L'Italien Blasts Lyons on Budget
Calls “No” vote “hypocritical” and “irresponsible.” Says she would have made better choice.
July 16th 2012 – Barbara L'Italien sharply criticized Rep. Jim Lyons Monday for his vote against the recent vote against next year’s balanced state budget, calling his vote “extremely hypocritical.”
“Jim Lyons has been taking credit for all kinds of local aid,” L'Italien said. “He says he supports it, but when it came down to a vote, he voted against the budget that delivers that aid. Jim Lyons is apparently very happy to vote against local aid for schools, roads and bridges in his district, but he always makes sure to take the credit when it passes despite his efforts to kill it. He wants us to believe he's working for us on Beacon Hill, but Jim Lyons is only looking out for Jim Lyons. We deserve better than that.”
L'Italien questioned Lyons' commitment to education funding, saying “My opponent calls this budget a 'step in the right direction.' I agree. But he voted against this step! Which is it, Mr. Lyons?”
L’Italien charged Lyons with obstructing the budget, saying “If everyone voted like him, we'd have Washington-style gridlock and there would be no aid at all. The people of our district deserve a better representative.”
“147 State Representatives passed a balanced budget. Democrat, Republican, they all worked together to vote for a budget that avoided tax increases but still increased local aid,” said L’Italien. “Lyons was one of three votes against this budget.”
L’Italien noted that the State Senate passed this same budget, unanimously.
“Legislators from all political stripes rolled up their sleeves and delivered a responsible piece of legislation,” said L’Italien. “This underscores not just Lyons’s extremism, but also his inability to work with anybody else.”
L'Italien pointed to her successful record of working with both Democrats and Republicans to pass local aid, and contrasted it with Lyons’s.
“Jim Lyons likes to cast himself as a lone wolf,” state L’Italien. “His voting record tells a different story, though—he’s a wolf in a business suit, and he’s working against the best interests of families in this district. We can do better.”
“When I represented the 18th District, I reached across the aisle. Blue or red, we all want the same things-- good schools for our kids, care for our seniors, good roads, and sensibly funded programs to keep our towns safe,” explained L’Italien. “Jim Lyons's refusal to work with his colleagues is irresponsible. By taking such extreme positions, he's putting his own ideological agenda ahead of his district. If more people voted like Jim Lyons, the local aid he's so proud of would disappear—and the people that suffered would be his constituents. If our community really cares about local aid, I am the better representative.”
illegal alien
5:41 am on Tuesday, July 17, 2012
L'Italien never saw a tax increase she didnt like
Thomas
9:03 am on Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Lyons sign "pledges" and leaves his brain at the door.
Dave
11:15 am on Tuesday, July 17, 2012
The fiscal crisis for states will persist long after the economy rebounds as states confront financial problems that include rising health care costs, underfunded pensions, ignored infrastructure needs, eroding revenues
TS Sherman
2:02 pm on Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Yay Barbara! We need people who will work with others, not grandstand and bluster
Anthony
5:54 pm on Tuesday, July 17, 2012
This from the former Representative who CUT local aid by hundreds of millions of dollars when she was put in charge of the state purse strings as Vice Chair of Ways and Means?
Please. She should have stayed at her patronage job at the treasury.
Jeff Twohig
7:37 am on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
I have to laugh at L'Italien's comment: "when I represented the 18th District, I reached across the aisle." She neglected to mention that, although Republicans picked up a number of seats in 2010, when she was in office there was virtually NO "across the aisle" due to the overwhelming majority the Democrats have had in both the House and Senate for years. Like a good soldier, she went along with the wishes of the majority and, more importantly, the SOTH 99% of the time. The voters of this district prefer a "lone wolf" to a "rubber stamp". Btw, Barbara, we are still waiting for that "list of accomplishments" you piled up over the past 2 years at the Treasurer's office ?? Will this take as long for us to get as it took Secretary Bigby to provide the dollar figure we spend on ILLEGAL aliens in this state to the only person in House or Senate pushing for such a figure, Representative Lyons ? Have a nice day.
Dick and Judy Howe
7:30 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Dick and Judy Howe
Wrong, Jeff Twohig. For Barbara L'Italien,reaching across the aisle meant spending the extra hours to chair the elder services caucus with Republican Richard Ross and working with him on bipartisan legislation to improve quality care for the elderly. It meant co-sponsoring numerous bills with Republican reps, including a major success in requiring insurance coverage for autism, which also helps ease the burden of special ed costs for local government, among other things. It meant working with Brad Hill and Bruce Tarr to resolve the Boxford salt shed issue -- and that was in a part of Boxford that wasn't even her district! All these things take lots of time, and Barbara willingly put in the time during her very productive years as State Rep.
What has Lyons actually accomplished? Can he cite any bills he sponsored that actually became law? Any local problems that he helped his towns resolve with state agencies? Does he even attend meetings in his district's towns?
Michael Quinlan
1:20 pm on Thursday, July 19, 2012
No one doubts that L'Italien will always vote to spend more money. No doubt at all. Of course, that's why she lost the last election.
illegal alien
7:10 am on Sunday, July 22, 2012
L'Italien never saw a tax increase that she didnt like
Jeff Twohig
5:11 pm on Sunday, July 22, 2012
Dick and Judy Howe, I'll throw it back to you. What has L'Italien accomplished in her two years at the Treasurer's office that helped Mass Taxpayers ? Representative Lyons ON HIS OWN has exposed hundreds of millions of dollars being spent on people in this state (and country) ILLEGALLY. For you Liberal Democrats that means "against the law", although Liberals, in particular AG Marsha Coakley, have redefined the term so that now illegal means "it's only against the law when Democrats say it is". Did Barbara expose this money being spent on our "undocumented workers" ? Let me answer that for you, "NO". As I said before, I prefer a "lone wolf" over a "rubber stamp".