With scandals swirling, Patrick to convene ethics task force

Politics and corruption seem to go hand in hand - unfortunately it seems to be "human nature." The more this stuff is exposed, the better - but this task force should be composed of outsiders all the way.

DiMasi should be arrested. He is as shady and dirty as they come.

So I guess this is the benefit of our one party system. We vote in all the Democrats and get all the crooks. They're poster children for the ballot initiative to eliminate the income tax.

Let me guess...........the head of the task force will be paid $100,000 per year. There will be two assistant heads who will each be paid $85,000. Of course, they will need six staff members. They will be required to work two or three hours twice a week with the head setting his own hours. After a nationwide search, the Governor will appoint to the task force several of his political supporters and the children of his cabinet members as the additional staff.

"The official said that the governor foresees the task force being composed of people from within the political world, but from outside as well."

How about regular citizens being included on this task force. Not just politicans or "prominent business leaders", no special interest groups, just regular citizen taxpayers who want nothing in return other than to see their state government actually be "for the people"

Isn't this supposed to be the job of the Attorney General.. just another example of the fox guarding the henhouse. Who are they trying to fool...

If the Governor wanted to do some thing about the public's perception of state government, he could start by not endorsing convicted tax cheats and campaign finance scofflaws. What a hypocrite.

People have been questioning their faith in public officials FOR YEARS. What a joke this state is.

I hope they are not planning on PAYING anyone to figure this out.
What's to investigate.......Patrick is just grandstanding.
Is simple....obey the law.

Slick Patrick who worked at coca cola and a couple of mortgage financial firms and then got out dodge city with fist full of dollars now want to take the moral high ground. As President Clinton would say "give ME a break."

How about putting some citizens on this proposed panel, Governor? If all that is done is form a committee comprised of the same old political insiders, lawyers and other similar scoundrels, how can the citizenry expect that any real reform will result from this effort?

Yeah, Ok. Deval!

The President of Cape Cod Community College resigned from her executive post, effective June 1, 2009, earlier this year. The resignation was approved by the Board of Trustees (public record). When the stock market tumbled and her retirement portfolio began to plummet, she asked the Board of Trustees to rescind her resignation. The Board agreed. Are we the Commonwealth or a welfare state for highly paid executives?

As the old ardage goes fish always starts rotting from head!!
The culture of impunity among politicians and influence peddling is
something that might require immediate redress!

I think the task force will find NOTHING. What a joke!

Doesn't the state already have somewhat of an Ethics Committee, more or less. I thought they were the ones that were investigating Wilkerson's lying to the grand jury about police misconduct in her nephew's manslaughter trial (something like that..........I get all of Wilkerson's violations confused).

We elect these officials to make rules about right and wrong. Now Deval Patrick says we need a ethics task force. "With scandals swirling, Patrick to convene ethics task force"

This is absolute JOKE. I hope the FEDS actually start to take people down.

Blatant posturing and grandstanding with hopes that he's brought to Washington by Barry Obama before anything comes from this puppet task force.

The local and national outlook politically and economically is very bleak right now. Perhaps it's time to raise the tax on alcohol. Might as well raise revenue while driving all of the citizens to booze...

Please Investigate the removal of the Foo Dog Statues from the Chinatown gates by friends of Sal DiMasi. We will not stop until the originals are back in place.

Isn't this the same Deval Patrick that was campaigning HARD for
Wilkerson just six weeks ago?

Remember, when it comes to the State House....

Nothing on the level. Everything a deal. No deal to small.

Good move. I like it.

Well, as Mike Dukakis said, 'a fish rots from the neck down". The Governor lowered the ethical bar considerably by spending taxpayer money on personal luxuries for himself and his wife. He has selective amnesia on his campaign promises to lower property taxes. He created and still maintains revenue forecasts that he knows to be false. And, while supposedly on the public payroll, uses his position to enrich himself by spending every waking moment writing a book about how wonderful he is. No wonder Diane Wilkerson thought it was OK to steal $23,000. She learned from him and pols like him. Romney, as ambitious as he was, never took a dime from he state -even the salary he was owed.

