Medford Republican Committee to participate in Jan. 4 regional meeting

From the Medford Transcript

The Medford GOP, in cooperation with the Arlington, Belmont, and Billerica Republican committees, announce the first Regional Republican Committee meeting will take place on Jan. 4 at 7:30 p.m. at the 2nd floor meeting room of the Arlington Public Safety Bldg./Police Station, located at 112 Mystic St., Arlington.

This meeting will bring together members from the four Republican committees and will focus on planning and logistics for the upcoming U.S. Senate special election.

All Republicans, Independents, Democrats and any others in support of Scott Brown’s candidacy for U.S. Senate are also welcome to attend.

If you are in need of assistance getting to the meeting, the Arlington GOP may be able to provide transportation. Please consult their Web site at www.arlington-gop.com for more information.

Merry Christmas from the Medford Republican Party

JAN 23RD SET FOR ELECTION OF DELEGATES

The next meeting of the Medford Republican City Committee will be held in the Alden Council Chambers at Medford City Hall, 85 George Hassett Drive on Saturday January 23rd.

Registration for Ward Members and guests is slated to begin at 9:45AM and end at 10:15AM. The meeting will begin at 10:15AM with a short business session which will include remarks from candidates in attendance.

The Ward Committees will caucus and complete their selection of Delegates and Alternate Delegates to the Massachusetts State Convention at the DCU Center in Worcester on April 17, 2010. After the Ward Committees have made their decisions, City Committee Secretary Judy Marcella will receive their reports and file them together to the State Party Headquarters as required.

Republicans resident in the City of Medford and registered as of December 1, 2009 are eligible to seek election as Delegates or Alternate Delegates from the Ward in which they reside. Anyone seeking further information about the Rules of the Convention are invited to E-Mail the Committee at Medfordgop@gmail.com or call (781) 396-6056.

Holiday Message from the Chairman

HOLIDAY WISHES

During the last two weeks of the year when many religious and secular events abound and consume much of our attention, I often like to reflect upon the past year with friends and make wishes for the new year ahead.

First, I would be remiss if I did not thank everyone who contributed their time and support during the year. I specifically want to thank those individuals whose contribution of talent and devotion to service has made my effort to "Grow the Party" and the Medford Committee more successful in so many ways. On behalf of all, let me express my sincere thanks.

Second, the public efforts expressed by those of you who wrote "Letters to the Editor" or "Letters of Praise or Complaint" to public officials and others in defense of the values of our Party along with the effort of the Committee deserve respect for the stamina it takes to sign your name for all to see. Fighting openly for the values we hold and endorsing those we truly believe will support those core issues when elected, is what patriots do.

I am pleased to report that our effort to reach out to other local committees in our region and creating alliances has already begun to pay dividends for all concerned. Our E-Mail Newsletter, Website and especially our Blog are viewed and read across the State. Much praise for our outreach efforts have been received. When your articles and opinions are quoted and copied - you have arrived.

The new year ahead will begin with the largest effort in many a year to reach out to Republicans and activists who are not yet aware of our growing influence and work to support and elect qualified and honorable men and women to public office. Thanks to our new alliances and technology we anticipate further growth to our Committee. While some initiatives need new focus and support to also be successful; I believe more members, provides the opportunity for more success.

Finally, to each and every member of the Medford Republican Committee and also on your behalf; may I wish to one and all, and to friends and family near and far a very Merry Christmas, a joyous and safe Holiday and a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

Bernie Green
Chairman
Medford GOP

My letter to the Medford Transcript

What a coincidence, Ben Nelson – like Mary Landrieu before him – comes out of Harry Reid’s office with hundreds of millions of dollars in new pork spending for his state hanging out of his pockets, and suddenly announces his principled support for socialized medicine. And like Landrieu, he does so on a Saturday morning when most Americans are not watching the news. Funny how that seems to happen.

I think it is worth mentioning the pivotal role that Deval Patrick, Car Sciortino, Sean Garballey, the rest Massachusetts Legislature, and Paul Kirk played in making this left wing coup possible. Without the unconstitutional changes - supported by Garballey and Sciortino and passed by the Massachusetts House - retroactively granting the Governor’s powers regarding an already open Senate seat, Reid and Obama would have had to buy even more Senators off to pass this debacle, which most Americans now oppose. Federal Democrats knew this, which is why they openly violated Massachusetts sovereignty with the help of Governor Patrick, Obama’s inside man, and mocked our legal system as a state, changing it to suit the national Democrat socialist agenda.

Obama, Pelosi, and Reid are also very conscious of the fact that Scott Brown is on the horizon, and if he pulls off an upset over the empty suit, lockstep Democrat candidate next month, Brown would have been a reliable vote against the health care socialization coup, and other ill advised spending boondoggles popular amongst American Democrats. This is precisely why Emperor Obama dictated that his puppet congress and senate pass the bill before January and the special election.

Kudos to Deval Patrick, Sean Garballey, and Carl Sciortino, this massive violation of the U.S. Constitution would not have been possible without them.

Nick McNulty
Medford MA

Will GOP fight for Massachusetts Senate seat?

Notes from Washington
December 12, 2009

James R. Carroll
jcarroll@courier-journal.com
Previous columns

In case you missed it, there were party primaries for the U.S. Senate in Massachusetts last week.

Don’t feel bad if you failed to catch the returns. Most people in Massachusetts didn’t show up for the commonwealth’s first-ever special election.

But returns there were: the state’s attorney general, Martha Coakley, won the Democratic primary — the first woman to win a Senate race in Massachusetts. And Scott Brown, a state senator from Wrentham, a town just west of the New England Patriots’ stadium in Foxboro, took the Republican nomination.

You may be excused for thinking, “Poor Mr. Brown,” because the recent record of federal races in the Bay State has a distinct hue of Democratic blue. The state’s 10 U.S. House members are Democrats. Sen. John Kerry, a Democrat, was first elected to the Senate in 1984, while the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, also a Democrat, was first elected to the Senate in 1962.

The primaries and the Jan. 19 special election were called to fill the seat of Kennedy, who died in August.

Yes, you might think that the Massachusetts Republican Party might be able to meet in a phone booth in downtown Leominster, but that’s not quite the case.

Consider that Massachusetts was served by four successive Republican governors between 1991 and 2007.

And while Democratic voter registration vastly outnumbered the GOP’s by a margin of 37 to 12 percent, a whopping 51 percent of Massachusetts voters were registered as independents in 2008.

Full column

Medford City Council tires of arrogant Mayoral hubris

(the headline was mine, not Matt Reid's
-Nick McNulty, Medford GOP)

Medford City Council: Reports better late than never?

Medford -
By Matthew Reid/mreid@cnc.com
Wed Dec 02, 2009, 09:00 AM EST

While the City Council spent nearly an hour last week talking about why members won’t add to Medford’s debt because they feel they are ignored by the city’s administration, the group did receive a slew of reports that were long overdue.

During seven of the last 11 council meetings, at least one councilor has made reference to resolutions sent to the administration that have never been answered, some of which go back as far as two years.

But before last Tuesday’s meeting, the council received more than 100 pages of reports from various department heads, including the city engineer, solicitor, finance director and Mayor Michael J. McGlynn himself.

Some on the council believe McGlynn is finally getting the hint that the group is fed up with the status quo, but that “shoveling answers” in bulk defeats the purpose.

“When we got here this evening we received answers to papers that we asked about in October of 2008,” said Councilor Paul Camuso. “The people of this city deserve better than that.”

Councilor Robert Maiocco went as far as holding the stack of papers up at the meeting, to show the people watching on local cable how much information was given to the council such a short time before the meeting. He said asking members to absorb more than 100 pages of information in such a short amount of time was just as bad as having questions ignored.

“We’re supposed to read all of these tonight and then make intelligent and informed decisions on these issues on behalf of the taxpayers? I don’t think so,” Maiocco said. “The streets in this city regarding government are not one-way. Maybe some people think they are one-way, but they are two-ways as far as Councilor Maiocco thinks. It’s just a bad way to run a $130 million government.”

Related:Medford City Council Council tables requests until mayor agrees to meeting

Public wants more comprehensive plan on Green Line extension

By Auditi Guha
Wicked Local Cambridge
Posted Nov 25, 2009 @ 09:56 AM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cambridge — .
Hundreds crowded the Somerville High School auditorium last week to be heard at the Green Line extension community meeting by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act.

