Category: Jason Millman
House Democrats Say Iraq Costs Hurting American Families
TAX DAY
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Jason Millman
Boston University Washington News Service
April 15, 2008
WASHINGTON – Condemning excessive spending on the war in Iraq, a group of House Democrats Tuesday said the average American family has paid $16,500 toward the war since it began.
Funding the war has directly contributed to the faltering economy and the house foreclosure crisis, the members of Congress said at a press conference on Capitol Hill on Tax Day. Having spent nearly $1.3 trillion on the war effort, now in its sixth year, the Democrats stressed reprioritizing how the government spends taxpayer dollars.
“Federal budgets are like family budgets. They reflect priorities,” U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Worcester, said. “For too long, the priorities of this administration and its Republican allies in Congress have been flat wrong.”
The Democratic representatives said the Bush administration’s policy of borrowing for the war will place a burden on taxpayers for years to come. Meanwhile, Democrats said they are still fighting for more money for domestic programs.
“Taxpayers think their money is going to Washington, but it’s really going to Baghdad,” said U.S. Rep. Janice D. Schakowsky, D-Ill., one of the co-founders of the Out of Iraq Congressional Caucus.
An impassioned Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a former presidential candidate, slammed the Bush administration for damaging the American economy with continued support for the war.
“It’s ruining the chance to create the type of future Americans expect,” the Ohio Democrat said.
According to a report by the congressional Joint Economic Committee, the total cost of the war – when accounting for other related factors, such as treating wounded soldiers, purchasing military equipment and spending more for military recruitment – is $1.3 trillion, costing a family of four $16,500 since the war started in 2003. In an April 4 New York Times/CBS News poll, 89 percent of the people interviewed said the cost of the war has contributed “a lot” or “some” to economic problems.
A week after Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. military leader in Iraq, recommended to Congress a pause in the troop drawdown, the Democrats acknowledged that American troops will still be in Iraq as the next president takes office.
“Gen. Petraeus told us there’s no light at the end of the tunnel,” said U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas. “This is after years of sacrifice and an immense amount of money.”
In an interview after the press conference, Mr. McGovern said the government should give priority to spending for health care and programs to fight hunger. He said if the government spent on domestic programs what it spends on the Iraq war, Americans would see a better return on their tax dollars.
“If we’re going to have debt, I’d rather have it because we’re helping our people instead of diminishing our standing around the world and contributing to war,” he said. “You spend in Iraq, it’s like you’re throwing money into a black hole – you don’t get anything in return. You spend money on infrastructure, you’re creating jobs. You actually make that money back.”
In a separate press conference Tuesday, Senate Republicans blasted the tax plan in the House Democrats’ budget, saying it would raise taxes by $1.2 trillion and would affect 116 million taxpayers. The higher proposed taxes would result from letting current tax cuts expire as scheduled in 2010.
“It’s very expensive for the American people to have this Democratic Congress,” said Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H. “The American people are not fundamentally under-taxed. They’re over-taxed.”
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For Shrewsbury Teen, the Politcal is Up Close and Personal
PEEPLES
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Jason Millman
Boston University Washington News Service
April 8, 2008
WASHINGTON – When Deborah and Ronald Peeples watched the State of the Union address in January, they say they probably watched a little more intently than most people – and with good reason. The Shrewsbury couple’s attention was drawn to the floor of the House of Representatives, where their 16-year-old son, Jacob, was standing just feet away from President Bush.
Since September, the Shrewsbury High School junior, who grew up with politics on the brain, has been at the center of the political world as a House page. It has been a learning experience in government no one can get from a typical high school civics class.
“Seeing congressmen going in and out of the floor and being right next to the Speaker of the House on a daily basis is just absolutely breathtaking,” Jacob Peeples said.
Every day the House meets, Mr. Peeples works on the floor as the man behind the scenes, delivering documents to congressional offices, raising the flag over the Capitol and running tasks for House members. For all intents and purposes, House pages are gofers, and that suits Mr. Peeples just fine.
“On our first day we came to the House, a former clerk told us in the diagrams in history books where there’s the House and the Senate and the Supreme Court, and there’s the arrows for how to pass a bill – he said that we're the arrows,” Mr. Peeples said. “We’re really helping to move the process along in trying to keep Congress a well-oiled machine.”
Keeping that machine well-oiled means Mr. Peeples must know the names of members of Congress and know his way around the Capitol and the congressional office buildings – a sometimes challenging maze to maneuver, even for Capitol Hill veterans. Throughout the day, Mr. Peeples picks up on the chatter of America’s policy makers, something that still fascinates him even after months on the Hill.
