McGovern’s speech on the House floor

Posted by Jeremy Shulkin

Last night Congressman Jim McGovern addressed the House on the importance of passing the Healthcare reform bill. Here’s a transcript of his speech in full (after the jump):

Healthcare reform passes

Posted by Jeremy Shulkin

Earlier tonight (last night if you’re reading this on Monday) the House passed H.R.3590 by a vote of 219 to 212. All 219 “yay”s came from Democrats, while 34 broke ranks and voted with Republicans.

Nine of the ten Massachusetts reps voted in favor of the bill, with only Stephen Lynch of the 9th district (parts of Bristol, Norfolk, Plymouth and Suffolk counties) voting “nay.”

Jim McGovern (D-Worcester) spoke from the floor. We’ll try to get a transcript posted soon. Twitter, the exit poll of the 21st century, has some choice quotes.

The New York Times has this handy map (above) that shows the voting breakdown by district. It’s worth running your mouse over.

The Casello situation

Posted by Jeremy Shulkin

Joff Smith had his press conference this morning to announce his bid for the 13 Worcester district state rep. seat, which naturally led to a lot of questions about who would replace him (fueled by a Worcesteria item this week) now that second-place finisher Joe Casello has moved to Florida.

That “moved” should read “may move.” I was able to speak with Casello today, and while he says that he has not moved, he did say he was “not in a position to comment” about what’s going on, and that he’ll update us later on it. He says that his house has not been sold.

Blog Log Digital 3/18/10

Posted by Tim O’Keefe

Posted by “Sean Dacey” on unfashionablesentiments.blogspot.com

Do we really have City Councilors complaining about a raise for Brian Allen?  Didn’t they give themselves an 84% pay raise for part time work a few years back when the budget was just as strained?  I also seem to remember City Manager Mike O’Brien handing out pay raises for his top assistants at City Hall during the same belt tightening periods.  Where was the outcry then?  Where were the calls for fiscal prudence?  (Maybe they should have hired Robert Z. Nemeth to write their campaign propaganda.) It seems as if the T&G and the City Council really have an axe to grind with money being spent on the school side of the city ledger.

Posted by “Jeff Barnard” on wormtowntaxi.com

The Internet has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. The erroneously cited royal “we” that Al Gore used when he said “We created the internet…” was a representation of the national “we”… all of the US taxpayers who funded the creation of the internet. If the internet wins the prize this year, will “we” also get an Oscar?

City Council live blog: 3/16/10

Posted by Jeremy Shulkin

Your live coverage is here. Mine begins in this space somewhere around 7:00. Tonight’s meeting will most likely be a short one, unless the councilors really like talking about HOME grants and sewage.

7:12: Party time. Lukes is in the tall chair tonight. Paul Clancy isn’t here. We’re starting with a proclamation: Worcester England and Worcester, MA have strong ties, and the Worcester Academy chorus is traveling there as “music ambassadors.” They’re singing “Adieu, Sweet Amaryllis” for us.

Best of Worcester, Best of Mass.

Posted by Brittany Durgin

While we here at Worcester Mag want you to vote for what you love in the city with our Best of Worcester contest, we think you should also be casting another opinion here. 1,000 great places in Massachusetts will officially be named under a law passed by Governor Deval Patrick to recognize the Bay State’s beauty, and to encourage tourism. I’m sure we can all think of a few places in Worcester that should make the list- Green Hill Park? Coney Island Hot Dogs?

Protest/Stand out outside Jim McGovern’s office

Posted by Jeremy Shulkin

Anti-healthcare reform Tea Partiers (they were very adamant this morning that they’re not called “Teabaggers”) including Marty Lamb, who is running against McGovern in the November election, and members of a new pro-healthcare reform group called Stand Up to Stupid are standing outside Congressman Jim McGovern’s office (34 Mechanic’s street) this morning holding up signs and engaging in healthy debate. Both groups will be there from 8 am to 10 am, and again from 4 pm to 6 pm.

Buy! Buy! Buy!

Posted by Jeremy Shulkin