Deval Patrick

At AP, Boston's Same-Sex Bathrooms Are a National Story, But Deval Patrick's Slush Funds Aren't
By Tom Blumer | June 14, 2015 | 12:00 AM EDT

The results of a search on the name of former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick at the Associated Press's main national site are revealing — both for what is there and what isn't. It's an understatment to say that the wire service's priorities are warped.

What isn't there is any news about the results of a Boston Herald investigation which found that "Patrick’s administration secretly diverted nearly $27 million in public money to off-budget accounts that paid for a $1.35 million trade junket tab, bloated advertising contracts, and a deal with a federally subsidized tourism venture backed by U.S. Sen. Harry Reid." The AP determined that this news only deserved a brief and woefully inadequate local story.

Not National News: Mass. Obamacare Exchange Requires Everyone to Re-enroll, Again May Not Work in Time
By Tom Blumer | August 18, 2014 | 5:59 PM EDT

Recent news about Obamacare hasn't exactly been good, but the press has been pretty effective in keeping it quiet. To name just a few items, Enrollment is shrinking, because perhaps as many as 20 percent of enrollees aren't keeping up with their premiums. Rising costs have moved insurers to beg for bailouts, which appear to be forthcoming. 

Then there's this: Just last week in Massachusetts, where the state-run health insurance got its start under Republican Governor Mitt Romney eight years ago, the state's exchange announced that everyone currently enrolled in 2014 or who should have enrolled and didn't is going to have to apply for 2015 coverage this fall. Oh, and the system it plans to employ may not even be working by mid-November.

Maddow at Most Delusional - Claims 'Vast Majority' of Illegals Flooding Border Will Be Deported
By Jack Coleman | July 23, 2014 | 9:01 PM EDT

Not sure which is sadder -- that Rachel Maddow actually believes this, or that she knows it's not true and says it anyway.

A sure sign that Maddow is on thin ice is when she makes a dubious claim without attribution. She did this on her MSNBC show Monday night while trotting out a deceptive euphemism to hide what she was actually saying. (Video after the jump)

CBS: 'White House Had Years of Warnings' About ObamaCare Debacle
By Matthew Balan | November 4, 2013 | 12:44 PM EST

Monday's CBS This Morning revealed how "a trusted Obama health care adviser warned the White House it was losing control of ObamaCare". Major Garrett underlined that "the warnings were dire and specific, and ultimately ignored" by the Obama administration. Instead, they "relied on appointed bureaucrats and senior White House health care advisers" to implement the health care law.

Garrett also pointed out how "the White House became secretive about the law's complexity and regulatory reach" because they were apparently "fearful of constant attacks from congressional Republicans" over the controversial issue. [MP3 audio available here; video below the jump]

NPR Touts Obama Being 'Famous For His Ability to Give A Speech That...Can Bring A Crowd Roaring To Its Feet'
By Matthew Balan | April 19, 2013 | 4:56 PM EDT

On Thursday's All Things Considered, NPR's Ari Shapiro couldn't be bothered to feature any of the religious leaders who spoke at the inter-faith service in honor of the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing, Instead, Shapiro zeroed in on the liberal politicians who spoke, playing five straight clips from President Obama's speech at the memorial event.

The correspondent also played up the President's speaking ability: "This was Obama the orator, a man who is famous for his ability to give a speech that, even in a time of mourning, can bring a crowd roaring to its feet."

NPR Cites Far-Left Think Progress, Former Kerry Aide In Anti-Romney Report
By Matthew Balan | April 2, 2012 | 10:52 PM EDT

NPR's Tamara Keith filed a one-sided report on Monday's Morning Edition about Mitt Romney's "apparent shift in emphasis, if not an outright reversal" on the issue of energy policy. Keith cited the "liberal news site Think Progress" as one of her main sources for her report. She also turned to a former aide to Democrats John Kerry and Deval Patrick without giving his political/ideological affiliation.

Fill-in host David Greene spotlighted in his introduction to Keith's report how "the GOP candidates have seized on price spikes as a line of attack against President Obama, largely saying the answer is more domestic oil drilling. But one of those candidates, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, used to have a position somewhat contrary to that."

David Gregory Grills Bob McDonnell on 'Extreme' and 'Diabolical' GOP; Asks Deval Patrick About Red Sox
By Kyle Drennen | October 3, 2011 | 5:50 PM EDT

On Sunday's "Meet the Press," host David Gregory continually pressed Republican Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell on the GOP being "too extreme" and "diabolically successful" at obstructing President Obama's agenda, while he chatted with Democratic Governor Deval Patrick about Obama finding his "voice" and the Red Sox firing their manager after a poor season.