While all were happy to see the information available and the chance for public comment, most said the long-awaited Draft Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Assessment (DEIR/EA) presented is inadequate and will not serve as a complete environmental plan for the $1 billion extension project.

Full story

GOP Gov. Candidate Charlie Baker Chooses Running Mate

Nov 23, 2009 1:26 pm US/Eastern Mass.

GLEN JOHNSON, AP Political Writer

BOSTON (AP) ― Gubernatorial candidate Charles Baker followed a Massachusetts Republican tradition on Monday by selecting a veteran state legislator to be his running mate in next year's election.

Baker, the former Harvard Pilgrim Health Care president, tapped Sen. Richard Tisei as his ally for a primary against fellow Republican Christy Mihos. The winner faces the Democratic incumbent, Gov. Deval Patrick, and state Treasurer Timothy Cahill, who is running as an independent, in the November 2010 general election.

"Throughout his career in public service, Richard has built a solid voting record as a fiscal conservative and a reformer of state government," Baker said in a statement issued as he appeared with Tisei.

Tisei, a longtime legislator from Wakefield but largely unknown outside the state's anemic GOP circles, labeled Baker "the right person at the right time to get us out of this mess."

Full story

Scott Brown in the Boston Globe

I think Massachusetts voters should understand that if Scott Brown was the Junior Senator from Massachusetts yesterday, or if that seat remained open, Senator Reid's healthcare bill - which includes full coverage for illegal aliens and tax payer funded abortions - would not have passed for debate. The possibility of a U.S. Senator Scott Brown is what caused the Obama Administration, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid to use so much clout to install Paul Kirk in Kennedy's seat as a reliable vote last month. It is also what is causing them to move mountains and spend hundreds of millions in bribes to Senators like Landrieu and Lincoln to pass this unconstitutional boondoggle before the special election in January here in Massachusetts.

Make no mistake about it, Capuano and Coakley are both left wing hacks that will support whatever Obama and Pelosi tell them to. We've seen this for decades in Massachusetts, with Markey, Frank, Kerry, Kennedy, and our other federal politicians telling us what distinguished, independent-minded courageous leaders they are, only to watch them get elected and jump right into the satchel for the DNC and Democrat Caucus on every issue. Capuano or Coakley will surely support cap-and-trade, Stimulus Part III-X, Fairness Doctrine Part Deux, and most pivotally, the healthcare take over.

Scott Brown - Obama's worst nightmare, and America's best hope to retain their constitutional liberties until the cavalry arrives in 2010.
-Nick McNulty, Medford GOP



Home / Globe / Opinion / Op-ed Scott Brown

Tax cuts and fiscal discipline

By Scott Brown
November 22, 2009

I’M THE candidate running for the US Senate who you may not have heard of before but that you need to get to know. I’ve never served in Washington before. I don’t have Hollywood actors who have endorsed my campaign. I’m not the cautious politician who measures every word. I’m not a megamillionaire.

As a state senator, I’ve stood up to the tax-and-spenders at the State House. I’m a lieutenant colonel in the Army National Guard’s Judge Advocate General Corps. I have two daughters, Ayla, who plays basketball at Boston College, and Arianna, a pre-med student at Syracuse. I’ve been married to my wife, Gail, for more than 23 years.

I’m running because our state is hurting. The unemployment rate continues to rise. The response of the one-party political machine in Massachusetts has been to raise taxes of every type. The race for the Senate comes down to this: all my Democratic opponents will vote to raise taxes even higher, and I will not. Higher taxes will further weaken our economy and put even more people out of work.

I want to cut taxes. Years ago, President Kennedy called for an across-the-board tax cut for families and businesses. Here’s what he said: “Every dollar released from taxation that is spent or invested will help create a new job and a new salary and these new jobs and new salaries can create other jobs and other salaries, and more customers and more growth for an expanding American economy.’’

Kennedy understood, as I do, that we can strengthen America by letting people keep more of their own money. That, and not adding to the size and scale of government as we did with the stimulus, is what will get the economy moving.

Another of my priorities is curbing out-of-control federal spending. Recent news out of Washington that US debt has topped $12 trillion for the first time is an urgent reminder of just how much pork barrel spending has bankrupted the budget and tarnished both political parties.
Full column

The cost of on-the-job training

By MITT ROMNEY 11/19/09 5:04 AM EST

During the presidential campaign, many Americans thought that Barack Obama’s lack of leadership experience would not prevent him from being an effective president. His eloquence, his insistence that, yes, he could solve any problem and his image, so artfully crafted by his advertising team, led by David Axelrod, convinced many that hope could trump demonstrated ability. It has not. Nowhere is the evidence more apparent than in his mismanagement of the conflict in Afghanistan.

In March, not long after taking office, President Obama explained his convictions regarding the conflict. He charged that “the terrorists who planned and supported the Sept. 11 attacks are in Pakistan and Afghanistan.” Further, “if the Afghan government falls to the Taliban, that country will again be a base for terrorists who want to kill as many of our people as they possibly can.” And he concluded: “To succeed, we and our friends and allies must reverse the Taliban’s gains and promote a more capable and accountable Afghan government.” What followed this bold and definitive goal was the classic failing of people without real leadership experience: the inability to do what is necessary to achieve one’s objective.

The president refused to focus on what was most important. He took on so many tasks that he underinvested in the most critical ones. The restructuring of the entire health care system and his cap-and-trade proposal eclipsed the economy and the war. Investor Warren Buffett, the “sage of Omaha,” counseled him against such a foolhardy agenda, but Buffett’s wisdom was no match for the heady prospect of all-encompassing change.

Full column

Hearing for Public Input on Environmental Impact of Green Line Extenstion Project

- Allison Goldsberry

An important public hearing on the Green Line extension to Medford and Somerville is being held on Wednesday.

The state will present the draft environmental impact report (DEIR) it recently filed. The public will have the opportunity to comment about the report at the meeting and in writing until January 8, 2010.

The public hearing is at 6PM at the Somerville High School Auditorium. The school is located at 81 Highland Avenue.

“This is our opportunity to hear how our feedback has been incorporated into the project design, learn about its current status, and give additional feedback on everything from where the terminus station will be located to how mitigation is addressed,” said State Representative Carl Sciortino (D-Medford, Somerville) in an email to constituents.

The DEIR is the culmination of 24 months of analysis and preliminary design and engineering for the project, which will extend Green Line service from Lechmere Station in Cambridge through Somerville to Medford.

The report will need the approval of the state’s Executive Office of Environmental Affairs for the project to proceed to the next phase of detailed engineering and final design.

The report was posted to the Green Line Extension project website- click here to read it.

The report was delayed for many months due to citizen opposition in Somerville over the placement of a maintenance facility. According to the state transportation department, the report includes two additional options for the site of the controversial storage and maintenance facility.

EOT called the addition of the two potential sites “a good solution to move the project forward.” The agency was required to file the DEIR on December 1, 2008, but the filing was delayed due to its efforts to “find a positive resolution” regarding the maintenance facility location.

Written comments on the report can be sent to the following:

Secretary Ian Bowles
Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
MEPA Office
Attn: Holly Johnson, MEPA Analyst
EEA #13886
100 Cambridge Street, Suite 900
Boston, MA 02114
Fax: 617-626-1181
Email: Holly.S.Johnson@state.ma.u

2010: HEATING UP IN MA

Posted: Monday, November 16, 2009 10:20 AM
by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under: 2010

Stu Rothenberg on how the political environment has turned against Democrats. “The gubernatorial results should remind us that context matters and that over the past six months, the political context has changed dramatically,” he writes, adding: “Now it will be the GOP who can push the ‘culture of corruption’ argument that Democrats used so successfully in the recent past. Now Republicans will complain about high unemployment numbers, about causalities in Afghanistan and the administration’s foreign policy and about the government’s inability to get H1N1 flu shots to the American public. Moreover, as we are already seeing with health care reform, the internal contradictions of the Democratic Party are becoming apparent. For the past year, the national media have been focused on internal Republican divisions. But now, a fracturing in the Democratic ranks is likely to give plenty of fodder for journalists, columnists and talking heads. This is likely to further erode Democratic poll numbers.”

MASSACHUSETTS: Passion or hot-headed? The Boston Globe on Michael Capuano: “In fact, numerous words were exchanged but they were all of the heated variety. And in the end, Brown filed an application for a criminal complaint -- dismissed a month later for a lack of evidence -- alleging that Capuano ‘threatened to kill my dog and then me while holding an aluminum bat.’
Although Capuano denied threatening to kill Brown, he never denied threatening to kill her dog and, to this day, remains unapologetic. ’I would like you to find the father who would let a rottweiler rip his kid apart,’ he said. ‘Was I angry? Damn right I was.’”