“One of the first days there was a vote and all the congressmen came to the floor, and it was so crazy and wild. It was just a great experience,” Mr. Peeples said. “At the time seeing Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich was really exciting because I’d only seen them on TV before.”
That Mr. Peeples caught the political bug early in life owes much to his mother, Deborah H. Peeples, the chairwoman of the Shrewsbury School Committee, who takes an active role in local politics as member of the town's Democratic Committee.
“He used to go door-to-door campaigning with me since he was in a stroller," Mrs. Peeples said. “He's been involved for as long as he can remember.”
Having worked on reelection campaigns for U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Worcester, in 2004 and 2006, Mr. Peeples was advised by an aide to Mr. McGovern to apply for the page program. He said he knew very little about it at first but was immediately interested in the opportunity to work in Congress.
To be selected for the program, Mr. Peeples had to submit to Mr. McGovern’s office his high school transcript, information about his extracurricular activities, an essay and three letters of recommendation. After interviews, he was nominated by Mr. McGovern, who is allowed just one candidate. The House Speaker’s office then selected him as one of 39 pages picked by the Democrats for the fall semester of 2007. The Republicans, which as the minority party gets fewer pages, selected 24.
Mr. Peeples is one of just several pages who were asked to stay on to help mentor the new pages for the spring semester.
“I didn’t feel like I was ready to go home, and I would miss it too much,” Mr. Peeples said about his decision to stay on for a second semester. “I knew that I would never have the same access I have as a page to the House and its workings ever again unless I was a member of the House.”
But the privilege of working as a page comes at a premium price – namely, sleep.
Since September, his alarm clock on weekdays has been set for 5:45 a.m., just an hour before school starts. Though the House pages are early risers, they are helped by a short commute to class at the Library of Congress building just two blocks away from the dorm where they all live.
The pages attend five classes in a day that is shorter than the typical high school day in order to be on the House floor for the opening gavel on days the House is in session. They work rotating schedules, getting off at 5:30 p.m. three days a week and staying on the floor until the House adjourns two days a week. The latest Mr. Peeples has stayed is 1:30 a.m., and he was allowed to go to school an hour later than usual the next day.
“These guys are on duty as long as we are on duty,” Mr. McGovern said. “We pull all-nighters and go late into the night. The difference is we don’t have to wake up and be in class at 6:45 in the morning. These guys do.”
Balancing page responsibilities with homework and class proves to be a challenge to all pages, as Mr. Peeples learned a few weeks ago when he dozed off in class for the first time after another late night in the House.
“It was embarrassing because I snored myself awake,” he said.
More than anything, though, the adjustment to being self-reliant can be the most difficult aspect of the page program, said Ellen McNamara, who oversees House pages.
“They're 16 years old when they’re coming here. They're away from their families, and they’re a lot on their own,” Ms. McNamara said. “It’s like going to college, but they’re 16, so it’s probably a little shocking.”
Mr. Peeples’s father, Ron, said he is impressed with how Jacob has handled living on his own, adding he fully supported his son’s decision to stay a second semester.
“Being at the State of the Union was something he was really looking forward to,” Ron Peeples said. “He is having such a great time in a great program in a great location.”
For the aspiring politician, the page program is a great place for a teenager to start, Ms. McNamara said.
“They're here in the thick of politics, so if they have a desire to go into politics, they're here to see it all,” she said.
The reputation of the page program took a hit in 2006, when it became public that Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., had exchanged sexually explicit instant messages and texts with several House pages. Since then, the House created a new oversight body for the page program.
Notable members of Congress who got their starts as pages are U.S. Reps. Thomas M. Davis, R-Va., and John D. Dingell, D-Mich., and Bill Owens, former governor and congressman from Colorado.
As Mr. Peeples looks ahead to his senior year and beyond, Washington is well within his sights. Two semesters in the capital have confirmed his love of politics, and as he considers applying to colleges in the city, he sees himself living here one day.
“I’ve just been living, eating, breathing politics for the past year, and I’m not sick of it, so that’s one good indication,” Mr. Peeples said. “I really feel like as a person I need to do more to help my fellow citizen, and what better way to do that than politics.”
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Kerry, Kennedy Grill Petraeus on Iraq Progress
KERRY
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Jason Millman
Boston University Washington News Service
April 8, 2008
WASHINGTON – Massachusetts Senators Edward M. Kennedy and John F. Kerry pressed Gen. David Petraeus Tuesday to say if U.S. involvement in Iraq is still worthwhile as the general, the top military commander in Iraq, raised doubts about whether political progress in the country can be sustained.
