“Never let a disgraceful idea die a quiet death” must be on the masthead over at the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance because it is ramping up its shameful voter suppression campaign. It poses this question for candidates for chair of the Massachusetts Republican Party: will they bow to MassFiscal’s campaign to intimidate minorities or stand tall…
Month: December 2018
Who are the Special Interests Here?
While the 2016 statewide ballot question to expand charter schools failed to pass, the battle over charter schools continues to rage on in Massachusetts. Down here on the Southcoast, the Alma Del Mar Charter school in New Bedford is seeking to expand by adding two new schools and over 1,100 new charter school seats. The…
The MassFiscal Precedent!
Last week I called upon the Office of Campaign and Political Finance to disallow testimony from the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance on the “incidental expenditures” rule making because MassFiscal has ignored OCPF’s directive in CPF 16-20 to disclose a single donor. OCPF disregarded my advice, which is just fine. Their call. But there may be a…
Compromise in Longmeadow is the smart play
Did unfair treatment of the vanquished after World War I help produce World War II? Sorry, this question is a bit out of my wheelhouse, but I can tell you that if the Longmeadow School Committee doesn’t acknowledge and deal forthrightly with its present fracture, the future with or without the present superintendent will be…
Hands Off the Incidental Expenditures Rule
Office of Campaign and Political Finance has long followed a practice in which small “incidental” campaign finance expenses do not trigger a need to file as a political committee. Some union giving has fallen under this guidance and the practice is thus under attack from corporations, the wealthy, and the right wing dark money group…