CLT UPDATE
Monday, June 17, 2002
How the game is played
The political friends of Newton Mayor David Cohen decided
Wednesday night there was no reason to investigate the phony "hate mail" that arrived in Newton mailboxes just before a
recent election at which the Mayor's override of Proposition 2½ barely passed the
voters....
The Mayor had a press conference right before the election
to loudly condemn the hate flyer which was made to appear as though it had originated from the taxpayer group....
In so doing, the Mayor influenced the vote and spread the
smear against the anti-tax group far and wide, said the critics. His message was carried widely by the Boston Globe and
other media.
Now that the tax battle is over and the Mayor won, he wants
to bury the incident and doesn't want people to know who sent the letter, [Newton Taxpayers Association] said....
Massachusetts News
Friday, June 14, 2002
No Public Investigation of Phony 'Hate Mail' in Newton
Chip Ford's CLT Commentary
FOR THE RECORD: This morning on WRKO's Blute and Ozone Show,
Sen. Bob Hedlund (R-Weymouth) responded to criticism of his vote in favor of the senate budget and its $1.2 billion tax
increase. He stated that he offered an amendment to preserve the tax rollback, along with the Charitable
Deduction and the personal exemption.
On Thursday we reported: "But there was no resistance to
our income tax rollback ballot question being overturned, hiked to 5.3 percent ... no objection from anyone of either party."
Sen. Hedlund did present an amendment offering revenue alternatives to tax increases, as noted by the
State House News Service transcript, below. What Sen. Hedlund did not do is
call for a roll call vote, putting each senator's vote on the record so they could all be held accountable.
On Thursday, we also reported: "Senate Republicans made an
heroic if futile effort against cutting the personal exemption (rejected 9-27), gutting the Charitable Deduction ballot
question (rejected 10-27), and preventing the Capital Gains tax increase from becoming retroactive (12-25)."
We don't know how the vote would have turned out, had Sen.
Hedlund called for a roll call vote ... because he didn't.
After our subsequent research on Friday we concluded that no
roll call vote was sought because ... there were Republicans who intended to vote to "freeze" the income tax rollback that a
roll call vote would have revealed.
This is how the game is played on Beacon Hill.
State House News Service transcript Senate Debate - Wednesday, June 12, 2002
Sen. Hedlund said hopefully there will be no need for you, Mr. President, to descend the rostrum and
speak on this amendment. This amendment would eliminate the elimination of charitable deduction,
the freeze on the rollback, and leave in place the personal exemption. This amendment would, would
allow 1,500 slot machines at racetracks. I think all of us recognize this is inevitable. Speaking as
someone who is not a big supporter of increased gaming in Commonwealth, it will keep increased
gaming in locations where gaming already exists. It would also reduce Lottery payouts. We would take
the top 10 Lottery states and take their average payout rate. Now is the opportunity to adopt those
provisions and allow us to uphold the two voter initiatives. And it will allow us to respect the
voter initiative process. I hope those of you that have used that argument on Clean Elections will vote
with me.
The amendment was not adopted.
MEDIA NOTES: Yesterday, the Boston Globe Magazine ran a feature
story on Jerry Williams, his past and what he's doing now. If you missed it, dig it out of the recycle pile. It's a good
read, especially for all of you who've asked us what happened to Jerry.
Remember Chuck Adler (WRKO and TV's "Adler On Line"), a
great CLT ally and friend? He e-mailed me over the weekend to see how Barbara was progressing. He's still doing talk-radio
in Canada (CJOB Radio 68 in Winnepeg, Ontario). But will be filling in for Sean Hannity on the Fox News Channel's
"Hannity & Colmes" on July 1-3 (9:00 pm). Barbara and I caught him there
a couple of weeks ago. It was a great surprise "seeing" him again then, and hearing from him this weekend. We'll be
watching!
HOW THE GAME IS PLAYED - PART II: We've all experienced how the tax-and-spenders play the
game, both on Beacon Hill and in local override elections: They do what they have to do to win --
whatever it takes -- and worry about the consequences, the usual slap on the wrist,
after the election.
On June 11, Framingham voters approved a $7.1 million override. The opposition "No" committee, spent
$3,000 compared to $15,000 spent by the "Yes" committee. With almost 13,400
votes cast, the "Yes" side won the override by a mere 358 votes, after an epidemic of "No" yard-sign theft. "Police have
made no arrests for sign vandalism," the MetroWest Daily News reported the next day.
We've seen it over and over again in other ballot campaigns.
The opposition breaks the law as an investment, it's reported to the state Office of Campaign & Political Finance, after the
election OCPF makes its determination, perhaps levies a small fine, and that's the end of it. A very good investment, if it
helps them win!
But the Newton Taxpayers Association is not letting go, and
we say "Good for them!" It's got to be stopped somewhere; somebody has to finally be held accountable for breaking the
law to win at any cost.
