Saturday, January 24, 2009

Speaker out?

It looks like Speaker Sal DiMasi is on the verge of resigning from the House of Representatives. Rumors are swirling on Beacon Hill, with a couple of Democrats shoring up support among the rank-and-file for a run at the soon-to-be-vacated speakership.

If DiMasi does go, look for casino gambling to return as an issue. The North End Democrat held the line against the proposal, but in his absence -- and with the state budget shortfall certain to impact people -- legislators and their constituents will, unfortunately, see casinos as a solution.

Update (1/26): The Globe is reporting that DiMasi has resigned as of tomorrow.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good Riddance!!

N.starluna said...

It's rather disappointing. DiMasi has let every progressive legislator down with his misdeeds. Hopefully the House does not choose to return to the days of ultra-conservative leadership.

Anonymous said...

"Ultra-conservative"? That's a bit of hyperbole. This is Massachusetts after all. Let's reserve "ultra-conservative" for those that really are. What I think DiMoney's departure means is less sympathy for progressive causes (including holding back the gambling hordes) and a return to another State pol who will seek to bloat his pockets and his ego while perhaps being less sympathetic to socially progressive causes.

Conservative (let alone ultra-conservative), he won't be (and I use the masculine pronoun intentionally). But I do agree it is rather disappointing.

Anonymous said...

Socially progressive causes aren't the only issues facing this Commonwealth and the rest of the nation. All groups are facing the same loss of jobs, the same increases in energy costs, the same decreases in real spending ability and the same realities of our current economic situation. I, for one, would like to focus more on the economics and less on the cause du jour of some progressive group. It won't matter what your progressive cause is if you can't pay your mortgage or send your kids to college.