Archive for May 16th, 2012

May 16th, 2012

Curt Shilling and Corporate Welfare (Part II)

by DickH

The news that Curt Schilling’s Rhode Island based computer gaming company defaulted on a payment on its loan and quite possibly has squandered $75 million of borrowed money that the taxpayers of the Ocean State guaranteed is unsurprising. Twenty-two months ago in this blog post (reproduced below in its entirety including contemporaneous comments) I labelled the whole thing a scam and congratulated Governor Patrick for not getting conned into supporting a predictably ill-fated enterprise. Of course not everyone agreed. As Jack so thoroughly points out in this Left in Lowell post, the editorialists of the local newspaper condemned Governor Patrick for allowing Schilling to decamp to Rhode Island despite the crystal clear dubiousness of the proposition. But I’ll leave it to Jack to link to the “sorry, we got that wrong” editorial, whenever that might appear. For now, here’s a glimpse back across 22 months of blogging to my earlier post:

Curt Schilling and Corporate Welfare
by DickH on Wednesday, July 28, 2010

I was pleased that Massachusetts refused to hand former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling a big taxpayer guaranteed check for his company which, according to today’s Globe, is “a start up that has yet to bring a product to market.” Rhode Island can have him. Hopefully he’ll want to live closer to work and will leave the Commonwealth entirely. Six months ago, the most dangerous place in Massachusetts was between this guy and a microphone as he spared no effort condemning government spending while campaigning for Scott Brown.

Here’s what old number 38 had to say on January 13, 2010:

No one to blame but ourselves, we’ve elected these buffoons, and we’re paying through the nose for it. The Government has done nothing but spend, and grow, at a time when we have no money to spend and absolutely unequivocally NO need for a larger government. If you think it’s going to change, you’re wrong.

The next day, he added this:

What Government run/funded program in this country’s history has ever been run with an ounce of financial responsibility, prudence, or with the peoples best interest at the forefront? None, that’s which one.

So in January, he says all government spending is a waste but in July he’s happy to get a $75mil kiss from the taxpayers of Rhode Island. I guess Curt’s political philosophy can be summed up as follows: When it’s a taxpayer expenditure that personally benefits him, it’s good government; when it’s a program that benefits someone else its socialism. As I said, good riddance.

12 Comments to “Curt Schilling and Corporate Welfare”

Bob Forrant
July 28, 2010 at 8:21 pm
This one really frosted my kister big time! The Big Blowhard thinks nothing of going on talk radio WEEI in the morning with the Dennis and Callahan crew and rant against everything the government does to help poor people, unemployed workers, the homeless, just about anyone down on their luck. But the BB thinks nothing of putting his baseball cap out there to get massive corporate welfare from a state that is one of the most brokeass in the nation, closing schools, laying off massive numbers of teachers, etc. But then the overpaid sports-entitled and the radio and TV sycophants who enable them figure the rules do not apply to them. Similar in a way, but even more of a stick up in my opinion, than Johnny Yacht’s flirting with his own assumed nobility.

I greatly dislike people who lecture about rules, yap against government and public sector workers, and at the same time have their own giant paws out there looking for their own kick back – read Charlie Rangle here too. A pox on the corrupt and greedy of any stripe or political persuasion.

sjmcnamara
July 28, 2010 at 9:23 pm
You have to wonder about the viability of this venture when no private equity/venture firms were willing to invest their capital in this company. I wonder if Celtics co-owner Steve Paglucia would have an opinion on the record on this story. In past radio interviews on the economy, finance etc. I found him to be very informative with the ability to talk about complex economic issues in “plain talk”.

K-R-S
July 28, 2010 at 9:29 pm
I suppose Guv spending is only good, when it’s good for him! Tsk, Tsk.