Early in the segment, Gregory remarked to McDonnell that President Obama "must like the comparison" with the Republican 2012 candidates and wondered: "...do you worry...that the national Republican Party is fielding candidates who will ultimately have to be too extreme and will lose the opportunity to retake the political center, which is how presidential campaigns are won?"  

Bankrupt Evergreen Solar's U.S. Govt. Benefits Mostly Unreported, Probably Impossible to Track
By Tom Blumer | August 21, 2011 | 3:04 PM EDT

On August 15, the Boston Herald, the Boston Globe, and the Associated Press all reported that Massachusetts-based Evergreen Solar had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Oddly enough (no, not really), The New York Times, which published a 1,600-word report in January (HT to an NB emailer) on the company's competitive difficulties, did not take note of Evergreen's filing.

Each of the three reports cited gave readers the impression that Bay State agencies were the only ones which had provided the company any form of financial assistance during the past several years during which, according to its latest 10-K annual report (large HTML file), it was losing hundreds of millions of dollars annually (about $950 million in the past three calendar years):

Schieffer Bemoans 'Draconian' Cuts From Both Parties to Education, Poor
By Matthew Balan | July 6, 2011 | 4:36 PM EDT

CBS's Bob Schieffer took on the role of a left-wing activist on Sunday's Face the Nation, as he pressed all four of his guests from both parties about cuts in state and local spending. Schieffer bewailed how both Republican Governors John Kasich and Scott Walker "cut deeply into education" and asked Democratic Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa if he felt good about making "draconian cuts" [audio clips available here]

The anchor brought on the governors of Ohio and Wisconsin, as well as the mayor of Los Angeles and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, a Democrat, for his half-hour program to discuss the impasse over the federal budget and the debt ceiling and its impact on their states. After an initial question to Governor Kasich, where Schieffer claimed how, apparently, "things are worse than ever" between the two political parties, Schieffer set up his first question to Governor Walker with his lament of the apparent cuts to education in the states of his two Republican guests:

AP, NYT Downplaying and Ignoring Mass. Move to Limit Union Health Bargaining
By Tom Blumer | April 27, 2011 | 7:58 PM EDT

Gosh, after Republican Governors Scott Walker and John Kasich succeeded in championing legislation curtailing many collective bargaining rights of unionized state and municipal employees in Wisconsin and Ohio, respectively, the establishment press had the meme all set. The GOP, conservatives, and Tea Partiers are enemies of labor and the middle class, while Democrats, liberals, and progressives are their champions.

Then along comes bluer-than-blue Massachusetts. As the Boston Globe reports, the Bay State's House "voted overwhelmingly last night (Tuesday) to strip police officers, teachers, and other municipal employees of most of their rights to bargain over health care, saying the change would save millions of dollars for financially strapped cities and towns." It's not a law yet, but it seems to be heading pretty quickly in that direction.

The Associated Press's beat reporters and editors must be beside themselves. 

Lauer Prods Democrat About Getting Ted Kennedy's Old Senate Seat Back from Scott Brown
By Geoffrey Dickens | April 21, 2011 | 2:12 PM EDT

Deval Patrick appeared on Thursday's Today show to promote his new book but NBC's Matt Lauer wasted no time in prodding the Democratic governor of Massachusetts about making a run against Republican Senator Scott Brown as he pressed: "I know there's pressure on you right now. Some people want you to take on Scott Brown for the Senate seat in Massachusetts, once held by Ted Kennedy. Are you running?"

For his part Patrick initially ducked the question, insisting he had no interest in a Senate run but this didn't dissuade Lauer from forcing the issue as he repeatedly questioned him about taking on Brown, even asking if he would reconsider if pushed by the President himself: "You know, the Democrats want that seat back. You're very friendly with Barack Obama and if he walks up to you and says, 'Deval,' I think he calls you that as opposed to Governor, 'Deval I want you to run for that seat,' do you say no?

Patrick again denied he wanted to run for Senate, but after a brief discussion about his memoir, Lauer again returned to the question as he teased: "The main message of the book, it seems, Governor, is a message of hope and optimism.  There's a guy, recently, wrote a book I think it was called The Audacity of Hope. He's president now."

Open Thread: Glenn Beck Makes Deval Patrick Wish It Weren't a Free Country
By NB Staff | September 2, 2010 | 9:30 AM EDT

"It's a free country," the Massachusetts Governor said. "I wish it weren't, but it's a free country and we've got to respect that." Relevant portion at about 1:12 (via Morrissey):