Oct. 13--All eyes are on Gov. Deval Patrick as he announces his "hundreds of millions" in cuts from the state budget midweek. With layoffs assured, state employees who have been lobbying lawmakers and the administration to spare their departments will see where they stand. While the state has a better unemployment rate than the nation at 5.3 percent and a healthy unemployment trust fund at $1.5 billion, state employees have a harder time finding new work, according to fiscal experts, so the layoffs may erode the state's economic health in the long term.
Chapters of Deval
The fiscal crisis forced Patrick to shift his focus midterm from the bevy of spending priorities to his cost-cutting initiatives. He's also been compelled to do something the freshman governor has admitted he's not great at, which is adjusting his actions in response to the political climate. He canceled an upcoming junket to Israel, but went on a tri-state campaigning tour for Barack Obama last weekend and his administration is holding a gala the night before Patrick announces his cuts.
The lone Republican with Holly Robichaud
If a student fails 94 exams and receives a failing grade of F, do you pass him or her on to the next grade? No, you hold the pupil back. Then why aren't voters holding Barack Obama accountable on his economic record? As a United States senator, he has voted 94 times against tax cuts, received a grade of F from the National Taxpayer Union, and spent close to $1 billion in earmarks. Barack's rhetoric does not match his record. Don't swarm like moths to a light, because you will get burned.
Question of the week
Have John McCain's ads questioning Barack Obama's character helped him win voters?
Yes: No:
Dish under the dome
State lawmakers have been besieged with calls from state departments asking to be spared from Patrick's budget scalpel. Meanwhile, legislators plan to meet again for an update on the fiscal crisis and what it could mean for the state. Members of the House and Senate Ways and Means committees, along with Patrick's finance chief Leslie Kirwan, will hold a formal hearing tentatively scheduled for Oct. 20.
The road to the White House
Presidential campaigns are flocking to the Granite State this week, which is one of the key battlegrounds in the race. Barack Obama's running mate Joseph Biden will be in New Hampshire today, in Rochester and Manchester. John McCain's veep pick Sarah Palin will speak at a rally in Salem, N.H., on Wednesday and she may even stay there to watch the final presidential debate that evening.
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