Editorial

A few weeks back I wrote an editorial wondering aloud if Gov. Deval Patrick would have the gumption to use his power to limit health insurance rate hikes for individual and small business plans this year. You may recall that the major insurers were asking for hikes of up to 35 percent for these plans. Well, maybe because it's an election year and he's facing off against a Republican - Charlie Baker - who is an insurance company executive. Or maybe it's because he's had enough of annual price gouging by insurers.

Last weekend marked Open Media Boston's 2nd anniversary of weekly publication. Quite the milestone for this little "news outlet that could." When we first launched on March 20, 2008, OMB was just me and an idea that it was possible to start a professional metropolitan news operation with a progressive editorial stance using available social media technology despite my lack of ready cash. I gambled that I'd be able to attract a talented staff and build an audience even as I raised money to make the whole thing go.

It remains to be seen if Gov. Deval Patrick will grow a spine on the health care front and make his new "soft cap" on annual increases in health insurance company premiums into a hard cap. As it stands, Patrick has ordered the new state insurance commissioner Joseph G. Murphy to "investigate" any requests by insurers for increases higher than 4.8 percent a year.

Well, it’s budget season in Massachusetts again. Where has the time gone? It’s only been a few months since the Gov. Deval Patrick used his Section 9C powers to make another bunch of budget cuts. Now he’s released his Fiscal Year 2001 budget proposal - and the Mass. Budget and Policy Center has released its usual helpful section-by-section analysis. So let’s take a look at what kind of hurt that working families of Massachusetts are going to be expected to suck up in the ongoing absence of any new progressive taxation policies at any level of government.