On April 30, the $11.5 million property tax increase passed
by just 751 votes out of nearly 27,793 cast.
On May 5, the Boston Globe reported:
Local ballot questions are not usually associated with polling, phone banks, car rides to the polls,
and political consultants. But backers of the tax increase used all those time-tested tools, and it
may have proven decisive; the measure passed 51 percent to 49 percent with 27,793 votes cast....
Mayor David B. Cohen, who led the campaign to override Proposition
2½, relied on a well-financed team of seasoned political operatives, including a onetime key aide to former US
Representative Joseph P. Kennedy and a consultant who worked on two statewide ballot questions. The
team had a war chest of $117,250, nine times what opponents had...
Even that apparently was not enough of an advantage, as the
dirty tricks got dirtier, as the Massachusetts News reports, below.
Len Mead, president of the Newton Taxpayers Association and
his group -- the oldest local taxpayer organization in the state -- are not giving up, and they shouldn't. They've posted
a $10,000 reward to anyone who can identify the senders of a last-minute hate-mailing disguised as coming from the "No"
committee that probably affected the election outcome, have hired a private investigation firm, and are
being stonewalled by public officials ... who seemingly have something to hide.
Can you imagine the polar reaction to such a "hate crime" if
someone instead had painted a swastika on public property, or uttered something derogatory about someone's sexual persuasion?
There would be no length to which the politically correct city of Newton wouldn't go to collar and crucify the
perp.
Need we wonder why Mayor Cohen's reluctance in this case?
 |
|
Chip Ford |
Massachusetts News
Friday, June 14, 2002
No Public Investigation of Phony 'Hate Mail' in Newton
By Ed Oliver
The political friends of Newton Mayor David Cohen decided
Wednesday night there was no reason to investigate the phony "hate mail" that arrived in Newton mailboxes just before a
recent election at which the Mayor's override of Proposition 2½ barely passed the voters....
The Mayor had a press conference right before the election
to loudly condemn the hate flyer which was made to appear as though it had originated from the taxpayer group....
In so doing, the Mayor influenced the vote and spread the
smear against the anti-tax group far and wide, said the critics. His message was carried widely by the Boston Globe and
other media.
Now that the tax battle is over and the Mayor won, he wants
to bury the incident and doesn't want people to know who sent the letter, [Newton Taxpayers Association] said....
Residents have begun to plant "Mailgate" signs around the
city with a telephone number which people can call if they have information leading to the arrest and conviction of the
perpetrators of the mailing. The number is 1-800-287-6060. Also, as a result of a gift, the
Newton Taxpayers Association is now offering a $10,000 reward for such information.
Private Investigator Jay Groob told MassNews he has some
suspects, but more work needs to be done. His extensive FOIA request to city officials was largely ignored and returned
little information.
Formal Cover-Up Was Recommended
In remarks before the committee, Newton resident James
Epstein referred to the false statements in the hate flyer as a clear violation of the statute.
Newton resident James Epstein said the hate flyer was a
clear violation of the law. "If there remains any question on what false statements to which I am referring," said Epstein,
"it is the identifying of the hate flyer to have been from the Newton Taxpayers Minuteman Association
and the Newton Minuteman Association.
"This, along with representations and words therein such as
'our signs up all over Newton' and logos and statements were designed falsely to deceive the voter into believing they came
from the main 'no-override' campaign organization, the Newton Taxpayers Association, an
organization which, in fact, uses both word and symbol references to "Minuteman" as part of
its identifying logo.
"Conversely, they are false statements of the existence of a
no-override campaign organization named 'Newton Taxpayers Minuteman Association' with 'hate' speech attributed
thereto, designed to deceive voters and affect the vote.
"Let me conclude by pointing out that in contrast to those
who believe this is nothing more than 'sour grapes,' there are many who deem this as 'grand theft.' Sour grapes or grand
theft, you be the judge. Someone out there planned, funded and carefully targeted these mailings.
Unless there is some 'right wing' group from Idaho, which suddenly and mysteriously
descended upon Newton and then suddenly disappeared, to use a popular phrase, the dots
need to be connected. Unlike 'Watergate,' where Nixon would have won re-election without
it, the razor thin margin in the override vote may very likely mean that
'Mailgate' tipped the balance." ...
Then [City Solicitor Dan Funk] gave his advice to the
Aldermen. "My advice in this instance is that there are too many questions about the validity of this law, about its
applicability, about its enforceability, and about any agency that is willing to enforce it in the state, that
warrants pursuing it." While it is not definitively unenforceable, "so
many questions are raised about it, that it would be my advice not to pursue it."
Text of Massachusetts General Law
The following is the full text of Sect. 42 in Chap. 56 of
MGL
No person shall publish or cause to be published in any
letter, circular, advertisement, poster or in any other writing any false statement in relation to any question submitted to
the voters, which statement is designed to affect the vote on said question.
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