Worcester County Freedom Trail

Nicolas Sanchez, Professor of Economics at Holy Cross, spoke to a standing room only crowd of more than 100 people on June 30, 2009, at the Worcester Public Library. His talk, “Why President Obama’s Economic Policy Will Not Solve Our Economic Problems,” provided startling information about the economic crisis — how we got here, what’s being done that won’t work, and what should be done to turn things around.

Below is an excerpt from the talk with horrifying numbers about what the current administration has done to the money supply and what that means over the long run.

How, then, is the current Administration dealing with the crisis?

I will begin this third part of my presentation with something that I discussed at the Tea Party in Worcester on June 20th. This is the statistic that you should memorize; and that you can easily obtain if you forget it, for it is available at the web site of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, one of the branches of our central bank. Five years after the Fed’s creation, in 1918, the monetary base—which is what allows the money supply to expand in multiple proportions—grew from $4.8 billion to $870 billion, as of August of last year. This growth of the monetary base occurred at a steady pace for over 90 years. Yet, between August of last year and May of this year the monetary base has risen by almost $1,000 billion—in other words, it has more than doubled in the past eight months! This is the type of behavior that you find in Argentina or the approach that communist regimes have used to attach the problem of unemployment: print enough money so that firms can hire the people who want to be employed.

Let me make clear that I do not believe that this Administration is simply imitating communist regimes—for some other, non-communist countries have also followed this type of reckless monetary behavior in the past. I gave the example of Argentina, which has never been a communist country, but I do believe that a more appropriate example is the Weimar Republic—in other words, Germany in the 1920s. Germany was an advanced country that was in deep trouble because of its military commitments and the debt that it had acquired as a result of the First World War. Unions were also quite powerful and big business tolerated the power of those unions. Big government, big labor and big business finally decided that the country could only get out of debt by inflating the currency—big time.

The one surprise that you will hear in this lecture is that the policy was in fact successful, at least initially and with regard to unemployment and the financial markets. (The stock market boomed.) The big German inflation began slowly but peaked in 1923; then the German government finally stabilized the mark (which was the German currency) by forcing an exchange of 1 trillion old marks for 1 single new mark. (The stock market collapsed.) The consequence of this approach was that the structural problems of the nation were not addressed and that there was massive redistribution of income within the country that ultimately led to massive social unrest, and ultimately to the rise of Adolf Hitler. People on fixed incomes, like the elderly, were financially devastated by the inflation. This, I believe, is a possible scenario for our own economy.

How did this guy get so smart????  Thomas Jefferson in some cases could be called a prophet.   Here are a few quotes from more than 200 years ago:

“When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe,
we shall become as corrupt as Europe.”

“The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those
who are willing to work and give to those who would not.”

“It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes.
A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world.”

“I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the
government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.”

“My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.”

“No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.”

“The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.”

“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”

“To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.”

And in perhaps his most prophetic quote (given our present financial crisis), here’s what Thomas Jefferson said in 1802:

“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.”

WE ARE ALMOST THERE.

Any doubt as to what party Jefferson would belong to if he were alive today?

It’s easy to think conservatives can’t really change public opinion. But look how fast things are changing in Britain. I never thought I’d see the day when the voters would start agitating for lower taxes.

Thanks to Mark for pointing out this tidbit from the Corner at National Review:

If you want an indication of how quickly things can change, Jonah, just look across the pond. There’s been a major new “deliberative” survey on British attitudes to government spending that shows quite clearly that the Brits have suddenly and dramatically reversed their thinking on the issue. As recently as 2005, almost 60% of Britons wanted the same or increased public spending. Now 72% want spending cuts. As the ever-excellent Fraser Nelson says,

“An old orthodoxy still reigns in SW1*: that it is cruel and heartless to want cuts, and that higher state spending is the non-negotiable priority of modern, compassionate Britain. Yet outside the Westminster village, the public is growing increasingly incensed about the way ministers are spending as if the party will never end — from the expenses claimed by Jacqui Smith to cover her husband’s cinematic tastes** to the NHS supercomputer.”

* The zip code for Parliament and Westminster.

** The husband of the Home Secretary (Attorney General equivalent) ordered two porn movies on pay-per-view and charged them as public expenses. No, this was not an April Fool’s joke.

Full details of the poll are here, with some more thoughts from Fraser here.

As if the assault on American’s freedom and capitalism wasn’t bad enough, it just got worse. The Obama administration has several formerly private sectors on tinder hooks waiting for more bailout money. The Treasury Secretary is now resorting to blackmail to get CEOs from these companies to resign (see story about Wagoner at GM). And now, hot off the press, Rep Barney Frank is determined to make the government responsible for setting EVERYONE’s salary in the new Pay for Performance Act of 2009:

Now, in a little-noticed move, the House Financial Services Committee, led by chairman Barney Frank, has approved a measure that would, in some key ways, go beyond the most draconian features of the original AIG bill. The new legislation, the “Pay for Performance Act of 2009,” would impose government controls on the pay of all employees — not just top executives — of companies that have received a capital investment from the U.S. government. It would, like the tax measure, be retroactive, changing the terms of compensation agreements already in place. And it would give Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner extraordinary power to determine the pay of thousands of employees of American companies.

The purpose of the legislation is to “prohibit unreasonable and excessive compensation and compensation not based on performance standards,” according to the bill’s language. That includes regular pay, bonuses — everything — paid to employees of companies in whom the government has a capital stake, including those that have received funds through the Troubled Assets Relief Program, or TARP, as well as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The measure is not limited just to those firms that received the largest sums of money, or just to the top 25 or 50 executives of those companies. It applies to all employees of all companies involved, for as long as the government is invested. And it would not only apply going forward, but also retroactively to existing contracts and pay arrangements of institutions that have already received funds.

The Pay for Performance Act of 2009 will start with companies who’ve accepted bailout money. But don’t be surprised when it spreads its wings to all private sector companies.

At this point, we would do well to heed the words of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s at the opening ceremony of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2009. From the Wall Street Journal:

Esteemed colleagues, one is sorely tempted to make simple and popular decisions in times of crisis. However, we could face far greater complications if we merely treat the symptoms of the disease.

Naturally, all national governments and business leaders must take resolute actions. Nevertheless, it is important to avoid making decisions, even in such force majeure circumstances, that we will regret in the future.

This is why I would first like to mention specific measures which should be avoided and which will not be implemented by Russia.

We must not revert to isolationism and unrestrained economic egotism. The leaders of the world’s largest economies agreed during the November 2008 G20 summit not to create barriers hindering global trade and capital flows. Russia shares these principles.

Although additional protectionism will prove inevitable during the crisis, all of us must display a sense of proportion.

Excessive intervention in economic activity and blind faith in the state’s omnipotence is another possible mistake.

True, the state’s increased role in times of crisis is a natural reaction to market setbacks. Instead of streamlining market mechanisms, some are tempted to expand state economic intervention to the greatest possible extent.

The concentration of surplus assets in the hands of the state is a negative aspect of anti-crisis measures in virtually every nation.

In the 20th century, the Soviet Union made the state’s role absolute. In the long run, this made the Soviet economy totally uncompetitive. This lesson cost us dearly. I am sure nobody wants to see it repeated.

Nor should we turn a blind eye to the fact that the spirit of free enterprise, including the principle of personal responsibility of businesspeople, investors and shareholders for their decisions, is being eroded in the last few months. There is no reason to believe that we can achieve better results by shifting responsibility onto the state.

And one more point: anti-crisis measures should not escalate into financial populism and a refusal to implement responsible macroeconomic policies. The unjustified swelling of the budgetary deficit and the accumulation of public debts are just as destructive as adventurous stock-jobbing.

Here’s how Governor Deval Patrick is planning on using the state’s federal bailo…I mean “stimulus” money. I’d like to know what “safety net programs” are. And I can see the teachers unions are very happy today. I’m not sure how $2B to the already well-funded education dept stimulates the economy in the short-run (the whole point of the “stimulus” package). But smarter minds than mine are certainly hard at work on the issue. As long those minds don’t include the Aloisi woman who spent the last 6 months sitting in an empty office!

