Governor Patrick announced last week he may now go to Israel and India to promote doing business in Massachusetts.

I am not sure whether to celebrate him leaving the state or point out the uselessness of his trips.

With him out of state Deval cannot announce yet another plan to spend another billion dollars of our tax money. However, I do think it would be better if he left to campaign for Barack instead of making pointless trips overseas on our dime. At least if he was helping Obama, they would be footing the bill.

Let’s face the facts the chances are slim at best Deval is going to bring back any business. Did Lt. Governor Murphy’s jaunt to Ireland produce any results? How about Governor Patrick’s trip to China?

...On the road again...

UPDATE: More from Mass Roots GOP, the Herald, Globe and Reason Magazine.

SECOND UPDATE: From the Globe, Herald and Holly Robichaud.

THIRD UPDATE: More from the Globe and Herald.

Senator Barack Obama's Massachusetts supporters began focusing their efforts on the November election yesterday, fanning out to busy areas in Boston to register voters, even as the candidate's Democratic primary campaign against Senator Hillary Clinton continued.

Governor Deval Patrick rallied about 100 volunteers at Roxbury's Reggie Lewis Center yesterday. The volunteers scooped up voter registration slips and chose MBTA stations, parks, and other spots to find unregistered voters.

Patrick, wearing blue jeans, stood outside the Back Bay T Station and registered potential voters, saying he wouldn't even object if some were Republicans.

"I think it's in the spirit of the campaign that if someone says, 'I want to register, but I'm going to register as a Republican,' you sign them up," he said.

Puh-leeze. How can Patrick not object to people registering as Republicans when, just a few years ago, he accused pro-Republican talk radio of encouraging hate crimes? Does anybody really think he wants people to support the party of Reagan, when he wouldn't even honor Reagan's birthday?

Come on, Deval. The last thing you want is people aligning themselves with the GOP. Who are you trying to fool?

UPDATE: More from Diane Patrick and the Globe.

SECOND UPDATE: From the Herald and Hub Politics.

Despite a recent high-profile defeat, legislation to legalize casino gambling in Massachusetts may yet come back, Governor Deval Patrick said yesterday.

Patrick said he wasn't basing his statement on the possible departure of House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, a gambling opponent, but a confluence of other factors.

The governor told a Brookline Chamber of Commerce audience that an unyielding need for property tax relief, the possibility of slot machines at the state's racetracks, and ongoing efforts by the Wampanoag Indians to build their own casino will revive the discussions.

"There's a lot of interest in it, and issues that die in one session don't die a permanent death," Patrick said. "They tend to come back over time."

Under one scenario, Patrick said, casino gambling supporters might try to expand the slot machine bill to include resort-style casinos. Patrick projected that his plan for three casinos would generate at least $600 million in licensing fees, $400 million in annual tax revenues, and 20,000 permanent jobs.

DiMasi led the effort to kill the plan. He argued the revenues would be offset by social and economic costs, including lost business at other tourist destinations.

UPDATE: More from Michael Graham and the AP.

SECOND UPDATE: From Casey Ross.

Governor Deval Patrick, who led his first trade mission to China in November, said he will likely next go to India or Israel to drum up business for Massachusetts.

Patrick, speaking at a medical device industry conference in Boston today, also noted that Lt. Governor Tim Murray plans to make a foreign trade mission to Ireland later this year. He said the state could justify many more excursions to help boost the Massachusetts economy. But Patrick also said he does not want to make so many trips that he draws criticism for spending too much time out-of-state.

“We want to keep it to one [foreign trade mission] a year,” he said. “We planned for a lot of blowback from China, because previous trade missions had been criticized.”

His decision to go to India or Israel comes at a time when Massachusetts venture capital firms are starting to invest more in those countries.

UPDATE: From Red Mass Group, the Globe, the AP and Mass Roots GOP.

There may not be two politicians on the national stage more alike than Barack Obama and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick. Both went to Harvard Law, are African-American politicians with mass appeal, and use soaring rhetoric to promise a bold new postpartisan politics.

