Our Guy Sal

At one time, a small school of financial analysts developed a relatively simple method for gauging the economic outlook. Back in the dark days before the Internet, they would measure the volume of optimistic financial newspaper articles and compare it with the volume of pessimistic articles and thereby develop an index of future investment performance. Okay, I said it was a small school, but it does have a certain logic about it. Suffice it to say, any measure today of such a sentiment would indicate clearly that we are definitely on the edge of a monumental abyss of financial calamity. Now with the American Auto Industry facing the alternatives of bankruptcy, or nationalization, it is hard to know where to start to propose remedies.

Amid this quandary, comes our own Sal DiMasi to the rescue. As reported in today's HERALD:

House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi pushed today for legislation that would allow cities and towns to join the state’s insurance plan despite objections by local unions, saying the move could save municipalities millions as they brace for possible cuts in state aid of up to 10 percent next year.

The idea that a municipality can save substantially by transferring its group insurance to the state program is not a new idea, and, in spite of the fact that significant cost savings can result, only about 5% of Mass. municipalities have signed up. And while these cost savings come without any loss of benefits, continued resistance has been laid to the door of the public employee unions who apparently see some sort of loss of bargaining power by switching to the state plan.

Now maybe the fact that Sal has got the right idea on this is akin to a stopped clock being right twice a day. But he is correct that hard times are upon us and its only a matter of time before they trickle down to the local communities. If the doomsayers are even partly right, we are going to need a lot more proposals like this one. The public employees are missing a great opportunity to take the high road and agree to switching their insurance to the GIC. Then, they might be able to garner some community good will rather than being dragged, kicking and screaming, to the same end result when Sal's proposed law mandates the change.