From State House News Service:

State officials have long estimated that Massachusetts would receive between $6 billion and $9 billion in federal stimulus dollars. Since the passage of that bill on Feb. 17, Massachusetts officials honed in on an $8.7 billion take. Officials warn that, because regulations on this funding have not yet been handed down from the feds, many of the dollar figures are subject to change. Here is a breakdown of the funds, as anticipated by the Patrick administration:

Clean energy: $482 million
Education: $1.955 billion
Housing – $430 million
Labor and workforce: $90 million
Public safety: $71.7 million
Safety net programs: $3.572 billion
Technology and research: $1.295 billion
Transportation: $809 million

In a separate category, Massachusetts residents will receive payroll tax benefits, and municipalities will be offered the chance to sell low-interest and no-interest bonds expected to amount to $5.294 billion.
Other stimulus expenditures for Massachusetts, which fall within the aforementioned broader categories, are expected to include:

$52 million for drinking water projects
$134 million for clean water projects
$1.73 million for diesel emissions reduction
$3.2 million to repair leaky underground storage tanks
$2.5 million for brownfields
$20 million to train workers to audit energy consumption on new weatherization projects

Massachusetts is also set to receive an unspecified portion of $125 million for coastal and marine habitat restoration, $600 million for superfund site cleanup and $589 million for national park construction.

Now I see why President Obama felt he needed to make a highly visible trip to California to, among other things, appear on Jay Leno. He was trying to do everything he could to distract us from what was going on behind the curtains. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve announced it will print $1 TRILLION – get this – to pay the US Treasury for its enormous debt (aka the US government went to its money tree and plucked a monstrous amount to pay for its own overspending ways on the bailouts).

Huh?!? Are they nuts? That immediately devalues the current dollar and prices are going to shoot up all over the place.

I’m thinking Congressman Ron Paul has it right. It’s time for the Fed to go. Or at least let’s pass H.R.1207, The Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009.

From CBS: Inflation fears grow after Fed prints $1.2 trillion

And now the spin from the NY Times: Fed to buy $1 trillion in securities to aid economy

A great summary of this atrocity from Glenn Beck:

And Congressman Ron Paul on the Fed:

This story is just too horrid not to reprint in full. Gov Deval Patrick, who campaigned on reform and lowering taxes, is simply lining Beacon Hill with people who know how to game the system. In the case of new Transportation Secretary James Aloisi, his games cost taxpayers more than just his salary. Aloisi played a critical role is burying the Mass Transit Authority in Big Dig debt that was far beyond what we could afford. Thus the recent increase in tolls and the call for a new 19 cent per gallon tax. Read the stories:

December 2006
Shortly after being elected as Governor, the Boston Herald reported that Deval Patrick is looking to appoint James Aloisi as Transportation Secretary: After months of decrying the “Big Dig culture” on Beacon Hill, Gov.-elect Deval Patrick is eyeing one of the project’s longtime insiders as a possible pick for transportation secretary, the Herald has learned. Several sources said James A. Aloisi, whose firm made millions as legal counsel for the Turnpike Authority and wrote a Big Dig book, is on a short list of people being considered for the post. (Boston Herald, 12/14/06)
 
The Boston Herald notes that Aloisi is a long time Big-Dig insider, and was also the chief defender of James Kerasiotes, who was fired for concealing cost overruns: Because of his familiarity with the project’s inner workings, Aloisi has remained involved in the Big Dig as an outside legal consultant – work for which he has billed the state more than $3 million. He was also the chief defender of former Big Dig Boss James Kerasiotes, who was fired for concealing billions of dollars in cost overruns. (Boston Herald, 12/14/06)
 
The Associated Press also noted that Aloisi was an advisor to former Turnpike chief Matt Amorello: He also helped advise former Turnpike Chairman Matthew Amorello in the wake of last July’s fatal accident in one of the Big Dig tunnels, helping convince Amorello his legal options were running out in the face of efforts by Gov. Mitt Romney to oust him. Amorello eventually resigned. (Associated Press, 12/14/06)
 
