Howie Carr thread week of Jan. 4, 2009

Thu show ping

Breaking: GOP lawmaker REFUSES pay hike!

http://bostonherald.com/news/politics/view.bg?articleid=1143983&pos=breaking

One Republican lawmaker has already refused a pricey 5.5 percent pay increase for state legislators Gov. Deval Patrick recommended yesterday, saying the raise is a slap in the face to struggling families.

The hike would raise legislators’ base pay from $58,237 to $61,440, even as they consider slashing millions from the state budget.

“I cannot in good conscience accept a raise in legislative pay when there are so many families across the state who cannot afford to meet their household expenses,” said Rep. Karyn Polito (R-Shrewsbury) in a statement.

“I believe the $640,600 in additional pay for legislators could be better spent if it were devoted to offsetting toll increases, increasing local aid and paying for other services that would benefit the people we represent.”

Lawmakers passed a law in 1998 tying their pay raises to the state’s median household income. Patrick sent a letter to Treasurer Tim Cahill yesterday indicating that increase was about 5.5 percent. The raise comes at end of every two-year session.

The Massachusetts Republican party also slammed lawmakers who are accepting the $3,200 raise.

“At a time when people are losing their jobs and just trying to figure out where their next paycheck is going to come from, what makes the DiMasi Democrats think that the legislature deserves a raise at all? This is an outrage and yet another example of why we desperately need new leadership on Beacon Hill,” said GOP spokesman Barney Keller.

Michael Davis, a former senior editor and family television columnist for TV Guide will join us to talk about his smashing new book Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street. Our TV guru Max Robins from the Paley Center will also be joining in.

TODAY
THURSDAY, JANUARY 8

1st Hour
President-elect Barack Obama called on Congress today to pass a huge economic stimulus package as quickly as possible, warning that inaction could bring high unemployment and a lingering recession for years. Is this going to revive the economy?

2nd Hour
Michael Davis, a former senior editor and family television columnist for TV Guide will join us to talk about his smashing new book Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street. Our TV guru Max Robins from the Paley Center will also be joining in.

3rd Hour
CHUMP LINE!!! Call 617-779-3469 and leave Howie or Sandy a message about the show or the goings on of the day and we may play it back on the air!

4th Hour

Fri column ping

No dough? Free time, on Howie
By Howie Carr | Friday, January 9, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Columnists

Massachusetts legislators, have I got a deal for you!

As you know better than any of us taxpayers, all 200 members of the General Court are about to collect a totally undeserved pay raise, from $58,237 up to $61,440.

It’s one thing to feed at the trough. This is licking the plate.

As politically tone-deaf as most legislators have become, running unopposed all these years, surely a handful must still dimly comprehend how greedy they seem, especially in this rotten economy.

So solons, here’s your chance to look good. I hereby offer any rep who declines the pay hike two free minutes on my radio show tonight during the 6 o’clock hour. First come, first served for one hour, although a stampede to my microphones seems rather unlikely, to say the least.

By the way, before I put you on the air, I’ll need to see some paperwork (preferably sworn or at least notarized) proving that you’re foregoing the extra money. It’s not that I don’t trust state reps, but . . .

Of course the solons claim they had nothing to do with their pay hike. Look, they say, it’s in the state constitution - Article 118 of the amendments. I always believed the raise was calculated on the percentage of state senators who were indicted in the previous year.

In 2008, 5 percent of the Senate was lugged. This year’s pay raise is 5.5 percent. Coincidence?

Actually, the increase is based on the change in the median household income for Massachusetts in the two prior years. No reliable figures will be available for months - does anyone seriously think people are making more money these days? But who cares? Gov. Patrick says he has “ascertained” that the Legislature has a pay raise coming.

If you see your local hack this weekend reeling out of the package store, he’ll probably tell you that this “automatic” pay raise amendment was approved by the electorate in a referendum in 1998. So what if the question was put on the ballot by Felon Finneran, the corrupt former House speaker. The will of the people is sacrosanct.

Unless, that is, the electorate votes itself an income-tax cut, or to reinstate the death penalty (twice), or to approve “Clean Elections.” And if the people even dare to think about banning gay marriage, then the General Court won’t even allow them to vote.

But pay raises for legislators? Why, not allowing that part of the Constitution to kick in would be a betrayal of the memory of the founding fathers.

So I make this marvelous offer of free radio time to the solons.

If you don’t take the dough, you can come on my show.