Shawn
July 29, 2010 at 5:59 am
It was not direct cash, but a loan guarantee, with stipulations attached to prove the meeting of hiring figures… a better deal than we’re getting with Lawrence.
In Mass, the only way we seem to get any big businesses is to do the same.. offer tax breaks or concessions to large companies or industries to move or stay here. Once the tax breaks end.. the companies realize the actual cost of doing business in Mass and move out.
Yeah, its a risk on RI’s part. But I bet they’re hoping that Schilling will be a draw to bring in more gaming companies, and more high tech workers. They are a pretty low cost place to live, with some beautiful historic areas.

Righty Bulger
July 29, 2010 at 7:11 am
Tsk Tsk Shawn! You should know better. Giving tax breaks to a company that will emply about 350 people is no economic stimulus. Now unemployment benefits, that’s economic stimulus.

DickH
July 29, 2010 at 7:26 am
If we had said that the state was committing $75 million to some start up business that had yet to get a product to market owned by a nobody who promised to create 350 jobs in Lowell, you guys would all be going crazy saying socialism was invading the Merrimack Valley. But when the money is going to one of your philosophical fellow travelers, that’s OK.

JoeS
July 29, 2010 at 7:41 am
Curt Schilling is loyal to money – period. When speaking of “games”, the casinos offer the State license fees, whereas CS is looking for financial backing that is best left to Venture Capitalists to make that decision. Apparently they are taking a pass, so he is looking for the public to back him, something he would rail against if it were anyone but himself. We’ll have to see how RI makes out with this one.

Shawn
July 29, 2010 at 8:23 am
“Giving tax breaks to a company that will employ about 350 people is no economic stimulus”
Tax breaks would be a completely different issue.. and one I do agree with completely (as I said above).
Its how we got companies like Raytheon to stay around as long as they did, and its what Patrick is doing with all these green opportunities.

Shawn
July 29, 2010 at 8:25 am
And as to unemployment benefits.. I know a number of people who know how to play that game very well.. get a seasonal job for 6 or 7 months, then go on unemployment for as long as you can, then go back to another temp job.
Its a whole culture out there that nobody is interested in ending.. just encouraging.

Bob Forrant
July 29, 2010 at 12:22 pm
Jock sniffing legislatures and anyone esle connected with this fiasco should be forced to wear a replica bloody sock as a hat for three months!

The Mark
July 29, 2010 at 12:27 pm
Dick, I’m curious did you instantly start hating him when he dared utter “get out and vote… and vote Bush.” In 2004 or did it take time to develop hatred for him. If he would have said vote Kerry would that have been ok? If he campaigned for Marsha Coakley would you two be chummy?
See I love him and it’s not just the politics, he’s got huge brass ones and is the best big game pitcher in the history of the modern league. Plus he’s a video game dork and let me tell you as another video game dork and a World of Warcraft player myself- many people can’t wait for his second game to come out. The first one will wet the appetitte but almost everyone in the gaming industry has said that his company once it puts product on the shelf at $30-$50 a piece AND then the $10-$15 monthly subscription his company which is full of gaming industry heavyweights is going to return huge profits.
One other thing- for everyone calling him a blowhard (which he likes the sound of his own voice but what celeb doesn’t?) would you rather hear a question asked and then hear an actual opinion or the rehearsed Bull Durham good of the team 110% bs? You can’t have it both ways. He just dared to be a Conservative in the People’s Republic. I can’t wait to flee the state myself.
450 jobs at an average of $72,500 a year is a lot of tax revenue for Massachusetts to not get to piss away. Instead little Rhode gets too.

Bob Forrant
July 29, 2010 at 1:51 pm
The Mark
I loved Schilling when he helped win the WS and I fully believe he is entitled to whatever political views he wants and of course he can back the candidates of his choosing as we all can. It is the lack of a consistent perspective that galls me. You can not go on conservative talk radio and lash out at social services programs and camaign for candidates who attack the public sector and te role of government in the economy and then turn around and open what now amounts to an ‘open bucket’ moht you want filled with public sector largess.
And if this venture ever generates that many jobs in RI at those wages I’ll eat the freaking bloody sock!
Matters not to me if he is a Dem or Rep – which is why I noted my dislike for Admiral Kerry and Rent Commissioner Rangle too. Don’t ride high and mighty and holier than thou and then wait for your own underhanded payoff.

