DiMasi to step down

poor baby - you got what you deserved - now let's put an honorable person in FOR ONCE

Let me see if I can get this straight. One stiff, DeMasi, is resigning under the proverbial "cloud" and Honest John Rogers, he of the $30K fine for having his banker's name on his mortgage, will bring a new era of honesty and transparency to the State house.

Sorry, but my gut is aching from laughter!!

Another corrupt Dem speakah down the tube.

Together We Can.

Good olde Sal may be on record as....'proud of his service and resigning head-high'....but we all know better....why in the world would Sal resign so suddenly....knowing he had it made as Speaker of the House in the Mass achusetts Legislature for years.....gimme a break....he just got reaffirmed by his cohorts a few days ago......this is going to be good but GOOD!!

"NORMAL" people just don't resign if they've done nothing wrong, you fool!

You are a disgrace.

You reap what you sow. This is nobody's fault but your own.

He resigns before he's indicted and on his way out the door he's lobbying for a lobbyist position in healthcare.And so it goes... Pathetic,we deserve what we get.Let's hope our elected officials continue their investigation after he leaves.My guess,they drop it. Not enough sizzle to put them on the front page.

About time!

Let's clean house.

Good olde Sal may be on record as....'proud of his service and resigning head-high'....but we all know better....why in the world would Sal resign so suddenly....knowing he had it made as Speaker of the House in the Mass achusetts Legislature for years.....gimme a break....he just got reaffirmed by his cohorts a few days ago......this is going to be good but GOOD!!

well its about time, now maybe we can get some casinos in this state, casinos that we should have had since the mid 90's, and poor sal cries about the gambling industry lobbyists, what about foxwoods lobbysists lining sals pockets for years to stop casinos in mass he doesnt say anything about that, he still says hes honest yeah right,
mass residents say goodbye to another crook and hopefully now hello to some casinos.

I hear they sell skittles in the prison comersary.

now all they need to do is charge bush and chaney with war crimes and all will be right in the world

Geez, that didn't take long Teflon...was the reelection ceremony a few weeks ago your final ego boost before coming clean to yourself?

Why would you waste the taxpayer's time and $$?

Now we get to watch a guy who has his own ethics investigation on his shared Cape House run for you spot....great.

When will they start denying pensions to these crooks!!! Something has to be done to discourage this behavior.

he was a terrible speaker, he was an even worse person, thinking he was above the law and untouchable, he will now spend his remaining days in fear! I hope he lives every second looking over his shoulder. he deserves the worst and so does his friends and family.

Thank goodness DiMasi was just elected speaker again. If that doesn't tell you all you need to know about Massachusetts politics, nothing will.

Throw them all out of office and start over. Our state is imploding with the Democrats in charge.

If he innocent as he claims ... "WHY IS HE STEPPING DOWN"? wE THE TAXPAYERS DEMADE THAT HE LOOSES HIS STATE PENSION!!! Remember the represenattives and senators who allow this to happen during the next election, if the governor allows this I will not for VOTE for his re-election.

"ANOTHER CORRUPTED SPEAKER" just like finneran, kaverian and flathery.
"HAD ENOUGH'??? .... VOTE REPUBLICAN!

Good. Hopefully the next step is prison.

It seems to me, if you've done nothing wrong then you don't resign.

Buh-bye

Typical arrogance. He won't refute specific charges because he knows he cannot credibly do so. He says he's done nothing wrong but yet is resigning. As I say, typical arrogance and untruthfulness. Also, he is proud of protecting "gay" marriage. That is nothing to be proud of. Glad the bum is gone. Good riddance.

DiMasi's "dream" is to work in the health care industry? Funny, I thought he was working for that industry already. A disabled friend of mine, a citizen with a working class-level income, called his office for help last spring because of DiMasi's boasts that everyone in MA had health care. My friend is disabled, pays $120 a month for classic Medicare Parts A, B and D, doesn't qualify for state help, but still can't afford doctor visit co-pays or meds. DiMasi's rep said she didn't know what to tell my friend but she'd get info and call her back. Of course she never did. My friend still has no medical care.
Bye, Sal. You won't be missed.

