Word: commonwealthers
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...started off this final two-month stretch playing hide-and-seek with the electorate, the House began by pandering to one of the voters' biggest fears and lowest instincts. Last Tuesday, Massachusetts voters approved by a three-to-two margin a referendum making the death penalty constitutional in the Commonwealth. One week later the representatives spent one afternoon on the matter, and passed the enabling legislation allowing executions. Numerous legislative hearings have been held over the past year, and opponents to capital punishment have dominated the testimony each time, providing multiple studies refuting its effectiveness as a deterrent...
This weak-kneed politicizing was evident even in an otherwise praiseworthy act of the Senate. Monday night, the upper house approved a bill increasing financial assistance to college students in the Commonwealth by roughly $25 million. While the move was a helpful gesture, students should realize that it came only after a similar bill stalled last year. The apparent reason for the delay was that the bill included the politically unwise provision of funding the aid by increasing cigarette taxes. The tobacco lobby carried more weight on Beacon Hill than the active student lobby, and the measure went nowhere...
King's legislative liaison said yesterday that the governor will push a spate of proposals which he has introduced to toughen the Commonwealth's criminal codes. The main priority will be to pass legislation implementing the death penalty. State voters last Tuesday approved by an overwhelming majority a referendum making capital punishment constitutional in Massachusetts...
When not down playing the seriousness of the disarmament movement the media tends not to make clear the obvious connection between the issues of nuclear war and nuclear power Massachusetts voters Tuesday dealt with a referendum question on whether to ban nuclear waste disposal in the Commonwealth, but there was virtually no mention of how the need for radioactive dumps" directly depends on the amount of nuclear weapons produced Energy Secretary James Edwards has announced that 17,000 atomic warheads will be made in the next five years. The national problems of inadequate waste disposal procedures can be expected...
Question 4 would uphold the legislature's decision earlier this year to impose a deposit on beverage containers. Voters should ignore the ridiculous industry-sponsored ads claiming that the measure, by forcing stores to maintain a collection of dirty bottles, will strengthen the Commonwealth population. (Stores have been using pesticides to kill bugs for years, without harmful side effects.) Citizens should instead note the tremendous success that similar laws in other states have had, in decreasing litter and saving energy...