Mr. Kerry, who traveled to the Middle East last month, said leaders of ethnic sects in Iraq told him continued U.S. occupation allows sectarian conflicts to continue because the U.S. presence provides little motivation for the groups to reconcile.
Gen. Petraeus, who last spoke to Congress in September, said the security U.S. forces provide promotes stability among the groups.
“When we do see a spirited compromise, it’s something when the leaders and the communities behind them are feeling relatively secure,” the general.told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
In two Senate committee hearings Tuesday, Gen. Petraeus touted the political progress and decreasing violence in Iraq, but he repeatedly cautioned that sectarian violence could erupt again at any time.
As Democrats grilled Gen. Petraeus on how much longer he believes the United States should remain in Iraq, Sen. Kennedy asked him to estimate when Iraqi troops will be ready to take over complete command.
“It’s time to put the Iraqis on notice that our troops will not remain forever so they will take the essential steps to resolve their differences,” the senator said.
Mr. Kennedy, who said the United States has spent almost $24 billion on the Iraqi military in the past five years, raised concern over reports that 1,000 Iraqi soldiers last month deserted Basra, where Iraqi troops carried out a strike against Shia insurgents.
“They are fighting and dying for their country in substantive numbers,” Gen. Petraeus said about Iraqi forces. “Their losses are three times our losses.”
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Pig Book Report Ranks Top Pork Barrel Offenders
PIG BOOK
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Jason Millman
Boston University Washington News Service
April 2, 2008
WASHINGTON – Massachusetts received $187 million from the federal government in pork-barrel spending in the 2008 fiscal year, ranking 31st in the country, according to an annual report from a congressional watchdog group.
The federal government invested $17.2 billion toward projects identified as pork-barrel spending by the Citizens Against Government Waste in its 18th annual Pig Book released Wednesday. The 11,610 projects are the second-highest number in the history of the book compiled by the private, non-partisan organization.
Massachusetts received its highest ranking since the organization first listed state-by-state spending in 2000. Of 100 senators, Massachusetts Sens. Edward M. Kennedy and John F. Kerry ranked 33rd and 48th, respectively in bringing home the most pork. Mr. Kennedy secured $192.1 million in 124 projects, and Mr. Kerry secured $138.8 million in 124 projects.
This is the first year members of Congress are required to attach their names to earmarks they support because of a 2007 agreement between congressional Republicans and Democrats, said Citizens Against Government Waste president Thomas A. Schatz.
The Pig Book defines pork as spending that meets at least one of seven criteria: requested by only one chamber of Congress; not specifically authorized; not competitively awarded; not requested by the president; greatly exceeds the president's budget request; not the subject of congressional hearings; and serves only a local or special interest.
Programs identified as the most wasteful included the Lobster Institute in Maine, a national program to teach golf to children, and money for fruit fly research in France.
U.S. Rep. John W. Olver, D-Amherst, a member of the Appropriations Committee, ranked among the top members with $71.3 million in 63 projects. Mr. Olver, also chairman of the Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development, secured $5.8 million for the MBTA Fitchburg to Boston Rail Corridor Project, $1.47 million for the downtown streetscape in Pittsfield, and $269,500 for the renovation of the Berkshire Music Hall and Octagon House in Pittsfield.
“It’s my job to advocate on behalf of my constituents and look for opportunities to channel federal funding to worthwhile local economic development projects,” Mr. Olver said in a statement. “And these projects are solid investments. They work to address the needs of communities, assist local businesses, and contribute to basic health and educational needs. They are good uses of federal funds. Earmarks give me an opportunity to help make a difference, to directly address the needs I see in our community.”
U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Worcester, brought $27.7 million back to Massachusetts, including $735,000 for road safety improvements at the College of the Holy Cross, $245,000 for the John Bartholomew Gough Estate in Boylston, and $82,000 for the Molly Bish Center at Anna Maria College.
“The Constitution gives Congress the power of the purse,” Mr. McGovern said in a statement. “I work closely with communities in my district, and I believe that I have a better idea of what those communities need than some bureaucrat in Washington who can’t even pronounce ‘Worcester.’”
Joined by several Republican members of Congress during a press conference Wednesday, Mr. Schatz expressed disappointment that Congress rejected a proposal earlier this year to implement a one-year ban on all earmarks.
“So far the only thing that has happened is the House Appropriations Committee was forced to extend its deadline for receiving earmarks because there is such a demand,” Mr. Schatz said. “So it’s business as usual, unfortunately.”
Mr. Schatz read off a list of “Oinker” awards, dubious honors highlighting the worst offenders and offenses of wasteful spending.