Meanwhile, “Stephen Pagliuca, a Democratic candidate for Senate, is blitzing the television airwaves with ads declaring he will be immune to the powerful influence that special interests and their well-connected lobbyists wield over Congress because he won’t take their donations. But Bain Capital Partners, where he has been a senior managing partner and made his huge fortune, has spent millions to hire high-powered Washington lobbyists to protect its special interests on Capitol Hill.”

Letter to the Medford Transcript

Medford -

To the editor:

It was hard to determine who wrote the [Transcript’s Nov. 5] editorial, Chris Matthews or Keith Olberman. I never saw such a one-sided editorial in my life as what the Transcript is trying to pass off as fair and balanced. It quoted the far left media matters as its source. That’s like asking Hitler to evaluate the B’nai B’rith organization.

The editorial starts off about the brush back between Obama and FOX new and how it’s beneath the presidents dignity to even get involved. Then the editorial goes the same route as the president and his henchmen calling FOX anything but a new organization.

Repeating foolish statements about being an arm of the Republican party. Get real!!! If it weren’t for FOX, the whole country would only get half the story.

I have been reading the Transcript since it first was published. Never was there any similar article about the press as it pummeled George Bush for eight years. Where was the Transcript then??

Where is the umbrage regarding, ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, CNN and the rest of the solid Obama press lemmings? You mentioned the tea parties and no one who had an opposing view was interviewed. Maybe you should have been watching lapdogs ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN or MSNBC because that is all you saw.

Instead of whining maybe Obama could take a page out of George Bush’s book who took the blows and did it his way. Maybe before long Obama will stop his cry baby act and start governing.



Richard Arthur Grant

Upcoming GOP Events

Medford City Council is having a public forum with the Mass. Executive Office of Transportation (EOT) officials in attendance on November 17th at 7 p.m. at City Hall, to discuss the proposed Green Line Extension.


Scott Brown's US Senate campaign is asking for volunteers to make phone calls or help with door knocking. Please contact the team at 781-444-0200 or Laura Goodspeed laura@brownforussenate.com or Rob Fortes robertfortes@brownforussenate.com


Tuesday, November 17th, Mihos fundraiser with Dick Morris at Salvatore's at the Riverwalk, 354 Merrimack St, Lawrence. Book signing tickets are $300PP, $500/ couple. General admission: $35PP, $60/couple. RSVP: 508-771-0900 x227 or email: bscalzi@christy2010.com


Tuesday, November 17th, Kara Fratto, candidate for state rep, 30th Middlesex, campaign kickoff with guest speaker Bill Hudak, candidate for Congress, 6th district, 6:30PM at Woburn Elks Lodge, 295 Washington St. tickets are $30PP, $50/couple. RSVP 781-205-4895


Wednesday, November 18th, 7PM. Sandi Martinez Committee reception at the home of Jacques Wajsfelner in Weston. RSVP to events@sandimartinez.com


Wednesday, November 18th, MA Republican State Committee Meeting, DCU Center in Worcester


Thursday, November 19th, Martinez Committee reception and book signing with Howie Carr at the home of Lawrence and Michael Mehl, 59 Lincoln St, Waltham. RSVP to events@sandimartinez.com


Saturday, November 21st, Earl Sholley Committee Dinner Dance, 6-11 PM, Elks Lodge, 4500 No. Main St, Fall River $20. Advance ticket purchase only. RSVP: 508-254-7785


Monday, November 23, 7:30pm, Arlington Republican Town Meeting at the Arlington Public Safety Building (Police Station)


Tuesday, November 24th, Martinez Committee Gala Cocktail Reception with CLT Founder Barbara Anderson,7 PM at the home of Janice & Kerry Kissinger, 189 Elizabeth Ridge Rd, Carlisle. RSVP: events@sandimartinez.com


Thursday, December 3rd, Scott Brown Fundraiser, at the home of Cynthia and Paul Avella, 94 Grist Mill Rd, Littleton, 5:30 - 7PM. RSVP to Paul: 978-354-7235


Sunday, December 6, Meet the Candidates at the Great Mandarin Restaurant, 186 Cambridge Rd, Woburn at 5PM. Invited candidates: Scott Brown, US Senate; Charlie Baker, Governor, Sam Meas, Congress, 5th district. Confirmed Candidates: Christy Mihos, Governor; Mary Connaughton, Auditor, Earle Stroll, Auditor, Bill Hudak, Congress, 6th district; Kara Fratto, 30th Middlesex district. Tickets: Early rsvp by November 30th, Seniors and children $20 PP, others $25 PP. On Dec 1, all tickets increase $10 per person; RSVP: hehatch@gis.net


Wednesday, December 9th, MassGOP Christmas Party, 6-9 PM, at Johnnie's On The Side, 138 Portland St, Boston. Tickets: $50 PP. RSVP: Ljones@MassGOP.com

Mihos urges tax cuts

By Paul Crocetti/Daily News staff
MetroWest Daily News

MARLBOROUGH — .Describing himself as a "consummate outsider," gubernatorial candidate Christy Mihos yesterday called for sweeping cuts in taxes and state employees.

Mihos is making a run for the corner office as a Republican after previously attempting to win election as an independent.

"If you're looking for an insider, I'm not your candidate," Mihos said at the a breakfast event presented by the Marlborough Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Chamber President and CEO Susanne Morreale Leeber introduced Mihos as a "dear friend of Massachusetts toll payers and taxpayers."

Mihos told the group of about 50 city and business leaders that he is working with Carla Howell, of the Center for Small Government, on a 2010 ballot question that would lower the state sales tax from 6.25 percent to 3 percent.

Full story

What the Pelosi Health-Care Bill Really Says

OPINION

NOVEMBER 7, 2009
By BETSY MCCAUGHEY

The health bill that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is bringing to a vote (H.R. 3962) is 1,990 pages. Here are some of the details you need to know.

What the government will require you to do:

• Sec. 202 (p. 91-92) of the bill requires you to enroll in a "qualified plan." If you get your insurance at work, your employer will have a "grace period" to switch you to a "qualified plan," meaning a plan designed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. If you buy your own insurance, there's no grace period. You'll have to enroll in a qualified plan as soon as any term in your contract changes, such as the co-pay, deductible or benefit.

• Sec. 224 (p. 118) provides that 18 months after the bill becomes law, the Secretary of Health and Human Services will decide what a "qualified plan" covers and how much you'll be legally required to pay for it. That's like a banker telling you to sign the loan agreement now, then filling in the interest rate and repayment terms 18 months later.

On Nov. 2, the Congressional Budget Office estimated what the plans will likely cost. An individual earning $44,000 before taxes who purchases his own insurance will have to pay a $5,300 premium and an estimated $2,000 in out-of-pocket expenses, for a total of $7,300 a year, which is 17% of his pre-tax income. A family earning $102,100 a year before taxes will have to pay a $15,000 premium plus an estimated $5,300 out-of-pocket, for a $20,300 total, or 20% of its pre-tax income. Individuals and families earning less than these amounts will be eligible for subsidies paid directly to their insurer.

• Sec. 303 (pp. 167-168) makes it clear that, although the "qualified plan" is not yet designed, it will be of the "one size fits all" variety. The bill claims to offer choice—basic, enhanced and premium levels—but the benefits are the same. Only the co-pays and deductibles differ. You will have to enroll in the same plan, whether the government is paying for it or you and your employer are footing the bill.

• Sec. 59b (pp. 297-299) says that when you file your taxes, you must include proof that you are in a qualified plan. If not, you will be fined thousands of dollars. Illegal immigrants are exempt from this requirement.

• Sec. 412 (p. 272) says that employers must provide a "qualified plan" for their employees and pay 72.5% of the cost, and a smaller share of family coverage, or incur an 8% payroll tax. Small businesses, with payrolls from $500,000 to $750,000, are fined less.

Eviscerating Medicare:

In addition to reducing future Medicare funding by an estimated $500 billion, the bill fundamentally changes how Medicare pays doctors and hospitals, permitting the government to dictate treatment decisions.

• Sec. 1302 (pp. 672-692) moves Medicare from a fee-for-service payment system, in which patients choose which doctors to see and doctors are paid for each service they provide, toward what's called a "medical home."

