If I may continue with the media criticism vein, a recent Jon Keller feature on Romney’s State of the Commonwealth address was both a valorous attempt to dig deeper to explore the main policy issues facing the Legislature and a sign of what’s lacking in local news’ political beat. In his interview with Craig Sandler of the State House News Service, the topic of health care legislation came up (link has video only):
KELLER: There’s some talk about a deal being advanced on the universal health care debate…. The sticking point has been Speaker Sal DiMasi, Speaker of the House, wants it funded with a payroll tax on business; the Senate and Governor Romney do not want to do that. Will DiMasi yield on that, as part of the deal? Is that possible?
SANDLER: …I believe the direction they’re headed is a watered-down version of a tougher contribution, you can call it a tax, on employers who don’t provide coverage for their employees. But it’s taken so long that clearly, Travaglini, I don’t think it has too much to do with Romney, Travaglini has his heels dug in very hard against that tax. Now, DiMasi’s already given a lot of ground on that tax and I’m not sure how much farther he’s willing to go.
KELLER: We’ll be watching with interest, Craig, thank you.
Now, it’s gotten to the point where any discussion of policy debates in the legislature on television news is a major coup, so I’ll give due credit to Keller. But how frustrating it is to have the political conflict in the legislature sketched out without one iota of a discussion of why. Why does the House support a mandatory employer contribution but the Senate not? Why do Travaglini and DiMasi have the strong positions they do? What factor do political machinations and interest politics exert (the insider knowledge I mentioned in my previous post) and what factor do policy priorities exert (the specialist knowledge)? Without the why you’re left with "Beacon Hill politics as usual" apathy - the "those legislators can’t do anything right" mentality.
Certainly television time is limited and valuable, but if local networks can give five minutes a broadcast on car accidents, they can give five minutes on the basics of our state government.
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