Typical Massachusetts solution: pass a law, then ignore it

Whenever a problem arises in Massachusetts, the Democrats who rule that state (the Republican governor, Mitt Romney, is essentially powerless before the 85%-Democratic legislature) have a simple solution: they pass another la against it. Then, the problem solved, they promptly ignore the new law.

It happened on gun control. In 1974, they passed the Bartley-Fox Law, which called for mandatory enhanced penalties for criminals who committed their crimes while possessing a gun. It has’t been used in years.

And 16 years ago, the city of Boston solved its crime problem by passing an ordinance requiring that the city have a minimum of 2,500 uniformed police officers on the rolls. Sounds good — but they never bothered to actually HIRE that many.

Currently, there are a little over 2,000 cops in Boston. And the mayor recently announced proudly plans to hire an additional 140 — which will still leave the city over 250 short of compliance.

A group of citizens are fed up with this attitude, and are considering a lawsuit to compel the city to do what it promised to do, and wrote into law. They’re running into a problem, though — no attorney wants to take their case.

I predict that the Boston City Council will pass another ordinance announcing that they will fully comply within a few years, perhaps even setting yearly goals until they reach the 2,500 mark. And that will fall by the wayside after one year.

After all, that’s the Massachusetts Way. Pass a law, and the problem will just magically go away.