Comments on Queer Conservative
Slow down there, boy! The unions are far less to blame than an entrenched, fifty-year hegemony of the Democratic party. Of the two hundred seats in the two houses of the legislature, Republicans number... twenty-seven! State agencies, the court system, the schools administration -- and in the cities as well -- reflect this political dominance.
And while the governor, like now, is often enough a Republican, he has been able to do nothing to change the agency (Democrat hacks, all) that oversaw the construction of the new roadway and tunnel, and which pocketed at least two of those fourteen billions of public funds -- never mind the project was originally costed at five billion.
And the people of Massachusetts keep reelecting these sods.
The only way in my mind that I can account for it, is the voting machines are fixed. Otherwise I must gaze upon my fellow citizens in bleak despair.
W
Okay, you're right Will. The Unions AND the politicians are to blame.
Vieing for the corruption prize of the times we will see the UN's Oil for Food Program and Boston's Big Dig. The best example of non- partisanship is the pervasive corruption involved in the project.
In the eighties contractors that were just bidding on the project were leasing office spaces. As the project took off there were certain jobs assigned in each department to guarantee diversity practices, not to mention the union stewards to each administrative department. This was all in the Commonwealth's camp, but it was mandated that contractors maintain the same type of staffing. Minority contractors were often reflected in a wife owning the dump-truck her husband drove; thus the Office of Women's Businesses played in.
The arm was also placed on contractors through unions, but more significantly by the politicians of each party. Police details were mandatory even in places where it was already a regular beat or traffic control point. Tours of the 'wonder' could be arranged for contributors of campaigns. Recently, trucks were cited clogging traffic passsing a methadone clinic their driveer's attended. (In my former capacity as an ALJ of three in the whole state, I denied licenses to drivers still in treatment - where did they get them?)
The venality is pervasive, The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is governed by the Best Men Money can Buy, whether it be a Wahabi'ish conservative like Willard "Mitt" Romney or a guile-glutton like Dukakis. It's equal opportunity; all you have to do is ante-up.
Shawmut -- Ooh, you're bad! And right on, natch.
ALJ?
W
ALJ? Administrative Law Judge. Member, State Board of Appeals. Even as a political appointee, I dropped my political activities to avoid any appearance of impropriety. When the Registrar of Motor Vehicle wanted a lawfully suspended license for a kid (driving to endanger) restored and I refused my vote, my appointment was terminated. If he were a tradesman with kids to support and a livlihood at risk (even a Big Dig employee), I might have considered a remedial solution, but it wasn't warranted by my standards.
It's a minor reflection of the way the abuse of authority prevails.
But, to the current topic. When we look at this current tragedy, we shouldn't ask how did the concrete collapse, but where the integrity of the job was sold out in the first place.
The Big Dig is Federally funded and locally executed. It should be investigated and findings processed by the US Justice Department. I'd hate to see the olympian criminality lost in a big yawn by a congressional committee.
The prevailing attitude in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is, to paraphrase Lord Acton, "Power corrupts..."....but someone must govern.
I hate to defend the unions, but in all fairness I don't see how this one can be laid at their feet. If the workmanship was shoddy, the inspectors failed in their duties when they signed off on it. Was the steel used up to standard or did they go cheap? Beats me. Let's see what they come up with when investigating. One thing is for sure, OSHA is going to be all over this among other agencies. Oooh the companies involved had better have all their documentation up to snuff because civil and possibly criminal sanctions (not to mention lawsuits) are coming...
John has a good point, The unions would serve themselves poorly indeed if the fault was in the work-force. As I indicated, "The arm was also placed on contractors through unions, but more significantly by the politicians of each party."
Lest I leave my comment regarding the unions hanging (placing the arm on contractors) it is not unusual for a politician wanting to place someone on the job.
What is of concern here is due diligence; the contractors and the inspectors that would ordinarily
be resposible for monitoring the progress of the project seem to be the place to look for mischief.
This has already become a lawyers picnic. Now it will become a lawyers' feast.
Another aspect in this is the detail that though it is a Federally funded project delivered to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, its execution has been in the hands of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, which like all 'authorities' is a debt service agency and has a great degree of autonomy. These organs float bonds and will be further burdens which are generally paid off by tolls. The only toll facility in The Commonwealth is the MassPike, which has no direct tolling facility regarding the "Big Dig" as it is Federally funded. A new way to look at a Massachusetts conundrum. Though MassPike which was completed in the sixties and has already paid for itself, The Turnpike Authority keeps issuuing new bonds to maintain itself in debt, thus independent of the state administration; controlling the job 'hackerama', police enforcement revenues, personnel unions, and to the degree of charging tolls for state vehicles.
