Summer 2006

Summer 2006

Millionaires Ball

Millionaires Ball

After the Clean Elections fiasco, campaign finance laws leave politics to the rich and the long in office Summer 2006 gentlemen (and women), check your wallets. On your marks. Get set. Go. It’s off to the races, with a stable of millionaires dominating the 2006 campaign for governor and pouring an unprecedented amount of their(...)

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The price of justice

The price of justice

despite its lower-than-average crime rate, Massachusetts ranks near the top in state spending per capita on the criminal-justice system. One reason is that the Bay State tends to spend more on all government functions, but the percentage of financial resources devoted to fighting crime is also high here. As of 2003, nearly one in seven(...)

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Statistically Significant

Statistically Significant

Illustrations By Travis Foster hedging on pork futures Notwithstanding our fame as the site of the “Big Pig” tunnel project, the Bay State gets only scraps of pork from the federal government, according to Citizens Against Government Waste. The “taxpayer watchdog” group says that Massachusetts won $18.25 in “pork per capita” in fiscal year 2006,(...)

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Anthony Flints This Land takes a whack at suburban sprawl

Anthony Flints This Land takes a whack at suburban sprawl

This Land:The Battle over Sprawl and the Future of AmericaBy Anthony FlintBaltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 310 pages with gov. mitt Romney a self-declared lame duck, it is by no means too soon to begin discussing his legacy. Among the chattering classes, that topic is already inviting smirks of derision. As Romney engages in the(...)

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Beyond Cape Wind

Filling up at the gas station for a weekend on Cape Cod has taken on new significance this summer as prices hover around $3 a gallon. High energy prices have long contributed to the cost of living and doing business in Massachusetts. But now, as the crunch seems to be getting worse, energy could represent(...)

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No brakes

No brakes

if you thought the Bay State’s flat population growth meant more room for parking, forget it. According to the state Department of Revenue, the number of registered passenger vehicles in Massachusetts grew 6.6 percent from January 2000 to January 2005, while the number of people living here crept up by 1.1 percent over roughly the(...)

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