Camp David - or is it Camp Deval?-in the Berkshires (Obama's buddy)

Boston Globe ^ | 7-27-08

[STARWISE]

Sweet P Farm is nestled at the top of a winding driveway, hidden from view by 77 acres of gentle woods and meadows, a retreat in the Berkshires where Governor Deval Patrick can swat a few tennis balls on his private court, work on a chapter of his memoir, or stroll through the wildflowers in his backyard.

But during this year's high summer season, Patrick is opening his rural getaway to the Massachusetts political world, transforming it into something like the state's own version of Camp David.

The governor hosted a big ticket fund-raiser at the home last week that drew 150 wealthy Democratic donors from across the state. That gala will be followed on Aug. 3 by a picnic for the Massachusetts Legislature, an event designed to build good will for the governor among lawmakers who have sometimes viewed Patrick with distrust.

"A lot of successful politics, just like a lot of successful professional lives, are about relationships," Patrick said in an interview. "You open your home. That's what you do. It's a very human thing. We intend it to be a very warm thing, and let people put some of their formalities aside and get to know them."

Burnishing one's political fortunes by entertaining in the countryside has a long tradition in US politics.

[STARWISE]

Or as I'm calling him, Two Americas II

MUST READ .. for financial background.

Patrick's mortgages amount to $5.9m - Candidate says he has what it takes to run

*snip*

Patrick declined to discuss his finances, and, like several other gubernatorial candidates this year, has said he will not make his income tax returns public. His only required financial disclosure, a limited report to be filed with the state, is not due until May.

''There has to be a line drawn between public affairs and private ones, and I am drawing it here," Patrick said, explaining why he will not release his tax returns.

But a Globe examination of public records -- including real estate holdings, mortgages, personal loans, and federal financial reports -- reveals this picture:

Patrick, a Harvard-educated lawyer who grew up poor on Chicago's South Side, has seen his income soar over the last 20 years. But during that same period, he has also embraced financial risk, taking on significant debt.

*snip*

Patrick, in a statement to the Globe, stressed that he and his wife have ''never failed to repay any loan we have ever had, or to meet our financial responsibilities." He declined to be interviewed about his finances.

While the 19 mortgages and personal loans the Patricks have taken out since 1989 are recorded publicly, the couple's income and assets are more difficult to determine.

In 1994, when Patrick was nominated to be an assistant attorney general in the Clinton administration, he filed a federal financial disclosure report, listing the couple's net worth at $201,000, with assets worth $1,034,000, including their Milton house, which they valued at $750,000.

In the report, Patrick said he had earned a base salary the previous year as partner at the now defunct Boston law firm Hill & Barlow, where he was a partner, of $136,000. His wife was then human resource director at Harvard University. No salary is listed for her position.

*snip*

"We looked hard at the financial implications of dedicating ourselves full time to public service and planned accordingly," Patrick said in a statement. ''Through hard work, great opportunities, and continued blessings, we are in a wonderful financial position today to make this leap."

His main home in Milton, MA

~~~~

READ LINKED ARTICLE FOR MUCH MORE DETAILED FINANCIAL INFO; I.E., BOARDS, ETC.

[STARWISE]

~~~ DING!

[mass55th]

Where’s da basketball court bro?

[STARWISE]

http://tinyurl.com/5nsard

Gov. Patrick says he’s not pondering Supreme Court
July 21, 2008

BOSTON—Gov. Deval Patrick is chuckling at reports he could be nominated to the Supreme Court if Barack Obama was elected president in upcoming elections.

[STARWISE]

http://tinyurl.com/58922g

OPEN SEASON: Firearms fee an attempt to subvert gun rights

July 20, 2008 6:00 AM
Most Viewed Stories

Gov. Deval Patrick filed a special appropriations bill for fiscal year 2008 that would drastically increase the fees for certain firearm licenses. The cost of the License to Carry Firearms would double under the proposal, jumping from $100 (for six years) to $200 (for six years). The non-resident License to Carry Firearms fee would jump from $100 for one year to $250 for one year.

Licensed firearm dealers will also feel the bite as their license fees would be increased from $100 for three years to $250. The governor then adds a $100 inspection fee in the second and third years of the license, which would turn the current $100 three-year dealer’s license into a $450 three-year license.

[maine-iac7]

Sheeze - I owned a house in the Berkshires once too. About the size of his pool house

[STARWISE]

http://tinyurl.com/5wpcs4

State sees economics of gay marriage
Senate to vote on repeal of 1913 ban on out-of-staters

Morality, personal liberty, and constitutional law have been the usual battlegrounds in the fight over gay marriage. Now Governor Deval Patrick’s administration is injecting something a bit more pedestrian to the debate: economic development.

