Trashing Trump could come back to haunt Healey
Gov. Maura Healey would be wise to temper her opposition toward Donald Trump.
The man just might be the next president.
And if he is it could be payback time for Healey and, unfortunately, for Massachusetts.
Healey sued Trump some one hundred times during the four years he was president, and she was attorney general. She relished the action.
Even though most of the suits went nowhere, it is something Trump is not likely to forget. Payback is a bitch.
As it stands now, Healey “absolutely” supports Joe Biden and is campaigning for him even though she cannot get Biden to come up with federal funds to deal with the illegal immigrants Biden has let into the country.
Care for the immigrants — free food, free housing, free medical care, transportation, schooling, and security — is estimated to cost Massachusetts taxpayers $1 billion a year.
Nor can Healey obtain the necessary federal money to replace the two functionally obsolete federally owned Cape Cod bridges, the Sagamore and the Bourne.
It is true, as U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren said in a campaign reelection statement, that the Biden administration approved an appropriation of $372 million toward the bridges.
Seeing that replacement of the bridges would cost over $2 billion each, the appropriation is likely to barely cover a paint job.
In addition, Healey has been unable to count on the state’s delegation to Congress, all Democrats, to bring home the bacon, even though they are dealing with a Democrat in the White House.
Perhaps that is why Healey created the Federal Funds and Infrastructure Office to go after federal funds that the state’s elected leaders in Washington cannot get. She named Quentin Palfrey, who unsuccessfully ran for lieutenant governor in 2018 and attorney general in 2022, to head it.
He has not had much luck either.
All of this is not to say that Healey should reject Joe Biden and play up to Donald Trump. That is impossible. Healey is too trapped in a progressive straitjacket for anything like that to happen.
But if she is smart, and she is, she could somehow hedge her bet on Biden because it looks like he is going to lose. And she will need a backup plan if she is going to deal with a Trump administration. So far, however, there is no indication that Healey will in any way lessen her support of Biden, lessen her criticism of Trump. or have any plans to reach out to him.
Nevertheless, besides herself, her governorship, and any political future she might have, she has the people of Massachusetts to think about.
The people want those two vital 88-year-old Cape Cod bridges replaced before they collapse. They were built by the federal government, are maintained by the federal government, and should be replaced by the federal government.
But it will take political clout in Washington to get it done. And if Healey cannot get a friendly Democrat in the White House to produce the funds to replace the bridges, what chance will she have with a Republican President Trump, a man known to settle scores?
The same is true with illegal immigration, another federal policy. Like the bridges, it is the federal government (Joe Biden) who is responsible for letting some 10 million illegal immigrants into the country. But like the bridges, Biden has refused to provide states like Massachusetts with the funds to deal with problem of caring for them.
But there is hope for Healey and Massachusetts, slim as it is, should Trump become president.
Asked about revenge by Fox News’ Laura Ingraham during a recent interview, Trump, known for paying people back, said, “I don’t care about the revenge thing. I know they usually use the word revenge. Will there be revenge? My revenge will be success.”
If that doesn’t work out, Healey, a lawyer, could throw herself at the mercy of the court.