The medical home is this decade's version of HMO-restrictions on care. A primary-care provider manages access to costly specialists and diagnostic tests for a flat monthly fee. The bill specifies that patients may have to settle for a nurse practitioner rather than a physician as the primary-care provider. Medical homes begin with demonstration projects, but the HHS secretary is authorized to "disseminate this approach rapidly on a national basis."

A December 2008 Congressional Budget Office report noted that "medical homes" were likely to resemble the unpopular gatekeepers of 20 years ago if cost control was a priority.

• Sec. 1114 (pp. 391-393) replaces physicians with physician assistants in overseeing care for hospice patients.

• Secs. 1158-1160 (pp. 499-520) initiates programs to reduce payments for patient care to what it costs in the lowest cost regions of the country. This will reduce payments for care (and by implication the standard of care) for hospital patients in higher cost areas such as New York and Florida.

• Sec. 1161 (pp. 520-545) cuts payments to Medicare Advantage plans (used by 20% of seniors). Advantage plans have warned this will result in reductions in optional benefits such as vision and dental care.

• Sec. 1402 (p. 756) says that the results of comparative effectiveness research conducted by the government will be delivered to doctors electronically to guide their use of "medical items and services."

Questionable Priorities:

While the bill will slash Medicare funding, it will also direct billions of dollars to numerous inner-city social work and diversity programs with vague standards of accountability.

• Sec. 399V (p. 1422) provides for grants to community "entities" with no required qualifications except having "documented community activity and experience with community healthcare workers" to "educate, guide, and provide experiential learning opportunities" aimed at drug abuse, poor nutrition, smoking and obesity. "Each community health worker program receiving funds under the grant will provide services in the cultural context most appropriate for the individual served by the program."

These programs will "enhance the capacity of individuals to utilize health services and health related social services under Federal, State and local programs by assisting individuals in establishing eligibility . . . and in receiving services and other benefits" including transportation and translation services.

• Sec. 222 (p. 617) provides reimbursement for culturally and linguistically appropriate services. This program will train health-care workers to inform Medicare beneficiaries of their "right" to have an interpreter at all times and with no co-pays for language services.

• Secs. 2521 and 2533 (pp. 1379 and 1437) establishes racial and ethnic preferences in awarding grants for training nurses and creating secondary-school health science programs. For example, grants for nursing schools should "give preference to programs that provide for improving the diversity of new nurse graduates to reflect changes in the demographics of the patient population." And secondary-school grants should go to schools "graduating students from disadvantaged backgrounds including racial and ethnic minorities."

• Sec. 305 (p. 189) Provides for automatic Medicaid enrollment of newborns who do not otherwise have insurance.

For the text of the bill with page numbers, see www.defendyourhealthcare.us.

—Ms. McCaughey is chairman of the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths and a former Lt. Governor of New York state.
Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page A17

Michael Capuano ranks 10th in Congress for skipping votes

Another early day for Mike Capuano... Ted Kennedy has been #1 on the Senate absentee list for years, so I don't see how this disqualifies Mike from the Moonbatstakes. Also, us citizens of the Commonwealth are actually better represented when our lawmakers do not go to work, so Mike's fast becoming my favorite moonbat.
-Nick McNulty

Michael Capuano ranks 10th in Congress for skipping votes

By Dave Wedge

U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano has missed more Capitol Hill votes than all but nine of the nation’s 435 members of Congress, skipping key tallies this year on veterans issues, defense spending, highway funding and the impeachment of a federal judge, records show.

Capuano, who has boasted he is the Senate hopeful that most “closely mirrors” late U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, ranks 10th in missed votes among members of Congress, blowing off 128 votes - or 14 percent - this year, according to congressional records compiled by The Washington Post.

The Somerville Democrat, who has pinned his Senate hopes on his claim to be the most connected Washington insider in the race for Kennedy’s seat, missed a series of votes just last week, including a bill to fund a new veterans hospital in Washington state, as well as another to help small businesses land financing. He also missed October votes on Department of Defense and Homeland Security spending and a key vote on a massive highway construction funding package.

Martha Coakley AWOL in Amherst

Senatorial Candidate Martha Coakley - and her sister who has lived overseas - both were absent from the Foreign Policy debate in Amherst. All other candidates were present, and Coakley is now hard at work, in true John Kerry fashion, trying to avoid any other televised debates. The 3 other Democrat candidates want at least 3 more, Coakley will only agree to one, and it will likely be on a Friday night, or during a Patriots game, as John Kerry did when running against Jeff Beatty.

Scott Brown is waiting in the wings to clean the clock out of whichever moonbat emerges, likely Coakley who is running this campaign as she has run her entire career, by ducking the voters, wasting millions of taxpayer dollars, and consolidating special interest support behind her candidacy.

Nick McNulty

Rasmussen:58% Say Next President Likely To Be Republican

Fifty-eight percent (58%) of likely voters say it is at least somewhat likely the next president of the United States will be a Republican, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

The number has been trending in this direction since Democrat Barack Obama took office in January and is up 14 points since then.

Thirty-one percent (31%) of voters see it as Very Likely that the next president will be a Republican.

Full story

Looking to 2010, GOP focuses on fiscal restraint

Massachusetts GOP Chairman Jennifer A. Nassour

By Ralph Z. Hallow and Donald Lambro THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele is working behind the scenes to unify state GOP leaders around an anti-spending, small-government theme for the 2010 midterm elections, seeking to shunt family values to second-tier status in pursuit of independent voters whose economic fears cost Democrats in Tuesday's elections

Massachusetts GOP Chairman Jennifer A. Nassour and GOP leaders see independent, moderate voters who swing elections as ripe and want to ensure the Republican Party is best positioned to pick off their support.

"If I had to focus on the issues we should run on next year," they would be "spending, jobs, big government and taxes. That's what people are talking about," Mrs. Nassour said.

Exit polls showed that independent voters, who powered President Obama and Democrats to victory in 2008, rushed to Republicans on Tuesday by a 2-to-1 margin, delivering a landslide victory to Republican Robert F. McDonnell over Democrat R. Creigh Deeds in Virginia's gubernatorial contest and upending incumbent New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine. Republican Chris Christie won the solidly blue state.

Full story

Mark Levin's speech on Capitol Hill

’09 a return to normal

Dems want to believe the myth
By Charles Krauthammer
Friday, November 6, 2009

WASHINGTON - Sure, Election Day 2009 will scare moderate Democrats and make passage of Obamacare more difficult. Sure, it makes it easier for resurgent Republicans to raise money and recruit candidates for 2010. But the most important effect of Tuesday’s elections is historical. It demolishes the great realignment myth of 2008.

In the aftermath of last year’s Obama sweep, we heard endlessly about its fundamental, revolutionary, transformational nature. How it was ushering in an FDR-like realignment for the 21st century in which new demographics - most prominently, rising minorities and the young - would bury the GOP far into the future. One book proclaimed “The Death of Conservativism,” while the more modest merely predicted the terminal decline of the Republican Party into a regional party of the Deep South or a rump party of marginalized angry white men.

This was all ridiculous from the beginning - 2008 was a historical anomaly. A uniquely charismatic candidate was running at a time of deep war weariness, with an intensely unpopular Republican president, against a politically incompetent opponent, amid the greatest financial collapse since the Great Depression. And still he won by only seven points.

Full column

ROMERO SEEKS SUPPORT FOR ELECTION EFFORT

Karla Romero, a candidate for State Representative, is seeking election to the State Legislature in 2010 from the 35th Middlesex District which is composed of parts of Malden and Medford. Medford’s Wards 1 and 2 and parts of Wards 3, 7 and 8 are included in the District currently held by Representative Paul Donato. Describing herself as a fiscal conservative and social moderate Romero hopes her campaign against an entrenched opponent will be successful and bring change to the District.

Speaking about her views on spending levels and the ever increasing burden on taxpayers at the October 27th meeting of the Medford Republican City Committee, Karla stated that she hopes to slow the growth in government spending. The Malden resident is enthused about the possibilities; she understands the amount of hard work ahead and asks for the support of the Committee and voters in the District.

STATE AUDITOR CANDIDATE CONNAUGHTON AT OCTOBER MEETING

Former Massachusetts Turnpike Board member Mary Z. Connaughton, candidate for State Auditor, spoke at the October 27th meeting of the Medford Republican City Committee about her public service experience and how her ‘insiders view’ has shaped her understanding of the important need for change at all levels of State government.

