Robert DeLeo

Democratic activists want party leaders to oppose Governor Baker, loudly and consistently. They’re not likely to get what they want.

It had seemed that the "organized system of hatreds" was a quaint way to describe a happily lost era of Massachusetts politics. The system is having a revival in the ongoing efforts of prosecutors to prosecute pols.

Massachusetts United States Attorney Carmen Ortiz's relentless hunt of House Speaker Robert DeLeo recalls prior investigations of Speakers Finneran and Flaherty. It also resembles Ahab's obsessive chase of the white whale.

There are constitutional reasons for the lack of opposition politics on Beacon Hill, for sure. But there are also political reasons for the lack of partisan combat.

Working families or CEOs? The budget deal on the earned income tax credit marks another Beacon Hill win for "the heavenly chorus."

All of a sudden we're talking about "the kingdom of Boston" and "It's good to be king" in Massachusetts. Have our elected officials become that detached from the people?