Deval Patrick's Slush Fund (Boston: 2015, cost, law)

[LeavingMA]

Not surprising.

Deval Patrick

[CaseyB]

I heard something about it today but without the details.

Hopefully, they can get that money back.

[BostonMike7]

Sounds about right

[lrfox]

Of those countries he visited, Japan, Panama, Mexico, Israel, the U.A.E, and Hong Kong have all started non-stop flights to Boston in the last three years bringing literally hundreds of thousands of new visitors from overseas who spend tons of money in Massachusetts. Singapore is the only country listed without a direct flight to Boston. Our overseas visitors have increased significantly over the past few years (including being up 10% in 2014 over 2013). That's just tourism. It's hard to quantify the impact on the overall economy, but some of the best measures (including A.T. Kearney) see Boston as a major global player now with an extremely good outlook (AT Kearney pegs Boston as having the third best outlook on the planet).

I'm interested to see what the investigation turns up but I'd say that the $37.5 Million was a pretty good investment considering the immediate economic impact these new overseas air routes have had already and the positive outlook economic indicators point to. Boston is arguably poised better internationally than it has ever been.

[David223]

Deval Patrick used Massachusetts as his personal checking account.

[Parsec]

Originally Posted by lrfox

Of those countries he visited, Japan, Panama, Mexico, Israel, the U.A.E, and Hong Kong have all started non-stop flights to Boston in the last three years bringing literally hundreds of thousands of new visitors from overseas who spend tons of money in Massachusetts. Singapore is the only country listed without a direct flight to Boston. Our overseas visitors have increased significantly over the past few years (including being up 10% in 2014 over 2013). That's just tourism. It's hard to quantify the impact on the overall economy, but some of the best measures (including A.T. Kearney) see Boston as a major global player now with an extremely good outlook (AT Kearney pegs Boston as having the third best outlook on the planet).

I'm interested to see what the investigation turns up but I'd say that the $37.5 Million was a pretty good investment considering the immediate economic impact these new overseas air routes have had already and the positive outlook economic indicators point to. Boston is arguably poised better internationally than it has ever been.

Agreed. If you go to any major city in China and ask people to name cities in the US, they can usually only think of 3 or 4 and Boston is one of them. People in MA are too concerned with form over substance. For ethical dilemmas I prefer to look at the end result rather than individual steps taken to get there.

[timberline742]

Good investment. I worked for one of the quasis at one point and most of these trips were to promote trade and joint projects between Mass tech / start ups (energy, biomedical, etc). Definitely a good investment. I saw some of the itineraries, there was very little if any leisure time. All business.

[LeavingMA]

Originally Posted by timberline742

Good investment. I worked for one of the quasis at one point and most of these trips were to promote trade and joint projects between Mass tech / start ups (energy, biomedical, etc). Definitely a good investment. I saw some of the itineraries, there was very little if any leisure time. All business.

I hope the above statement was sarcastic. And even if it wasn't, maybe they did promote business but the issue here is none of the travel and expense money (taxpayer money) was approved from the state legislature or reported. So much for checks and balances.

I've seen and heard enough of these so-called "junkets" from state and federal governments that they rarely promote or get money back for what they call an "investment". If they actually do, I would like to see a cost-benefit analysis that showed the unappropriated money he spent actually resulted in more money back to the state then the cost...but I'm almost positive it didn't.

Hidden junket funds: How Deval Patrick secretly diverted millions to off-budget accounts | Boston Herald

[lrfox]

^ This ones's pretty straightforward. Most of the trips above were made in part with Massport to not only promote Boston and Massachusetts as a a prime region to do business, but to expand international service at Logan Airport. All but the Singapore trip were successful (the jury is still out on that one, but Singapore is difficult for non-stop service to the East Coast of the U.S.). The International arrivals numbers and success of those flights are easy to follow (I linked to numbers above). Hundreds of thousands of new visitors to Boston equals millions of dollars into our region. I know it's city-data and it's essentially part of the TOS to hate liberal politicians, but it's really, really difficult to deny that these international missions were fruitful and are paying immediate dividends with lots more potential going forward. They went a long way toward establishing Boston as a global player.

[LeavingMA]

Originally Posted by lrfox

^ This ones's pretty straightforward. Most of the trips above were made in part with Massport to not only promote Boston and Massachusetts as a a prime region to do business, but to expand international service at Logan Airport. All but the Singapore trip were successful (the jury is still out on that one, but Singapore is difficult for non-stop service to the East Coast of the U.S.). The International arrivals numbers and success of those flights are easy to follow (I linked to numbers above). Hundreds of thousands of new visitors to Boston equals millions of dollars into our region. I know it's city-data and it's essentially part of the TOS to hate liberal politicians, but it's really, really difficult to deny that these international missions were fruitful and are paying immediate dividends with lots more potential going forward. They went a long way toward establishing Boston as a global player.

So I guess taking money illegally and hiding it and then taking trips that weren't approved is fine with you. Nothing like embezzling money through quasi government organizations to fund your own trips and get around dealing with that pesky budget. So I guess if I were to take some money and hide it from the IRS and spent it somewhere else that would be ok also.

If Massachusetts was really after tourist dollars wouldn't the money be spent better by advertising (internet, radio, TV, newspapers, etc.) in other countries rather than the governor going on trips there. It would cost less and probably get a better bang for you buck. Of course the government really isn't into spending money wisely. And if it is bringing in millions is it because of those trips or just a random increase in tourists visiting...maybe due to a weaker dollar or stronger economy overseas. A jump in tourism might not have any direct comparison because of those trips. If they were such a good thing for the state, why hide the money and cost.

Additionally, if it cost $27 million in taxpayer money you better hope you get more than some tourism in return for it to be worth it. Like I mentioned before, I doubt we will see a cost-benefit analysis of this. Plus, I haven't seen a bunch of companies just dying to get to Massachusetts to do business.

This really isn't a liberal or conservative thing...I don't like politicians or people who think they are above the law or are not transparent.