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Kudos to Gov. Patrick for Holding the Line on Health Insurance Rate Hikes

7 April 2010 - 12:00am | superuser
by Jason Pramas

A few weeks back I wrote an editorial wondering aloud if Gov. Deval Patrick would have the gumption to use his power to limit health insurance rate hikes for individual and small business plans this year. You may recall that the major insurers were asking for hikes of up to 35 percent for these plans. Well, maybe because it's an election year and he's facing off against a Republican - Charlie Baker - who is an insurance company executive. Or maybe it's because he's had enough of annual price gouging by insurers.

Boston Must Fully Fund Summer Jobs for Youth

30 March 2010 - 12:00am | superuser
by Jason Pramas

This will be a fairly short editorial (by my usual - rather loquacious - standards anyway). We're still in a deep recession marked by significant long-term job loss ... whatever Moody's and other business-oriented economic observers are currently saying to the contrary. Young people from poor families have extremely high rates of unemployment in the best of times, and these are hardly the best of times.

Open Media Boston Celebrates 2nd Anniversary; Calls for Increased Community Support

23 March 2010 - 12:00am | superuser
by Jason Pramas

Last weekend marked Open Media Boston's 2nd anniversary of weekly publication. Quite the milestone for this little "news outlet that could." When we first launched on March 20, 2008, OMB was just me and an idea that it was possible to start a professional metropolitan news operation with a progressive editorial stance using available social media technology despite my lack of ready cash. I gambled that I'd be able to attract a talented staff and build an audience even as I raised money to make the whole thing go.

Local Aid Cuts Would Be Unnecessary if Mass. Instituted a Progressive Income Tax

16 March 2010 - 12:00am | superuser
by Jason Pramas

It has been a while since I've harped on the need for progressive taxation in Massachusetts, but with cuts to local aid looming in the state budget there's no time like the present. We're starting to see what happens when cities and towns are forced to cut past the bone because of a lack of state and federal funds to shore them up in the down economy - layoffs of core personnel and the elimination of key services. Last week Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairman Sen. Steven Panagiotakos (D-Lowell) and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep.

Will Gov. Patrick Stand Firm on Capping Health Care Premium Rates?

9 March 2010 - 10:22pm | superuser
by Jason Pramas

It remains to be seen if Gov. Deval Patrick will grow a spine on the health care front and make his new "soft cap" on annual increases in health insurance company premiums into a hard cap. As it stands, Patrick has ordered the new state insurance commissioner Joseph G. Murphy to "investigate" any requests by insurers for increases higher than 4.8 percent a year.

Gov. Patrick's FY 2011 Budget Proposes Much Pain for Mass. Working Families

23 February 2010 - 10:56pm | superuser
by Jason Pramas

Well, it’s budget season in Massachusetts again. Where has the time gone? It’s only been a few months since the Gov. Deval Patrick used his Section 9C powers to make another bunch of budget cuts. Now he’s released his Fiscal Year 2001 budget proposal - and the Mass. Budget and Policy Center has released its usual helpful section-by-section analysis. So let’s take a look at what kind of hurt that working families of Massachusetts are going to be expected to suck up in the ongoing absence of any new progressive taxation policies at any level of government.

Democracy Demands Committed Journalists - Open Media Boston Seeks Reporters

16 February 2010 - 10:24pm | superuser
by Jason Pramas

A community news publication like Open Media Boston is built on the hard work of our reporters. The more talented reporters we have, the more stories we can cover every week, and therefore the more we can accurately reflect the community (really several communities) that we serve. For almost two years now, this publication has gradually built up a dedicated crew of basically volunteer (unless you count pizza as renumeration) journalists that do their best to cover the stories that need covering week after week.

Are Grace Ross and Jill Stein Jumping the Political Gun by Running in the Mass. Gubernatorial Race?

9 February 2010 - 11:40pm | superuser
by Jason Pramas

The race for Massachusetts governor got much more exicting for area progressives over the last week with the entry of two experienced candidates - Grace Ross and Dr. Jilll Stein. Both have run for the office (and other offices) in the last decade as Green-Rainbow Party candidates. Stein will continue doing so for this election. What's interesting, however, is that Ross has decided to dog incumbent Deval Patrick from within his own party. She's hoping to face off against him in the Democratic Party primary.

A Note on the Passing of Howard Zinn

2 February 2010 - 12:00am | superuser
by Jason Pramas

There are too many good people passing away recently. I just participated in a memorial for my colleague Tim Costello yesterday, and now I find myself sitting down to write a brief note about famed historian and progressive activist Howard Zinn. I took his Spring 1986 class at Boston University ... and, let me tell you, it was quite a circus.

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