When the phone don’t ring, I’ll know it’s you.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1144145

Yup, I spotted that too (via SaveWRKO). I had bought a Globe-Democrat (what WTKK’s Michael Graham calls it) earlier but didn’t read (assuming it wasn’t simply on the website)

Howie says they’ll go to part of the Blago presser.

Howie is def talking about FelonMan’s wish for a pardon.
As Martin Fierro put it, “Pardons? Finneran’s for ‘em!”

FRIDAY, JANUARY 9

1st Hour
The Illinois House of Representatives voted 114-1 today to impeach Gov. Rod Blagojevich on corruption charges that include allegedly trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama. Is it right to impeach him before he is convicted?

2nd Hour

3rd Hour
CHUMP LINE!!! Call 617-779-3469 and leave Howie or Sandy a message about the show or the goings on of the day and we may play it back on the air!

It is Police Blotter Fax Friday! You can fax (617-779-3467) or e-mail your funny police/accident/crime stories from your local papers to Sandy. Make sure to include your name address and phone number on your entry and if faxing that it is a copy and not the original! If Sandy picks yours as one of the two big winners you will win a fabulous prize!

4th Hour
Feeling the heat from a roiling firestorm of public outrage, several Massachusetts lawmakers turned down a stunning 5.5-percent pay raise yesterday, citing the Bay State’s skyrocketing layoffs and a plummeting economy. Howie says If you don’t take the dough, you can come on my show. Any rep who declines the pay hike gets two free minutes on the show...starting now!!

special Sat column ping

Not a fan, felonious Tom Finneran? Well pardon me!
By Howie Carr | Saturday, January 10, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Columnists

Are you talkin’ to me, Felon Finneran?

I quote now from the letter that four bust-out ex-governors of Massachusetts have written to President Bush, begging them to pardon former House speaker Tommy Taxes Finneran, a man so crooked he needs a corkscrew to get into his pants in the morning.

“He has suffered daily taunts and ridicule of those who believe that every elected official is the equivalent of a common thief.”

That’s me they’re talking about. When it comes to Felon Finneran, I’m in charge of daily taunts and ridicule. But despite what the Four Stooges wrote, I don’t believe every elected official is a thief. Finneran, on the other hand, was the House speaker - a job title that lately has a higher recidivism rate than godfather of the Gambino Crime Family.

As for Tommy Taxes being a “common thief” - I would never say that. Common thieves who do the crime do the time. Finneran committed multiple counts of perjury in the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals, but was convicted of one count of obstruction of justice, and didn’t do an hour, let alone a day, in durance vile.

And he still refuses to take responsibility for his sordid life of crime. So far, he’s Alibi Ike.

First excuse: he lied under oath because he was in a hurry to drive his wife to Mass General.

Second excuse: he’d been “gulping” Advil. No joke - Tommy Taxes claimed he was “Advil-addled.”

New excuse: I’ve ruined everything for him. Yeah, and tonight I’m going to make it snow.

The Four Stooges said Felon Finneran has been “severely punished.” Really? He’s still making big money for his wretched radio show, which we call “Sweet Sixteen,” because that’s generally about where it finishes in the ratings. The Felon usually runs neck and neck with “The River,” and sometimes he even edges the Manchester N.H. soft-rock station. Sometimes. His show is so compelling it now goes off the air at 9 instead of 10, and they’re trying to prop him up with a co-host.

Finneran should be breakin’ rocks in the hot sun. He fought the law and the law won. Although I still remember the day he was “sentenced,” and how Judge Rick Stearns was almost apologizing for having to ask him the questions every convicted felon has to answer.

Are you on drugs this morning, wiseguy? You do know you can’t own a firearm anymore, maggot. But no, it was all “Mistah Speakah” this and “I know this is a silly question but . . .” I was there in the courtroom hoping to make a victim-impact statement. See, I was at the courthouse the day Felon Finneran told his string of incredible whoppers about his racist gerrymandering scheme in the city of Boston.

I was shocked, shocked, I tell you. I tried not to let it destroy my faith in the integrity of the Massachusetts Legislature. But I can’t get over it. Then last year, the Felon speculated to Gov. Patrick that I should be taken for a one-way ride in the trunk of the governor’s Coupe Deval.

You can take the felon out of the State House, but you can’t take the State House out of the felon. President Bush, don’t enough people hate you already? You don’t need your own Marc Rich.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1144332

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