Governor Patrick said he’d be “crazy” not to consider Aloisi as Transportation Secreatry: Gov.-elect Deval Patrick said he would be “crazy” not to consider longtime Big Dig insider Jim Aloisi for transportation secretary, even though Patrick demonized the project’s political culture during the campaign for governor. “He is a very strong and well-respected expert in transportation, “Patrick said of Aloisi during a press conference yesterday. “And I think anybody would be crazy not to consider him.” (Boston Herald, 12/15/06)
 
The Worcester Telegram and Gazette Editorialized that Aloisi presided over “a golden age of patronage, waste, abuse and political manipulation.”  When word got out that lawyer James A. Aloisi Jr., a well-wired mover and shaker in Democratic politics, was being considered for the position of state transportation secretary in the Patrick administration, reporters’ questions focused on his billing for legal work relating to the Big Dig. Far more troubling is his record at the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority.As general counsel, he and former chairman Allan R. McKinnon presided over a golden age of patronage, waste, abuse and political manipulation. (Telegram and Gazette, 12/17/06)

The Telegram noted that Aloisi once dismissed an Inspector General’s report slamming the Big Dig, calling the IG “the Grinch that stole Christmas.”  Two state inspectors general, Joseph R. Barresi and Robert A. Cerasoli, found a pervasive pattern of spendthrift policies, including high-cost perks to executives, donations to private charities, and lavish vacation, attendance and sick-leave policies. In a 1991 report, Mr. Cerasoli concluded the authority – which the Legislature intended to have a 30-year life span – had pursued a hidden agenda aimed at self-perpetuation, staying alive by increased long-term borrowing. Mr. Aloisi dismissed the report condescendingly, calling Mr. Cerasoli “the Grinch that stole Christmas.” (Telegram and Gazette, 12/17/06)
 
Patrick ended up naming Bernard Cohen Transportation Secretary: “It’s probably a good thing that somebody comes into a job like this with some strong experience but also a fresh eye and a clean slate,” Aloisi said. “Patrick’s going to be well-served by this pick.” (Boston Globe, 12/24/06)
 
February 2008
Governor Patrick appoints James Aloisi to the MassPort board: Gov. Deval Patrick has appointed James Aloisi Jr. to the Massachusetts Port Authority Board. Aloisi is a transportation law expert at the Boston firm of Goulston and Storrs. The law firm’s Web site says Aloisi was a principal author of legislation creating the framework for financing of the $14.79 billion Big Dig, the nation’s costliest highway project. Aloisi served in the Dukakis administration, eventually becoming general counsel for the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority in the early 1990s. (AP, 2/11/08)
 
November 2008
The Boston Globe reported that the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority was burdened with excessive debt and its credit rating was close to junk: In the mid-1990s, state lawmakers were desperately searching for a way to pay the state’s share of escalating Big Dig costs. To borrow the billions they would need, they found a financially stable government agency with a consistent source of income: the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority. More than a decade later, the authority is unable to afford needed maintenance, has a credit rating just above junk bond status, and is in such a shambles that Governor Deval Patrick is drafting a plan to split it into parts and wipe it from the face of state government. (Boston Globe, 11/12/08)

The Globe noted that Aloisi drafted the law that made the Turnpike responsible for the Big Dig’s finances: “No one is going to want to repeat the mistakes of the past,” said James Aloisi Jr., an informal Patrick adviser and one of two Patrick appointees on the seven-member Massport board. “And one of the mistakes is that in the mid-’90s, we burdened the turnpike with excessive amounts of debt. And I don’t believe anyone is contemplating anything like that in this plan.” Aloisi should know. He was the Turnpike Authority’s lawyer from 1989 through 1996 and drafted the law that made the agency responsible for the Big Dig’s finances. He now regrets that decision. (Boston Globe, 11/12/08)
 
