VOL. 115 - NO. 32 BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, AUGUST 12, 2011 $.30 A COPY BAN HAZMAT TRUCKS Annual St. Agrippina Feast from the North End/Waterfront & Downtown Boston by Matt Conti North End/Waterfront HazMat Task Force Member, NorthEndWaterfront.com, Editor St. Agrippina’s Feast was held on Friday, August 5th through Sunday, August 7th, 2011 Gasoline Tanker Accident, July 23, 2011, Route 1 on Hanover Street, North End, Boston. The feast drew large crowds as the Saint was Saugus. paraded through the streets. Another great festivity was held in the North End. With the fiery images still ing the proposed ban of pass- (Photo by Rosario Scabin, Ross Photography) fresh in our minds of the through hazardous mater- deadly gasoline tanker ex- ial (hazmat) trucks from plosion in Saugus, now is downtown Boston. This is Enough Talk, Mr. President: Try Something Different the time for all Boston resi- especially important for by Herman Cain dents and businesses to get the residential and business on the record regarding the community of the North End/ Immediately following the speech many times before paying rent and buying travel of these dangerous Waterfront area, which is debt ceiling debacle, the only to get the same results. tires for friends and fam- trucks through our neighbor- currently a designated pass- White House announced that More talk, talk, talk. ily because this economy is hood streets. through route for hazmat the president will take a I have been traveling the underperforming when it The State Transportation trucks. Pass-through haz- three-day bus tour through country and listening to does not have to do so. This Authority, MassDOT, has mat trucks are not doing the Midwest to hear people’s people for the last year, economy has plenty of pent- initiated a public comment concerns about the economy and I can tell you their con- up economic growth if taxes and hearing process regard- (Continued on Page 12) and talk about measures to cerns and fears. Namely, the and regulations would just boost economic growth and economy is stuck in neutral get out of the way and the job creation. and the president’s policies uncertainty that’s holding Is President Obama that of spend, spend, spend are this economy down is re- out of touch? not working. Since the moved. You have the power News Briefs Our national debt has now president has not put forth to do that. We don’t. by Sal Giarratani surpassed the Gross Domes- any new ideas to boost eco- A few weeks ago I shared tic Product (GDP), because nomic growth and job cre- in these commentaries my the national debt has grown ation, people also know that Economic Vision for America, If You Wanna Be a Leader, You ... faster than the anemic GDP nothing is going to change parts 1, 2 and 3, if I were On July 22nd, President Obama spoke to the growth rate. The unemploy- simply because he is going president. You do not have nation about the debt ceiling debate shortly after ment rate was just reported to do another tour and give enough time left in your the House Speaker walked out of a meeting with for the month of July at some more speeches. presidency to implement all him. Fuming, the president ran for a microphone 9 percent, which is the 30th Mr. President, speeches do of it, but you could get some in a bad state of mind. His address looked like a consecutive month exceed- not fuel the economic en- of it passed by Congress to Saturday Night Live skit. At one point, he said in ing the promised-to-not- gine of this economy, which at least have an economic reference to the Speaker, “If you want to be a exceed 8 percent rate. The is the business sector. And legacy of having tried to do leader, you have to lead.” Too bad he never fol- agonizing debt ceiling deal speeches are not going to the right thing. lows that advice himself. Has the president ever did not prevent the S&P rat- reduce the latest unemploy- The stock market will sur- proposed his own debt reduction plan in order to ing agency from downgrading ment rate of 9.1 percent, nor vive last week’s big decline. raise the debt ceiling? He hasn’t. He gives our nation’s credit rating. will they ease the pain of the It’s resilient, and millions of speeches but not plans that can be analyzed. The Businesses are going bust, nearly 15 million people who people are not going to go House Republicans have offered a number of real and some families are broke. can’t find jobs because your without food and shelter plans. Senate Democrats finally got around to This is beyond concern. administration wants to because of the decline. The actually coming up with their plan. However, over These are crises screaming raise taxes and continue downgrading of the nation’s at the White House not one plan has ever been for solutions. your regulatory onslaught on debt rating by one of the put forward. Our president sits back like King After the president’s tour, American businesses. major rating agencies is not Henry VIII and complains about others but never we will get another speech. Mr. President, your fail- good, but we can survive. lifts a finger himself. He will once again promise ure to listen to the right But people cannot survive (Continued on Page 15) his laser-like focus on eco- people is not only weaken- without a job. Businesses nomic growth and job cre- ing our economy, it’s per- ation. We have heard this sonal. I am out of patience (Continued on Page 13) THE POST-GAZETTE SATELLITE OFFICE IS NOW OPEN AT 35 BENNINGTON STREET, EAST BOSTON This office is open on Tuesdays from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM and Thursdays from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PMPM, for the convenience of our East Boston and North Shore clients and contributors Call 617-227-8929 for more information Page 2 POST-GAZETTE, AUGUST 12, 2011 Res Publica by David Trumbull Personnel is Policy During the administration of Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, VESPASIAN THE RESTORER an often heard conservative aphorism was personnel is policy, meaning that a conservative man or woman in the Titus Flavius Sabinus fended that emperor by body was thrown into the executive office wasn’t sufficient to effect conservative Vespasianus, better known walking out while he was Tiber. policies. He or she had to appoint conservatives, otherwise as Vespasian, was born in singing, or if he stayed Vespasian worked with the liberal establishment and bureaucracy would continue the Sabine country on through to the bitter end, great industry to restore to churn out ruinous liberal policies. November 17, 9 A.D. He mar- would fall asleep. Nero sent order in the city and To most of us it seems fairly self-evident: when the people ried Flavia Domitilla and Vespasian to conduct the throughout the empire. He elect a Republican they expect Republican policies to follow, they had two sons that were war against Palestine in 66 disbanded some of the rebel- and, surely, a Republican appointee is more likely to pro- named Titus and Domitian, A.D. and he remained there lious soldiers that had been mote Republican policies than is a Democratic appointee. who in turn served as em- until after the death of loyal to Vitellius, and main- But, as the saying (often attributed to George Orwell) goes, perors. Vespasian saw duty Nero and Galba. Vespasian tained a strong discipline There are some ideas so wrong that only a very intelligent per- in a military capacity in the was proclaimed emperor at among his own troops. He son could believe in them. Well, there is no doubt former Roman provinces of Europe, Alexandria on July 1, 69 A.D. worked in complete har- Massachusetts governor and presidential hopeful Mitt Asia and Africa. He was very after the war between Otho mony with the senate and Romney is a very intelligent man who has fallen for some poor while serving as a mili- and Vitellius and was the public administrators. very wrong ideas. “He never asked me if I was a Democrat tary commander and at one quickly recognized by all of His simple and economic life or a Republican and never asked most of the Cabinet mem- time was suspected of ac- the eastern part of the em- style was in complete con- bers who came with me,” said Romney cabinet member, quiring money by dishonor- pire. Vespasian became the trast to that of his predeces- Barbara Berke, in a July 2, 2007 New Republic article. We able means; however, he first Flavian line of emper- sors and he set a personal know the result. Romney, who now styles himself a had a great military reputa- ors (three in number) and he example that did more to re- conservative, gave us four years of typical Massachusetts tion and was well liked by was followed by his sons form the morals of Rome liberalism from the corner office. the soldiers. During the Titus and Domitian. than all of the laws that have Out of all of Romney’s policies in Massachusetts, the reign of Claudius, Vespasian He arrived in Rome late in ever been passed. His mode one that most haunts him as national candidate is his sig- was placed in command of a December of 69 A.D., leaving of life was closer to that of a nature health care reform.