It is about time! He is a thief and what is all wrong with politics. This is a step in the right direction!

I resent this corrupt man saying that "gambling interests" were behind the onslaught of stories regarding his many ethical and likely illegal actions. I have nothing to do with the gambling industry. I am a taxpaying mother of three, whose husband works in the private sector, and we both told our state representative that we would never vote for him again if he voted to re-elect DiMasi. That the attorney general and the united states attorney empaneled grand juries had is evidence enough that DiMasi's sordid actions --- not some imaginary gambling boogymen --- were the cause of his self-destruction. Mr. DiMasi may say he holds his head high, but he should hang it in shame --- because that's where it belongs!

I wonder what healthcare company gave him "the offer he couldn't refuse" to lobby his former colleagues. He will continue his chicanery in the private sector as a lobbyist to be sure. It should be outlawed as Obama has done.

Sal, you set yourself up to be attacked and criticized. Look in the mirror for blame.

INCREDIBLE!! Dimasi- you can't be serious with these quotes. You helped devastate the state of Massachusetts and have seriously ruined the budget this year and are the NUMBER ONE reason why towns and cities will be suffering this year due to lack of funds because you killed the casino bill. And you are proud of THAT? You are proud that cities and towns are going to have to lay off police, firefighters, and teachers because of the poor things you did during your tenure? What a joke!!! Imagine where the state would be if we had construction jobs working at building casinos, creating other jobs in the local area, etc.
And the cherry on all of this is that you are blaming all of the casino interest groups for your downfall? As if THEY were the ones who broke the law and are involved in these ethics scandals? You made your bed, now lie in it. Maybe if you obeyed the law and the will of hte people who have wanted casinos you might still have your job? NAHHHH.....

I can't wait until you leave office and have a better speaker. You are embarassing to the state and I am glad you are stepping down.

Finally!! A true dark stain on Massachusetts politics get its and gets out! Dimasi is truly an embarassment. Hopefully Coakley will get it to together and press criminal charges against this piece of filth.

"he will get about three quarters of his average pay over he past three years. "

Spell check can correct words, but not so much grammer. The second "he" should be "the".

it's about time . . who's next up there on the Beacon Hill? The people of this state desrve better than the hacks that rip us off on a daily basis. For all the "brains" we have in this state we sure look and act like a bunch of idiots by electing the same lame leaders every election. I remember when I was a young (I was born in 1974), there were these blue stickers with a hand that had its thumb up and a slogan that said, "make it in Massachusetts!" That sentiment in this day and age is a joke . . we all deserve a better shot at "making it" and that starts by not re-electing the people that do nothing except lie, cheat and raise taxes . .

another crook who is gone.

Another Mass Democrat caught , when will the people of Mass. realize that these politicians you vote for and support , take advantage of your support each and every day.

GOOD REPORTING AS ALWAYS BY FRANK PHILLIPS

Now this thief is out of the way, maybe we should revisit the casino vote again...

Didn't they just vote him back in?-- The puppet master had control until the end----this speaks volumes.

retiring with his head held high and his pockets full. How does he even look at himself in the mirror?

When are people in MA going to learn? It's always "meet the new boss same as the old boss" every time someone gets "caught".
It never changes, the one party system is a huge failure!!

He's proud forcing people to purchase luxury health insurance?

Notice that the Boston Globe-Democrat, waited until the 10th paragraph to mention the Speaker's party affiliation. Care to guess where the word "Republican" would be if the Speaker were a Republican?

This is what you get with one party rule in a country.

Now we just need squeeky Deval to fire his neighbor whom he gave a 150K per year hack/state job to!!

so glad your gone. Your just another political scumbag who forgot he works for us. So Long jackass, your voting against casinos was personal, and not in the interest of the commonwealth. You are leaving because your a crook, just like Sen. Wilkinson, and Chuck Turner. HEY Massachusetts voters: wake up and stop voting in these stupid Dems. When will the liberal idiots wake up. These bums have never seen a tax they didn't like.

I am sorry but I think this whole thing is being driven by casinos interests, as he says. DiMasi may or may not have done anything wrong, but there is no question that he is the only thing that was stopping the gambling folks.