But the two men differ in one critical area: Mr. Patrick has an executive record. And, unfortunately for the senator from Illinois, it reveals that the Patrick-Obama brand of politics isn't really new. It is, in fact, something akin to the failed liberalism of old, in a new vessel.

Mr. Patrick, 52, was swept into office in a landslide in 2006. He won because Democrats were energized to capture the governor's mansion and because he presented himself as an historic candidate. Having never held elective office before – though he was assistant attorney general for the civil rights division in the Clinton administration – it was easy for him to claim that he wouldn't be beholden to special interests or outmoded orthodoxies. Baby boomers, eager to make a permanent mark on the political landscape, also found the idea of electing the state's first black governor appealing.

What the Bay State got, however, is a pedestrian liberal governor who is remarkably quick to retreat in the face of pressure from the status quo.

UPDATE: More from the Boston Herald.

SECOND UPDATE: From the Herald.

Governor Deval Patrick will call on business leaders today to embrace his vision for the state's emerging clean energy industry, both to reduce their own costs and to boost the state's economy, according to administration officials briefed on the speech.

Convinced that the age of fossil fuels is coming to a close, the governor hopes to seize on the imagination of business leaders to make Massachusetts the center of the clean energy industry through incentives that would eliminate the gas tax on certain biofuels and recruit innovative renewable energy firms to develop their technologies in the Bay State.

In a speech before the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce this morning, Patrick will also outline his vision for a regional pact to limit the carbon content of fuels, similar to the pact aimed at reducing power plant emissions that contribute to global warming.

The speech, which the governor was still working on yesterday, underscores how seriously Patrick is looking at clean energy to advance his economic hopes for the Commonwealth. Last summer, the administration concluded that the clean energy sector was poised to overtake textiles as the 10th largest industry in the Commonwealth. The sector - including consultants, energy efficiency specialists, and university researchers working on clean energy - now employs some 556 firms and 14,400 people in the Bay State, according to a survey prepared for the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative's Renewable Energy Trust.

One administration official told the Globe that the governor will make his case by pointing to historically high gasoline prices, the threat of global climate change, as well as the quarter of a billion dollars in private capital already invested in clean energy technologies in Massachusetts.

"In light of all that, we have really an economic imperative to take action to arm ourselves for rising fuel prices, but we also have an economic opportunity in the rising clean energy sector," said one senior administration official. "We're saying clean energy should take its place in the top echelon of economic priorities for the Commonwealth."

UPDATE: More from the Boston Herald and Mass Roots GOP.

...[A] new effort is under way to ban greyhound racing, a sport that has kept hundreds employed at tracks in Raynham and Revere for decades. A ban would shutter both tracks, unless slots are approved. But ask Patrick about the possible ban and you won’t get his pro-casino, jobs-first speech. You’ll get apathy.

“I’m going to do my best not to feel like I have to have an opinion on absolutely everything,” the governor told State House News Service this week when asked about his position on greyhound racing.

The non-response caused state Republican party spokesman Barney Keller to quip: “I can’t wait to read that chapter in the governor’s book - apparently for Deval Patrick, leadership means having no opinion.”

UPDATE: More from Human Events and the Herald.

SECOND UPDATE: More from the Herald and Howie Carr.

UPDATE: From Red Mass Group, the Globe and Herald.

Governor Deval Patrick's quest to tighten corporate tax laws and reap hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue might be undermined by a last-minute amendment providing new offshore tax breaks that was tacked onto the legislation by the House, according to state officials.

The complex amendment was backed by the House leadership and approved with little debate during mid-evening voting two weeks ago as representatives were adopting the overall tax package. Several lawmakers said they were unaware of the details of the provision, which was sought by the state's largest business lobbying group.

The provision would permit large corporations to avoid up to $200 million in state taxes a year if they maintain large portions of their business operations overseas, according to an estimate by the state Department of Revenue. The tax-shelter strategy has proved controversial in other states.

