Maura Healey has become Massachusetts’ superficial cheerleader-in-chief, calling the flawed Democratic Harris-Walz team a “dream ticket” and glossing over the dysfunctional Legislature and exodus of people leaving the state.
Healey told WBUR she has a “commitment” Democratic lawmakers will come back in formal session to pass an economic development bill and clean energy initiative – despite the clear rift between the House and Senate.
“I feel really great about what we’ve been able to accomplish,” Healey said of the legislative session, which was widely panned for failing to pass major bills. “We are going to have a really great economic development plan.”
In an earlier radio interview with the Greg Hill Show, Healey was even more optimistic, promising action on the economic development plan by next month, even though the Legislature has given no such assurances.
“They’ve agreed to come back – I asked them to come back,” she said. “We’ll see what happens next month when they come back into session.”
But a spokesperson for the Healey administration immediately tamped down that claim, saying no date has been set for lawmakers to return.
One of the big sticking points for lawmakers is a proposed New England Revolution soccer stadium, which Healey supports. House negotiators refused to include a needed zoning change for the stadium in their version of the economic bill, and there is no indication that they’re going to buckle.
In the WBUR interview, the Democratic governor also touted the state’s offshore wind development – ignoring the Vineyard Wind Nantucket disaster which scattered thousands of pieces of a broken wind turbine over nearby beaches. The project remains shut down by federal officials pending an investigation of the incident.
The pollyanna-mode Healey also said she was excited about the upcoming Democratic convention and exuded confidence about Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, saying she was especially enamored with Walz because he’s an ex-football coach and they bonded over sports.
“I am so thrilled about this ticket. It really is a dream ticket,” she said. “I know they care about regular, ordinary Americans.”
Even the most die-hard Democrat would not call this a “dream ticket.” It was forced on the party after Joe Biden ended his campaign, handing the nomination to Harris, who picked the far left Walz as her running mate – passing over more moderate choices like pro-Israel Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
Harris’s vaunted vetting team – led by former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh – apparently didn’t see the firestorm coming over Walz’s exaggeration of his career in the National Guard.
Healey also refused to say how she came up with the five-day limit for migrants in emergency shelters, a crisis that has consumed her administration.
In the interview on Monday, Healey repeated that she had no power over the Steward Health Care bankruptcy, which is forcing the closure of two community hospitals.
“This really isn’t up to me, it’s all on Steward and the lenders at this point,” she said. “It breaks my heart to see a hospital close. I hate it.”
Originally Published:
