MALDEN — The yellow two-story house, squeezed snugly into a blue-collar neighborhood, has been the place Edward J. Markey has called home since he was a toddler and the link to his congressional district since he ran for office 37 years ago.
But his critics view the house as the base he left behind when he became a figure in Washington, married a Beltway player, and purchased a grander house, triple the size, on a leafy cul de sac in the exclusive Rolling Hills neighborhood of Chevy Chase, Md.
Comments
Why is this a big deal? He's been in Congress in DC for 37 years, would you feel better if he lived out of a camper? Didn't Scott Brown buy a residence in the DC area, his wife took a job out there, and he dumped the Massachusetts National Guard to transfer to the Maryland National Guard, which he is still an active member of. He was in the Senate for less than 2 years. If you are going to go after Markey do some work and dig a little deeper into what matters, namely his voting record and how he's represented us in Congress.
It matters if he's never in his district. He's been in Congress for 37 years, that, in and of itself, is enough reason to not vote for him.
Hmm
"He's been in Congress for 37 years, that, in and of itself, is enough reason to not vote for him."
So, without exception, experience and expertise cannot accrue over time, to the benefit of constituents. I'm sure this dogmatic reasoning flies in some quarters, but most successful people I know don't discount experience so out of hand, nor do they judge on such a simplistic scale.
scam
This is a non-story. Almost all politicians have two houses, one in their district and one in Washington. Isn't there real news out there the Globe should be reporting on?
Did you actually read the story? In the Mass congressional delegation, only Markey and McGovern has a house in the DC area.
Well Lynch has a DC condo worth, I'm guessing, $300K (and Scott Brown used to live there, so I guess it's a bipartisan condo building). I don't see the big difference.
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2010/06/brown_gets_new.html
Yawn. Hey, by the way- where's the Starbucks in Malden? Medford at Wellington, Melrose up there on 28... But Malden?
What an asinine article, written by partisan reporters. Shame on the Globe. Virtually every member of the Congress has two homes, one in the district and one in DC. Big deal.
Did you actually read the story? In the Mass congressional delegation, only Markey and McGovern have houses in the DC area.
Many of the non-homeowners rent which means they have "houses". Rent or buy, lease or purchase. What a stupid article.
With all due respect to Markey, this is just another example of the ridiculous salary and benefits given to members of Congress. Time to establish term limits!!!
"ridiculous salary and benefits"
-Check out what they pay the zombie VPs at your 401k plan servicer, you'd be astonished.
Term limits? Yes! The reporter might have asked Marty Meehan about term limits, which he supported right up until his election. He has finally found a gig as a college president with no term limit.
JEEZ. Talk about a slow news day. I thought for a second I was watching breaking news reported by Fox's latest loser-darling.
One of my daughters went to college in Miami. She made a very persuasive case that we should buy a condo for her to live in there instead of paying dorm fees. If we’d had the resources to do so we might have done it. If we thought she might be there for ten years we definitely would have. The point that writing legislation in DC requires more time than just voting on it is a strong one and Markey's done a lot of it (important stuff, too!). My guess is that traveling back and forth weekly totals almost the equivalent of a work day. That’s a lot of time that might be better spent doing the district’s business.
I think home is where the spouse is. Does Dr. Blumenthal accompany Mr. Markey to Malden? If not, then Malden is a business trip, and Maryland is where he lives.
which spouse? this is simply NOT how you determine domicile but if you need to slam Markey, rock on ...
Beelze hit it on the head...wives drive this stuff even if he has an inclination to stay where he conducts the majority of his business. However, I still think Richie Neal out here in good old Westsern Mass would have been a better choice!
"A side story on the last Senatorial election. Early on in the election I got a live call from the Brown campaign. The caller asked if I would answer a few questions and I said OK. Into the third or fourth question about "issues," slightly slanted, ( no complaint as both sides do it - part of the game ) I said, "I can save you some time, sir, I'm voting for the Indian." We both had an understanding laugh, said good night and went about our business." This is a quote from my own previous Comment on Brown vs Warren. I'll paraphrase it for this, IMHO, "overly hyped" issue. I'm voting for the "two-home" candidate. And I'm a former union guy who doesn't live in or near Representative Markey's district. No name calling from me as I've decided he's best representative ( pun intended ) of my viewpoints on most of the issues. Representative Lynch, state Senator Dan Winslow and Gabriel Gomez do not. If any of these other three candidates represent others people's views by all means vote for him.
...other people's views... Again autocorrect. Can't live with it, can't live without it. I've just got to proof read more efficiently.
When they are first elected they leave their family back in their home district and rent a room but if they are reelected they buy in DC and they all live there. They all have two homes I don't know why the Globe bothered to write about this. Ted Kennedy did too and I don't recall the Globe writing about that.
