Baker hired the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home superintendent, he’s responsible for the tragedy, and must be held accountable.

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Our goal with the MassDems Wire is to give you the tools to boost Democrats and take on Trump and his Republican allies here in Massachusetts. Use these talking points on social media, as the basis for a letter to the editor of your local paper, in emails to your personal network, or in conversations with your friends and neighbors.
Welcome to the new MassDems Wire. As we approach election day, we’re moving on from our biweekly, Wednesday schedule. Instead the MDP Wire will hit your inbox whenever there’s breaking news about Charlie Baker’s management missteps or the latest stunt by Trump’s cheerleaders at the MassGOP.
August 5, 2020

Baker's Failure at the Holyoke Soldiers' Home (#HSH)
We Pay the Price for Charlie Baker's Silence (#Silence)
After Charlie Baker swore in the new Holyoke Soldiers’ Home superintendent in 2016, reports of management problems started trickling up through the administration chain of command. Charlie Baker’s trying to “more than social distance ([link removed]) ” himself from the tragedy that took the lives of almost 80 veterans, but it matters who hired the superintendent, and looked the other way when things went south.
* In 2016, Baker’s administration hired a man with no experience in health care or long term care for the superintendent’s job at the home--Charlie Baker interviewed and swore him in himself.
* When officials in Baker’s administration started receiving reports of the new superintendent’s deficiencies and staffing shortages at the home, Charlie Baker swept them under the rug and kept him on the job.
* A Baker-commissioned report found that the deaths of almost 80 veterans at the home were directly related to the superintendent decisions--and Baker’s inaction.
* Charlie Baker wants to “put more than social distance between himself ([link removed]) ” and the superintendent. Baker hired the superintendent, he’s responsible for the tragedy at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, and he must be held accountable.

Governor Charlie Baker has said he doesn’t want to get involved in presidential politics. Now, 5 months into a pandemic his party’s president made worse, and at the cross section of crises inflamed by Trump and his Republican cronies, we’re suffering unimaginable consequences.
* Baker has been content to sit on the sidelines through Trump’s entire presidency, watching while he commits criminal abuses of power, attacks basic human rights, and now is responsible for so many unnecessary COVID-19 associated deaths.
* In the past month alone, Trump’s deployed his own secret police, fueled hatred and violence, advocated for voter suppression, and floated delaying the election all while COVID-cases are hitting record highs. Baker’s never offered more than lukewarm criticism of the most corrupt and incompetent president our country has ever seen--a president Baker’s own party enables and empowers.
* 2016 had dire consequences, and the stakes are even higher in 2020. Democrats, and now even some Republicans, are working overtime to keep Trump from destroying our democracy even further. Charlie Baker’s had every opportunity to stand up to Donald Trump, or make a difference in this election, but he hasn’t.
* We are paying the price of Charlie Baker’s silence. His cowardice makes him complicit in Trump’s agenda.

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