CategoryCurrent Events, Politics | Comment3 Comments »

May 16th, 2012

The torch has passed: Joe Kearns Goodwin launches bid for state senate by Marjorie Arons-Barron

by Tony

The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons-Barron’s own blog.  Marjorie’s blog can be found at http://marjoriearonsbarron.com/ be sure to check it out.

Disclaimer: proceed at your own risk.  The following observation of an emerging political figure is through the eyes of one who has known him affectionately since he was a little boy. Notwithstanding the personal connection, I really do see him as a potentially great voice of the next generation.

Joey Goodwin, oops, he is now Joe Goodwin, the son of historian and biographer Doris Kearns Goodwin and Richard Goodwin (speechwriter to JFK, LBJ and RFK), is running for the open 3rd Middlesex Massachusetts Senate seat,  being vacated by Susan Fargo. So progressive values are in his DNA.

A child of privilege, Goodwin went to Concord public schools and Harvard College and attends Harvard Law School.  But well before his ripe old age of 34 he showed a serious   interest in public service, working in Washington for the late liberal Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota, who died in 2002. In Massachusetts, he took a semester off from Harvard to help run State Representative Cory Atkins’ campaign, and later worked for gubernatorial candidate Steve Pagliucca.

He could easily have gone into some cushy job and glided through life very comfortably. But that was not in his character. When the nation was hit by the 9/11 attacks, he didn’t bluster or wring his hands.  The very next day  he joined the Army.

As his website explains it, “he was commissioned as a second lieutenant combat arms officer and joined the 1st Armored Division in Iraq. He spent more than a year leading a platoon of thirty soldiers patrolling the streets of Baghdad, rebuilding the country’s infrastructure, and working to contain the growing violence.  He received a Bronze Star for his exemplary performance in combat.”

In the war, he told his campaign kickoff gathering,  all the things that divide us at home – race, ethnicity, socio-economic status – were irrelevant.   It was as representative of America as any group can be. “The inner city kid from Chicago was probably not going hang out with the gruff sergeant from Quincy, but over there we were all brothers.  We were able to emerge from a year of often intense combat without any casualties because we were able to come together as a community. We had each other’s backs. And that’s what this state and this country need right now.  We can achieve so much more by working together than we ever could in pockets of isolation.  From Malden to Chelmsford, from Lexington to Bedford, we need to act with one voice.”

That voice, he says, need to speak out on spiralling health care costs,  jobs, protecting workers and seniors, finding creative ways to raise revenues.  On all issues, he looks back to the days after 9/11, “whether black or white, rich or poor, Democrat or Republican, they learned that, if they all moved in one direction, they could accomplish great things.”

When Joe came home, he worked for General Electric on renewable energy, but in 2008 was recalled to active service in Afghanistan.  For a year he was special advisor to the NATO Director of Strategic Communications, investigating civilian casualties and working on solutions to prevent repeat tragedies.

The theme of community is central to his core and to his campaign. “If we had been asked to do more in the wake of 9/11,” he said, “we could have had a Manhattan Project for renewable energy, so we wouldn’t have to depend on foreign oil, and, if we had not put two wars on credit cards, we wouldn’t have ended up where we are now.”

Harvard moral philosophy professor Michael Sandel warns how market values are driving out civic values from our culture.  Tom Friedman unhappily writes ”we are losing the places and institutions that used to bring people together from different walks of life.” Political life has become increasingly toxic and polarized. From international forums, to the halls of Congress, to state houses, we are also losing the people who can move beyond the rhetoric and walk the walk.  Joe Goodwin has that spirit of community, understands what is necessary to negotiate our differences and has the skills to lead.

Joe has “the touch.”   His opening speech was delivered flawlessly. He has the warmth and earnestness to persuade people to embrace causes larger than their narrow interests.  ”I won’t let you down,” he told supporters at an ice cream social Saturday at the home of State Representative Cory Atkins.

