Category: Opinion
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Public Housing Commision Eyes Consensus Recomendations
By Colleen Quinn STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE BOSTON, JUNE 12, 2012….A commission created in the wake of the Chelsea Housing Authority scandal has completed its work, and come up with 37 specific recommendations, including one requiring all housing authorities to hire independent auditors to look over their financial statements. The Commission on Public Housing Sustainability…
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Editorial: Not So Fast on New Tax Giveaways
“I’m not saying fraud is rampant in the program,” Robert DeLeo was quoted as saying recently in the Chelsea Record. “It’s of a small nature, but what we want to do is tighten up the restrictions during the budget process. When we have to cut other programs that are important to us, any time we…
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The minimum wage buys less than it used to
Noelle Swan Spare Change News At 24 years old, Michaud is not backpacking abroad, sharing an apartment with friends, or beginning to build a professional resume. He is working 30 hours a week selling stuffed animals for $9 per hour in order to help his mother, a certified nursing assistant, support his three younger siblings.…
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What the Walk for Hunger Accomplishes
Robert Sondak Spare Change News On May 6, 41,000 walkers participated in the 44th Walk for Hunger and helped to raise $3.6 million for a wide range of hunger relief organizations in Massachusetts. The executive director of Project Bread, Ellen Parker, addressed the crowd of walkers: “We’re all heartened that our economy is showing signs…
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The Case for a Third Party in America
Aaron James Spare Change News Do you realize that you can influence and even write our laws? It does not matter what your economic situation is, we all are given a voice. And when we look back at our history, it is not always those with the biggest wallets that leave the greatest legacy, rather…
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Mitt is Mean: Why Romney is Still Dogged by Seamus
Leanne O’Brien Spare Change News When Mitt Romney fastened a carrier containing Seamus, the Romneys’ Irish setter, to the roof of the family car, he could not have predicted the firestorm of controversy that the event would ignite almost 30 years later. The story was first unearthed in an exhaustive 2007 Boston Globe profile of…
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Editorial: Romneycare and Obamacare
The same reasons for passing near-universal health care in Massachusetts were behind President Obama’s national health care reform. Yet national reform is now under challenge by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who helped to pass the Massachusetts law only to blur his position now that he’s catering to a different set of voters. And now…
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The People Have Spoken … For Naught
James Shearer Spare Change News The other day while I was in Brookline I ran into two people with clipboards trying to get signatures against the MBTA’s fare hikes and service cuts. “It’s already too late,” I said to them. “No, it isn’t,” they protested. “Yes,” I said sadly, “it is.” And yes, boys and…
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Tattoos Are Art, Not Gang Symbols
Jeremy Parks Spare Change News People with tattoos are not always in gangs. It’s a form of art. People use this to express their feelings and how they live their lives. I have four tattoos, and three are religious tattoos. The tattoo on my back is for all the brothers I lost when I served…