CLT UPDATE
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Finneran flips-out on "Forum"
WRKO-AM (680) yapper Tom Finneran lost his cool the
other morning, sputtering “bull (expletive)” twice on his show after
hanging up on a woman who dared to talk over the serial chatterbox....
After hanging up on Barbara Anderson from Citizens for Limited
Taxation Tuesday morning, Finneran unleashed a verbal tirade and
warned his producer of the curse words to come.
“I’ll have a civil conversation with anybody, but when it amounts to -
hey, do you got your finger on the button? But when it amounts to bull
(expletive), that’s what it is, bull (expletive), see you later.”
Tsk, tsk....
Finneran’s producer had called Anderson to come on the show to talk
about a Herald story on the millions of dollars Beacon Hill lawmakers
earmarked for an environmental bond bill.
“With Finneran, your choice is, you either let him do all the talking
and he will talk forever, he has been talking for 30 years nonstop, or
you talk over him,” said Anderson, a former WRKO personality herself.
“When he just continued to talk, then I continued to talk,” she said.
“We just kept going and going until he finally hung up on me, which I
thought, that means I won.”
The Boston Herald
Thursday, February 28, 2008
WRKO bleeps out Finneran explosion
The bill, which has yet to be approved by the Legislature,
comes on the heels of Gov. Deval Patrick’s $1.4 billion environmental package,
which is the most ambitious state effort in decades to improve neglected
beaches, parks and waterways.
Barbara Anderson, spokeswoman for the government watchdog group
Citizens for Limited Taxation, called the earmarks “outrageous” given the
state’s other fiscal woes, such as unfunded pension and health insurance
liabilities and crumbling transportation infrastructure.
“I’m not sure we can do anything because we don’t have any money, no matter what
the subject is,” Anderson said. “Cities and towns are saying they’re having
problems. Where is the money coming from?”
In recent weeks, several communities have predicted layoffs as officials
struggle to close budget gaps....
Anderson said the scope and timing of the pork projects is surprising - even
given Beacon Hill’s free-spending reputation.
“They usually do these things when there’s lots of money and they create fiscal
crisis down the road,” Anderson said. “Something seems to have gone awry. Now
they’re just overspending and running up huge deficits all over the place and
not worrying about it. I don’t think anyone is thinking ahead at all.”
The Boston Herald
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Despite chop$, pols pork out
Millions earmarked for beaches, crabs, fish
Chip Ford's CLT Commentary
What a strange morning Tuesday was when Barbara got a
call from the producer of "Finneran's Forum," the WRKO AM-680 morning
drive-time program hosted by convicted felon and former House Speaker
Tom Finneran. This is the same Finneran who "temporarily froze"
the income tax rollback in 2002, the same Finneran who for all intent
killed the people's constitutionally-provided initiative and referendum
process.
When the program's producer called invited her on as
a guest, Barbara was surprised. Neither of us listen to "Finneran's
Forum" very often as it's just a stage from which Finneran bloviates and
pontificates. His style, if that's what it's called, is to just
keep talking, let nobody get a word in edgewise, as he praises state
government especially when he was in charge of it.
In a quick response dashed out to the many e-mail
messages she was receiving, Barbara wrote:
It was so funny. His producer called to
have me comment on the environmental pork bill. I had a
feeling the producer didn't tell Finneran I was coming on.
Of course he let me talk for two sentences before he interrupted and
went into his usual lengthy monologue (as usual having something to
do with how great the state government is when someone like him is
running it) and I knew, with him, you either give in or talk over.
It's what Chip Ford calls the Michael Goldman strategy, which he
developed when he had to debate Michael on a talk show and Michael
wouldn't stop talking, so Chip decided to keep talking too.
Naturally I chose the same strategy, just talked over Finneran for
what seemed like ages before he hung up on me. Then he was
sputtering about me til the end of the show.
He was surprised I didn't support the pork in the environmental bill
and I started to explain that of course I want a bubbler in my state
park but I also want an infrastructure that isn't crumbling, a cut
in the unfunded liabilities, etc. and we can't do everything we want
while we are in debt! Might also have mentioned our income tax
rollback. And he kept talking about how happy the bond markets
are with us and how the unfunded pension liability has been paid
down, and I remember that from back in the '90s, not recently...
How long will RKO give him 4 hours of self-serving monologue time a
day? I can't listen, was surprised when Rich called.
You can listen to his rant and unrestrained anger at
either of the below links:
http://savewrko.com/
-- or --
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEn68x3rRrE
 |
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Chip Ford |
The Boston Herald
Thursday, February 28, 2008
WRKO bleeps out Finneran explosion
By Jessica Heslam / MediaBiz
WRKO-AM (680) yapper Tom Finneran lost his cool the other morning,
sputtering “bull (expletive)” twice on his show after hanging up on a
woman who dared to talk over the serial chatterbox.
Lucky for the fuming, foul-mouthed Finneran, his producer apparently
pushed the “dump button” in time and people tuning into terrestrial
radio didn’t hear the offensive language, which carries a steep FCC
fine.
