Town Democratic Websites

I have to say, having spent an hour or so looking at the various town committee websites across Massachusetts, I'm most impressed at how our party's base activists have quickly taken to technology. I've been fairly involved with the development of my town dem committee's website (at least insofar as offering input, etc.), so I know it's a tremendous amount of work for any town committee to undertake. Few have the funds to hire out a professional website, but nevertheless, the websites really run the gambit. Several are quite good in terms of the content they offer and the way they're presented, even if they aren't professional sites.

I have to admit, especially given the fact that they have a cable access show to post there, my favorite town dem site -- from just the time I've spent now digging up what town dem sites I could find -- my favorite site is Acton's. I think they have a good layout, make a great case on why you should join, and I can't get over how much I enjoyed their "Local Impact" show (they get bonus points for linking to LeftAhead).

Here's a list of (a few) other town dem sites, in no particular order.

http://www.democratsoflexington.org/
http://www.framinghamdems.org/mainpage.html
http://www.arlingtondems.org/
http://www.attleborodemocrats.org/
http://www.southwickdems.org/
http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeuueah/grotondems/
http://www.wdtc.us/
http://www.amherstdemocrats.org/
http://www.dracutdems.com/
http://www.plymouthdemocrats.org/towns/plymouth/

Which are your favorites? What do you think makes a good town democratic website? What features are you looking for? What features aren't you looking for? Why does it seem like small towns across Massachusetts are leading the way? (The Boston website is scary bad -- even some of the ward committees have better sites. The Springfield committee looked fantastic -- until I realized I was looking at Springfield, Virginia.) Most importantly, do these websites have any impact on you as a grassroots activist? I think Town Democratic Committees are one of the most important parts of grassroots governing, so it's important that tools are created which help them thrive.

Legislative Bigotry

Thankfully, this video isn't from Massachusetts, but it still pains me to watch it (along with the news that marriage equality is again delayed in NY, though that's much better than defeated).



Here's a woman who speaks at length about how she can't get legally married in her state demonstratively hurts her everyday life, speaking openly and honestly about a very frank issue, and how is she answered? Her state legislator ignores everything she said, doesn't try to solve any of her problems, and just says he's only for marriage bigotry. It makes me so sad to be in a country where hatred and intolerance is so widespread. No one should have to deal with this crap.

Today's LeftAhead Podcast: MA-Sen, Health Care

It was a lively one, today, especially after Lynne joined us (she was a bit late).

Expanding at the Worst Time?

For any state elected leader who votes to allow an expansion to predatory gambling through slots, they're going to be doing it at the absolute worst time imaginable. Why? The state's authority to treat gambling addicts -- the Mass Council on Compulsive Gambling -- has just had it's budget cut by 50%, on top of the 12% they've had to cut due to a loss in funding, for a total loss of 62% of their funding. For the hundreds of thousands of gambling addicts who already live in Massachusetts, our state's sole agency that deals with problem gambling now receives only $500,000 in funding through the state lottery (roughly .05% of what the state lottery takes in).

The MCCG has never had the funds to deal with the magnitude of the problem that already exists in Massachusetts - and slots would double that problem. Why should anyone trust state lawmakers with an expansion to gambling, given their track record with "mitigation" to date?

It's no wonder that even Governor Patrick is starting to become lukewarm on casinos in Massachusetts. Today's SHNS/Jim O'Sullivan piece has more, for those with access, but here was a key quote:

“I don't want anybody in the Legislature to be thinking about expanded gaming as a quote fix unquote for the fiscal challenges facing the commonwealth. It's not. It's not," Patrick said during an appearance 96.9FM-WTKK.

Legislators have to start asking themselves just what Governor Patrick would sign into law.

Here's Kathy Scanlon at the recent state house hearing on predatory slot gambling.

The Hypocrisy of Republicans

No group in America has fought against the "government take-over" of health care harder than Republicans. Though what they have to say has absolutely no merit, they spread the lie that this effort to reform the health insurance industry is nothing less than government deciding each and every individual's health care choices. Yes, what do Republicans decide to do in the new house health care bill? Allow government to decide what choices women will and won't have when it comes to their own personal health. This is nothing but hypocrisy.

People must stand up to the Senate and demand that their version of the health care bill does not include a provision banning a women's right to have an abortion - then demanding that any bill that goes through conference committee is free from such provisions, too. The House bill will ban the funding of the right to choose to any health insurance plan that accepts people who take any public subsidies. I ask readers: What health insurance company in Massachusetts doesn't accept any individuals who are subsidized? Doubtfully even one. The end result is millions of people who receive no health care subsidies at all will end up unable to afford their right to choose. Without that crucial ability to decide, they are not free and equal citizens of this country.

