . to make fun of him. I’ve taken the mayor to task a couple of times before.  But this quote is so bad, so foolish, I almost feel guilty.  Almost.
“Allowing retailers to make money off of sick people is wrong.”
No commentary necessary; this one stands on its own.

When I ran for state representative in 2004, reform of the civil service system was one of my key themes. There is so much wrong with it. The years pass, and the system is still broken.
The system was originally intended to take patronage and nepotism out of hiring decision. The system is [...]

Tuesday is the general election for the 4th Middlesex Senate seat. I concur with the common wisdom - Jim Marzilli is going to run away with it. Heck, even I’m voting for him, and I ran against him three years ago. Both of his opponents are trying to roll back the progress [...]

Regular readers of this blog know that I want to support Governor Deval Patrick, but I’ve frequently doubted whether he could meet the expectations of his supporters.
When he came out in support of casinos, I agreed. There is demand for gambling in Massachusetts. It’s not appropriate for the state to prevent its citizens [...]

It’s crunch time in the election to replace Senator Havern. The primary is a week away. Yesterday was the deadline for the pre-primary campaign finance filing. It’s the first chance to see how the candidates are doing in the pocketbook. All of this information is from the Office of Campaign Finance. [...]

We’re nearing the end of Governor Deval Patrick’s first legislative year. The General Court’s long vacation begins on November 21, and most of the decisions have already been made. Let’s check the score.
During the election last fall, I doubted that Patrick could corral the legislature. The early returns certainly seemed to [...]