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......

Your 2007 World Champion Red Sox continued their celebratory tour with a visit to the State House yesterday. The event was hosted by Governor Patrick and numerous elected officials. Both (!) trophies were prominently displayed on the front lawn of the State House, the golden flags matching quite nicely with the gleam of the famous golden dome. Governor Patrick kicked off the event, and while his oddly-accented proclamations made some chuckle (JAAYYsun VARRRiTECCKK), his enthusiasm......

Deval Patrick took to the air yesterday afternoon for an hour long live call in show hosted at WBUR. The Governor sat down with Bob Oakes for the broadcast (listen to the full audio of it here) which was also transmitted from WFCR in Amherst and WAMC in Albany, covering the state from Stockbridge to Boston. The transition to the new administration has seemed to be smooth with a few hiccups this last week. One......

Perhaps the headline is a bit overstated, but the news this week that Microsoft was making grants available to Massachusetts public schools and universities that would figure to be about $800 per high school student and $2,400 per university student it seems a bit suspicious. The grants would provide Microsoft's advanced software-writing and Web-building technology to students across the state. Last year there had been much chatter about abandoning any format that did not comply......

While Bostonist and, we imagine, most of the rest of the Commonwealth's population, are thinking about Theo Epstein's departure, our legislature is considering a matter that may well affect us more (and Theo not at all): expanding healthcare coverage. You may recall that back in July, the Governor proposed a healthcare plan that would make purchasing health insurance mandatory for everyone. This idea was roundly panned by commentators, but yesterday, Speaker of the House Sal......

Governor Romney was spotted this afternoon at the Park Street MBTA station. The Governor returned to Boston from a Washington DC fundraiser in order to show residents that things were perfectly safe. Bostonist usually rides on the Trolley with a couple of body guards too, perfectly safe Mitt. Channel 5 already has posted a report on Mitt’s return home just to ride the subway (similar to when he slept in his own bed in the......

Though politics in our fair city are often quite divisive, what better way is there to get political enemies to the same table than the St. Paddy's day holiday? Every year, South Boston State Senator Jack Hart sponsors a brunch on the Sunday following the holiday, which rather than bringing true unity, often takes the tone of a Friar's Club Roast. Headlined by such political notables as the sitting Governor, Attorney General, and Boston......

As former Vermont Governor Howard Dean said “Not only are we going to New Hampshire, we're going to South Carolina and Oklahoma and Arizona and North Dakota and New Mexico, and we're going to California and Texas and New York…Yearrrah.” Words that marked the primary cycle of the 2004 election ring true for Governor Mitt Romney. He traveled to South Carolina yesterday to deliver a speech to over 300 republican audience members. The political process......

The Stem Cell debate has come to the Hub. As expected Senator Ted Kennedy is butting heads with Governor Mitt Romney. The Governor opposes the expanded use of embryonic stem cells in research for moral reasons. His claim that you must create life and then discard it, this, he claims, would put us closer to "barbarism." Kennedy is working at the federal level with a bill that would lift the ban on funding for the......

In one of Bostonists favorite traditions the Governors have placed their Superbowl bets. Gov. Mitt Romney and Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell finalized their deal today. They’re singing. The Governor of the loosing team’s state will go to an NBA game between the Celtics and the Sixers in the winning team’s state, don a jersey of that team and sing the National Anthem to kick off the game. Usually involving a bet of seafood from......