The People of Massachusetts Are Taking Back Their Seats

The Scott Brown revolution is alive and well in Massachusetts.

Tuesday night, January 26th at 7:00 when most people would like to be home relaxing after work, almost 500 average citizens from Massachusetts packed a convention hall in the Boston suburb of Braintree. They shared some common interests. They’re either running for office or helping someone else run for office. Some of them are running for federal or state offices, some for seats in local towns and cities and some for school boards. The one sentiment they share is clear: They’ve had enough.

A capacity crowd!

The event they showed up for was a “candidate school” offered by Boston talk radio host Michael Graham of 96.9 WTKK, a man the Boston Phoenix dubbed “Boston’s maestro of conservative controversies.” In between his tenure at WTKK and a career in stand-up comedy, Graham ran political campaigns. Today, he is sharing his knowledge with the citizens of the Bay State and encouraging them to participate in the system.

Attendees included people like Francis McLaughlin, a retired Boston fire fighter and registered Republican since 1975. McLaughlin is running for the Massachusetts House of Representatives for specific reasons:

(more…)

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Tags: Boston, Democrats, exclusive, government, Independents
Posted Feb 3rd 2010 at 7:27 am in Exclusives, News, Politics, State Politics, Tea Party | 6825055 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/mlachance/2010/02/03/the-people-of-massachusetts-are-taking-back-their-seats/The+People+of+Massachusetts+Are+Taking+Back+Their+Seats2010-02-03+15%3A27%3A27Mike+LaChance

Martha’s Greatest Hits: The Things the Democrats Would Like You to Forget About Candidate Coakley

Part one of a series

In researching the ever-intensifying Massachusetts Senate race between Democrat Martha Coakley and her Republican challenger Scott Brown, it only takes a few keystrokes to unearth her ongoing history of questionable judgment and puzzling prosecutorial decisions.  Even though the election has been effectively nationalized, with some polls showing the underdog Brown within two points or so of the colorless Coakley, she remains largely unknown outside New England.

So as a public service to the voters of the Bay State, during the run-up to the special election on Jan. 19, Big Journalism will be offering some of the Martha’s Greatest Hits, so that they can fully make up their minds whether she would make a suitable successor to the late Edward Moore Kennedy – who, as you recall, began his illustrious career by being expelled from Harvard for cheating, went on to drown Mary Jo Kopechne at Chappaquiddick, and then turned to a life of drinking and debauchery, including the infamous “waitress sandwich” with soon-to-be-retired Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd, before attempting to inflict “universal health care” on the country shortly before his death last year.

You can read all about Ted here in this classic profile of the last and worst of the Kennedy brothers by the late Michael Kelly.  Be sure to read the whole thing, just to get a flavor of the kind of candidate Massachusetts voters seem to like.

Homework done?  Good.  Because Martha Coakley, the current Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and thus its top law enforcement officer, is shaping up as a worthy heir to the Lion of the Senate.(more…)

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Tags: Attorney General, Boston, Boston Globe, Cambridge, Chappaquiddick Island
Posted Jan 14th 2010 at 10:30 am in Featured Story, Media Criticism, News, Politics | 59878No Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/ghewson/2010/01/14/marthas-greatest-hits-the-things-the-democrats-would-like-you-to-forget-about-candidate-coakley/Martha%E2%80%99s+Greatest+Hits%3A+The+Things+the+Democrats+Would+Like+You+to+Forget+About+Candidate+Coakley2010-01-14+18%3A30%3A32Gary+Hewson

Pork Report: September 30, 2009

Today’s Pork Report from Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) identies at least $315 million in wasteful Washington spending:

Congress boosts its own budget by $250 million; Increase will pay to hire consultants, hold receptions, and send postcards to voters

Only 16% of Americans believe Congress is doing a good job

Medicaid spends $65 million on prescription drug abuse, including paying for thousands of prescriptions for dead patients

Puppet theater in Philadelphia receives federal stimulus funds

80% of Boston’s music festival being paid for with federal stimulus funds; The six-concert, three-day event plans to “jump-start the classical music season and the national economy”

Nevada spending federal stimulus funds to underwrite “crucial festival director position”

Despite being in good financial shape, Idaho festival receives stimulus funds to pay for next year’s festival

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Tags: Boston, classical music, Congress, drug abuse, festival
Posted Sep 30th 2009 at 1:00 pm in Congress, Earmarks, News, Politics | 1055822 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/porkreport/2009/09/30/pork-report-september-30-2009/Pork+Report%3A+September+30%2C+20092009-09-30+20%3A00%3A57The+Pork+Report