Yup! Your average Massachusetts citizen knew this was going on, but couldn't do anything about it. The threats have an amazing way of silencing folks. If the FBI wants to find the truth, tell them to ride the T in and out of Boston during rush hour and just sit and listen. Employees talk - escpecially those not invited to windfall parties.
The people of Massachusetts were told that "everyone would get healthcare". Remember that? Well, this is how it actually works. A poor (even unemployed) person pays a fee to get onto the lowest tier. A list of Dr.'s supporting the vendor of choice is given. The patient then tries to make an app.t. for a checkup and - guess what? All the Dr.'s on the list tell the patient that they no longer accept their plan. So now you have the Dr.'s getting money from the state for serving the poor, and the state getting money from the poor to buy insurance, and no services are provided. What a profit maker - eh? Consultants figured out that if they could put private companies between govt. and citizens, then the citizens could get screwed out of service and money and the vendor and govt. would always have the cash. Patrick needs to make sure - across the board - that citizens are connected directly to their state reps, and that work done by the state is done by state employees - not outsourced vendors. That would be a good start.

you should also check towns..the inspectors in our town (weymouth) try to bully people
This is wide spread - thanks for bringing it to light

The standstill in the Legislature was over a Westwood liquor license but the issue was the Westwood City Project (Westwood Station) dumping 37,000 cars per day on neighborhood streets.

Well. it is about time. What took you long?. I can not believe that you did not
see what was going on in Beacon Hill and City Hall. I just hope that something will be done to correct this corruption that we the citizens can
never seem to do anything about. Let's get it done. NOW

I love this guy! I just hope he doesn't drown politically in all the corruption he uncovers...and if he truly intends to be vigilant, he may need to put an ad in the Globe for ethical people to serve in the legislature by the time he's finished

Look folks, many of you reading this keep electing these bums so please stop with the feigned shock. The Feds or the newspapers are the only way anything gets cleaned up around here. Otherwise, it's the same sickening, small-minded corrupt B.S. that we've been crap-fed for generations. I just can't wait to see this "task force" in action. Deval's a joke so why shouldn't the task force be? How often do we need to be embarrassed by the flotsam and jetsam that are our public servants? These are your elected swine, not mine. Let's grow a set, Massachusetts, and finally elect people that we can actually be proud of.

But who is going to police the police?

together, yes we can, with the audacity of hope, root out...everyone on Beacon Hill...they are entrusted to represent us but they are not smarter than us, they are not pillars of trust. They live down to the lowest common denominator, disappoint us to no end and WASTE OUR TAX DOLLARS TO NO END. Coupe-Deval can have all the ethics probes he wants, but nothing will change until we tell them to stop by cutting off their funding and pulling their snouts out of the public trough.

Great, How much is this committee going to cost the taxpayers. Like Deval had no idea any of this was going on until the FBI got involved. Now it is a big issue that needs to be fixed, where as, 2 weeks ago before all this went down. Money was being pushed into his pockets on the side also. All of Beacon Hill is full of corrupt crooks stealing money from hard working citizens and it has been this way since the freekin Mayflower landed. Listen people, it is like Ace tickets being in bed with the Redsox driving up ticket sales and the Redsox get to say they broke the record for attendance. Everything in this town is a shell game and a sham. My vote: storm the gates folks, storm the gates.

I can't laugh any harder !!!

Please.....no more Scott Harsbarger. His involvement will mean a dead end to any reform proposals that may come out of this process. Reform is sorely needed and he is part of the "old boy" culture. Think about it....every special commission he has been involved in has hit a dead end. Can you say "prison reform?"

Good for Patrick on trying tackle this ongoing and growing problem.

My god, when this election is over could we possibly have some fun around here. By the way vote Obama!!!

I also wonder how much this committee (duplicate) is going to cost the taxpayer. My guess is that the head of the committee will be paid $100,000 with two assistants at $85,000 each. There will also be a staff of six. They will be required to work at least three mornings a week with the committee head coming to work whenever he feels like it. After an exhaustive search, the committee members will be selected from among the Governers campaign contributors and the staff will be selected among the children of politicians (those who haven't already gotten other goverment jobs).

OH OH Time to call the Three + Stooges as another panel is to be convened.
Headed by Moe of the Carpenters Union, Larry of the public employee unions ,
Curley of the Hotel workers union(fat a** leader), Shemp of the Fire and Police unions and Curley Joe(we hardly knew ye) as the judge.
YUK,YUK,YUK.
IG Greg Sullivan will have such a difficult job presenting the case of greed,graft and corruption for the Common(not) wealth.