December 2008
Transportation Secretary Bernard Cohen resigns: Transportation Secretary Bernard Cohen resigned Monday, having lost the confidence of the Patrick administration as it geared up for a major push to resolve the state’s sizable and lingering transportation woes. (Associated Press, 12/16/08)
Republican lawmakers opposed replacing Cohen with Aloisi; Aloisi called a “ghost of Big Dig past,” by Sen. Robert Hedlund (R-Weymouth): Horrified lawmakers and transportation officials were outraged that Patrick is considering Aloisi, who made millions as legal counsel for the Turnpike Authority and was behind tying the $15 billion Big Dig boondoggle to the agency. “He’s a lingering ghost of Big Dig past, and he’s partly responsible for getting us in this mess in the first place,” said Sen. Robert Hedlund (R-Weymouth). “I can’t believe there’s nobody else out there capable of serving at this crucial time.” (Boston Herald, 12/16/08)

The Boston Herald editorialized that Aloisi “helped ensure that Turnpike tolls would live on in perpetuity”: Reports are swirling that Gov. Deval Patrick might soon replace his top transportation aide – with the man who helped ensure that Turnpike tolls would live on in perpetuity. Not quite the “reform” the commonwealth is crying out for. Yes, before he cashed in as a high-priced lawyer and consultant to the Big Dig James A. Aloisi Jr. served as general counsel to the Turnpike Authority. And in the waning days of the Dukakis administration, he helped engineer a controversial sale of Turnpike bonds that breathed new life into an authority marked for oblivion. (Boston Herald, 12/16/08)

The Worcester Telegram and Gazette editorialized that Aloisi played a key role in “placing the burden of paying for Boston’s Big Dig on Central Massachusetts and MetroWest toll payers.” If transportation reform is the goal, Mr. Aloisi’s part in securing the perpetuation of the turnpike authority in the 1980s and ’90s should give Mr. Patrick pause. The authority was supposed to be eliminated when the construction bonds were paid off in the 1980s. As Pike general counsel and adviser to chairman Allan R. McKinnon, Mr. Aloisi was architect and chief defender of a borrowing strategy, hatched in 1989, that gave the authority a new lease on life. Two state inspectors general, Joseph R. Barresi and Robert A. Cerasoli, concluded that self-perpetuation was the turnpike authority’s “hidden agenda.” Mr. Aloisi also played a key role in legislation creating the Metropolitian Highway System that, contrary to its stated purpose, places much of the burden of paying for Boston’s Big Dig on Central Massachusetts and MetroWest toll payers. His declaration in 1995 that the authority’s “hope and expectation” was that any toll hikes would not be to pay for the Big Dig has proved to be disingenuous or naive. (Telegram and Gazette, 12/17/08)

The Boston Globe’s Joan Vennochi said that Aloisi “helped create and nurture the culture of arrogance and secrecy Patrick pledged to change,” and that the selection was “puzzling at best.” When he ran for governor, Deval Patrick promised to end what he called “the Big Dig culture.” Now, Patrick is thinking about putting James A. Aloisi Jr. – a key architect, enabler, and beneficiary of that culture – in charge of reforming it. The prospect of Aloisi as the state’s next transportation secretary is puzzling, at best. Aloisi, the Big Dig’s former chief counsel, has no obvious track record as someone who tried to reform the system from within. In fact, he helped create and nurture the culture of arrogance and secrecy Patrick pledged to change. (Boston Globe, 12/18/08)

Even Democrats called Aloisi “involved in creating the disaster.” “I wish anyone well convincing the public to support tolls, a gas tax or any reforms if you have the very people involved in creating the disaster at the helm,” said Sen. Mark Montigny (D-New Bedford). (Boston Herald, 12/17/08)

Governor Patrick names Aloisi Transportation Secretary: “After railing against the “Big Dig culture” on the campaign trail, Gov. Deval Patrick on Friday tapped a key Big Dig player to serve as transportation secretary and spearhead the overhaul of a state transportation structure imperiled in part by the $15 billion project’s debt.” (Associated Press, 12/19/08)

