Watertown Citizens for Common Sense Government

Follow the Money, (part IV)
"Uptown Girl"

Over several weeks, we’ve had the opportunity to scrutinize Rachel Kaprielian’s campaign finances. I won’t bother to conduct another detailed review. It’s enough to say that Kaprielian has yet to credibly answer the many serious questions that have been raised.

So for now, let’s just pick up the saga where we left off.

I ended my last column by mentioning that Rachel has engaged the services of a Boston born) Washington D.C. politico to manage her campaign. That person is Michael Moschello. Prior to this current effort, Mr. Moschello worked on the failed Gabrielli campaign. Before that, he was associated with the “New Democratic Network” (NDN) which is a Washington D.C. based “think-tank”.

Let’s think about this folks: Rachel’s money comes from outside the district. Now, we find out her top campaign brass comes from outside the district. What’s she going to do next? Get her votes from outside the district?

I won’t bother discussing what Michael Moschello did with NDN. This column is not intended to be rap sheet about “D.C. Scooter, the Beltway Boy”. Like every other think-tank, NDN plots strategy. A bunch of elitist policy wonks sit around figuring out angels designed win over certain special interest voters. They search for just the right buzz-word or sound bite. They teach politicians how to speak, without saying anything, especially avoiding any direct answers to voters’ questions.

That’s exactly what they’ve done for Rachel. Her new literature is a prime example.
Recently, the Massachusetts Democratic Party sent out a series of mailings, on her behalf. One flyer shows Rachel standing in front of our new library telling us that it makes common sense to take advantage of state grants. Well duh! No kidding!

Oh, Rachel plays it cute. She never comes out and says she got us the funding. But as they say, ‘a picture paints a thousand words’. The inference is clearly there.

The fact is, Rachel Kaprielian had little if anything to do with the library grant. Her biggest connection to our new library is in fact, infamous. At the grand opening, much to the embarrassment of those in charge, she weaseled her way to the podium even though she had neither been scheduled nor invited to speak.

For the record: The State legislature and Rachel Kaprielian did not vote for this funding.
The grant for the library came from the Capital Budget, which is entirely controlled by the Governor. Lt. Governor Healy, who has a long record of supporting libraries, was the one who went to bat for us. Governor’s Councilor Devaney, knowing this and having a working relationship with Kerry Healy, lobbied the Lt. Governor on Watertown’s behalf. So much so, that when the grant money was approved, Healy called on Devaney, not Kaprielian to announce the good news to Watertown.

The bottom line: the credit actually belongs to Lt. Governor Healy and ultimately the Governor. Kaprielian’s thinly veiled attempt to take credit for this grant only highlights her lack of accomplishments during her 12-year tenure. Moreover, what does it say about her character?

Let’s talk about that 12-year record. Shall we?

With a $1 billion budget surplus in 2005, she voted to increase taxes another $85 million retroactively. How can she justify that? Seriously, “Uptown Girl”! The state took in more than enough money to fund the budget, why did you vote to increase taxes retroactively?
Tell us, is it some kind of instinct? Can we get you some help?

According to Citizens for Limited Taxation (CLT), Rachel has voted for a billion dollars in tax increases. She actually got a 0 % rating from CLT. That’s Zero percent! That means it can’t get any worse!

And how does she want to spend our money? Hey! Let’s give illegal aliens in-state tuition subsidies.

Plain and simple, Rachel Kaprielian has lost touch with Watertown. Be it her failure to assist Lowell School parents trying to preserve a 50-year tradition or her abstention from a vote affirming the words “under God” in the pledge of allegiance, Rachel no longer espouses the core values of Watertown’s common sense majority.

So much for Watertown, what about Cambridge? The Democrats sent out a special mailing to those poor folks. Get this; it says “Meet Rachel Kaprielian”. She’s been their state rep for 3 terms and the state committee has to send out a flyer that says “Meet Rachel Kaprielian”! After 6 years! You’ve gotta to be kidding! “Meet Rachel Kaprielian”??? How pathetic is that?

Come to think of it, after 12 years of representing Watertown, that flyer would be just as appropriate here. We sure as heck don’t know who she is anymore. I guess D.C. Scooter didn’t quite realize the extent of Uptown Girls estrangement.

This commentary concludes this series. I hope there’s no reason for a Sequel. Over the past few weeks, Kaprielian’s only response has been a blatant denial of facts in a recent TAB interview. This denial has since been easily and quickly discredited.

Will Rachel ever answer the serious and legitimate questions that have been raised? Why does so much of her money come from outside the district? Why did she take Big Dig Money-- Big Tobacco money? Why did she take a campaign contribution from someone who stood to gain financially from legislation she should have sponsored anyway? Will she release her tax forms so we can see just what she deducted? Why did she enlist a Washington D.C. Politico to tell her how to talk to us ? Why did she forget about Watertown?

If On Nov. 7th, Watertown says loud and clear, “Hey, Rachel !! Meet Watertown…”, will Rachel even understand why?

John DiMascio

Communications Director
Watertown Citizens for Common Sense Government
www.citizensforcommonsense.com

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Follow the Money, (part IV) "Uptown Girl"

Follow the Money, (part IV)
"Uptown Girl"