Administration officials say the maneuver could essentially make a wash of the revenue raised by corporate tax reform, a cornerstone of Patrick's agenda that was expected to bring in $217 million in the first six months of 2009.

"It would allow companies to shift money overseas and avoid taxes in Massachusetts," Navjeet K. Bal, the state's revenue commissioner, said in an interview yesterday. "This is a real concern for us."

The offshore tax break still must be considered by the Senate, along with the rest of the tax bill, before reaching Patrick's desk. Through a spokesman, Patrick said the administration will lobby senators to change the plan.

"We look forward to continuing to work with the House and the Senate to craft a final loopholes plan that will ensure tax fairness and provide much needed revenue," said the governor's spokesman, Kyle Sullivan.

UPDATE: More from the Herald.

How else to explain the amazing, astounding and unthinkable results of the latest SurveyUSA presidential poll: Republican John McCain is tied with Barack Obama in the Bay State.

The last Republican to win Massachusetts? Ronald Reagan. The last Republican before that? Dwight Eisenhower. Even George McGovern managed to carry Massachusetts in 1972, the one Democratic holdout in Richard Nixon’s 49-state landslide.

Replace “McGovern” with “MoveOn.org” and you’ve seized the essence of the Obama candidacy. He’s the most liberal U.S. senator, advocating tax increases on the “wealthy” and enjoying the support of Gov. Deval Patrick, Sen. Ted Kennedy, The Boston Globe-Democrat and every 9/11 conspiracy kook in the People’s Republic of Cambridge. He’s got all the players in Massachusetts behind him except the ones who actually vote.

While Hillary Clinton soundly beats McCain in Massachusetts in the new SurveyUSA poll, 56 percent to 41 percent, the Obama/McCain number is 48 percent to 46 percent, well within the margin of error.

A Democrat struggling here in 2008? An unpopular war, a collapsing housing market and $4 gas - if Britney Spears were running as a Democrat, she’d pull at least 50 percent of the Massachusetts vote.

Sixty percent if she kept her clothes on.

Holly Robichaud, the “Lone Republican” of Boston Herald fame, blames Patrick for Obama’s woes. “We’ve already elected one inexperienced candidate running on a vague platform of hope in Massachusetts, and it’s not working out. This is a classic example of ‘Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.’ ”

Not a bad theory, given that SurveyUSA also found only four in 10 residents approve of the job Gov. Patrick is doing.

How embarrassing would it be for Patrick if his, shall we say, "anti-influence" caused Obama to lose to McCain here.

UPDATE: An aide to Gov. Patrick is cleared of assault charges. Plus, more from the AP.

Deval Patrick won the governor’s office by raising expectations that he could quickly make a difference on Beacon Hill. That’s a tall order. Governors may reign in the Commonwealth, but the legislature rules. Even more important, the legislature makes the rules. That reality has become painfully clear to Governor Patrick in the first 15 months of his 48-month term.

Only the wildly idealistic optimists — and there were many who rallied to the governor’s campaign rhetoric — could have expected Patrick to revolutionize Massachusetts in this short a span of time. Idealism, of course, is in relatively short supply up on Beacon Hill. And optimism is a similarly precious commodity.

Patrick’s problem — and anyone who doubts he has a problem should look at his deeply declining approval ratings — is that, having cornered the limited market for idealistic opportunism, and then expanded it, he is now being judged by its cruel utopian standards. (Barack Obama, take note.)

If Patrick were ever to drop his guard for a moment — and charming though Patrick is, he appears to be increasingly guarded — he might admit something like this: politics is a lot tougher than government (which is tough enough), and running a state is a lot trickier than being a corporate executive and a board member.

So how’s Patrick doing? The assessment, not surprisingly, is mixed.

Patrick has genuinely improved many facets of state government, and has laid the groundwork for more important changes.