A study conducted for the state’s Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development predicts that an economic boomlet in hotel bookings, banquets, and wedding cakes would result from repealing a 1913 state law that prevents gay and lesbian couples from most other states from marrying in Massachusetts.

[STARWISE]

I know the feeling.

The Berkshires are beautiful. I was born and
not too far away .. Springfield area. Are you
from Mass?

[STARWISE]

Ooops .. I was born and
raised not too far away

[LibFreeOrDie]

And Deval sings, too!

In this video, he tries to persuade Sal to give him the 3 casinos he wants, at the St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast in Southie:

http://www.blinkx.com/video/patrick-dimasi-battle-at-st-patrick-breakfast/P4fskLLt-9Qq1Uu9bO8YdA

[STARWISE]

Oh those Boston Irish ...
is he still fighting
for the casinos ?

[GregoryFul]

Duh? Scumbag to protect his own?

[LibFreeOrDie]

He and Sal agreed to put in on the ballot in November as a non-binding referendum:

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/blogs/boston/2008/05/21/casinos-theyre-back-again/

[STARWISE]

http://tinyurl.com/5hzlrz

July 21, 2008

Speculation that Governor Deval Patrick could wind up in a Barack Obama presidential administration has been rife, and lately political and legal observers are pointing to the Supreme Court as a potential destination for the Harvard Law grad and former Justice Department official.

Legal blogs have been spreading Patrick’s name as a potential Supreme Court pick for at least a year. In recent months, both The New York Times and The Washington Post have mentioned Patrick either first or second in stories handicapping potential Obama high-court nominees.

Bay State lawyers said they have heard the talk, but one local legal observer, David Yas, publisher of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, said the governor might have some fence-mending to do on his home turf if he were to accept a call to the lofty bench.

A Patrick spokeswoman said yesterday that the governor was not seeking any appointment from Obama, a response similar to the one the Patrick issued when his name was floated as a potential attorney general.

[Humble Servant]

” Gov. Deval Patrick is chuckling at reports he could be nominated to the Supreme Court if Barack Obama was elected president in upcoming elections. “

Oh, please God, no.

[kcvl]

Diane Patrick née Bemus (born 1951), a lawyer specializing in labor and employment law

Patrick worked as a law clerk for Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, then became an attorney for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) in New York City. While working with LDF, Patrick met future President Bill Clinton, then serving as Governor of Arkansas. Clinton was being sued over a voting rights case, and the two worked out a settlement.

He led what was (before the September 11, 2001 attacks) the largest federal criminal investigation in history as co-chair of the Task Force investigating the arsons of synagogues and African American churches in the South.

Patrick also enforced federal laws concerning treatment of incarcerated criminals, to the extent that one warden called him a “zealot”.

From 2000 to 2004, Patrick worked as executive vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary of the Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta.

Patrick successfully encouraged UAL (United Airlines) to offer domestic partner benefits to all employees, making it the first airline to do so.

In 2004, he was appointed to the board of directors of the firm that controls Ameriquest, the mortgage company infamous for predatory lending scandals, because of his 20 years of fighting such problems. Ameriquest subsequently agreed to a $325 million dollar settlement regarding their predatory lending practices in 49 states. Patrick resigned from the board on July 2, 2006.

Patrick again came under fire, this time for contacting Citigroup Executive Committee chair, and former Clinton Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin on behalf of the financially beleaguered mortgage company Ameriquest, a subsidiary of ACC Capital Holdings of which Patrick is a former board member. Both Citigroup and ACC Capital Holdings have substantial holdings in Massachusetts. Patrick attempted to deflect criticism claiming he was calling not as governor but as a private citizen. Later Patrick backed down, stating “I appreciate that I should not have made the call. I regret the mistake.”

Unemployment in Massachusetts edged up 0.3 percent in June, making it the only New England state — and one of six states nationally — to post an increase for the month.

Massachusetts posted a jobless rate of 5.2 percent in June.

[STARWISE]

[Pearls Before Swine]

Legal blogs have been spreading Patrick’s name as a potential Supreme Court pick...

That would produce some finely reasoned opinions (not).

[Former War Criminal]

Will he rent the porta-potties from the same company the Kerry’s use?

[STARWISE]

Thanks kc ... link url is always good to include. Thanks.