U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W. Va., who the organization labeled the “King of Pork,” was given the “Pantheon of Pork Award” for bringing in $386 million.
U.S. Rep. Charles B. Rangel, the long-serving Democrat from New York, was given the “Narcissist Award” for securing $1,950,000 toward creating a public service center with his name on it.
As two live pigs and a pig mascot – representing pork-barrel spending – stood just feet away, U.S. Rep. John B.T. Campbell III, R-Calif., acknowledged the somewhat humorous nature of yesterday’s press conference while highlighting serious concerns.
“You got the real pigs here, you’ve got the fake pig. It all seems pretty funny and amusing until you realize this money don’t come from nowhere,” Mr. Campbell said.
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As Frank Prepares Marijuana Bill, States Make Own Efforts
MARIJUANA
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
New Bedford Standard Times
Matthew Huisman and Jason Millman
Boston University Washington News Service
April 1, 2008
WASHINGTON – Proponents of U.S. Rep. Barney Frank’s proposal to legalize small amounts of marijuana are pointing to efforts in some states – including Massachusetts – to decriminalize the drug as evidence of public support for Mr. Frank’s plan.
Mr. Frank, D-Newton, said Tuesday he will introduce two bills, one that would decriminalize possession of less than 100 grams – or 3.5 ounces – of marijuana and another that would grant protection to states that decide to allow medicinal use of marijuana.
“The public is now ready for this,” Mr. Frank said in a telephone interview. “I have long thought it was foolish to have these laws on the books, but now as I look at the public opinion, it’s clear that this is wanted.”
Mr. Frank said that although he does not support marijuana use, he believed that adults should be able to consume small amounts without facing criminal penalties. He said prosecution of marijuana charges costs federal law enforcement agencies time and resources. Mr. Frank, who said he has no experience with marijuana, added, “I think marijuana is less harmful than alcohol.”
As Mr. Frank tries to drum up support for his bill in Congress, the Massachusetts legislature is considering an initiative to decriminalize the possession of an ounce or less of marijuana. A person caught with an ounce or less would be fined but would not be charged with a criminal offense, which appears on employer background checks and is a disqualifying factor for receiving certain government benefits, such as subsidized housing and student financial aid.
If the state legislature does not take action on the initiative by May 6, supporters have until June 18 to get 11,000 signatures on a petition to put the initiative on the ballot in November. If they succeed, it would require a majority vote to pass.
Whitney A. Taylor, campaign manager for the Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy, which drafted the Massachusetts initiative, said she supports Mr. Frank’s proposal.
“We are very excited that Congressman Frank understands the need for more sensible and sound marijuana policies,” Ms. Taylor said “The policies in Massachusetts do more harm than good, and I think the congressman realizes that on a federal level as well.”
State Sen. Patricia D. Jehlen, D-Medford, is sponsoring her own bill that would decriminalize possessing an ounce or less of marijuana.
“I’m not saying it’s OK, but it’s not a criminal offense,” she said. “It’s a civil offense, but you don’t get a criminal record and you don’t use up court resources.”
State Rep. Martin J. Walsh, D-Dorchester, who has led the opposition to marijuana decriminalization efforts in Massachusetts, said he would instead favor adjusting laws for youths using alcohol and marijuana in order to protect their permanent records.
“People make mistakes,” Mr. Walsh said. “I don't agree with them being penalized for an irresponsible decision.”
Since 1973, 12 states, including Maine, have decriminalized marijuana in some form. A bill that would decriminalize possession of a quarter-ounce of marijuana passed the New Hampshire House, although the governor and Senate president have vowed to defeat it.
“Almost half of the [U.S.] population lives in states that have done this sort of thing,” said Bill Downing, president of the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition. “Those states saved millions of dollars in law enforcement and marijuana usage rates did not go up as a result.”
Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, pointed to those 12 states as proof of support for reforming drug laws. Mr. St. Pierre said there is widespread public support for decriminalizing marijuana and allowing for its medicinal use while many still oppose its full legalization.
Americans are able to distinguish between decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana and the complete legalization of marijuana, making it like alcohol and tobacco, Mr. St. Pierre said.
Tom Riley, spokesman for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said his agency would “oppose any changes that would make dangerous addictive drugs widely available.”
“Common sense shows that when you make something more available, people will use it,” he said.
Mr. Riley said that proponents of marijuana decriminalization are “using medical marijuana as a backdoor solution to legalization” and that marijuana is a more harmful drug than people realize. He said patients using medicinal marijuana are being used to invoke public sympathy.
“The state-level passage has been playing on people’s good wills more than based on science,” Mr. Riley said. “They go through the ballot process rather than the scientific process.”