Mary’s first foray into public office began when she was asked by the Framingham Republican Committee to run for State Representative. While she lost that race, she was surprised later when then Governor Romney asked her to be a board member of the Turnpike Authority. Her skills as a trained CPA helped her quickly grasp the finances of the Authority.

Connaughton spoke on many of the not well known details of the Transportation Reform Bill which has created a State-wide Authority with a five member Board which now has taken control of the Massachusetts Highway Department, the Massachusetts Turnpike, the Registry of Motor Vehicles, the MBTA and several regional airports across the State. The term of office for the newly appointed Board members will run to 2013, which will prevent the next Governor from having control of that body until his last year in office. Interestingly, part of the 71 million dollar startup cost may include raises to Mass Highway workers to equal Mass Turnpike employees.

As a result of her service on the Turnpike Authority Board, Connaughton has developed strong views about the independence and oversight needed to properly lead the State Auditors office. With the decreased resources available to the working press, fewer reports on the doings of many State agencies are provided to the public. She stated that the need for more transparency when evaluating and reporting on State agencies has not been addressed by the current State Auditor.

Hello, Tipping Point

Kim Strassel

The Obama presidency was always a race against time.

'We don't look at either of these gubernatorial races . . . as something that portends a lot for our legislative efforts," insisted White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs on Tuesday, as New Jersey and Virginia voters gave Democrats a thumping. Unfortunately for the White House, its opinion no longer counts.

On Jan. 20, Barack Obama began a race against time. The White House knew its liberal agenda would prove unpopular in many parts of the country represented by Democrats. So long as the president looked strong, those Blue Dogs and freshmen and swing-state senators would stick. Show them any sign of weakness, however, and rattled Dems would begin to care more about their own re-elections than they did their president.

Tuesday, the White House hit that tipping point.

Full column

Pelosi Breaks Pledge to Put Final Health Care Bill Online for 72 Hours Before Vote

Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office tells THE WEEKLY STANDARD that the speaker will not allow the final language of the health care to be posted online for 72 hours before bringing the bill to a vote on the House floor, despite her September 24 statement that she was "absolutely" committed to doing so.

House members are still negotiating important issues in the bill--whether it will provide taxpayer-funding for abortions, for example. Pelosi is pushing for a Saturday House vote, and a number of big changes will be introduced, likely less than 24 hours before the vote takes place (if in fact it does). The Rules Committee hasn't yet released its resolution, or rule, that must be passed before the bill can move from committee to the floor. The rule will set the terms of debate and determine what amendments are in order.

It seems likely that the rule will allow very few, if any, up-or-down votes on amendments on the House floor. Rather, the rule will include a series of amendments that will all be adopted at once if the rule passes

Full column

True conservatives just want a turn

By Jonah Goldberg
November 3, 2009

Let me offer a counter-theory, admittedly lacking in such color but making up for it with evidence and consideration of what conservatives actually believe.

After 15 or 20 years of steady moderation, many conservatives think it might be time to give their ideas a try.

Bush's "compassionate conservatism" was promoted as an alternative to traditional conservatism. Bush promised to be a "different kind of Republican," and he kept that promise. He advocated government activism, and he put our money where his mouth was. He federalized education with No Child Left Behind -- coauthored by Teddy Kennedy -- and oversaw the biggest increase in education spending (58%) in history, according to the Heritage Foundation, while doing next to nothing to advance the conservative idea known as school choice.

With the prescription drug benefit, he created the biggest new entitlement since the Great Society (Obama is poised to topple that record). He increased spending on the National Institutes of Health by 36% and international aid by 74%, according to Heritage. He oversaw the largest, most porktacular farm bills ever. He signed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, a massive new regulation of Wall Street. His administration defended affirmative action before the Supreme Court. He pushed amnesty for immigrants, raised steel tariffs, supported Title IX and signed the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform legislation.

Oh, and he, not Obama, initiated the first bailouts and TARP.

Now, not all of these positions were wrong or indefensible. But the notion that Bush pursued conservative ideas with "dogmatic fixity" is dogmatic nonsense.

Full story

ELECTION 2009: Newcomers Falco, Guzik, Scarpelli and O'Keefe oust long-time three incumbents

By Nell Escobar Coakley & Matthew Reid/medford@cnc.com
Tue Nov 03, 2009, 09:50 PM EST

Medford -

It’s a changing of the guard, as sweeping changes took place on the Medford School Committee tonight, with no less than four newcomers pushing out incumbents.

Both City Council incumbents and Mayor Michael J. McGlynn were voted back in.

George Scarpelli topped the School Committee ticket, with 4,162 votes followed closely by fellow newcomer John Falco with 3,849 votes. Challengers Sharon Guzik and William O’Keefe also swept into office with 3,374 and 3,155 votes respectively.

The night’s voting left only two incumbents — Ann Marie Cugno and Paulette Van der Kloot — holding on to their seats with 3,657 and 3,182 votes each.

Long-time School Committee members William Brady, Robert E. Skerry Jr. and Lena DiGiantommaso were ousted, much to the surprise of onlookers in City Hall waiting for the evening’s results.

Full story

Revolt in New York (a cautionary tale for Massachusetts Republicans)

Beltway bigs misjudged public dismay against the Democratic agenda in Washington.
The Wall Street Journal

Saturday's decision by Republican Dede Scozzafava to drop out of tomorrow's special Congressional election in upstate New York is a potentially big political moment that could help to return the GOP to first principles—or could lead to internecine ruin. Much will depend on how GOP leaders and conservative activists respond.

Picked by GOP elites without a primary and with a voting record to the left of many Albany Democrats, Ms. Scozzafava faced a revolt by local and national conservatives in favor of businessman Doug Hoffman, who was nominated on the Conservative Party line. The longtime GOP assemblywoman saw herself falling in the polls and yesterday endorsed Democratic lawyer Bill Owens, who could still win the GOP-leaning seat with a plurality.

The voter revolt ought to be a lesson to the GOP's backroom boys, especially in New York state, where the old Al D'Amato insider club has led the party to irrelevance. GOP state chairman Joe Mondello, now thankfully retired, and Beltway bigs misjudged public dismay against the Democratic agenda in Washington. Nominating a candidate who "can win" in the Northeast does not have to mean someone whose voting record is more liberal on taxes and unions than that of most Blue Dog Democrats.

(emphasis added)

Full story

Romney goes to bat for Brown

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, left, was with State Sen. Scott Brown, R-Wrentham, at a fundraising event Friday night at Lucianos at Lake Pearl in Wrentham. (Staff photo by Mark Stockwell)

WRENTHAM - Former Gov. Mitt Romney Friday declared that Washington is being run by "neo-monarchists" and the country needs a second revolution to restore power to the people.

Romney, speaking at a fund-raising event for state Sen. Scott Brown, urged those in attendance to send Brown to Washington to help the revolution along.

The Republican and former presidential candidate compared the current political situation to the conditions that existed in 1776.

Back then, he said, monarchists believed in a "strong central leader" while revolutionaries wanted to hand government over to the people.

The people won and the result was a "stronger nation and the land of opportunity," he said. Currently the country is being run by those who believe in "government telling us what to do," including government-run health care and deficit spending.

Romney said the first signs of change may come Tuesday in races for governor in New Jersey and Virginia.

Republicans are running well in both races, he said.

"We'll win there if there is no cheating," he said after repeating a joke that the races "are within the margin of cheating."

Full story

Know your Medford City and School Councilor candidates - Candidate Primer

Special to the Medford GOP
Nick McNulty

In recent weeks, I have sent out feelers to the candidates for City Council reelection, of the 6 current councilors, Councilors Dello Russo, Marks, Camuso, Lungo and Muccini all got back to me, and I was able to speak to them about their personal positions on the issues. The recent creation of a new tax (the Medford meals tax, adopted by only 30 cities and towns in the Commonwealth) is easily my #1 issue as a fiscal conservative Republican, and our subsequent conversations reflected this. And in fairness to the Councilors, Mayor McGlynn was the main proponent of the meals tax creation, and he deliberately rushed the new tax into being with Rahm-Emmanuel like haste, before voters had a chance to be heard on the issue(such is the heavy handed behavior characteristic of entrenched, unopposed Democrat executive leadership)

I am still on the fence about my personal votes, although the five councilors above - by virtue of getting back to me promptly and in at least 2 instances, by virtue of further clarifying their positions to allaying my personal concerns with their voting records - are the frontrunners for my votes. I will also reach out to the challengers, but can pretty safely say anyone that supported creating a new tax on Medford's small business owners and consumers during a deep recession, and did not accept my invitation to qualify that vote(some, for instance, at least insisted on a sunset clause) will not receive my support. That's my principle; fiscal and personal accountability are two of my highest priorities in political representatives at all levels, to create a new tax in Medford and then choose not to respond to requests for comment adds up to two strikes for me, so those candidates are looking at an 0-2 count for my votes right now with one more swing to make before Tuesday.

