I've gone in to the Statehouse to pray, to observe and write as a columnist, and to participate in the process of sausage making, as they refer to crafting legislation. Yes we are supposed to have a voice and we are invited to Public Hearings on the many bills that could become laws and effect our lives such as gay marriage, assisted suicide or abortion rights for your pre-teen, should the school want to guide her through abortion without even telling you. Transgender rest rooms; forcing your daughter or son to share their locker room with someone who merely feels like a certain gender that day. So now the confused rule and those who are not must not complain or they could suffer fines and jail time.
Massachusetts has a very poor rating in transparency. Most people don't have the time or energy to keep up with their legislator's shenanigans on Bacon Hill. Did you know that they just voted themselves a 40% pay raise making them the highest paid state reps and senators in the nation? How does that compare with your pay raises? And the Urban Institute rated all 50 states a pension report card and one state got an F...guess who...Massachusetts! This is seen by many as a "Ticking Time bomb" of public employee benefits.
The public sector makes sure they are first at the trough. Teachers Unions fight for Common Core which parents don't want because it will downgrade our students with a one size fits all curriculum sold to us for profit. Follow the money.
Free Sailing in Boston Harbor!
I learned from Pastor Galina that Boston was nicknamed "Beantown" because about a hundred years ago many ate beans on Shabbat (the day of rest which in those days Christians and Jews both observed) They could cook the beans the day before in an earthen pot, leave them in the oven and they would still be warm the next day. Shabbat starts at sundown on Friday. Shabbat Shalom!