“There was no profanity on the airwaves,” said WRKO spokesman George
Regan.
But when MediaBiz listened to the audio bite on WRKO’s very own Web site
last night, Finneran’s expletives were loud and clear.
After hanging up on Barbara Anderson from Citizens for Limited
Taxation Tuesday morning, Finneran unleashed a verbal tirade and
warned his producer of the curse words to come.
“I’ll have a civil conversation with anybody, but when it amounts to -
hey, do you got your finger on the button? But when it amounts to bull
(expletive), that’s what it is, bull (expletive), see you later.”
Tsk, tsk.
The explosive audio clip was posted last night on Brian Maloney’s Web
site, savewrko.com. Maloney said he received numerous e-mails from
listeners who heard Finneran Gone Wild.
“It might have been bleeped over the broadcast signal, however, anyone
listening online to the computer absolutely, definitely heard it because
I got e-mails from people,” Maloney said.
WRKO Program Director Jason Wolfe called it “excellent radio,” adding
that it’s “exactly what our listeners are looking for.”
“He was arguing with Barbara Anderson. She wouldn’t let him make a point
to her, so he cut her off. He was aggravated and told the producers to
get ready to bleep him out,” Wolfe said.
“Then he said he would not stand for her BS. They edited him. Nothing
made the air and it was excellent radio, exactly what our listeners are
looking for. The show was outstanding,” Wolfe said.
Finneran’s producer had called Anderson to come on the show to talk
about a Herald story on the millions of dollars Beacon Hill lawmakers
earmarked for an environmental bond bill.
“With Finneran, your choice is, you either let him do all the talking
and he will talk forever, he has been talking for 30 years nonstop, or
you talk over him,” said Anderson, a former WRKO personality herself.
“When he just continued to talk, then I continued to talk,” she said.
“We just kept going and going until he finally hung up on me, which I
thought, that means I won.”
While we know the ex-House speaker lo-ooves to talk, he didn’t return a
call to MediaBiz last night.
The Boston Herald
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Despite chop$, pols pork out
Millions earmarked for beaches, crabs, fish
By Dave Wedge
Beacon Hill lawmakers have churned up millions of dollars to study
horseshoe crabs, monitor aquatic species and spruce up beaches in
proposed budget earmarks as local layoffs loom and officials look to
tolls, taxes and casinos to bail out the cash-strapped state.
Led by a group of Cape Cod lawmakers, the state Legislature has tucked
$35 million in earmarks into the environmental bill, despite budget
crunches that threaten layoffs from Boston to Boxford.
Among the pork - or “fish” barrel - projects in the Environmental Bond
Bill are:
• $2 million for “invasive aquatic species control” statewide;
• $1.25 million to reconstruct the superintendent’s house at Wachusett
Mountain State Park;
• $750,000 for the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fisherman’s Association of
Chatham for “monitoring of pelagic small mesh fisheries”;
• $675,000 to study the horseshoe crab population in Wellfleet Harbor,
Pleasant Bay and Barnstable Harbor;
• $150,000 for the renovation of the Crosby Mansion and Cape House in
Brewster.
Other items in the package include $580,000 for a water filtration
system in Wellfleet, $350,000 to monitor air quality in Northampton and
Easthampton, a $2 million landfill study in Northampton, $15 million for
statewide bike paths and $6.3 million for pool repairs in Waltham.
The bill, which has yet to be approved by the Legislature, comes on the
heels of Gov. Deval Patrick’s $1.4 billion environmental package, which
is the most ambitious state effort in decades to improve neglected
beaches, parks and waterways.
Barbara Anderson, spokeswoman for the government watchdog group
Citizens for Limited Taxation, called the earmarks “outrageous”
given the state’s other fiscal woes, such as unfunded pension and health
insurance liabilities and crumbling transportation infrastructure.
“I’m not sure we can do anything because we don’t have any money, no
matter what the subject is,” Anderson said. “Cities and towns are saying
they’re having problems. Where is the money coming from?”
In recent weeks, several communities have predicted layoffs as officials
struggle to close budget gaps.
Weymouth, Braintree, Newton, Boxford and Haverhill all are facing
possible municipal layoffs while in Boston, school officials said there
could be cuts to close a $33 million budget gap. In Salem, meanwhile,
Patrick recently stepped in and provided emergency funding to prevent
the layoff of 15 teachers.
Anderson said the scope and timing of the pork projects is surprising -
even given Beacon Hill’s free-spending reputation.
“They usually do these things when there’s lots of money and they create
fiscal crisis down the road,” Anderson said. “Something seems to have
gone awry. Now they’re just overspending and running up huge deficits
all over the place and not worrying about it. I don’t think anyone is
thinking ahead at all.”
But state Sen. Pam Resor (D-Acton), chairwoman of the Environment,
Natural Resources and Agriculture Committee, said the earmarked cash
would be spread out over five years.
“We are not going to have all that money spent in the next year,” she
said. “We recognize that budget times are very tight for everyone. But
this is bonded money for capital needs at the state level.”
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