Editorial

Well, the outcome predicted by progressive critics since the Massachusetts Chapter 58 health care "reform" plan was passed into law in 2006 is now getting closer and closer to becoming reality as the board of the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority voted to cut $115 million from the program's 2010 budget this week.

There's been a fair amount of happy talk about the Massachusetts economy in the local news media in the last few weeks. Mostly of the "glass half full" variety ... like, "sure most major industries are in free fall round these parts, but biotech is doing fine!" However no single industrial sector or small group of industrial sectors is going to assure an upswing in our economic fortunes. Nor is any erstwhile solution that doesn't create good public sector jobs and rebuild the tattered state and federal social safety nets.

So here's the deal. For the first time in over two years your faithful Open Media Boston Editor/Publisher is traveling - in this case through the midwest over the next several days - on the closet thing to a vacation I've had in quite a long time. This fact, combined with the long Memorial Day weekend, means that we've got a light edition for you this week. However, we've got plenty of stuff in the pipeline over the coming weeks; so please maintain a state of catlike readiness until our next action-packed edition.

Since the May 8th crash on the Green Line T that injured 50 people - some seriously - and trashed 3 trolley cars, Bostonians have been understandably outraged that the accident was caused because now-fired driver Aidan Quinn was allegedly texting his girlfriend while running a moving vehicle. However, yesterday the Boston Carmen's Union announced that it was not supporting Mass. Bay Transit Authority leadership's new order banning all electronic devices from the workplace - which currently include stiff penalties for even possessing such a device on the job.