He has also misspent much effort by introducing overly ambitious and wide-ranging proposals that he and his staff were ill-equipped to usher through the dense political thickets.

Patrick and his team came out of the gate in January 2007 with an aggressive first budget, seeking in one stroke not only to fulfill a variety of campaign promises (new cops, property-tax relief, expanded early education, increased immunization programs), but also to overhaul state government (earmark elimination, restructured departments, consolidated budget items). The former were unrealistic given the huge budget shortfall; the latter sought to emasculate the very legislature whose votes were needed to pass that budget.

This budget, far more than the drapes, the Cadillac, and even his inexplicable call to Citigroup executive and former US Treasury secretary Robert Rubin on behalf of mortgage lender Ameriquest (on whose board Patrick had served) revealed a tin-eared political neophyte with much to learn. (The flap over his recent book deal, too, calls into question how much he’s learned — or at least retained.) And it was followed, even as the legislature was still working on that first budget, by a seemingly endless series of grand proposals, including a corporate-tax package, local-options taxes, life-sciences investment, a package of environmental and energy initiatives, commuter-rail extension, post-release public-safety reform, and, of course, the casino plan.

Many, if not all, are admirable ideas, but very few of them have come to fruition.

And while Patrick has retooled some of his staff and his strategies, he has not stepped back on any of these proposals. He continues to expend energy and political capital on them, making it hard for him to respond to the needs of the changing landscape.

UPDATE: More from Matt Margolis.

A controversial bill that would whack employers with triple damages if they lose wage disputes with workers was allowed to slip into law by Gov. Deval Patrick, even though he had concerns about the legislation’s fairness.

Patrick, who had prevously tried to amend the bill to lessen the blow on employers, refused to sign or veto the final so-called “treble-damages” bill opposed by business groups and backed by labor groups normally allied with Patrick’s Democratic party.

As a result of Patrick’s inaction, the bill automatically lapsed into law yesterday.

“I am allowing the bill to become law because I support efforts to ensure that all workers are paid the wages and compensation legally owed them,” Patrick said in a letter last week to lawmakers.

“I am declining to sign the bill because I remain concerned that mandatory treble damages in all cases, without exception for employers who act in good faith, is unfairly punitive.”

But the Associated Industries of Massachusetts wasn’t pleased with Patrick’s logic.

The new law is “one more disincentive to conduct business here in the commonwealth,” said AIM in a statement yesterday.

UPDATE: More from the Globe and Herald.

SECOND UPDATE: From Holly Robichaud and the Herald.

House lawmakers last night gave approval to $392 million in tax increases for smokers and the state's largest corporations, providing Governor Deval Patrick with a major political victory while drawing fire from business leaders.

The legislators' 131-23 vote capped a long crusade by Patrick and his allies in the Legislature, who convinced House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi to back away from a more business-friendly plan and approve the state's most momentous tax increase since 2002.

It also ended two days of furious lobbying by banks and business groups and marked a legislative victory by the governor, who has been trying to improve his fortunes after the defeat of his plan to license resort casinos.

"We appreciate the House's willingness to move closer to the governor's proposal," said Doug Rubin, the governor's chief of staff. "When you look at where we started in this process, and the House and the Senate and the governor, for us to see that enacted is a good example of everybody working together."

After the House voted around 10:15 last night, DiMasi left without speaking to reporters but released a statement praising legislators for supporting a plan to help the state balance next year's budget.

"The members of the House have rolled up their sleeves, tackled difficult issues head-on, and provided common sense, fiscally responsible solutions to our budget challenges," he said.

The proposals would tighten corporate tax laws and prohibit several practices the governor called "loopholes," bringing in $217 million next year. It would also raise $175 million by increasing the state's cigarette tax by $1 per pack, to $2.51.

The cigarette increase would give Massachusetts the second-highest cigarette tax behind New Jersey, although New York legislators this week voted to trump both states with a $2.75-per-pack increase.

