For the new Healey administration and thousands of homeowners with septic systems, it’s gut check time. New regulations in motion could soon require costly upgrades in the name of environmental protection, but at a potential cost to the state’s housing goals.
Jon Keller
Jon Keller has been reporting and commenting on local politics since 1978. A graduate of Brandeis University, he worked in radio as a producer and talk-show host before moving into print journalism at The Tab newspapers and the Boston Phoenix. Freelance credits include the Boston Globe, Wall Street Journal, Boston Magazine, the New Republic and the Washington Post. Since 1991 his "Keller At Large" commentaries and interviews have been a fixture on Boston TV, first on WLVI-TV and, since 2005, on WBZ-TV. He is a 12-time Emmy Award winner for political reporting and commentary. He began his Massterlist column in March 2020.
Posted inKeller @ Large
Why Barbara Anderson can’t rest in peace
Citizens for Limited Taxation once spoke for those who believed in small government. If Barbara Anderson could only see what’s become of her life’s work today.
Posted inKeller @ Large
What kind of Jake is Auchincloss?
From crypto defender to disparager in just one short year, Congressman Jake Auchincloss has to decide whose side he’s on.
Posted inKeller @ Large
Uncool on COVID
It’s tempting to pretend that the COVID-19 pandemic is over. But Gov. Charlie Baker’s making a big mistake if he ignores the warning signs that the virus is still very much here.
Posted inKeller @ Large
Will NH lose its cash cow?
Granite Staters are furious that Democratic Party leaders, including President Joe Biden, want to strip New Hampshire of its first-in-the-nation primary. Oh, please.
Posted inKeller @ Large
Stupid is as stupid does
Billionaire Elon Musk has owned Twitter for a month, and it’s been nothing but an avalanche of bad headlines and questionable business decisions since then. Maybe Musk is exactly what Twitter and many of its users deserve.
Posted inKeller @ Large
Keller’s turkeys of the year
It’s that time of year to sharpen the carving knives and roast the “turkeys” who have made the past year in Massachusetts politics one to remember. Or maybe for some a year they would rather forget.
Posted inKeller @ Large
Engraving the MassGOP tombstone
The Massachusetts Republican Party had a bad night last Tuesday, losing even more ground in the Legislature, not to mention its only standing in statewide or Congressional offices when Democrats Maura Healey and Kim Driscoll punched their tickets to succeed Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito. It was a fitting end to a cycle during which the MassGOP tried to embrace the far-right conservatism, and even election-denialism, that has worked in the past in other parts of the country, but not here and not this year.
Posted inUncategorized
Where insiders reign supreme
There are no “outsiders.” Despite claims from voters about frustration with the political system, it’s insiders that they continue to elect. And that applies the same in Massachusetts to Attorney General Maura Healey as it does in New Hampshire, where neither Maggie Hassan nor Don Bolduc can claim to be anything but insiders.
Posted inKeller @ Large
It’s still “the economy, stupid”
In some parts of the country like Michigan, Democrats in tight races are honing their messages to focus on the local economy, even making links between job growth and prosperity and the fight to protect abortion rights. And they’re right to do so. The political adage made famous by James Carville and the Clinton campaign in 1992 is as true now as it was then: It’s the economy, stupid.