Note: Governor Patrick was so excited about his appointment, that he announced the pick during a blizzard: There is a time-honored tradition among public officials of releasing controversial news late on a Friday afternoon. That Gov. Deval Patrick chose to announce the appointment of James A. Aloisi Jr. as secretary of transportation during a Friday afternoon BLIZZARD well, maybe the administration just wanted to pay tribute to the old way of doing things. Because that really is what the appointment represents – a return to the good old, bad old days. That Patrick could bill the appointment as part of his effort to “reform” the state’s transportation system, well, it’s frankly laughable. (Boston Herald, 12/22/08)
 
January 2009
The Boston Herald reported that Aloisi received a state pension while consulting for the Turnpike authority as recently as last year: New transportation secretary James Aloisi has made big money off the Big Dig debacle, rolling up in the past two years nearly $1 million in his law firm’s consulting fees from the Turnpike Authority while taking a $31,000 a year pension from the state agency. Critics blasted the transportation chief – who was profiting as a consultant from the $22 billion boondoggle as recently as last year – for taking $343,000 in pension payments while also working for the state…Aloisi, who’s been on the new job for four days, worked for the state and the Turnpike Authority for almost 18 years combined, and began taking early retirement in 1996. Shortly afterward, he went to work for the now defunct law firm Hill and Barlow, which was a Big Dig consultant. Aloisi also collected consulting fees when the Turnpike later hired his firm Goulston and Storrs, taking in a total of $3 million off the project. (Boston Herald, 1/15/09)
 
The Boston Globe reported the Aloisi may have to recuse himself from some policy decisions because of financial ties between the turnpike authority and his previous employer: Governor Deval Patrick’s new transportation secretary has acknowledged he may have to recuse himself from some policy decisions because of the extensive financial ties between his former law firm and the agencies he is now being asked to overhaul.

That firm, Goulston & Storrs, where James A. Aloisi Jr. was a partner, collected $2.8 million from the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and $1.6 million from the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority over the past five years, Aloisi’s spokesman disclosed in response to written questions from the Globe last week. Aloisi, now chairman of both agencies, declined to be interviewed yesterday. Neither Aloisi nor his spokesman elaborated on which decisions, if any, he may have to avoid. But significant limits in his participation could jeopardize his ability to direct a complicated and controversial transportation reorganization that has become a top priority on Beacon Hill. In his new job, which he assumed last week, he is expected to lead Patrick’s push to restructure and bail out the bureaucracies that run roads, tunnels, bridges, subways, buses, trains, and airports. (Boston Globe, 1/22/09)

The Associated Press reports that Governor Patrick is weighing a .27 cent gas tax hike: Gov. Deval Patrick is considering asking the Legislature to raise the Massachusetts gasoline tax by 27 cents per gallon as part of a comprehensive package aimed at solving lingering state transportation problems, The Associated Press learned Monday. (Associated Press, 2/9/09)

February 2009
Aloisi continually interrupts Turnpike board member Mary Connaughton as she proposed alternatives to toll increases: Board member Mary Connaughton voted against the hikes and said she wanted the board to consider fairer alternatives and cost reductions. As she tried to outline a proposed amendment, Transportation Secretary James Aloisi, who also serves as the board’s chairman, continually interrupted her and asked her to remain focused on the vote at hand. As Connaughton sought to explain her amendment, Aloisi stopped her and reread the proposed vote very slowly. (Boston Globe, 2/24/09)

WATCH: Video of Aloisi interrupting Mary Connaughton.

