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The Walsh Blunder

"The public is at once fearful and angry. The threat of tax hikes in a sour economy will do that to people. Cuts will have to be made in state agencies and that means sacrifices by the rest of us - longer lines at the Registry, a longer wait for a bus. But the governor assured us that "This is one commonwealth. We share in the sacrifices.

"Enter Sen. Marian Walsh - the new poster girl for all that is appalling about the way business is done on Beacon Hill."-Boston Herald Editorial, 3/14/09

The Walsh Blunder
Boston Herald Editorial Staff, 3/14/09

So how tone deaf is Gov. Deval Patrick?

The state faces a fiscal crisis unlike any other. The fourth quarter of this fiscal year may find state government another $1 billion in the hole. Taxes of every kind are on the table - sales, meals, gasoline.

The public is at once fearful and angry. The threat of tax hikes in a sour economy will do that to people. Cuts will have to be made in state agencies and that means sacrifices by the rest of us - longer lines at the Registry, a longer wait for a bus. But the governor assured us that "This is one commonwealth. We share in the sacrifices."

Enter Sen. Marian Walsh - the new poster girl for all that is appalling about the way business is done on Beacon Hill.

Walsh is slated to get a $175,000 job at the Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Authority. The real problem is that the job - as assistant executive director - has been vacant for a dozen years. So in the midst of a fiscal crisis the governor has apparently decided now is the time to fill it. We rest our case on the "tone deaf" issue.

If the West Roxbury Democrat wants out of the Senate, voters in her district could easily have shown her the way - without having to pay an additional annual ransom of $100,000.Filling the position is an insult to taxpayers. Filling it with Walsh is an abomination.

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