If you think corruption is bad in this state, wait until the casinos and slots get ahold of folks. WAKE UP PEOPLE. You are being cheated big time. Slots are designed to be addictive and they wreck people's lives.

This Means that the "new clean pols" will be having their pockets stuffed with cash by the casino mob.......... Hold on here we go !! Trashy casinos EVERYWHERE!

...'Caddy Deval'......you are next, my man.......YOU are on the clock.......tick-tick-tick.

"It seems to me, if you've done nothing wrong then you don't resign. "

Sorry, Same2U, but you've got it backwards. It's the guilty ones that dig in their heels, like Wilkerson and Blago.

There's no evidence yet on the take, though it's possible since he's in the Massachusetts legislature after all. But what we've got here is a man whose ego is in check, instead of suffering delusions of grandeur and greed for more and longer lasting power, he's simply ready to step away and let others play the sinister game of Massachusetts politics.

Another sad chapter in Mass politics
John THE IRON DUKE Thompson, Tommie McGee, Finneran, Kevin Harrington, etc all left office in total disgrace.
When will it ever end ??

Please connect the dots here;
The state House made backroom deals with the health insurance companies.
The state enacts a "Health law" chapter 58 which forces residents to buy into bogus insurance.
The state is fining residents $900.00 this year.The fine is a tax unpaid taxes are a jailable offense.The residents cannot afford the insurance but the state house doesn't care.
DiMasi gets a job with the health care industry!!!

I hope they are not falling for this and backing away from the indictment. He is crooked.

The guy needs a good bath inside and out! Good Riddance to him.

t When is Massachusetts going to learn the lessons from too many years of selfish democratic socialists who live on the one way street called "my way"?? Like a reader said earlier, VOTE REPUBLICAN. Or Libertarian for that matter. Less government means more power to the people and more money in OUR pockets, not in the bellies of the scum lining beacon hill. With that, to the earlier reader- Bush will never be convicted of war crimes as he did everything he felt was right and legal to bring much needed democracy to the Middle East. Where were YOU on 9/11??

A typical resignation letter from another typical, disgraced politician. A list of great accomplishments, a self-pat on the back for many years of public service, and well-wishes to all those left behind who will continue on the honorable path. The reality, of course, is that the walls have started to close around him and his repeated public statements get hollower as more questions emerge, questions that he doesn't want to answer. And the honorable public servants that will continue this good work? This voiceless group of cowards is more interested in securing a plum office or committee position with a few extra thousands dollars per year than do what they were elected to do - serve the public interest. These same public servants only weeks ago overwhelmingly reelected the Speaker in spite of the series concerns over his network of friends, rather than stand up for public trust and integrity, once again failing to live up to their oaths. In the end, we all only have ourselves to blame. We vote them in, we re-elect them, and when they let us down, we give them a free pass. Our only hope is that one day the bulk of them resign in shame, no longer able to live with themselves because they let us all down. Then again, if Mr. DiMasi's farewell letter is any indication, the mass delusion is stronger than ever and nothing will change.

Maybe David Torrisi should be the speaker. apparently he's the only one with enough courage and conviction to take a stand against Dimasi in the first place. He's the only rep to publicly tell the speaker he no longer could abide by his commands. While all the lemmings voted for DiMasi, Torrisi would not and told dimasi why.

The Casino window has slammed shut..its far too late to do any good regarding what impacts the People's Republic of Massachusetts..hopefully, The One will offer his buddy Deval something so he can clear his office out..one can only hope..

Term Limits

Sal is a great man and served many people.

Oh, Geeeeeeeeez, this guy MUST be a republican, or the republicans made him do it. Not once is it mentioned that this guy is a democrate, but I guess everyone knows there is no media bias or was it Bush's fault, yes, George must have caused this.

It is about time. I am sick of these politicians who think they can make a call and get what they want. IT IS ABOUT TIME he resigned.