For the past 10 years, Mr. Frank has unsuccessfully filed legislation during each two-year congressional term to loosen marijuana laws. He has filed bills that would allow the unrestricted medicinal use of marijuana in states that have passed such laws, and he has also filed bills—one as recently as January—to repeal a law that prohibits college students convicted of drug offenses from receiving financial aid. None of the bills has made it onto the House floor for debate.
U.S. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn. filed legislation in the Senate last month that would allow judges to decide whether students convicted of drug offenses can keep their financial aid awards.
Tom Angell, spokesman for Students for Sensible Drug Policy, a Washington-based lobbying group seeking to decriminalize marijuana, said more than 200,000 college students have lost financial aid packages in the past 10 years because of drug convictions. Although Mr. Angell would not say whether he would support Mr. Frank’s legislation until he sees the details of his proposal, he said he believes passing a law to reduce penalties for marijuana will “show a lot of momentum for reforming punitive drug policies.”
“Congress will be on the record saying it doesn’t make sense to punish people for what they’re putting into their own body,” Mr. Angell said.
Mr. St. Pierre said Mr. Frank’s proposal does not promote the use of marijuana but instead encourages people who use it to consume the drug within reasonable limits.
“It will build consistency into drug policy that if you use something like cannabis, just like alcohol, you should largely be punished for the abuse of the substance, not the use of it,” Mr. St. Pierre said. “We all know there’s a difference between use of alcohol and alcohol abuse.”
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For Spring Break, 8 Holy Cross Students Protest the War
PROTEST
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Jason Millman
Boston University Washington News Service
March 21, 2008
WASHINGTON – Like so many others their age, a group of College of the Holy Cross students headed south for spring break – but they didn't have warm weather in mind.
Eight Holy Cross students spent part of their spring breaks in the nation’s capital to protest the Iraq war during the week of its fifth anniversary.
“The capital is where it’s happening,” said Katie Guardino, a 19-year-old sophomore who organized the trip. “It’s where Congress meets. It’s where the Supreme Court is. Our message is ultimately to the government that we’re going to take control.”
On Thursday and Friday, the group of eight traveled around Washington, carrying signs and chanting anti-war slogans as they walked to protest outside the White House, Supreme Court and the Capitol. Though the Holy Cross students arrived in D.C. one day after Wednesday’s massive anti-war protests on the actual anniversary of the war’s start, they elicited plenty of response from onlookers.
“There’s a small number of us, but we really got out there,” said sophomore Casey O’Keefe, 20. “There were tourists who asked to take pictures with us. We got lots of beeps [from cars] and lots of peace signs.”
Ms. Guardino said she had not been active in her opposition to the war until recently, and the milestone anniversary in the war’s history prompted her to organize the Washington trip. The students said it was refreshing to voice their views in Washington, an environment receptive to anti-war protests – much unlike the Holy Cross campus, which the students said lacks in political activism.
Some people on the trip, which was sponsored by the College Democrats, said they were disappointed in the turnout considering it had been advertised on campus since November. Tom McGlynn, a 19-year-old freshman, said after five years his peers have become uninterested in the war.
“The fact that it’s been going on so long, it gets pushed to the back burner and people forget, so they become apathetic,” Mr. McGlynn said. “I talked this trip up for a while and got very few people to come. It’s a tough blow to see people not interested in their future.”
Ms. Guardino, citing political apathy on campus as the reason for the trip’s small turnout, said she was not disappointed that only eight students showed up.
“I was expecting more people to come, but I’m glad there’s eight,” she said. “If we can do small actions and walk around, then we’ve done something.”
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Clinton’s Massachusetts Supporters Say Momentum is Hers
PRIMARIES
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Jason Millman
Boston University Washington News Service
March 5, 2008
WASHINGTON – Coming off campaign-saving primary victories in Texas and Ohio, Hillary Rodham Clinton has reclaimed some of her early momentum in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, her Massachusetts supporters in Congress say.
Amid pressure from party leaders to drop out of the race if she lost either Texas or Ohio, Mrs. Clinton won the primaries in both states as well as that of Rhode Island on Tuesday, breaking contender Barack Obama’s winning streak dating back to Super Tuesday and setting up a battle for the next major primary, April 22 in Pennsylvania.
“After last night, I think the campaign is obviously shifted in a very dramatic way in her direction,” said U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Worcester, who was the first Massachusetts congressman to endorse Mrs. Clinton last March. “These victories were obviously essential, and they position her well as she goes into Pennsylvania.”