The Real Cha-Ching

It is almost a travesty that there's a giant portion of our state without broadband or cable internet access. This is costing those regions jobs, keeping the kids in those schools in the digital stone age (dial-up). From Governor Patrick's daily briefing:

Governor's Briefing
November 5, 2009

Expanding Broadband

Wrapping up a two-day trip to Washington, DC, Governor Patrick meets with President Obama today after visiting with Massachusetts's congressional delegation to discuss jobs, the economy, and health-care reform. The Governor met with Commerce Secretary Gary Locke yesterday to secure stimulus funds that will help expand high-speed internet across the Commonwealth and spur economic development in every corner of the state. Learn more here.

• Increased broadband availability, an important part of Governor Patrick's plan to position the state for long-term recovery, will lead to new jobs, better health care, and better public education services across Massachusetts.

• Internet access is no longer a luxury--it is a necessity. The Governor expects that his move yesterday will help secure more grants to continue his plan to close the digital divide.

• Specific proposals developed carefully by Governor Patrick's administration for Boston and Cape Cod will improve internet reliability, develop more public computing centers, and provide free high-speed internet access in public housing.

• The largest plan for broadband expansion is for the Berkshires. The $107 million project is expected to create up to 3,000 new jobs and bring high-speed internet to 43 towns in Western Massachusetts that currently receive little or no broadband service.

• Governor Patrick's close relationship with the Obama administration has already secured millions of dollars in federal recovery funds for education and emerging sectors like clean energy and biotechnology. Today, Massachusetts is making the long-term investments that will create jobs and lay the foundation for enduring economic growth.

Governor Patrick's relationship with Barack Obama has certainly helped in the stimulus funds department and one can easily see the fruits of the investments these projects are making, both the stimulus money and the money the state had already invested through the bond bills passed a few years ago. As bad as the "Great Recession" has been, Massachusetts, as a state, has fared better than most -- I have to think Governor Patrick's steady hand is part of the reason why, sparing our cities and towns as much as possible, while looking for future growth potential under every rock and pebble, even as we have to make bone-deep cuts.

SHNS: Casinos "not a done deal."

From Friday's State House News Weekly Roundup ("The Citizen Advisers"), from Jim O'Sullivan. I'm just getting this now, otherwise I'd have posted it sooner.

Last time, December 2007, Gov. Deval Patrick walked into the capitol auditorium armed to the teeth with casino enthusiasm, and lots of people in red T-shirts stood up and clapped.

The casino hearing this time around, the governor was down the Pike a ways, talking about chopping $352 million from this fiscal year's budget, maybe laying off 2,000 state workers.

Casinos are not a done deal, one sensed Thursday....

Recall that the vote in April 2008 was 108-46, against, in the House. Recall that the speaker was a powerful fellow named Sal DiMasi, since deposed. And now consider that Patrick has cooled markedly on the casino front - seemingly, from economic development chief Gregory Bialecki's testimony on behalf of the administration, close to ambivalence. Casinos are not a done deal.

There is a marked difference in how the media is starting to treat news about casinos. The inevitability meme is gone; they're treating the the Barrows of the world with the criticism they deserve. The same stuff that sold last year and the year before just isn't passing the sniff test anymore. Whether people support or oppose casinos, this is a good thing: any major changes made to a state must be looked at with a great deal of skepticism, because those changes have to be for the better. Whenever there's a fair and open debate, casinos lose. I'm getting more and more confident they will this time, too.

Videos from the Casino Hearing

Cross-posted at BMG.

As promised in Thursday's rundown of the casino hearing, I put together a video diary of the event, featuring a lot of the videos I took throughout the day. Take a look at the videos, pick a few and get a sense of what's going on.

Fair weather warning: the acoustics in the Gardner are lousy, not all the microphones worked and my camera was set up behind the people speaking. Keep the volume up. Also, this was an incredible amount of work -- I did not add all the videos and, if there's any mistakes, let me know.

I was thinking of one video to post above the fold, summing up all my thoughts, showing the kind of dangerous greed -- and blindness -- the slot industry leads states into and it was Senator Tucker speaking with the Mohegan Sun rep about just how hard Mohegan tries to "help" problem gamblers, with their "exclusionary lists" and "trained employees."

She got Mohegan Sun to admit the lists to ban people from gambling were self exclusionary and that there was no recourse for family or friends who had fallen pray to addicts, save getting them to come in and sign the exclusionary forms after the fact.

Mohegan Sun would take the initiative to ban problem gamblers -- if they were rowdy or violent. In other words, the company policy is to exclude others when they start to become a problem to the bottom line. So long as they keep bringing in the dough, whoever's dough that is, those addicts are given all the free booze and extra perks to keep them there as long as possible. Mohegan sings a nice song and a dance, but it's all a farce. So long as people ruin their lives and the lives of others quietly, Mohegan has no problem with it.

As Senator Tucker says, if casinos had to pay for all their costs, including social costs, they wouldn't be profitable. There would be no business model.

Click here and go below the fold to watch all my videos from the hearing (or just the one's you're interested in).