But again, those are my personal views, I encourage all Medford voters to reach out to their City Council and School Committee candidates(all can be contacted through their campaign websites, incumbents through the Medford City Council web page) and illicit their thoughts on individual positions near and dear to each particular voter. To paraphrase Socrates, an unexamined vote is not worth casting.

Without further adieu, the candidates. Links to the candidates statements with excerpts are below, click through the links for full statements. Any ommissions are unintentional, and probably means I had a hard time tracking down the pages for individual candidates. Contact the Medford GOP with any corrections and/or ommissions, and I will remidiate;

City Council;

Michael Marks runs for re-election to Medford City Council

I have been a vocal and active member of the council successfully advocating for many issues important to our residents such as:

Offering the resolve which limited the number of months odd/even winter parking is in effect to alleviate parking congestion.

I led the charge to lower the age of eligibility for a senior property tax exemption from age 70 to 65 assisting those seniors who are on fixed incomes to stay in their homes.

My commitment to you is that I will continue to be your voice in city government and make myself accessible to all those who wish to be heard no matter how big or small the issue.

(Editor's note:Marks has also been fighting the apparently unbridled proliferation of Clear Channel billboards along I-93, and abstained from the vote that created the Medford meals tax of August, 2009)

Robert Maiocco announces candidacy for Medford City Council re-election

“My education, training and long experience in finance are invaluable to me in dealing with the city’s fiscal and tax issues,” he advised.

Maiocco listed some of the other major matters that he has always included in his council agenda:

· Additional parking spaces throughout the city, a new Medford Square garage.

· Cleanup of shopping areas and local streets.

· Provide fully for Medford’s public library needs.

· Give strong support to upgrading our schools, providing state-of-the-art educational facilities.

· Constant push for meeting the needs of our senior citizens, the handicapped and those in need. As a former member of the Council on Aging, I am aware of the special problems of our elders.

· Protect open space and historic sites and structures. Assure environmental preservation. Push for more safe bicycle and walking paths.

· Maintain a high level of public safety for all our people through adequate staffing and equipment for our fire and police departments. Increase traffic enforcement especially accident-prone intersections and busy crosswalks.

(Editor's Note: Maiocco abstained from the vote that created the Medford meals tax of August, 2009)

Stephanie Muccini Burke runs for re-election to Medford City Council seat

Having a masters in taxation from Bentley College, being a CPA and especially being a mother of three children, force me to be objective when analyzing the issues. I place great importance on my financial background and am always cognizant of the tax impact versus benefit when casting a vote.

I take great pride in being a lifetime resident of Medford (MHS Class of 1980). However, we are all here by choice because of the great offerings around us. We can brag of our rich heritage, being close to the Mystic/Fells and now Rivers Edge Park, pride in our schools and our wonderfully diverse neighborhoods.

If you would like to see more on the election, please visit www.youtube.com/CouncillorBurke for more information on Rivers Edge and my campaign

(Editor's Note: Burke voted in favor of the vote that created the Medford meals tax of August, 2009)

Paul Camuso runs for re-election to Medford City Council seat

My priorities include the following:

· An aggressive approach to increase state funding for municipal services. Reductions in local aide and increased assessments have cost us the revenue necessary to do many important projects.

We cannot let the state abandon local government. I will push hard for a restoration of state funding to fiscal year 2002 levels and a reduction of charter school assessments.

· Increased development of local business opportunities to provide jobs to local residents and strengthen our revenue base. We have several areas throughout the community that need more assistance and have the potential to yield greater results for employers, employees, and consumers.

We should be a thriving center of community activity and a destination point for knowledgeable consumers. Quality service vendors with good parking can be achieved with a strong commitment. The Medford Square revitalization project needs to be accelerated and supported.

· Environmental concerns cannot be overlooked. We must have a progressive approach to preserving our open spaces, parks, air, water supply, and visual appearance. We must develop our green energy capacities and encourage conservation wherever possible.

(Editor's Note: Camuso voted in favor of the vote that created the Medford meals tax of August, 2009)

City Council Candidate Frederick Dello Russo, Jr.

I want to continue to be a voice of reason as we tackle the complexities of the present economy. I will continue to work for the integrity of our neighborhoods, the delivery of dependable public services, mutual respect between business people and residents.

Throughout my years of involvement with the Green Line Project, I have sought to make this project good for our community and to foster a spirit of mutual respect so that citizen input could be heard. As the project reaches a significant point this November with responses to the Draft Environmental Impact Report, I will make sure that the betterment of Medford is a priority

(Editor's Note: Dello Russo voted in favor of the vote that created the Medford meals tax of August, 2009)

Breanna Lungo-Koehn, City Council Candidate

I have been a Medford City Councilor for almost eight years and am currently a candidate for my fifth term. I was born and raised in Medford. I attended St. Joseph’s School and Graduated from Medford High School in 1998. I got my undergraduate degree in Criminal Justice and Psychology from Endicott College in 2002. I then attended law school and obtained my Judicial Doctorate degree in 2006. I am currently at the end of my 3rd year as a practicing Attorney. I recently opened by own law firm in Wellington Circle, Medford, with my long time friend, Cathleen Collins, Esq. In 2007, I was married to my now husband David Koehn. We were offically married in my parents Gazebo on South Street, Medford. I am lucky to be raising my fourteen month old Daughter, Bayley, at our home on Massachusetts Ave, Medford. I tell you all this to show you that I am committed to the City of Medford, its residents, and its future.

(Editor's Note: Lungo-Koehn voted in favor of the vote that created the Medford meals tax of August, 2009)

City Council Candidate Robert Penta

I want to continue in my pursuit to enhance the:

- Professional Managed Medford Square Re-development
- Brooks Estate
- Chevalier Auditorium
- New West Medford Community Center
- Community attitudes of conservation
- Possibility of a satellite fire and police location at the State Police Building at Wellington Circle
- Traffic enforcement and an economic and beautification enhancement program for our city’s squares

I’m especially proud that both Councillor Stephanie Burke and myself were the leading city officials to have recognized all WWII Medford veterans at the new Veterans Memorial on Winthrop Street, whether they went to war from Medford or made Medford their home after the war, so as to receive the same equal honor and respect they deserve.

(Editor's Note: Penta abstained from the vote that created the Medford meals tax of August, 2009)

Brian Chamberlain seeking votes for Medford City Council

“By promoting strong and responsive communication with the people who elect me, I will always be there to stand up for citizens who work hard to earn their wages and make Medford their home.

“Citizens deserve the very best in their city, clean neighborhoods, parks and playgrounds with the most advanced public utilities. They deserve the best in protection from fire and to be free from crime. Receiving the best in public education for their children and their neighbor’s children, with the possibility of career training and job skills development for the youth of Medford as well as higher education. Exceptional, quality services for our senior citizens and their caregivers, and most of all, a representative on the council overseeing that Medford spends its hard earned revenue from the people, in the most effective ways for the people’s needs in Medford”.

Chamberlian holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Urban Studies from Worcester State College, as well as a certificate of paralegal studies from Assumption College. He has more than 20 years working in law enforcement/public safety presently working protective services for a large national institution.

Joseph Federico

“I’ve lived here all my life, 55 years, and live in one of the oldest houses in town,” Federico said. “No one can say that I am not familiar with Medford or what is going on here.”

“I really think it’s time we get the current council members out,” he said. “You watch the meetings on TV and it’s just the same old, same old. It needs to change.”

“For one thing, I think it would be a good idea to have each and every council member take the money they make for serving, pool it together and help the elderly people of Medford pay for medicine,” he said.

“I know a lot of the council members personally, and I can honestly say that they are not bad people,” he said. “But it is clear that they all have their own opinions that they try to push through, and there needs to be more agreement between the members.”

Mark Arena announces Medford City Council candidacy

By training and nature, I am a negotiator and a consensus builder. My candidacy has been endorsed by the 11,500 member Teamsters Local 25, the 3,300 member Ironworkers Local 7 and the 16,000 member SEIU Local 615, where I serve as an elected labor representative and contract negotiator at Tufts University.