Although Mr. Obama still leads in the delegate count, Mrs. Clinton’s supporters point to her wins in Texas and Ohio as proof of the candidate’s ability to win the race’s most important states. Mrs. Clinton, who won Massachusetts, also earned big wins in California and New York.
Mrs. Clinton’s supporters played down the idea that a prolonged battle for the nomination could severely divide the party before the Democratic National Convention at the end of August.
“I think you have millions of people who are participating in the political process for the first time, and it’s energized Democratic candidates everywhere,” said U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield. “You can see the difference in the voter turnout.”
“I think this is good for the Democratic Party in many respects,” Mr. McGovern said. “You get two smart, intelligent, articulate candidates generating a lot of enthusiasm. People like them both, and the fact of the matter is they’re energizing people like never before.”
Mrs. Clinton’s major victories could mean that a nominee will not be decided until the convention, when superdelegates will be a huge factor because Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton almost certainly cannot capture the necessary delegates based on the state count alone. Though the superdelegate system has received criticism, the congressmen said it should be accepted for what it is.
“For better or worse, that’s the process,” Mr. McGovern said. “In the past, it’s never been an issue because we’ve never had this kind of a tight race.”
Now that it is clear the campaign for the Democratic nomination will continue to be competitive for some time, Florida Republican Gov. Charlie Crist and Michigan Democratic Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm released a joint statement Wednesday urging that at the party conventions delegates from their states be fully counted.
The Republican National Committee penalized Michigan and Florida and cut in half their number of delegates because the states moved up the primary dates against party orders. The Democratic National Committee went further and stripped the states of all their delegates.
Mrs. Clinton won both states in January, but candidates were not allowed to campaign in either state – both seen as pivotal in the general election – and Mr. Obama withdrew his name from the Michigan ballot.
“I think we’re going to have to do something about Florida or Michigan,” Mr. Neal said. “We’re going to have to look at a series of options.”
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Massachusetts Economy in Distress, Report Says
DISTRESS
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Jason Millman
Boston University Washington News Service
March 5, 2008
WASHINGTON – Massachusetts, facing a billion-dollar budget deficit and increases in housing foreclosures and the number of people receiving food stamps, ranks eighth on a list of 15 states in the “most economic distress,” according to a report released this week.
The study, compiled by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan research center, ranked states based on changes in employment, housing foreclosures, and food stamp participation.
Although employment in Massachusetts actually rose .8 percent in the last three months of 2007 compared with the same period in 2006, the commonwealth made the list because of a large jump in foreclosures and increase in food stamp participation, which the study said indicates an increase in poverty.
Foreclosures in Massachusetts increased .38 percent from the third quarter of 2006 to the third quarter of 2007, the seventh highest level in the country, according to the report. Early indications also show the housing market will continue to be problematic this year. There were more than 800 foreclosures in Massachusetts in January, the highest number since August 2007, according to the Warren Group, which provides New England real estate data.
The food stamp caseload in Massachusetts increased 6.9 percent from 448,000 to 479,000, the ninth-largest increase in the country, according to the report.
Among the 15 most distressed states were Rhode Island, which ranked third in the report, and New Hampshire, which ranked 14th. There were 12 other states that were ranked in “economic distress,” including Vermont, Connecticut and Maine. Nevada and Minnesota topped the list, and Florida and California ranked fourth and fifth, respectively.
The study also found that more than half the states in the nation are projecting a budget deficit for the coming fiscal year, which means they will have to cut services or raise taxes.
The Bay State should receive federal assistance to help balance the commonwealth’s budget to avoid being forced to raise taxes or make significant cuts to services, said report co-author Elizabeth McNichol, who said the problems facing states in economic distress can be attributed to national factors out of the states’ control.
“It’s nothing the states have done,” Ms. McNichol said. “States have to balance their budgets, and if they take actions like cutting expenditures to do so, they’re making the national and state economy worse.”
Ms. McNichol referred to a $20 billion grant Congress gave to the states in 2003 to help balance their budgets. Half of the $20 billion went toward Medicaid, and the other half funded service programs. The report recommends Congress take a similar action this year but only give funds to the 27 states in economic distress.
U.S. Sen. Susan M. Collins, R-Maine, who led the 2003 effort, has been in discussions with other senators to sponsor a second economic stimulus bill to provide direct budget assistance to the states, according to her press secretary.
Ms. McNichol said the three factors the report focused on are indicative of the states’ overall bleak economic picture.
“If people aren’t working, they’re not paying income tax, and they’re not consuming much either,” she said. “If there are increases in poverty, there are going to be pressure on health care programs and social service programs that affect lower-income people.”
Noah Berger, executive director of the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, an independent organization that reviews the state budget, said funding for essential programs like health care and education will be scrutinized greatly in the legislature as Massachusetts tries to remedy a projected $1.2 billion budget deficit.
“Massachusetts is in a very severe fiscal crisis, from both long-term and state-based issues, primarily that we cut taxes deeply during the ’90s, which means that in good times, we barely get by and haven’t been able to restore spending on education and local aid,” Mr. Berger said.
Mr. Berger said the federal government should help Massachusetts fill the budget gap because many of the problems affecting the state stem from national issues. The 2003 federal grants helped Massachusetts get through the last fiscal crisis, he said.
“The state still raised taxes and cut spending deeply, but it would have been that much worse without it,” Mr. Berger said. “A similar or perhaps somewhat larger level of support would both be good for Massachusetts and good for the national economy.”
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities focuses on issues that affect low- and moderate-income people and conducts research on how proposed budget and tax policies will affect them.
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McGovern Urges Normalized Relations With Cuba
CUBA
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Jason Millman
Boston University Washington News Service
Feb. 27, 2008
WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Worcester, a longtime proponent of normalizing relations with Cuba, is calling on Congress and the Bush administration to rethink U.S. policy following Cuban president Fidel Castro’s resignation last week.
Mr. McGovern, who met with Mr. Castro and other Cuban leaders during several trips to the island nation, wants the United States to lift the embargo and travel restrictions against Cuba that have been in place since Mr. Castro came to power almost 50 years ago. Mr. McGovern called U.S. policy a “relic from the Cold War,” and said shunning Cuba has not forced any political or economic changes in the country.
“It’s a failure, it’s an embarrassment,” Mr. McGovern said about the policy. “I felt that even before Fidel Castro stepped aside.”
The Bush administration has signaled the transfer of power to Raul Castro, Fidel Castro’s brother, will not prompt any change in U.S. policy. The Bush administration has imposed even harsher restrictions on Cuba than previous administrations by tightening the embargo and limiting the number of trips Cuban-born Americans can make to the country.
The day Fidel Castro announced he was stepping down, Mr. McGovern wrote a letter that was signed by 104 members of Congress urging Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to review U.S. policy and arguing the Cuban embargo and travel restrictions have not worked for the past five decades. Massachusetts U.S. Reps. Michael Capuano, D-Cambridge; William Delahunt, D-Quincy; Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield; John W. Olver, D-Amherst; and John F. Tierney, D-Peabody, also signed the letter.
“A complete review of U.S. policy is clearly in order now,” the letter states. “This would send a useful signal to the Cuban people that we intend to engage with their government in new and positive ways.”
Mr. McGovern said an “immature” U.S. policy has done nothing to help Cuba become a more democratic country. If the United States allowed open trade and travel to Cuba, he argues, the greater American presence would most likely force liberalization of Cuban policies.
“I’ve met with Cuban dissidents who have served years and years in Cuban jails, and even they said the policy is counterproductive,” Mr. McGovern said. “The more [Americans] come here, the more difficult it is for the government to be oppressive.”
James Roberts, a research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation’s Center for International Trade and Economics, said Mr. McGovern’s belief that a greater American presence in Cuba would help democratize the country was “purely hypothetical.” Mr. Roberts said the United States should not reconsider its Cuba policy unless Raul Castro releases political prisoners, allows for greater freedom of the press, and opens Internet access for the entire country.
“Otherwise, that’s putting the cart before the horse. That’s the wrong attitude,” Mr. Roberts said. “You don’t reward a regime for doing nothing.”
But if there is to be a shift in U.S. policy, experts agreed Raul Castro must be willing to undertake economic reforms and ease his party’s stance toward the opposition in the country. Daniel Greenberg, director of Latin American studies at Pace University, said Raul Castro is more “pragmatic” than his brother when it comes to the economy
“If his past conduct is a guide for future actions, he will probably continue to open up the economy a little bit, but I wouldn’t expect broad ranging capitalist reforms like China,” Mr. Greenberg said.
Daniel T. Griswold, director of the libertarian Cato Institute’s Center for Trade Policy Studies, who favors normalizing relations with Cuba, said Fidel Castro used the American embargo as an excuse for Cuba’s own economic failings.
“The embargo reinforced [Fidel Castro’s] grip on power for giving him an excuse for his economic failures,” Mr. Griswold said.
Mr. McGovern said he believes there will be little noticeable difference between Fidel Castro and Raul Castro, as well as Raul Castro’s eventual successor. Relations between Cuba and the United States will remain the same unless the United States initiates a change, Mr. McGovern said.
