Gov. Patrick Flexes His Muscle
A year ago, House Speaker Sal DiMasi was humiliating Gov. Deval Patrick like he was the Rays are Patrick was the Sox. We were fully prepared to watch the legislature run roughshod over Patrick until 2010, or he was nominated to a position in a Barack Obama administration, whichever came first.
But now? The governor must be eating his Wheaties, because he is the strongest guy on Beacon Hill. In his latest power play, Patrick has kept his plans to cut services and staff quiet.
Patrick met in private yesterday with labor union leaders but did not release many specifics, apparently fearing leaks of his plan. . . . Those who have participated in the meetings said they appreciated the governor soliciting their input, but they came away from the meetings with few indications of how the cuts will affect their areas.
And we thought the way he handled the police detail controversy was bad-ass. Patrick will get to plead his case directly to taxpayers at 5 p.m. before the labor unions and beneficiaries of DeLeo dollars can fully prepare their reaction, which is sharp, but the real move here is that the governor is putting the burden directly on his own shoulders.
Time will tell if he can carry the fight, but Patrick is showing real leadership.
