Treasurer Tim Cahill
In a press release issued by the Massachusetts Republican Party today, the GOP took aim at Treasurer Tim Cahill, an independent candidate for Governor.
The release refers to the Treasurer as “Clueless Timmy Cahill” and uses past quotes to illustrate that Cahill, “admits he sits on the sidelines, flip-flops under pressure and doesn’t have a single idea for cutting the state budget. He also claims he’s ‘prepared’ to be governor. Clueless.”
The GOP release says that Cahill, “isn’t up to the job” of being Governor, and uses his own words against him.
The following is taken directly from the press release:
Cahill Waits for People to Solicit His Opinion on Issues:
“I wasn’t part of this health care discussion. They didn’t ask my advice, they didn’t include me in it, it was strictly done by the Legislature, by Congress, by Ted Kennedy’s office, and by the Governor’s office, so, you know, I’ve learned up here that you don’t go where you’re not invited to go, but if people ask me the truth, I have to tell them the truth.” (Charlie Manning Show, WRKO, 3/17/10)
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Braude: So you didn’t issue warning signs at the time and say this is going to be unaffordable?
Cahill: I wasn’t part of the process, I wasn’t included in the process, I wasn’t asked to participate in the process. (NECN’s Broadside with Jim Braude, 3/16/10)
Treasurer for Seven Years And Self-Proclaimed “Manager of the State’s Finances,” But Cahill Has NO Ideas to Close Budget Gap:
“Patrick challengers offer ideas to close budget gap; But Cahill demurs on detailing a plan…And state Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill, although he promises to cut spending on health care, education, and local aid, says he cannot offer more details about his plans until he is elected governor. “I don’t have enough insight into the budget, especially particular areas where money is being wasted, until I get in there,’’ he said… But even though he has managed state finances since 2003, he declined to offer more specific cuts, saying, “It’s hard to do when you’re not in the [governor’s] office.’’ (Boston Globe, 2/18/10)
Cahill Abandons Pension Reform after a Visit From His Buddies in the Legislature:
“State Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill backed down in 2004 from a push to curb retirement abuses by lawmakers, after top legislative leaders on Beacon Hill privately objected to the changes, Cahill said. Cahill said he received a visit from Representative John Rogers, House Ways and Means chairman, who was sent by House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi to tell him to abandon his quest to eliminate termination pensions for lawmakers…
… The message was clearly heard. Cahill quickly abandoned the plan to end lawmakers’ use of termination pensions. He said yesterday that Rogers and Mariano convinced him of the political realities and that the Senate was also lined up against the changes. In fact, Cahill said, he and his staff could not find one lawmaker to file the bill on his behalf.
‘I didn’t think of it as intimidation in terms of the budget,’ Cahill said in an interview yesterday. ‘They [Rogers and Mariano] came down as friends to tell me it was not going anywhere and that it would tick off everyone in the building. I appreciated it.’
The two lawmakers made their visit as Cahill was saying that pension reform was a priority for him. Cahill said at the time that he especially objected to an interpretation of the law by the State Retirement Board, which he oversees, that allowed legislators to win enhanced pensions after deciding not to run for re-election.” (Boston Globe, 5/12/09)
Cahill Has No Comment on a ‘Growing Municipal Malady’:
“…We’re talking here about lavish – and unaffordable – municipal health care plans, a problem that came into sharp focus this week…So what do the gubernatorial candidates prescribe to treat that growing municipal malady?…The office of Treasurer Tim Cahill, an independent gubernatorial candidate, did not respond to a request for comment.” (Boston Globe, 3/5/10)
Cahill Suggests Federal Money is Only Meant to Prop up State Plan, But Would Take It Anyway:
“Cahill said the law is sustained only with millions of dollars in federal aid, which he suggested the Obama administration is funneling to Massachusetts to help the president make the case for a similar plan in Congress. ‘The real problem is the sucking sound of money that has been going in to pay for this health care reform,’ Cahill said. ‘And I would argue that we’re being propped up so that the federal government and the Obama administration can drive it through’ Congress.” (Boston Globe, 3/17/10)
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“Yeah, I think there’s some truth to that, that they couldn’t let Massachusetts fail and I’m sure the Governor, as is his right, and he was good at it, he leveraged that. He went back to Washington a lot and said, you got to subsidize us, you got to give us these waivers, you got to give us more money so that we can keep this thing going or you’re going to lose the national health care debate. And, so, um – and we benefited from that, and I don’t want to kick a gift horse in the mouth …” (Charlie Manning Show, WRKO, 3/17/10)
That’s interesting. Listening to Cahill speak to Emily Rooney on Greater Boston last night, it sounded like he was reading line by line from the Republican talking points book. If I didn’t know who was speaking, I would have sworn it was a Congressional Republican. Does the MA GOP fear that Cahill is threatening Baker votes?