He’ll be running against a pro, Mike Barrett of Lexington, who served three terms in the state House of Representatives, four terms in the Senate and left politics after a failed bid for governor.  Barrett has Barney Frank’s endorsement, who served with him in the Massachusetts legislature.

Other Democrats include Mara Dolan of Concord, Joe Mullin of Weston and Alex Buck of Chelmsford. Republicans running include Concord Selectman Greg Howes and Sandi Martinez of Chelmsford, who has run before.

But Joe Kearns Goodwin, in his first race,  will certainly be competitive. And I, for one, am certainly reassured to know that this young man could be a stand-out leader in the emerging generation. If I lived in his district, I’d be voting for him.

I’d be pleased to read your comments below.

CategoryUncategorized | Comment1 Comment »

May 16th, 2012

Cemetery Tours this weekend

by DickH

The weather forecast for this weekend is superb, so please join us for one of our free walking tours of historic Lowell Cemetery. The tours begin on Friday, May 18, 2012 at 1 pm and on Saturday, May 19, 2012 at 10 am, both from the Lawrence Street Gate. The tour involves 90 minutes of walking during which we stop and various graves and discuss the individuals buried in them and their impact on Lowell and American history.

CategoryCurrent Events, Lowell | Comment1 Comment »

May 16th, 2012

The Fashion Police are not limited to Lowell

by DickH

This Monday I did the first of what should be, for a while at least, a regular call-in to WCAP (at 9:10 a.m. on 980 AM) to discuss the issues of the day with Ted Panos. We tackled two: men’s fashion and gay marriage. I never would have imagined that the former would be the more controversial of the two. That’s because, at the instigation of the local newspaper, we’ve entered into a great debate about when and where a man should wear a coat and tie.

It turns out that we are not alone in having such a discussion. A few days ago, the New York Times wrote about Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg arriving on Wall Street to promote his company’s imminent public offering, clad in a hooded sweatshirt. According to the article, “His critics saw it as a sign of immaturity and disrespect for those whom he expected to finance his company.” Others contend that “the hoodie signified Silicon Valley ethos: a brash, youthful self-confidence” that also signaled that Zuckerberg really didn’t care all that much about the Wall Street types which, since he controls Facebook, is not an unreasonable position to hold in my opinion.

Certainly one’s choice of clothing can be intended as a statement or message. But the reality is that some days you just don’t feel like wearing a tie. It’s as simple as that.

CategoryCulture | Comment2 Comments »

May 16th, 2012

“Tweet the Beat”

by DickH

The Globe today reports on the Boston Police Department’s strategy of (1) greatly increasing the number of officers walking neighborhood beats in the city; and (2) how the department is employing Twitter in conjunction with those officers on foot. For now, individual officers do not have Twitter “handles”, but supervisors who accompany them do and they Tweet from the street. The example cited in the article was Deputy Superintendent Nora Baston who is @DeputyBaston on Twitter. The force behind this strategy is, of course, Boston Police Superintendent Ed Davis, who formerly led the Lowell Police Department. Ed is @EdDavis3 on Twitter. The Boston Police Department is @Boston_Police.

When it comes to social media, the Lowell Police have certainly been active. The department is @LowellPD and often disseminates important and interesting information via this channel. But like most of us on Twitter, me especially, the LPD’s usage tends to ebb and flow which is understandable given all the other things that need to be done. I do believe, however, that Twitter has enormous potential for individuals but most especially institutions to connect with their constituencies. To do that, the person doing the Tweeting has to develop a usage strategy in advance that almost scripts out your Tweets for the day (with the flexibility to supplement them as unexpected events arise). It’s only with that kind of advanced planning that you will create the steady flow of Tweets necessary to gain and keep a critical mass of followers.

