Business as usual on Beacon Hill

Sharp commentary today from Jon Keller and the Outraged Liberal on the near-certain prospect that the Legislature will raise the sales tax by 25 percent.

As I've said before, we probably need a significant tax hike. Since the late 1980s, there's been a disconnect between our demand for spending (mainly in the form of local aid) and our willingness to pay for it.

But to move ahead on a major boost in the sales tax (from 5 percent to 6.25 percent) without making some real changes in the government pension system, and without insisting that public employees make the same kind of sacrifices in salary and health benefits that private-sector workers are making, is unconscionable.

It's also business as usual.

House Speaker Robert DeLeo, in a recent op-ed piece in the Boston Globe, argued that the Legislature is on the way to reforming the way it does business. I hope that's the case.

On the other hand, we all know that when the pressure is off, people tend to slide back into their old habits.

This is a great opportunity for Gov. Deval Patrick. Let's hope he can rise to the occasion.

Gitell moves on, suspends Gitell.com

Gitell.com (left) and Media Nation at

Seth's 40th birthday party, November 2008

I've been holding off until it became official, but now it can be told. House Speaker Robert DeLeo has named friend of Media Nation Seth Gitell as his director of communications. DeLeo's gain is our loss — Seth explains why he's giving up his widely read blog, in which he expertly covered everything from politics to food.

Seth may be best known as Mayor Tom Menino's former spokesman, but before that we were colleagues at the Boston Phoenix. Here's my account of our last road trip — a Rudy Giuliani event in Durham, N.H., in December 2007, which Seth covered for the now-defunct New York Sun and I covered for the Guardian.

Good luck, Seth. And here's an excellent Web site you can bookmark for your new boss.