| So here we are quickly approaching the first anniversary of "Together We Can" government. DaValle Patrick took the oath of office on January 4th, 2007 and it is now an appropriate measure of time to look back at the accomplishments, or otherwise, of the rookie Governor with the big dreams.
I did a bit of searching trying to find his actual campaign promises, which proved no easy task. It seems there were two kinds of campaign promises - tangible and intangible. The tangible promises were those promises you could actually measure - lower property taxes, streamlined business regulation on new construction and business expansion, 1,000 new police officers, cut inefficient spending by $735 million, create 100,000 new jobs for Massachusetts residents, rescind the ability for state troopers to enforce immigration laws, restore the $400 million in cuts to services made by Mitt Romney.
The intangible campaign promises are those that can not be measured. They include things like - take back government, decent healthcare for everyone, hope opportunity and togetherness. I don't necessarily consider these promises, but since such a large part of DeValle Patrick's campaign was to dismiss gimmicky sound bites and slogans I thought I would include his own gimmicky sound bites and slogans. There really is no way to measure whether people have "taken-back" their government, feel more hope or togetherness, have greater opportunity and whether they have "decent" healthcare. Some might argue that you can measure decent healthcare, but they would really be measuring price, availability, access and other such tangibles, none of which DeValle Patrick made any promises about (at least that I can find).
So let's take a look, shall we?
1.) Has Deval Patrick lowered property taxes? No, in fact he says he can't, but is willing to help slow the growth in the future.
2.) Has Deval Patrick streamlined business expansion? A little bit, but there has been no rush by out of state companies to change their address to Massachusetts. Really, the only thing he did was place himself in a series of television and radio ads for existing Massachusetts businesses.
3.) Has Deval Patrick hired and budgeted for 1,000 new police officers? No, and there are families of countless victims that wish he would.
4.) Has Deval Patrick cut wasteful spending by $735 million? No, Deval has been one of the worst spenders of all. He later claimed he was mistaken and the state budget has no fat in it to cut.
5.) Has Deval Patrick created 100,000 new jobs? No, come on now....
6.) Has Deval Patrick taken away state trooper's ability to detain illegal immigrants? Yes, he acted immediately on this issue.
7.) Has Deval Patrick restored spending cuts of $400 million made by Romney? Yes, he acted immediately on this as well.
It appears the only two objectives he has met (restoring spending cuts and allowing illegal immigrants) are the ones that he is allowed by executive order and needed no interaction with the legislature to accomplish. Mind you he still has three years left to his term, so we may all be surprised when he does what he said he would do and we can check them off the list. So what has Deval Patrick done since taking office?
1.) Replaced the Crown Victoria with a Cadillac Coupe Deville.
2.) Hired, and then fired, a $72,000 per year personal assistant for his wife.
3.) Redecorated his office for $27,000, including $12,000 for curtains alone.
4.) Used the state helicopter more in the first two months than Romney did in 4 years.
5.) Launched a website that revealed private addresses to the public.
6.) Held not 1, but 5 inaugural receptions for himself.
7.) Cut to a part time schedule while his wife worked through her "depression".
8.) Paved the way for casinos to come to Massachusetts, while excluding online gambling.
9.) Moved on legislation allowing towns and cities to raise local taxes.
10.) Made questionable calls to former employers in violation of ethics rules.
11.) Campaigned in the ConCon to prevent a vote on gay marriage despite the 170,000 signatures asking for the right.
12.) Endorsed Barack Obama for President in 2008.
13.) He insulted Americans by saying we brought about the 9/11 attacks by not showing enough "love" of others.
I don't think I would characterize this as a successful administration so far. I will venture a guess that the population has continued to move out of state as it has for three years running. Crime continues at an alarming rate on the streets of Boston. The lottery proceeds are down so far that less money is actually available to finance local aid. Gambling and all its problems appear to be headed our way. People are more likely to experience a tax increase than the promised tax decrease. So what has improved by having Deval Patrick as our Governor?
Isn't it about time this clown took the training wheels off his administration and started getting something done? |