Proponents argued that the increase would fill state coffers and discourage residents from smoking, while critics said the state would lose money from smokers, who would travel to New Hampshire and Rhode Island to buy cheaper cigarettes.

UPDATE: More from the Herald and Mass Roots GOP.

SECOND UPDATE: More from the Globe.

THIRD UPDATE: More from the Globe and Herald.

Governor Deval Patrick tried to calm fears of a looming recession with a speech today that highlighted the strengths of the Massachusetts economy and outlined his $3.8 billion bond proposal to put people to work by repairing 411 deteriorating bridges.

While emphasizing restrained spending and budget cuts, Patrick also warned that government must take action that will move the state's economy forward.

“By acting now, we can cut that deficient bridges backlog in half in eight years, avoid construction inflation, and create thousands of jobs,” Patrick said. “Our plan to address deficient bridges will have shovels in the ground and people at work in 90 days.”

The address at MIT's Sloan School of Management was the first economic outline Patrick has presented since the Legislature defeated his plan to create tens of thousands of jobs by licensing three casinos around the state. House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi and Senate President Therese Murray attended the speech, giving at least symbolic support to the governor’s plan.

Patrick also announced the creation of 16 regional districts throughout the state where his administration will help streamline new developments, a plan based on the redevelopment of Fort Devens in Ayer.

The massive repair and reconstruction of bridges in virtually every corner of the state would create 23,000 direct construction jobs, according to a preliminary draft of the governor's plan, which is significantly higher than the 5,000 employed at the height of the Big Dig.

The move could prove controversial. It would add to a state debt burden that is already the highest per capita in the country. Patrick plans to pay for the projects by floating bonds in the next eight years, which would need legislative approval and would renew debate over how deeply the state should go into debt, and how vital the bridge repairs are.

At this point, don't you get the sense that the only thing Patrick really cares about is writing his book?

UPDATE: More from Michael Graham and the Herald.

SECOND UPDATE: More from Barbara Anderson, Michael Graham, the Herald and the Globe.

Both are purveyors of "the politics of hope." Both run optimism-heavy, light-on-specifics campaigns, exhorting voters to "take a chance on your own aspirations." Both read from David Axelrod-penned speeches--often the same David Axelrod-penned speeches.

The similarities between Barack Obama and Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick are unmistakable, leaving some to wonder whether Patrick's governorship might be a preview of an Obama presidency. Far from the politics of hope, Patrick's first year in office has been a cross between Mike Dukakis and Tammany Hall.

Despite Patrick's "Together We Can" campaign mantra, there isn't a single Republican in the governor's cabinet. Even if you chalk that up to just how scarce Republicans are in Massachusetts (12 percent of the electorate), it's hard to explain away the fact that Patrick, shortly after being sworn in, set up a 16-member team to cleanse the executive branch of GOP holdovers.

Patrick is committed to big government and has proposed billions in new spending, including a billion-dollar giveaway to biotech companies, a new $1.4 billion commuter rail line, numerous multibillion-dollar bond bills, and a proposal to make Massachusetts community colleges tuition-free. To raise cash, he has proposed increasing business taxes, allowing the commonwealth to increase borrowing, and opening state-run casinos--the last overwhelmingly rejected by the legislature in March. His January budget plan uses nearly $500 million from the commonwealth's rainy day fund and includes a $1.3 billion structural deficit--after a year of record tax receipts.

Then there's Patrick's wholesale sellout to the unions. Fifteen of the 20 most generous
PACs in Massachusetts are labor organizations, and they contributed heavily to Patrick's campaign. Repayment began quickly. After the state Labor Relations Commission acted against the Boston Teachers Union for threatening an illegal strike, Patrick simply eliminated the commission from his first state budget. Then in September, he granted a big union wish, signing legislation allowing public employees to unionize without a secret ballot election.

As of late, the Standard has done a great job casting a spotlight on Gov. Patrick's flaws. Keep up the great work, guys!

UPDATE: More from the Herald and Globe.