As the mayor’s appointee to the Board of Directors of Medford Community Housing, Inc., an affordable housing non-profit, I serve as the elected vice president.

I will foster strong relationships and maintain open lines of communication with the city’s department heads responsible for the delivery of vital city services. My love for this city is rivaled only by my commitment to its progression.

My philosophy is simple and borrowed from a proud service organization, it is service above self.


School committee;

Medford School Committee Vice-Chairperson Ann Marie Cugno seeks re-election

In these last four years, I am proud to say, I am a co-founder and member of our newly formed Stand for Children Medford Chapter, a lobbying committee formed by parents working with other communities in our state in advocating more funding towards our educational system. I have worked on an anti-bullying bill with Rep. Paul Donato and former Sen. Jarrett Barrios.

I co-chaired with Rep. Carl Sciortino in a pilot program for Energy Smackdown, a project incorporating a reality contest between Arlington, Cambridge and Medford families, bringing energy awareness and education to the for front on carbon footprint.

I have been a member and teacher for the Medford Family Network and now working as a substitute teacher in a nearby community.

School Committee Candidate Bill Brady

I currently have two grandchildren in the Medford Public Schools and it is personally important to me that all children get the best education possible. I will ensure that you will have a strong voice in support of such key issues as:

•Safe and secure environment including strong substance abuse prevention and anti-bullying
•Low class size and a diversified curriculum to meet the needs of all learners
•Steady educational progress and accountability
•Early education opportunities and after-school programming
•Health education and services encouraging the development of the “whole child”
•Strong extra curricular programs free from user fees
•Support for special needs students and families
•Effective maintenance of school facilities
•Financial support of our school system and respect for our taxpayers
During this difficult economic period it is important to have budget management experience on the School Committee. We have kept our school system stable and progressive while other communities have faltered. I want to help keep the Medford Schools on track both financially and educationally.

School Committee Candidate Lena DiGiantommaso

In the past, as well as recently, I have served as Vice Chairperson and Secretary of the School Committee as well as Chairperson of many other committees

- Served as President of the Lincoln, Kennedy and Hancock P.T.A
- Former President of the MHS Band Parents Association
- Former President of the Friends of the Chevalier Auditorium and Gene Mack Youth Center

Some awards I have received are:

- Women’s Achievement Award by the Human Rights Commission
- Golden Mustang Award for supporting the Mustang athletes programs and students
- Mass Association of School Committee Lifetime Achievement Award
- With my 100% attendance at all School Committee meetings for 20 years, I feel I have the wisdom and experience to continue to serve the citizens of Medford
- Committed to educational opportunities for all students

Years of service on the School Committee 1981-2009

School Committee Candidate Paulette Van der Kloot

My name is Paulette Van der Kloot and it has been my great honor to serve on the Medford School Committee for 20 years. In that time, not only have I seen my own children grow, graduate from Medford High, attend college, and enter the adult world, I have also watched your children grow as well. In fact, at my workplace, I am blessed to have as my colleagues, some of the very students I handed diplomas. For me, graduation is the greatest and also the most grounding experience. What an awesome reminder of the importance of our job. Have we served each student well? Have we taught them the skills they need to succeed in college, the workplace, perhaps the military and beyond?

This is what I want for all our children: to be prepared, to be learners, to be ready to whether tough times, to be healthy, to be competent and to be confident. To be flexible and able to adapt to changing times, to be able to work well with others, to be respected and to be respectful of others

Larry Brown, School Committee Candidate

I’m excited to actively seek out parents’, teachers’, students’ and administrators’ input on a regular basis rather than react to items brought before the Committee. All issues, from ensuring we maximize every possible dollar of grant money, to thinking creatively about alternative funding sources, to forming subcommittees related to curriculum, school safety, classroom size, and professional development must be explored in detail, with all voices heard, in order to make the most informed and appropriate decisions. As a goal, I seek nothing less than to have the Medford Public Schools become the envy of public education in the Commonwealth. We have a great deal to be proud of–from impressive advanced placement completions, to improving MCAS scores, to placement in some of the finest colleges in America (to a successful football season!)–but there is much work to do. If elected, I will work tirelessly on our students’ behalf to ensure they are well prepared for a successful future in the twenty first century. I look forward to serving the students, parents, and taxpayers of Medford.

Bill O’Keefe, School Committee Candidate

In these tight fiscal times, we need Medford School Committee members that can advocate for programs, can meet with parents in the school yard, in the playground, and online with technology. We need members that can lobby our State House delegates and assist them with bills and research and provide a pulse for this community as being a watchdog for all children. We need school committee people that will stop talking about yesterday and begin talking about tomorrow. We can do better.

As a Federal Stimulus money arrives from Washington, we need school committee leaders that understand what policies, regulations, and laws are impacted by this resource. Over 1.7 million is allocated towards Special Education in Medford. How we can maximize this money as it balances against the Federal and State Circuit Breaker cuts and the Chapter 70 Cherry Sheet? We must do better.

John Falco, School Committee Candidate

My involvement in my children’s education convinces me that Medford has a good school system and one I want to support as a school committee member. At the same time, I know our children require the school committee’s diligence to sustain and enhance our school system. I consider my professional and personal experiences as ideal qualifications that will focus my service on the school committee, our children and their families.

My vision and goals are practical. I am fully cognizant that the next several years will pose unavoidable financial challenges for our city and its school system. We have already suffered a reduction in local aid and inequitable distribution of Chapter 70 funds. I share the same concerns that other parents have about the future of our schools. I, too, am concerned about larger class sizes, reductions in our teaching and professional staff, maintenance of our facilities, and safety in our schools

Robert E. Skerry Jr. runs for Medford School Committee re-election

“Education is the cornerstone of a prosperous community. In Medford, I will place the highest priority on giving our young citizens every chance to achieve their dreams. My school board experience through good times and bad provides the perspective and skill to fix problems, overcome bureaucratic obstacles, and further the successes students achieve. An education attained in our schools permits our youngsters to compete socially, civically, and successfully in our 21st century global economy.

“The school budget is the foundation upon which successful educational outcomes are built. Across the nation, financial failings are registered daily, but we in Medford are working hard to ensure that the hard earned dollars of Medford’s taxpayers are put to best use and that sound programs and class size limits in place are enforced.

“I scrutinize expenditures to assure school funds are used prudently on behalf of and benefit our students in a timely fashion.


Sharon Guzik, School Committee Candidate

Every parent knows that our children differ in their abilities, in learning styles, and in their work pace. As a member of the school committee, I will be proactive in supporting our teachers with the professional development and resources they need to better individualize the curriculum for their students.

These are very difficult economic times and we are all aware of the severe cuts to our budget this year and undoubtedly over the next few years. We will need to be creative about how we can meet the needs of our schools and our students. For example, encouraging collaboration between teachers within schools and between schools and pooling our material and intellectual resources. Also, when we look at the budget, we need to keep our priorities clearly in focus and be advocates for our children and our schools. As a parent, I will be a voice for all our children as well as an ear for parents and the community.

Chris Murphy, School Committee Candidate

After going to my first school committee meeting when I was a freshman I told myself this is what I will do when the time comes. I wanted the best educational experience for the students that would come after me in the Medford School System. After the last city election I decided that this was something I was going to do in my life and I was not waiting any longer to do it.

The new goals for education have been centered on “education for the 21st century” and I am a student of the 21st century. I have lived through No Child Left Behind. I have taken the MCAS, not just heard reports on it. I have experienced first hand Title 1 and Special Education having been in those programs throughout my time in Medford Public Schools. I am a young voice who can understand the needs of today’s students and can serve as an advocate for them. I have experience in budgeting and policy making which I will bring to the table. I can promise the parents, tax payers and most importantly the students of Medford that I will work tirelessly as a representative for them as a member of the Medford School Committee.

George Scarpelli, School Committee Candidate

I’m running for School Committee because I believe we can, and must, do more to take advantage of the resources we possess to improve our educational system in an era of fiscal austerity. I want to stand up for our schools by advocating for new sources of revenue and best management practices. Here are just a few of the practical steps we can take to enhance the quality of public education in Medford:

- Seek expanded grant funding, the use of community collaboratives, and alternative funding, as a way of enhancing programs without the use of more tax dollars;
- Increase business partnerships and draw on the expertise of local businesses as a way to expand programs and increase students, early childhood and adult recreational opportunities, without incurring additional expense to our municipal budget.
- Expand our higher educational partnerships with Tufts University, and other local Colleges and Universities.
- Mount an aggressive lobbying campaign to convince our state legislature to come up with a fairer and more equitable formula to distribute Chapter 70 education funds.

