Senators win big in gamble for slots jobs
By Howie Carr
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Big debate in the state Senate last week — how long should the solons have to wait after leaving the august body before taking a job at one of the state’s new casinos?
The reformers wanted a five-year “cooling-off period,” while the hacks couldn’t bear to wait more than one year before grabbing their no-show, six-figure jobs.
Guess who prevailed in the end? It’s too bad, because a compromise could have been easily worked out. They could have had the cooling-off period run concurrently with the ex-solon’s probation after he (or she) finishes the inevitable prison sentence.
Still, it was quite a debate. The trouble was started by an anti-casino moonbat from Acton named Jamie Eldridge. He had the temerity to suggest that if they were going to approve three casinos and one slots parlor, it should be a boon for the entire state, “not an economic bill for legislators.”
How dare he!
First Sen. Stephen Brewer said, “We don’t get rich doing this.”
That’s right. Billy Bulger’s pension is only $200,000 a year.
What you have to understand is that many senators have never had a real job. The career trajectory often goes something like this: aide to a solon, then state rep, then state senator and, finally, prison inmate.
Sen. Stanley Rosenberg of Amherst talked about the bum rap lawmakers get when they submit to the usual nationwide searches for state jobs.
“We had a colleague who twice became a finalist for a college presidency. He was turned down because he was a former legislator and the perception about what it meant to be a legislator.”
I think he’s referring to a genius named David Magnani. He had a Ph.D., but once had to run for re-election on stickers because he forgot to file his nomination papers.
Here is a sentence from Dr. Magnani’s dissertation: “Since the earth is becoming increasingly covered by humans and centric pressure is now building due to increased numbers and the increased psychic space of each individual, competition no longer serves, particularly in relation to evolutionary future of human synergy.”
Obviously, a blinding intellect, passed over merely because he was a state senator.
Sen. Gale Canderas next stood up to say that by enacting a five-year waiting period, “We’re creating an assumption that people in this body cannot operate with integrity.”
Paging Sens. Wilkerson, Marzilli and Galluccio, and that’s just the most recent generation of jailbirds.
Well, you can figure out how this story ends. The Democrats went behind closed doors, and when they came out, the five-year cooling-off period had turned into 12 months. And so, coming soon to a casino near you will be a whole new crew of six-figure layabouts — a vice president for governmental relations, ably assisted by an assistant vice president for governmental relations, an associate vice president, a deputy veep, an executive secretary and a senior administrative assistant.
Just yell, “Senator!” and they’ll all come running.