by Joan Vennochi
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This year, the Boston Red Sox successfully lobbied legislators and Governor Mitt Romney for $55 million to beautify and upgrade the Fenway area. This is the same ballclub that is spending $51.1 million simply to talk to a Japanese pitching ace about coming to Boston and would put another $40 million to $50 million on the table to sign Daisuke Matsuzaka.
Now, as the year draws to a close, Romney is slashing $425 million from the state operating budget. The cuts address some pet legislative projects that could be defined as pork. But some cuts also punish the poorest, sickest, oldest, and neediest.
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"Sometimes it's not sexy," said Judy Meredith, a longtime human services advocate, who is working to rally supporters to fight the Romney budget cuts. ". . . Sometimes it's the same, old same old -- making sure the basic state infrastructure for taking care of people who can't take of themselves is in place."
In other words, "infrastructure" means more than streets, parking garages, and train platforms -- the kind considered vital to the Fenway/Longwood area. Meredith is talking about social infrastructure -- paths and networks built by government to connect citizens with services they need. It, too, generates benefits. Society is richer when it looks out for those in need and provides pathways to independence.
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http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/11/23/priorities_in_the_wrong_ballpark/The specifics talked about here are Mass centric but provide what I think a typical example of rethug economics/gov policy.