BREAKING: Scozzafava suspends NY 23 campaign

WOW! This is huge news, another sign that the Republican Party is wisely moving back to conservatives, and away from milquetoast RINOs. I can't understate how huge this is.

I will give Scozzafava props for uncharacteristically putting the long-term good of the party ahead of her ambitions, I am sure her lagging poll numbers helped her make a principled stand.

-Nick McNulty, Medford GOP


From Politico;

October 31, 2009
Categories:New York.BREAKING: Scozzafava suspends NY 23 campaign
Republican Dede Scozzafava has suspended her bid in next Tuesday’s NY 23 special election, a huge development that dramatically shakes up the race. She did not endorse either of her two opponents -- Conservative party candidate Doug Hoffman or Democrat Bill Owens.

The decision to suspend her campaign is a boost for Hoffman, who already had the support of 50 percent of GOP voters, according to a newly-released Siena poll, and is now well-positioned to win over the 25 percent of Republicans who had been sticking with Scozzafava.

Scozzafava has “probably made her last campaign appearance between now and Election Day,” spokesman Matt Burns told POLITICO. “She’s releasing her support to the two other candidates."

"I had a discussion with her last night, and we made the decision after I spoke with her. We talked about it, what this came down to was spending. It came down to the ability to defend herself from the get-go. And that’s the reality. She was unable to define herself where the people didn’t know her."

POLITICO has the full story on Scozzafava's surprise decision here.

Mitt Romney fundraiser for Scott Brown in Wrentham MA

From Scott Brown For U.S. Senate;

This Friday's big fundraiser for Scott Brown for U.S. Senate is right around the corner. We are excited to have GOVERNOR MITT ROMNEY as our guest.

Friday October 30, 2009
Lake Pearl Luciano's, 299 Creek St, Wrentham

6:30pm Leadership Reception - $1000 Patron, $500 Host
7:00pm General Reception - $75 Friend, $125 Couple, $50 Senior

For more information or to RSVP, email Kristen Granchelli at kristen@brownforussenate.com

Foes slam AG’s ‘sister’ act on foreign policy

By Hillary Chabot Monday, October 26, 2009

Rivals blasted the strange foreign policy credentials offered by Attorney General Martha Coakley yesterday after the U.S. Senate candidate - in an answer reminiscent of former vice presidential contender Sarah Palin - counted her sister’s overseas home as part of her own international know-how.

“To think having a sister who lives overseas gives you experience is naive at the very best,” said state Sen. Scott Brown, a Republican candidate in the U.S. Senate race. “Do I have the best foreign policy experience? No, but I’m always eager to learn and I certainly have more than having a relative who lives there.”

Coakley made the blunder in response to a question about her lack of international experience and her travels abroad during an interview on WCVB’s Channel 5’s “On the Record” program yesterday.

“I have a sister who lives overseas, and she’s been in England and now lives in the Middle East,” Coakley said, adding she has traveled but declining to say where.

The remark struck political observers as a stretch to bolster her credentials - similar to Alaskan Gov. Palin’s widely parodied claim that she had insight into Russian relations because, “you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska.”

Full story

Next meeting of the Medford Republican Party, October 27th

As a reminder, the next regular meeting of the Medford Republican City Committee will be on Tuesday October 27th at 7:00PM, at the South Medford Fire Station, in the Dello Russo Room, 1 Medford Street. Mary Z. Connaughton, a former board member of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, and candidate for State Auditor will begin the evening’s program.

Tufts group can sing

The all-male a cappella group at Tufts University will be in the spotlight after all. We’re told that members of the Beelzebubs have all received their professors’ permission to take part in the upcoming NBC reality competition “The Sing-Off,’’ which is executive produced by local moviemaker Sam Weisman. Initially, Tufts academic dean James Glaser was loath to let the ’Bubs blow off class to appear on the show, which pits a cappella groups against each other. “Sing-Off’’ is due to air as four two-hour episodes starting Dec. 14, but a crew will be on campus soon to shoot B-roll on the ’Bubs’ bios.
Permalink

State legislators debate casino issue at Medford forum

Wicked Local Photo by Matthew Reid
Sen. Susan Tucker, left, and Rep. Kathi-Anne Reinstein debate the issue of gambling in Massachusetts last night, at a debate sponsored by Sen. Pat Jehlen held at the Century Bank in Medford last Thursday night, Oct. 15.

By Matthew Reid/mreid@cnc.com
Wed Oct 21, 2009, 09:00 AM EDT

One says building casinos in Massachusetts is a safe bet. The other says it’s nothing more than a house of cards.

Those were the opposing viewpoints presented during a debate hosted by Sen. Pat Jehlen, D-Somerville, last Thursday night, as Rep. Kathi-Anne Reinstein, D-Revere, and Sen. Susan Tucker, D-Andover, discussed the pros and cons of allowing casinos and slot parlors to be built in the state.

Each legislator read a brief prepared statement before taking questions from the standing-room-only audience assembled at the Century Bank on Mystic Avenue on Oct. 15.

The casino issue has been much discussed throughout the cash-strapped state recently, as the Legislature could address a gambling bill as soon as next year.

Full story

A no vote for Arena

Medford -

To the editor:

I see Arena for City Council signs all over Medford…have we at long last become unglued like our far left neighbors in Somerville and Cambridge?

Mark Arena proudly boasts of being endorsed by SEIU and being a “housing advocate.” The SEIU is now a government subsidized rent-a-mob for the Democrat party first, a labor union second. On any given day, SEIU members are not going to work, but rather are being bused in to shout down regular citizens at Town Hall meetings, and to intimidate voters at the polls alongside their ACORN brethren.

And “housing advocacy” — or "wealth redistribution through Barney Frank and the Federal Housing Authority" as it has more commonly become known — was one of the primary causes of the economic crash of 2008, which SEIU backed Democrats have since used as a craven excuse to further expand seizure of private property for distribution through and to the federal government.

Are candidates backed by the SEIU and the socialist members of Bailout Nation the type of people we want on the Medford City Council?

Nick McNulty
Medford

Michael Marks runs for reelection to the City Council

This is not a political endorsement, this is the candidates own advertisement.
-Medford GOP

Paul Camuso runs for re-election to Medford City Council seat

This is not a political endorsement, this is a reprinting of the candidate's own words
-Medford GOP

My name is Paul A. Camuso and I am a candidate for re-election to the Medford City Council and I am currently completing my third term on the council.

As a lifelong resident of Medford and a graduate of our schools, I am committed to making a positive contribution to the community that has given me so much during my youth. My experience on the School Committee and City Council has prepared me well to deal with the many challenges that face our city today.

I am running for re-election because I believe that I can continue to be a leader on the City Council at this critical time in our city’s progress.

My track record as a city councilor clearly demonstrates that I get back to every caller and make sure that each issue is handled in a thorough, courteous, timely and effective way. As taxpayers and citizens you have the right to have your questions and concerns answered promptly.

We must do more to attract taxpaying business to Medford. We cannot allow storefronts to remain vacant and major national and regional businesses to go elsewhere. I have supported the revitalization of Medford Square.

Full story

Green Line Extension advances to environmental review phase
Mon Oct 19, 2009, 01:46 PM EDT
Medford Transcript

On Thursday, Oct. 15, the Executive Office of Transportation (EOT) submitted a Draft Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Assessment (DEIR/EA) for the Green Line Extension project to the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, triggering a 45-day public review period beginning Oct. 26, 2009.

The report provides an overview of projected environmental impacts and benefits; the recommended route and station locations; and vehicle maintenance and storage options for the Green Line Extension project.

Once complete, the Green Line Extension project will fulfill a longstanding commitment by the commonwealth to increase public transit through long under-served neighborhoods in Cambridge, Somerville and Medford, furthering the efforts of the Patrick-Murray administration to improve local and regional mobility and encourage sustainable economic growth.

“The Green Line Extension will offer major transportation and air quality benefits to Cambridge, Somerville and Medford, and will trigger smart growth opportunities in neighborhoods along the route,” said Transportation Secretary James A. Aloisi, Jr. “This submittal represents a crucial milestone in the project, advancing not only the environmental review process and design, but also our efforts to secure federal funding for the project. We take seriously our commitment and look forward to continuing to work closely with neighboring communities to finalize the design and begin construction.”

Full story