Politics is a Public Trust,if the Free Market of pay to play becomes insidiously the norm there will be no Public Trust in politics left nor Public Service ! Speaker Salvadore Di-Masi is not by means the first nor the last to be tainted by the Free Market, as long as you have paid Lobbyists,the money trail taints the public interest for which people of honor and integrity are elected to serve.Mayor Michael Bloomberg serves Big Apple New York City with just one bite USD$1-00 mighty dollar a year as its Mayor.Too bad that ex disgraced Senator Dianne Wilkerson couldn't hack it at her Senator's salary and perks!The Jury is still out on Salvadore Di-Masi who at this tyme is of Retirement Age !!!

The Jury is still out on Salvadore Di-Masi !!!!

TWhy Gerald

What a corrupt state of affairs.....I mean commonwealth

An overlooked side story to DiMasi's resignation is that mere weeks ago his colleagues re-elected him to the position of speaker. If his circumstances were such that they led him to resign today, it begs the question why those same circumstances did not give more lawmakers pause when voting to re-elect DiMasi. News continues to drip out regarding the speaker's dealings and private affairs, but fundamentally there seems to be little more known now than what was known at the time of DiMasi's re-election. DiMasi's re-election suggests either a culture on Beacon Hill dominated by intimidation and back room politics or one in which conflicted dealings and possible corruption are given an all too willing blind eye. Too few lawmakers appear to have been willing to let conscience dictate their votes for speaker or perform due diligence on the many questions surrounding DiMasi prior to the vote. To the extent we are disappointed in DiMasi’s behavior and questioning his dealings, we should likewise be disappointed in the House as a body and questioning how lawmakers could have so easily and by such a margin re-elected him to the position of speaker.

Good riddance. Maybe this will be the straw that break the back of voters in this state who continue to elect corrupt Dems to office. Until we change the flow of power on Beacon Hill, these stories will not go away.

Business as usual in the commonweatlh of corruption. Term limits by indictment

THE GOVERNOR AND HIS FRIENDS AT THE GLOBE TOOK SAL TO THE WOODSHED! OUCH!! HELLO CASINOS

NO PENSION - IF VIOLATIONS WERE COMMITTED CONNECTED TO HIS OFFICIAL DUTIES. EVEN THE RUNT OF THE BULGER AFFLICTION LOST HIS FOR SIMILAR REASO N

This corruption did not just happen today. Will Attorney General Moakley now investigate DiMasi going back 10 or 20 years to see when the corruption started, or will she just do nothing allowing the corruption to remain?

Our police chief in Stoughton has been convicted. He has been in office since 1999. How many innocent people have had their lives adversely affected by the corruption under this chief since 1999? Will Moakley investigate this corruption?

Does anyone even care in this state?

For evil to triumph ony requires that Attorney Generals do no investigations.

What is wrong with all the Democrats that re-elected him speaker? Says a lot for our elected officials. It seems that if you've got no ethical standard your some kind of hero. You know people talk about term limitations for our elected officials, and I was a firm believer in that, but you know what, its time we take care of these politicians with blinders on at the ballot box.

Speaker Is the Best!!!!!Sorry to hear you leave If some ppl only knew half of what goes on in the House! hey did your momma ever teach if u got nothing nice to say keep to ur self. Oh well i guess you have to understand whats going on in house to really understand

anyone want to take a bet on how long will it take for the next speaker to resign?why as voter's do we keep getting mad as hell that this stuff still goe's on and we keep putting the crook's back in?it's time we overhaul the system.let them go back to making 25-30 grand and maybe they won't stay around as long.SEE YA SAL .DON'T LET THE DOOR HIT YOUR SORRY BUTT ON THE WAY OUT

What? Another high-ranking Democratic politician resigning under the cloud of investigations for corruption? I'm shocked, I'm appalled, I'm Johnny Cochran.

No, not really. This is getting to be the "norm" in the past year, not the "exception."

I think Nancy Pelosi got it wrong. The Democrats came to Washington "not" to "drain the swamp of corruption", but to fill it up till it overflows.

Hey Nancy. You're doing a good job. Pretty soon you won't have those Democratic governors and mayors beating at your door for more handouts. They will all be in jail.

Enjoy the silence, for the moment.

Such a proud position, speaker of the house in Massachusetts. They stop progress, build their little crooked kingdoms, and end up going down in flames. Lowlifes.