“State could face $1b deficit in ‘07”
Aides to Governor-elect Deval Patrick said yesterday that the state is facing a deficit that could reach $1 billion next year, a looming budget gap that observers say could force Patrick to scale back his ambitious agenda, slash spending, or raise taxes.
Now, gee, which do you think Patrick, as much of a raving liberal as has been elected in this state in years, will do? Never mind that we already have a huge tax burden and a multi-billion dollar “rainy day” fund that always keeps growing somehow.
Meanwhile, religious leaders say let’s let bygones be bygones, even though Patrick sits in opposition to some of our most cherished beliefs, including the sanctity of life and of marriage.
“Religious leaders embrace Patrick”
Setting aside their differences over same-sex marriage, many of the leading black ministers in Boston plan on Tuesday night to praise and to pray for Governor-elect Deval Patrick , laying their hands on his head in the ancient Christian ritual symbol of blessing.
The prayer service will take place on the day the Legislature is scheduled to revive or kill a proposed ballot measure that would prohibit gay marriage in Massachusetts.
... It will also demonstrate the depth of enthusiasm among the state’s black religious leaders—more conservative historically black denominations as well as the more liberal mainline Protestant denominations—over the election of the first black governor in this overwhelmingly white state.
... “For the African-American clergy, we’re talking about the second black elected governor since Reconstruction, so the very real possibility of that became a catalyst to outweigh any differences that we would have,” Brown said. “When it became very real that it could happen, you had folks who were saying, ‘let’s try to work this thing out,’ and so now it’s a very interesting turn—now you have this event where we’ll all be there.”
In other words, what’s more important than what Patrick actually stands for—the content of his character, let’s say—is the color of his skin. Martin Luther King is spinning in his grave.
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