To get a fair indication of how "authorities (debt service agencies)" function, I recommend the "Power Broker" by Robert Caro (@mid 70's).
Shawmut, have I ever heard you on 'RKO in the afternoon? "Hackerama" indeed!
You say, "What is of concern here is due diligence." Yes, on every level. As the facts emerge, it is appearing that cosmetic demands for the ceiling were contributory, and so the weight hung from the supports was greater by a factor of two or three than elsewhere in similar designs. Everyone instead of signing off, nodded off.
Hey Shawmut, you have a great handle on this stuff. Nice to meet you.
W
Almost right W.Willing. I listen to RKO, send and occasional email, but I don't call in. I interpret so much of talk-radio as the canonization of the obvious, that, even though I share some of the opinions, I'm too cynical to believe the public will act. 'After all is said and one, more is said and less is done.'
The catastophe of the Big Dig will easily be off-set as a public concern by a tire-sale, C-note gift prize at Fiilene's Basement or the designation of the state sandwich.
Boston's "Big Dig" is one of the Federal Government's biggest pork-barrels outside of the cost of war. The US attorney's office should be all over this with marshall's waiving subpoenae and auditors with eye-shades, calculators and calendars going back to the eighties.
The outrage should be national because the voting population sends the same people, Republican or Democrat, back to office out of political apathy; then they're outraged for fifteen minutes until the next one-liner is uttered.
The Governor made an appearance and then went to New Hampshire for a 'family dinner' (interpret primary state strategy). Nice of him to stop by. The Lt. Gov. put on a safety-vest and made a site appearance, the limit of her abilities being strained to her best.
With all the research in science and technology, we still don't get the discovery that politics and government provide the coops where capons reproduce.
Hey Shawmut, you got a mouth on ya like the QC hisself... gotta love it.
"The outrage should be national because the voting population sends the same people, Republican or Democrat, back to office out of political apathy." Yeah, they don't even need to put the incumbents' names at the top like they do. Hey have you ever figured out why our state... ah, ferget it.
"The Governor made an appearance and then went to New Hampshire for a 'family dinner' (interpret primary state strategy)." Here we're going to disagree. The Romney family is very tight and that was their annual big bash together, on the lake. Seeing as how the man was undermined every step of the way, in his efforts to reform the Authority, I don't blame him for wiping his hands of it for a day.
Regarding his Presidential ambitions... Mitt is a Mormon and the LDSers are not a Christian cult, because they're not even Christian. Just sayin'...
W
Good point! W.Willing. He did indicate it was a family event. I have no love or regard for the man, so I'll admit my bias. I've nicknamed him the American Wahabi for his "above it all" attitude and his pretenses of wanting to be one of us.
(OK, I'll admit it now, publicly, I was fired by his administration. Even though I 'maxed out' to his, Muffy's and Grabauskas' campaign. I bumped into him at a fundraiser at the Ritz where he gave me a great, "Hi Dave! How're ya doin!"
When I advised him that he [Muffy implied] fired me two months earlier [on behalf of someone who had been fired from another agency for mis-use of authority], he bolted.)
I love to see the graceful trip on their tongues.
Did either of you see the South Park episode that told the origin and history of Mormonism?
Laughed. My. Ass. Off.
The Peter Principle might suggest the following:
NAVY ADOPTS BIG DIG
Boston, July 14: The Bush administration in an effort to counter partisan slants aimed at GOP operatives in The Bay State has appointed Matt Amarello, formerly Executive of Boston’s Big Dig, as Secretary of the Navy. Amarello, not otherwise known for a naval background, will assume his command at the country's newest submarine base in Boston. A White House source said the reasoning for the appointment was Amarello's ability to keep his head above water while functioning beyond his depth.
A message from Massachusetts Governor, Willard "Mitt" Romney, was reported 'gargled' in transmission.
Shawmut: "I've nicknamed him the American Wahabi for his 'above it all' attitude and his pretenses of wanting to be one of us."
And that differs from Teddy, how, exactly? Or, going back, Mike Dukakis? Or... or...
But I dig the nickname!
"I bumped into him at a fundraiser at the Ritz where he gave me a great, 'Hi Dave! How're ya doin!'"
I assume he got the name wrong too?
QC: Heard about that episode, missed it (don't have cable). There's a movie too I haven't seen, a parody of Mormonism evidently, called Plan 10 from Outer Space.
Did you know they wear special underwear? (Briefs or boxers, couldn't tell you.)
Shawmut (again): Funny, funny! Nearly lost it when I read "gargled". Stick around, kid.
W
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