Immigration debate heats up in Mass.

By CommonWealth Staff Immigration 0 Comments Mar 29, 2017

The immigration debate raging around the country is taking root in Massachusetts with the vitriol and accusations from both sides feeding a frenzy that we’re being overrun both by illegal immigrants and federal enforcement officers rounding up the unwanted masses. The debate, for the longest time, was confined to border states and, with the exception of(...)

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Drug deja vu

By CommonWealth Staff Health Care, Pharmaceuticals 1 Comment Mar 28, 2017

It’s not easy being a health insurer these days, particularly when pharmaceutical companies come along with wonder drugs that cost a fortune. Insurers are all about working the odds. They collect premiums from a large group of people and count on the fact that most of their customers won’t use much health care and their(...)

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Scrambling the golden egg

By CommonWealth Staff Casinos, Massachusetts politics, Online gambling 1 Comment Mar 27, 2017

Massachusetts, which cautiously and methodically inched its way into casino gambling, is looking at moving into overdrive as lawmakers consider legalizing online gambling. The state’s three approved casinos, of course, want more than a piece of the action, arguing they shelled out nearly $200 million for their licenses, not to mention billions for the construction(...)

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China-based T supplier keeps rolling

By CommonWealth Staff MBTA, Transportation 1 Comment Mar 24, 2017

The Chinese company building Orange and Red Line trains for the MBTA scored another US victory, winning a $137 million contract to build 45 double-decker rail cars for the Philadelphia transit authority. Since gaining a beachhead in the United States with its 2015 MBTA deal, the state-run CRRC has gone on a tear, winning(...)

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Baker’s sweet talk on health care

By CommonWealth Staff Charlie Baker, Health Care, National Politics 2 Comments Mar 23, 2017

Do you get more with honey than vinegar? That old adage is the framework for a Boston Globe editorial teeing up the challenge facing Gov. Charlie Baker in the unfolding health care debate in Washington. Baker is not a fan of the Republican plan to dismantle key parts of the Affordable Care Act, but rather(...)

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Baby, you can’t drive my car

By CommonWealth Staff General Motors, Massachusetts Legislature, Ride-sharing, Sharing economy 0 Comments Mar 22, 2017

General Motors wants to own the driverless car market. So much so they have pushed legislators in at least six states, including Massachusetts, to file bills that would only allow the zombie cars to be made and owned by auto companies who have experience building the vehicles in the US. That would exclude from the market(...)

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The Codcast: Goldberg wants to keep her sight on pot

By CommonWealth Staff Legal marijuana, marijuana legislation, Massachusetts Legislature 1 Comment Mar 21, 2017

State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg says when she talks to counterparts around the country, there is one aspect of her job that stops them in their tracks: Her office’s regulation of the state’s liquor industry. Goldberg now has another mood-altering substance to oversee with the passage of the ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana. Under the(...)

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Senator ‘No’

By CommonWealth Staff National Politics, Sen Elizabeth Warren 0 Comments Mar 20, 2017

US Sen. Elizabeth Warren sounded a little tempered last week when asked whether she’d be campaigning hard against the reelection of the state’s Republican governor, Charlie Baker, next year. That was a rare moment of moderation these days for the state’s senior senator, a leading voice of hard-edged Democratic opposition to the Trump administration and(...)

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The Codcast: Getting around in the age of Trump

By CommonWealth Staff 0 Comments Mar 17, 2017

For all the attention paid to the new administration since President Trump was inaugurated, the new president and his policies remain enigmas to advocates across the spectrum of services reliant on government support, perhaps none more perplexed – and worried – than transportation advocates. Beth Osborne, a senior advisor for Washington-based Transportation for America, was(...)

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With commuter rail cut, we’d be unique!

By CommonWealth Staff MBTA, Taxes and Budget Issues, Transportation 0 Comments Mar 16, 2017

Plenty of bragging goes on around here about Massachusetts exceptionalism. We walk with a little bit of swagger, and often for good reason. U.S. News & World Report even confirmed that we’re the best state, owing mainly to our top rankings in education and health care. Still, when the Bay State stands apart from the(...)


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