“It’s a mistake to sit by and twiddle our thumbs and wait for a sign,” he said. “Nothing’s going to change unless we change.”
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Even Without Opponents, Rep. McGovern Still Runs
McGovern
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Jason Millman
Boston University Washington News Service
Feb. 27, 2008
WASHINGTON – Though U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Worcester, doesn’t yet have an opponent for reelection in the 3rd Congressional District, the six-term incumbent has been raising money, he said, as if he were locked in the race of his life.
Mr. McGovern, who has been unopposed in every election except one since 1998, had raised $598,297 as of Dec. 31, 2007, the most recent reporting period covered, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission. Mr. McGovern’s fundraising figures are consistent with past election cycles in which he ran unopposed, according to past FEC filings.
“The advice Tip O’Neill gave me was make sure you’re asking for their vote whether you’re in the race of your life or no one’s running against you,” Mr. McGovern said in a telephone interview.
During past uncontested election cycles, Mr. McGovern fundraised aggressively and spent most of what he raised, according to figures compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group that tracks campaign financing. In 2006, he raised $755,594 and spent $705,491 and in 2002 he raised $628,348, spending all of it. In 2000, he raised $848,573 and spent $550,240 in his first uncontested election.
In 1998, Mr. McGovern’s first contested election after winning his seat in 1996, he raised and spent a little more than $1.3 million and received 57 percent of the vote. In 2004, his only other contested election, he raised close to $950,000 and spent $1.2 million, earning 71 percent of the vote.
For the upcoming election, Mr. McGovern’s campaign had spent $286,652 as of the end of December and still had $406,840 in the bank. Of that total, he spent $96,769 – about one-third of all his expenditures – in the district, with money going toward hosting events and dinners, donations to local civic organizations and other costs, such as printing campaign literature.
Even an uncontested incumbent should have a noticeable presence in the district during the campaign season, said John C. Berg, a Suffolk University professor of government with a specialty in congressional elections.
“He needs to be concerned with how he’s perceived by the public,” Mr. Berg said. “Doing a good job visibly to the public is the best way to campaign.”
Though his name may wind up being the only one on the ballot come November, Mr. McGovern, who said he makes an effort to be in his district almost every weekend, said he is not taking anything for granted.
“Politics is an uncertain business,” he said. “When I won in 1996, I wasn’t supposed to win. I was the longest of long shots. Anything could happen in this business.”
As unopposed candidates are expected to, Mr. McGovern has contributed money -- almost $25,000 -- to his party and individual Democrats. He donated $4,000 to Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign between March and May of last year, and he donated $2,000 to U.S. Rep. Niki Tsongas in September after she won the special election for former U.S. Rep. Martin T. Meehan's seat. Mr. McGovern also donated $10,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2007, a year after donating $100,000 for the 2006 election in which Democrats regained the majority in both houses of Congress.
With House members from all 10 Massachusetts congressional districts up for reelection, eight of those races are still uncontested. Mr. McGovern has raised the second most of those eight, behind U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal’s, D-Springfield, $640,308.
Massie Ritsch, the communications director for the Center for Responsive Politics, said incumbents running unopposed are inclined to build up robust campaign funds early on to discourage others from entering the race.
“The best way to make sure you don’t have any opposition is to scare off anybody with a large war chest,” Mr. Ritsch said.
Potential challengers for congressional seats in Massachusetts have until May 6 to declare their candidacy. But it is unlikely a Republican can pose a legitimate threat to McGovern’s chances of serving a seventh term in Congress, said David Schaefer, a political science professor at the College of the Holy Cross. Mr. Schaefer, who has lived in the 3rd Congressional District for more than 30 years, said it is unlikely a Republican would be able to afford the time and resources needed to unseat a Democrat in Massachusetts, which has not sent a Republican to Congress since Mr. McGovern defeated Peter I. Blute in the 1996 election.
“Someone who usually would be a good candidate is a successful person – let’s say a businessman – who’s not going to invest time and money into what’s a doomed cause,” said Mr. Schaefer, adding he believes the district is “missing out” on important political debate because of the lack of competition to Mr. McGovern.
“Competition is not a bad thing, but it's not my job to find myself an opponent,” Mr. McGovern said. “Even if I don’t have a race, I still think it’s important to go out and talk to people about issues.”
Barring any scandal or dramatic shift in the political climate, the Bay State’s congressional Democrats should not expect too much of a threat come November, said Jeff Gulati, a political science professor at Bentley College. Until then, being financially prepared for the unexpected is key.
“If something might happen in September in October, it may be when Republicans field the dream candidate for once in a lifetime,” Mr. Gulati said. “You never know.”
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