Last week Governor Deval Patrick took "personal days" as the casino plan he had been pitching for six months was going down in flames. Today the Associated Press reveals that during that time Patrick was out of state pitching an autobiography to New York publishers. This is another public relations blunder for the governor, whose political problems were laid out on the front page of the New York Times yesterday. Though the debate over......

MBTA General Manager Dan Grabauskas isn't the only one saying that we're broke. The entire state is broke and in even bigger trouble that you might think. Yes, we're talking "broke-ass." If you thought we were in a budget crisis, wait until you read today's paper. Matt Viser at the Globe reports on how Massachusetts' problems are being magnified by the nation's problems. The state is drowning in debt, and it's only going to get......

Last week, all of the talk was about Speaker of the House Sal DiMasi's demolition of Governor Deval Patrick's casino plan. He was credited with spearheading the movement against what had been the highest profile piece of the governor's plan to boost the Bay State economy. In the wake of his defeat, Patrick sent an e-mail Saturday to supporters from his election campaign that didn't mention DiMasi by name but suggested that the process......

--More from the pillow fight! --The fallout continues over Governor Deval Patrick's failed casino proposal and House Speaker Sal DiMasi's success in stopping it. Dan Kennedy has called DiMasi a "Bare-Knuckles Do-Gooder." But the Herald notes that those who voted against the proposal may have received certain rewards. [Media Nation / Boston Herald] --Boston College law professors now want to uninvite Attorney General Michael Mukasey from giving the commencement address since he won't say......

After six months of political posturing and economic predictions, it appears that King Sal, Speaker of the House Sal DiMasi, will continue to reign over a Commonwealth free from casino wealth. The Globe and the Herald report that Governor Deval Patrick's plan to bring three casinos to the Bay State would almost certainly be defeated in a House vote, if it even survives the Economic Development Committee today. King Sal turned the casino debate......

For this one green day every year, Southie becomes the center of Boston's cultural and political life, and the Dropkick Murphys get more work than Eliot Spitzer's call girl. (Cue rimshot/hysterical laughter.) The annual St. Patrick's Day breakfast turns everyone into a comedian, as our favorite politicians gather to roast each other and celebrate all things Irish. The Dropkick Murphys did a couple of numbers, but the big story--with casino hearings planned for this......

We can barely muster the energy to post again about the great 2008 casino debate. If only we could focus on the important issues facing our society, like the profound need for healthier donuts. The buzz today is about meetings that Speaker of the House Sal DiMasi has been having with fellow lawmakers in advance of next week's casino hearings. Pro-casino forces claim that DiMasi is "strong-arming colleagues into killing the proposal." Here's a......

On Tuesday we wrote about how Governor Deval Patrick's intellectually lazy casino job creation numbers gave ammunition to the skeptical of gambling Speaker of the House Sal DiMasi. Yesterday, however, Patrick got some good news from the Chamber of Commerce, who released numbers much more helpful to his cause. The previous criticism was related to Patrick's projection that the three proposed casinos would create 30,000 new construction jobs, while a more balanced analysis in......

The Commonwealth's Speaker of the House Sal DiMasi has long been seen as the biggest obstacle in the way of Governor Deval Patrick's plan to build three luxury casinos in the Bay State. DiMasi lived up to that reputation yesterday by delivering a blistering attack against the governor's projections for how many jobs the initiative would create. A Globe piece made clear on Sunday that Patrick's numbers are lazy at best, and exceedingly misleading......

--So, just how many new construction jobs will the casinos proposed by Governor Deval Patrick create? He said 30,000. An independent analyst says no way: "... building three casinos at a cost of $1 billion each in Massachusetts would create a total of 4,000 to 5,000 new construction jobs for the duration of the building period, probably three years." [Boston Globe] --Now this is cool--A look at BNN's studios in an old Roxbury substation.......

The Commomwealth's Speaker of the House, Sal DiMasi, is well-known for his opposition to Governor Deval Patrick's casino plan. There's no turning back now. The Globe reports today that DiMasi played golf at exclusive South Florida clubs with Joe O'Donnell, owner of Eastie's Suffolk Downs horse track, who wants a gaming license. They also report that DiMasi met the famously rich casino magnate Donald Trump "...at a cocktail party at the Mar-a-Lago Club, an......

While some Bostonians dismiss the Herald as a tabloid rag, we read the paper everyday. There's often more energy and swagger on the cover of the Herald than in whole sections of the Globe. For better and for worse, the Herald wields its front page like a blunt object. Previously we discussed how the Herald topped Heath Ledger's death and Tom Brady's ankle with the shocking news that Detroit's casinos were underperforming--and that that spelled......

Another week, another political clapfest. Governor Deval Patrick's State of the Commonwealth may have lacked the drama (what are the firefighters going to do?) and surprise (dismantling busing) of Mayor Menino's State of the City, but it did showcase Patrick's trademark optimism and plans for progress. Now how are we going to pay for it? Bostonist arrived unfashionably early, and with no idea of where to go. Thankfully, after three or four consultations with......

It's unfortunate that yesterday's Herald gave huge play to a superficial analysis of Detroit's casinos and their similarity to Governor Deval Patrick's gambling vision. Bostonist was tough on the piece, which made up for its lack of evidence with a few anecdotes and general confusion. Meanwhile, today's dispatch from the Motor City by Dave Wedge is substantial and nuanced---and buried alive under a host of Patriots stories that the Herald willed into existence. Wedge......

There's nothing like a loud, baseless Herald story to get the morning started right. Today's tabloid trumps Heath Ledger's death with, "BUSTED! Deval Casino Plan's Just Like Michigan's... And They Lost $10M Last year." This Bostonist happens to be wearing a Detroit Tigers cap and sweatshirt as we type this, but we don't need Michigander bias to be dismayed by the lack of evidence in their piece. The story's only statistic-backed argument is that......

-- When the homeless meet gentrification, the homeless get treated like shit. Shocker. [Boston Globe] -- Not to worry, though. Governor Deval Patrick plans to eliminate homelessness in Massachusetts within five years. And he has a whopping $10 million set aside in his budget to do it. [Globe] -- The Herald, always eager to battle sensationalism in the media, reports that the new strain of staph, elsewhere described as "the new AIDS," is anything but.......

-- Call him Governor Patrick-agressive. Deval Patrick unveiled his 2009 budget, and it had a little surprise. $300 million of revenue is set to come from taxes on three casinos that do not yet exist. Patrick wants to license casino gambling in Massachusetts but faces heavy opposition in the legislature. It's a battle he has already won in his own mind. Nearly half -- $124 million -- of the speculative funds will shore up a......

Governor Deval Patrick pitched his casino proposal yesterday at the State House. In his full speech, the text of which is available here, Patrick painted a "softening revenue picture." Enter the casinos, which he believes can bring in new jobs and a steady revenue stream. Patrick's speech was largely reassuring and addressed the major counterarguments--that casinos would be demeaning and tacky and that the maintenance costs would wipe out the new revenue. He said they......

According to official record, Middleborough is going to get a casino. On Saturday, voters said that they want the casino offered by the Mashpee Wampanoags. Here's what the town will get in exchange for the casino: "At least $11 million a year plus $250 million for road, sewer and other infrastructure improvements." But, although they approved the casino from the Wampanoags, they voted down bringing casino gambling into town. The "yes" vote was binding. The......