Nothing is free, not even Mayor Michelle Wu’s expansion of “free” bus rides for certain underserved Bostonians.
Politicians con people with talk of free stuff. It gets them elected. And while stuff may be free for thee, it may not be free for me. Somebody pays, somebody always pays.
In her first “victory” as mayor, the Boston City Council recently approved the mayor’s request for an $8 million appropriation to grow “free” bus rides from one Boston bus route to three.
The three bus routes serve riders who travel to and from destinations in Dorchester, Mattapan and Roxbury. It will be in effect for the next two years, and it fulfills a Wu campaign promise.
The $8 million comes from federal pandemic relief funds, which, by the way, come from taxpayers, who pay their own bus fares plus end up footing the bill for the “free” WuBus riders.
There is nothing wrong per se with government subsidizing free fares. The government uses taxpayer money to subsidize a whole lot of things, including wars.
So, there is little to be critical of helping out the less financially fortunate who save a few bucks by riding free on a WuBus.
A problem might arise, though, when there will be no one to drive the free WuBuses.
That is because President Joe Biden is still paying people not to work, including bus drivers.
The MBTA just announced that because of a lack of bus drivers it was cutting back service on 31 of its bus lines, including two of the lines that Wu wants to make free.
So maybe the riders on the free WuBuses will have to bring their own designated driver along.
Thanks to the socialization of the Democratic Party, which runs the country, free stuff is here to stay.
But how refreshing would it be if every once in a while, a politician leveled with the public by thanking taxpayers for subsidizing the free bus rides, rather than pretending that, though their largesse, the money was somehow coming from their own stash.
If that were the case, Wu could cancel her planned lavish million-dollar inaugural affair Jan 3. and use the funds to help finance the free WuBuses. That would show a real commitment to helping those in need of a free ride.
Organizers of Wu’s Boston Inaugural Fund 2021 have been shaking down businesses, lobbyists, special interests and others for contributions to pay for the event.
“Visionary” sponsors or contributors are asked to kick in $25,000 to finance the gala, while “Bold” and “Champion” donors are respectively being asked for $15,000 and $10,000.
Wu, a 36-year-old progressive from Chicago, was initially sworn in as mayor on Nov. 16 following her election victory.
It was a simple event held in the chambers of the Boston City Council, where Wu previously served, before a limited number of guests.
It was indicative of her no-nonsense campaign to deal with the needs of underserved minorities, diversity. the working class and the poor, COVID, jobs, schools, housing, rent, MBTA fares and so on.
Wu, the first woman, and first Asian American to be elected mayor of Boston, spoke for about eight minutes and promised to get “right to work.” .
She said, “When we communicate in many languages, we all understand more, and most of all, when we connect the power of city government to the force of our neighborhoods and communities, we see how much is possible for our city.”
The Jan. 3 event promises to be much more. It also risks compromising Wu by marring her worker-centric image by putting her in the hands of donors from big-time corporations, realtors, developers and others doing business with the city.
Rather than conducting a working-class style inaugural, like the one Wu held in City Hall, the planned Jan 3 event is a continuation of all the past mayoral inaugurals where big bucks contributors buy access to newly elected or re-elected mayors.
While no taxpayer dollars were involved, friends of former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, the last mayor to hold an inaugural bash, raised $1.4 million for his last inaugural.
Maybe Wu’s inaugural event should be free, like her WuBuses
Wu is for change. Change is hard. That is why sometimes things stay the same.
Peter Lucas is a veteran Massachusetts political reporter and columnist.
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December 18, 2021 at 12:14PM
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