Politicking shouldn’t get in the way of an efficient MBTA

What do five governors of Massachusetts, past and present, Democrat and Republican, have in common?

They all, including three Republicans, voted against, or will vote against, Republican Donald Trump.

Granted the three Republicans — Gov. Charlie Baker, and former Govs. Bill Weld and Mitt Romney are all RINOs (Republicans in Name Only) — this is progressive Massachusetts, after all — it is interesting to note that all three wanted everyone know how they voted.

Baker: “I didn’t vote for him four years ago. I see nothing to change my mind.”

Romney: “I did not vote for President Trump.” (But he did vote for impeachment.)

Weld: “In MA, we’re not supposed to pose pics of our marked ballots. So I’m not posting the proof that I gladly marked mine for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. But rest assured, that’s how I voted.”

Baker, 64, has been governor since 2016; Romney, 63, was governor from 2002-2006; Weld,75, from 1990-1997.

The other two anti-Trump former governors, both Democrats, who are voting vote against Trump, if they haven’t already, are Michael Dukakis and Deval Patrick. Dukakis, 87, was governor from 1976-1980, and again from 1984-1990, and Patrick 64, from 2008-2016.

Unlike the three Republicans, Dukakis and Patrick have yet to comment on how they are voting. But there is no doubt they will cast their ballot for Joe Biden and not Trump.

Neither Democrat would be caught dead voting for a real Republican, although they could cast a vote for an  honorary Democrat like Charlie Baker, if he asked them because Baker is really one of them.

What is also interesting is that four of the five former governors have used their office to run for president and the fifth, Charlie Baker, will probably also do so in 2024 if there is an opening.

Running a campaign is exciting; running a government is work.

Or, in the words of the late New York Gov. Mario Cuomo — not to be confused with the current bozo — “You campaign in poetry, you govern in prose.”

Dukakis as governor lost the 1988 presidential election to Vice President George H.W. Bush; Mitt Romney, now a U.S. senator from Utah, ran and lost twice for president, the first time losing in the 2008 GOP primary, and the second time in 2012 as the GOP nominee, losing to President Barack Obama.

Bill Weld most recently ran for president against Trump in the Republican 2020 New Hampshire presidential primary and lost, while Deval Patrick made a brief cameo appearance in the 2020 crowded Democrat presidential primary before bowing out.

Given all of this, one might conclude that Massachusetts governors suffer from systematic political opportunism, as though the office were a stepping-stone to the White House.

It does not work out that way, of course. The only thing systematic about it all are the problems that these would-be presidents leave behind, problems that are not only unresolved but made even worse.

One example is the MBTA. It has had systemic problems going back more than 50 years, and the service is worse today than it has ever been. Governor after governor has kicked the can down the road.

While promising to fix the country if elected  president, our governors have not even been able to fix the MBTA. They don’t even ride it.

Mike Dukakis may have been the last governor to seriously seek to improve the transit agency. He at least used to ride the Green Line from his home in Brookline to the State House. No governor since has ridden the MBTA except for photo opportunities. They cannot even tell you how much it costs to ride.

When Dukakis did take a car, he was usually mocked because it would be a compact, and not a limo. Since then governors — dreaming of becoming president — ride around in limos with State Police escorts.

Governors, like ordinary citizens, should be forced to ride the MBTA. They should also be required to fix it before they talk about fixing the country.

People need the MBTA to get to work, now more than ever. However, instead of providing enough sanitation and safeguards to protect riders from  COVID-19, the agency, because of lower ridership, is cutting service by $255 million even as winter approaches.

But budget cuts and lower ridership has not stopped construction of the $2 billion Green Line expansion into Somerville.

Baker in 2015 said, “The people of Massachusetts deserve a well-managed well-run, cost-effective transit system.”

Give them one.

 

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2HRc46z