March 2009
Aloisi tells the Boston Globe’s Joan Vennochi that when he worked for the Turnpike Authority, it “wasn’t his job to tell people the truth.”: The truth may set Jim Aloisi free. But it’s going to cost Massachusetts taxpayers. Aloisi, the new state transportation secretary, argues passionately that the gas tax hike promoted by Governor Deval Patrick is urgently needed to make up for “sins of the past,” which include covering up Big Dig costs. As lawyer to the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, Aloisi knew the sins and the sinners. But, “It wasn’t my job to tell people the truth,” he said during a visit to the Globe last week. Now, he declared, “I am liberated.” A liberated Aloisi admits it was wrong for Big Dig champions to ask the Turnpike Authority to “bankrupt itself” to pay for the project’s ever-escalating costs and wrong for the Turnpike Authority to go along with the request: “It bankrupted itself . . . Congratulations.” Today, Aloisi labels it bad policy for board members to do what he did: arrogantly decide to run a public authority without transparency or accountability to the people or the governor they elect. Now, he calls it “a disgrace” that state transportation officials increased MBTA fares over the years instead of getting behind a politically painful gas tax increase. “I was part of the thinking of the ’90s,” said Aloisi. “I don’t come in here as Caesar’s wife.” (Boston Globe, 3/1/09)
 
In response to Aloisi and Patrick’s proposed “carbon fee” for parking at Logan Airport, the Boston Herald editorialized that “When it comes to arrogance Transportation Secretary James Aloisi is without peer.”: When it comes to arrogance Transportation Secretary James Aloisi is without peer. Aloisi, of course, is the brains behind Gov. Deval Patrick’s 19 cent gas tax hike and the rest of the governor’s transportation reform plan. Among the “reforms” in that plan is a new $2 “carbon fee” that Aloisi and Patrick want assessed on anyone who parks at Logan Airport – whether for 10 minutes or 10 days. Aloisi told the Boston Globe last week that it SHOULDN’T be convenient to drive to Logan and park. “We need people to understand that there are better ways to get to Logan,” he said. Tell that to the mom traveling to Logan from Roslindale with her toddler, a baby stroller and luggage to make a 6 a.m. flight. (Boston Herald, 3/3/09)
 
The State House News Service then reported that Aloisi then referred to “reform before revenue” as a “meaningless slogan”: Taking direct aim at the central mantra behind Senate President Therese Murray’s transportation reform policy, Gov. Deval Patrick’s top transportation aide on Wednesday derided her insistence on “reform before revenue” as a “meaningless slogan.” In a closed-door, standing-room-only meeting with lawmakers and aides, Transportation Secretary James Aloisi stunned several of those in attendance with his harsh dismissal of the policy, to which Murray has clung despite the administration’s approval of a $100 million toll hike and a 19-cent-per-gallon gas tax as mutually exclusive measures. Aloisi said he would advise Patrick to veto a nine cent-a-gallon gas tax hike, one in a series of proposed increases to the state’s existing 23.5-cent levy. (State House News Service, 3/4/09)

Even Democrats said that “reform before revenue” was “certainly not meaningless”: Senate leaders said they were bewildered by the criticism. “I don’t even know what to think,” said Senate Ways and Means chair Steven Panagiotakos. “I would say it’s certainly not meaningless to the citizens of Massachusetts,” said Panagiotakos (D-Lowell). “Everywhere I’ve gone, people have thought that was the proper approach: clean up the transportation system, make it as efficient as possible, then you have an idea of how much it’s going to cost.” (State House News Service, 3/4/09)

Aloisi then referred to Turnpike board member Mary Connaughton as a “gadfly.” Patrick’s new transportation secretary and the chairman of the authority’s board, James A. Aloisi Jr., is not nearly as charitable. His treatment of her during a recent vote to raise tolls – in which she was the only dissenter – attracted criticism from Senate President Therese Murray and a call for an apology from the state Republican Party. “Respect is a two-way street,” Aloisi said, a few days after cutting Connaughton off repeatedly during the Feb. 24 meeting and removing her from a spot on the authority’s audit committee, where she had freer access to agency documents. “And I wasn’t treated with respect and I haven’t been treated with respect by her since the first day I took this job.” “She’s a distraction,” he continued. “She’s a gadfly. And I have more important things to do.” (Boston Globe, 3/9/09)