CategoryCulture, Current Events | Comment1 Comment »

May 16th, 2012

Stephen King to Speak at UMass Lowell in December

by PaulM

From UMass Lowell Public Affairs Office

Contacts:    Christine Gillette, 978-934-2209 or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu; Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944 or Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu

Stephen King to Speak at UMass Lowell

Legendary Author to Make Rare Personal Appearance at Event for Public, Campus

LOWELL, Mass. – Stephen King’s words on page and screen have thrilled and chilled fans for three decades, but opportunities to hear those words spoken by the author himself are rare. For one night only, King will take to the stage at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell, offering fans the chance to hear King read his work, ask him questions and listen to him discuss his passion for writing and his advice for aspiring authors. “A Conversation with Stephen King” – set for Friday, Dec. 7 at 7:30 p.m. – will be moderated by Andre Dubus III, bestselling author and professor in UMass Lowell’s English Department, the program’s co-sponsor.

King’s appearance marks the debut of the new UMass Lowell Chancellor’s Speaker Series. Tickets to the Dec. 7 event go on sale to the public Friday, June 1 and are $30 (plus $2 facility fee) for general admission and $50 ($2 facility fee) for reserved floor seating. Tickets will be sold at the Tsongas Center box office, www.tsongascenter.com and 866-722-8780. Admission is free for UMass Lowell students with valid ID who obtain tickets in advance at the Tsongas Center box office.

“Writing requires not just a creative mind and some good ideas, but also dedication to the craft. I look forward to sharing my experiences as a writer and the lessons I have learned with UMass Lowell students and the public,” said King, who will hold a special master class for UMass Lowell creative writing majors during his visit to the university.

To further support UMass Lowell students, King and his wife, Tabitha, will endow a new scholarship fund in their names. King will donate his fee from the UMass Lowell appearance and at least $5 from every ticket sold for the Dec. 7 event will go to this scholarship fund.

“It is a tremendous honor to have Stephen King as the first headliner of the new UMass Lowell Chancellor’s Speaker Series. This is a perfect example of how the series will bring people at the top of their fields to campus to speak to our students and the community,” said Chancellor Marty Meehan. “We are also very grateful to Stephen and Tabitha King for their generous support for student scholarships here at UMass Lowell.”

King’s nearly 35-year literary career includes publishing more than 50 full-length books that have sold more than 350 million copies, as well as many short stories, essays, anthologies and novellas. King’s early thrillers, like “Carrie” and “The Shining,” put him on the map, not only as a writer of popular horror novels, but also one whose work could be successfully adapted for films and television. More than 50 of his works have been turned into movies and miniseries, and many have garnered critical success, including “The Shawshank Redemption” and “The Green Mile,” both of which were nominated for multiple Academy Awards. King made his directorial debut with “Maximum Overdrive,” which was based on one of his short stories, and collaborated on “Ghosts,” a 40-minute music video with Michael Jackson.

King, who also published work under the pen name Richard Bachman, is best known for crafting tales that terrify. But  he is also the author of nonfiction books like “On Writing,” his self-described “memoir of the craft,” and “Faithful,” a chronicle of the Boston Red Sox 2004  championship season co-written with Stewart O’Nan. Last year’s “11/22/63” was King’s first work of historical fiction, set around the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. King has penned columns and opinion pieces that have appeared in publications and websites, including Entertainment Weekly and the Huffington Post, and he has made several TV and movie appearances. His body of  work includes comic books, audio books and the novella “Ur,” written exclusively for release as an e-book for the Amazon Kindle. King is the recipient of numerous honors, including the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters and the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award.

CategoryCulture, Education, History, Lowell | CommentNo Comments »

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May 16th, 2012

Maureen Drops Rev Seamus Finn’s Name in Today’s Column

by PaulM

 

In her opinion column today, NYTimes writer Maureen Dowd notes that social-justice advocate Rev Seamus Finn, OMI, who grew up in Lowell, was one of the few shareholders to challenge JP Morgan Chase boss Jamie Dimon about the bank’s recent huge financial blunder. Rev Finn asked if this episode was evidence that banks really do need to be regulated more strictly. Rev Finn has gained a national reputation for holding corporate leaders’ feet to the fire on banking practices. Read Dowd’s column here, and get the Times if you want more.

Rev Seamus Finn with Sister Pat Daly, from the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, on CBS News.

CategoryCurrent Events, History, Lowell | CommentNo Comments »

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