I live in West Springfield and have to drive it almost daily. It's long been a dream to take the Governor for a ride down Riverdale and ask them to hold my nice hot cup of tea while I do it.

DEFINITELY need to cultivate a way better environment for small business. I'd love to use my public sector skills to craft similar programming for anyone who could use it, not just MassHealth qualified folks. Given the trend toward corporatization of everything, we should really try to be progressive leaders in making small business more achievable. We talk a big game about local source in Western MA, but not a lot of action. I was really disappointed to see the crony capitalism in the MassHealth sector when Baker brought Optum on board- another layer of administration and bureaucracy is not what the system needed, and their services can't be cheap, given all their advertising at Fenway and Gilette. (seriously- what are they even selling, exactly? and to whom?) Don't even get me started on the outsourcing of MassHealth customer service to places like Indiana and Wisconsin...

I was driving to the store a couple weeks ago and saw the Repubic waste management garbage trucks picking up in town and wondered whatever happened to local DPWs-- thinking yeah, they saved money going to the corpo, but now that Republic is the only game in town, they can pretty much name their price, can't they?

I digress for sure, but looking to big business for everything is eventually going to be a losing proposition.

I just see the same tired Taxachusetts argument, old as Methuselah and just as fictitious. I paid more taxes as a percentage of income in WA, OR, CT. I paid WAYYY more for healthcare, home and car insurance, utilities, water, gas and groceries in FL, SC and GA. We have plenty of shortcomings in MA, who doesn't, but the fact is that we get a lot of bang for our buck, compared to most states. Particularly all the low-tax states that our tax dollars subsidize. I work in public service, caring for "invisible throw away people" (elderly, disabled, mentally ill) and we could always do better, but are doing light years better than any of the other 6 states across the nation I've lived and worked in. But that's not your cohort, so you don't see it. No offense and I hope you don't, but chances are someday you'll need some of the services we pay for and then you'll see the value.

Maybe you should move to Florida with the rest of them. If you do the snowbird thing like all of my family's neighbors do, you can live in MA half the year and enjoy all the perks of a functioning society, and hang out in the cockroach heaven of Florida the other half, for no income taxes. Down here helping out a sick family member caught up in a sick underfunded system right now, and you're deluding yourself if you think less is gonna be more. We have an amazing quality of life in MA, and we take care of each other. Don't believe the hype- it's not any cheaper in Florida- and if you need any sort of help, ever, it's fuck you you're on your own. Same goes for NH. Live Free or Die means if it ain't free, go ahead and die. My aunt just died of cancer up there and it was unnecessarily stressful and unpleasant. Worst kind of blessing that she went fast, as it was all pain, suffering and fighting for any little scrap of help. We get what we pay for, and must experience true lack before we can appreciate anything.