The Boston Globe then reported that Aloisi’s sister Carol had a no-show job at the State House: Her title was chief of staff, but she had no staff and reported to no one. That did not prevent Carol Aloisi from collecting a $60,000 State House salary for six months, until a state representative found her – literally – sitting in his new office and put her to work. Aloisi, the sister of state Transportation Secretary James Aloisi Jr., was assigned in August by House leaders to the onetime office of former state representative Rachel Kaprielian months after Kaprielian had vacated her post to head up the state Registry of Motor Vehicles. When aides to Representative Garrett Bradley of Hingham, named as Kaprielian’s successor as floor leader this year, arrived to take over the office two weeks ago, they were baffled to find her there. (Boston Globe, 3/17/09)

The Boston Globe editorialized that Aloisi “isn’t the most obvious symbol of reform” and is a “tainted messenger.”: While Governor Patrick wants to fix the state’s transportation bureaucracy, his new transportation secretary, James F. Aloisi Jr., isn’t the most obvious symbol of reform. The Globe’s Andrea Estes reported yesterday that Aloisi’s sister, Carol Aloisi, holds a state job that paid her $60,000 for doing nothing. It’s hard to imagine anyone without connections getting such a plum deal…Passing these reforms – which Patrick says are as vital to his plan as the gas tax hike – means convincing unions and their political allies that the state’s fiscal stability is at risk. Aloisi, who is supposed to press the governor’s message of reform, is a tainted messenger. (Boston Globe, 3/18/09)

Then Aloisi attacked the Boston Globe in a blog post for the story about his sister. He later apologized: State Transportation Secretary James Aloisi Jr., abruptly reversing course yesterday, publicly lashed out at the Globe for a story describing how his sister recently held a legislative job with no apparent duties and then issued an apology to the paper and one of its reporters. The episode, one in a string of high-profile conflicts involving Governor Deval Patrick’s recent appointee, began with a strongly worded blog posting on Tuesday night. In it, Aloisi criticized a Globe story that disclosed Carol Aloisi’s lack of responsibilities for six months despite her $60,000-a-year salary. Aloisi called the story “misleading,” “inaccurate,” and “disgraceful.” (Boston Globe, 3/19/09)

A tip of the hat to the MassGOP for collecting this information. It’s long since time the whole story came out.

Have you thought about how much of the new debt your household will be responsible for covering? Heritage Foundation estimates close to $20,000! Ack! Here’s an interesting analysis from the Campaign for Liberty with a breakdown by household income.

And here are more scary stats about the atrocious amount of money President Obama is spending. From Eric Cantor, US House Minority Whip:

Deficit:
* 2009: $1.75 trillion (12.3% of GDP), more than triple the previous year.
* 2010: $1.17 trillion (8% of GDP)
* Falls to $533 billion in 2013 (3% of GDP), still higher than any deficit in history.
* Then starts rising ever year reaching $712 billion (3.1% of GDP) in 2019
* Claims $2 trillion in “savings” but figure consists entirely of tax increases and phony Iraq savings (budget uses baseline that assumes that spending in Iraq is at current level for ten years).

National Debt:
* Doubles the national debt in just eight years.
* During the last eight years the debt rose by $4.9 trillion. Democrats will exceed that within three years.

Interest:
* Beginning in 2012, and every year thereafter, the government will spend more than $1 billion a day in net interest.
* By 2019, the government will spend $1.7 billion per day on net interest.

Taxes:
* Raises taxes by $1.4 trillion over ten years.
* Over 50 percent of those filers in the top tax bracket who will see their taxes go up are small businesses (defined as 25 percent or more of their income being business income).
* Carbon Tax: At least $646 billion over ten years to be assessed on all Americans through higher energy costs.

Yes, I know the bailout is one heck of a large and serious topic. But sometimes you just have to laugh…otherwise you cry.

Thanks to Brad and Edward for these humorous tidbits from Dilbert and Tammy Bruce:

I think President Bush spent way too much money on his watch. The interesting tidbit is that he started warning Congress as early as 2001 that something had to be done about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac or the problems inherent in their structure could lead to a collapse of the financial markets. Congress, led be Rep Barney Frank and Sen Charles Schumer, refused to listen. And here we are. The stock market is reeling, Congress can’t wait to distribute the next bailout payment, and we, the taxpayers are left holding the bag (the repayment bag, that is).