This guy is a total fraud like the voters who swooned to his call last year-together we can't. Another way to burn money and bury the results in committee. One must remember Coupe Deval and the one party legislature were all behind Ms. Moneybags during her re-election in the primary-including Senior Menino. Laughingstocks of the nation again. We are all doomed in Taxachewsetts.

How about Coupe-Deval opening up all his files, e-mails, income sources first....just so we know how the head of the fish is clean or rotten.....by the way...Vote for John McCain..OK??

If this isn't enough to make every Mass resident vote YES on 1, I don't know what is. Actuallyy, I could name 100 reasons, but this one should be enough. Keep you money everyone!

You really think that the Democratic Party which looks more like the elected Mafia, than anything else is going to clean itself up? Surely you jest!

Mass citizens are so stupid!!! Keep voting the same people over and over and then they wonder....

"The special commission will be headed by Ben Clements, the governor's legal counsel."

Fox finds henhouse security satisfactory. No changes needed.

1. We need to have candidates for public office selected simlar to being selected for jury duty; serve only one term, with a guarantee that your primary job will be secured after your one term period of service. No more professional office holders.
2. The State Constitution needs to be amended to restrict the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House to only one session in office. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

the american taxpayor has had enough
how much is this ethics commitee going to cost
YOU HAVE HAVE LET ME DOWN plus america
I THOUGHT YOU WOULD BE A GOOD GOVERNOR THATS WHY I VOTED FOR YOU
NOTHING BUTT BAD NEWS FROM YOU.
YOU SHOULD LOOK TO YOUR CABINET AND RE ADDRESS THE PROBLEMS YOU HAVE HIRED 2000 PEOPLE WHO Are not getting job done?

Hmmm the governor is recommending a council. At this point given the pathetic performance of all state legistlators, i'd recommend public execution. To fund the state coffers, make it a pay per view event. Oh wait, i'm in Mass. run by sheeples. So why don't you sheeples shut your mouths. You've never done anytihing in 20 years. Tuesday will be no different. You'll elected the same garbage, and then leat that they don't listen to you. You massholes are truly pathetic!!!

With what money is he going to fund this task force, more campaing workers I am sure will staff it. Patrick ought to be concerned about cuts to the state budget rather than expanding it. We have a state ethics panel. Lobbying is corrupt it is the nature of the game. Look at the salary the Bob Coughlin is making at MassBiotech- where he is more than happy to state that he is a former member of Patrick's administration- the groups pay the salaries for access, the system is corrupt and Patrick is more than willing to intervene on behalf of developers, businesses, and lobbying groups - appears that he is as corrupt at the rest of them but he has the power to retatliate against anyone who dare speaks up

Hey Deval, put me on the board and watch the heads roll. I'll go after everyone, including you. When I'm done, they will have to build a new prison on Beacon Hill to hold all the felons.

When o When will you MASSHOLES stop electing these idiots? You all just LOVE a good story you believe anything....and here you go again voting for another Democrat for president. When will you folks ever get your heads out of the sand and do some homework before you elect the same old same......

What is the meaning of doing the same thing over and over again and getting the same results???? oh, I remember, INSANITY!!!!!!

Foxes watching the hen house. Yes we can't!

vote yes on 1.

why wait till the end of January for typical lying thieving DemonRat damage control with a meaningless panel of buttkissing eunuchs.

I just love this stuff, an excuse to spend another million dollars of the taxpayers money on a do nothing "blue ribbon" panel of beaurocrats who will just do nothing.
In another month or two this will all blow over and what have we got? another wasted million and the same old government, can you say appathy.
PLEASE PLEASE vot yes on question #1 it's the ONLY answer

PLEASE! Ethics?? Are you kidding? No better place to look than in your own back yard for ethics breaches. For the love of God and the currency of government known as integrity! I mean, when the heads of HR within state govt. can even hire their own children on to their agency's payroll without even so much as a blink of an eye from anyone around tell me how this committee is going to get anything done when its own house is in a downward spiral?

"The rash of ethics and legal issues unfolding around Beacon Hill" have been there for as long as I have been paying attention (going back to the 80's). The only thing that has changed is that SOMEBODY GOT CAUGHT.

Patrick may be a newcomer, but if he didn't know about "the rash" before he was elected, then he was and is so naive as to be unworthy of the office. And if he did know, then this "action" is worse than cynical; it's over-hyped CYA.