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politics

THE RIGHT QUESTION FOR THE BROAD LEFT

  On July 5, start asking the Democrats, “What policies will help working families?”   The patriotic season is upon us. With it comes the arrival of the 2020 presidential race—far too early, in my estimation. Which in turn tends to generate conservative political ripples all the way down to the local level in the […]

CAMBRIDGE COUNCILORS CAN STOP UNDEMOCRATIC COURTHOUSE DEAL

Four votes against the proposed leasing of city parking spaces should do the trick

MORE ACTIVISM NEEDED IN STATE AND LOCAL POLITICS

  Solely spending your money and free time on presidential pageants is unwise   The other day my colleague Chris Faraone made an interesting comment on social media—inveighing against those who lavish money on presidential candidates with the next national elections still a year and a half away:   We held a forum for the […]

LANDLORDS’ VIEWS ON RENT CONTROL… REFUTED

  Or: fun with Boston Globe comments   Most everyone has had the experience of reading something particularly enraging in the comment area below many online newspaper articles. I think it’s quite normal to feel frustrated and helpless in that situation. Because the nastiest opinions often appear to be the most popular ones. And there […]

NONPROFIT MODEL NOT A PANACEA FOR AMERICAN NEWS MEDIA

  Would-be reformers need to keep that in mind   A couple of weeks ago I wrote a column about a bill (S. 80) filed with the Mass legislature by Rep. Lori Ehrlich (D – Marblehead) and Sen. Brendan Crighton (D – Lynn) that aims to start a volunteer commission to assess the state of local […]

STOP THE ELECTRIC SCOOTER SCAM

  Mass needs expanded public transportation, not hazardous rental toys   It’s not like I didn’t warn everyone. Last summer I wrote a column on the illegal rollouts of dockless electric scooters by Bird Rides in Cambridge and Somerville that was extremely critical of the company’s move on two grounds: safety, and the problem of […]

IT’S TIME TO BRING BACK RENT CONTROL IN MASSACHUSETTS

  Some cause for hope in new tenant protection legislation being filed at the State House   Yesterday, I saw some good news in the local press. A rarity to be sure. The Boston Globe reported that Rep. Mike Connolly and a coalition of other state legislators are about to file a rent control bill. […]

PROPOSED STATE JOURNALISM COMMISSION NEEDS BROADER MEMBERSHIP

  More working journalists, less elite institutes   Chris Faraone,* John Loftus,** and I spend a lot of time thinking about how to rebuild American journalism. Pretty much from the ground up, since so many news outlets and jobs in the field have been destroyed in the last quarter century. And a growing number of […]

ON THE IMPORTANCE OF POLITICAL ACTIVISM IN AN AGE OF EXISTENTIAL THREATS

  This week, a reminder that politics is not a spectator sport. I was listening to a recent Noam Chomsky appearance on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour. And the two giants of the American left sparred a bit on particulars but agreed that humanity faces two existential threats: global warming and a revival of the […]

THE FALL OF THE GE BOSTON DEAL, PART II

  AG Healey should form independent commission to investigate the failed agreement   Last week in the first installment of this two-part column, I ran through the many problems with the January 2016 deal between General Electric, the city of Boston, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that has now collapsed for all intents and purposes. […]