37 years in office. He rarely visits his "home town". His "residency" is a joke. Does "power corrupt" or doesn't it? The longer a politician remains in office, the more power is accrued by dint of "favors" that are repaid in a multitude of ways. Sometimes the favors are merely prepayments for protection of certain interests. None of this accural of, very real, power is visible but only the completely naive imagine this isn't the stock and trade, the "business" of politics. Markey has little interest in his "home town" simply because there is absolutely nothing compelling him to take an interest in it. He knows his war chest is far to large to compete against in any election, he knows most of the media will never question what he does so who does he have to answer to? No one. Markey is the embodiment of the case for term limits. With no need to be even remotely accountable, with no need to even show up in his voting residence for any appreciable time, he can be as arrogant as he pleases. Who and what is served by these interminable stints in office? One wonders why little changes in Washington? Why should anything improve when the same, entrenched, unaccountable and increasingly arrogant politicians "serve" for decades knowing that, as each year passes, each "favor" they can dole out to a special interest, will merely increase their personal power and further insure their position? Does this fact not guarantee that one will soon approach (if not completely acquire) "absolute" power? And one imagines this does not end in absolute corruption?
How could any intelligent person disagree with what jjag has said? (But then again, "dislike" is not the same as "disagree.")
Markey is, indeed, "the embodiment of the case for term limits." And so are many Republicans.
what a parochial, petty "article" about a serious politician.
as if it is better that a congressman at this distance from DC would fly every weekend, roundtrip. then, there would be those who would yowl that he should take the Amtrak or, better yet, a bus.
dont know about you but I would rather have a representative who knows her or his way around DC and is able to deal on a collegial basis with others than a commuter, satisfying some kind of litmus test of 'how many days per month' is she or he sleeping in the district.
this article is parochial, petty and maddening. the law, centuries old common law, has it that a domicile, once established (no doubt on that score with Markey), remains until affirmatively changed. there may well be recent pressure (and how has THAT been documented by your nimble reporter??) on federal representatives to spend more time in their districts but from what everyone can see, that hasnt worked out all that well ... we have a Congress mired in gridlock, an inability to work across the aisle and general antisocial behavior. by that measure, we were better off when, presumably (at least according to the undertone of this article), representatives pretty much relocated to where they actually work. of course, no time spent developing that theme since the reporter has latched on to this "residence issue" which supposedly has haunted Markey. wake up, star Globe reporter ... this is a modern, mobile society where there are public figures who have more than one home. I somehow recall we recently had a governor who has houses all over the US.
oh, and what? no leaves in Malden?? or is that smarmy jam of class envy just that??
This is such a silly discussion.The voters in this state will settle this issue the same as the residents of Malden have been doing for 37 years. Most of us don't give a dam about where he sleeps at night. He has served his constituents very well or they would not keep reelecting him. I wonder if he was a Republican if these folks would be making such a fuss over this matter. I think not.
If he was a republican, those on the left would be howling and you know it. Brown had his Nat'l guard base moved to MD - not his home mind you, and he was vilified by the left.
Markey must thank his lucky stars he's got that D next to his name and he once lived in MA. It's a no brainer the Globe will endorse him and so won't the clueless MA voters.
willow -- The majority of Mass voters are smarter than you, thank goodness.
I don't remember anything being said about Brown being assigned to the MD Guard, but I do remember some grousing, including from yours truly, about what kind of influence he was peddling to get a job at the Pentagon.
Of course, that move becomes fair game if mental dwarfs want to make an issue of having a home in Washington. Maybe you think our representatives should be housed in dormatories with a bathroom at the end of the hall.
Agree with most that the residency issue is unimportant. What is important is what a lackluster job he's done in congress. How does that merit a seat in the senate? And I'm *still* waiting for my cable bills to come down, like he promised all those years ago. They're still laughing at him over at big cable.
I just wonder ... what has he done in 37 years to make my life better ...
or to make any Massachusetts citizen better?
Personally, I know of nothing, so I am waiting to participate in the process of finding out.
I see down votes but no one can think of anything he did for us in MA? Then, why would anyone vote for this guy?
Can't see much of a substantive issue here as long as Markey meets legal Massachusetts residency requirements and pays state income taxes. Perhaps the Globe could look into whether he does. The requirements for state residency in Massachusetts according to Department of Revenue regulations are as follows:
· each individual has a domicile. It may be a domicile of origin (birth), a domicile by operation of law or a domicile of choice (accomplished by a change of residence);
· each individual retains his or her present domicile until he or she establishes a new domicile at another place;
· a new domicile may be acquired only by (a) abandoning the present domicile, (b) establishing a residence at a new place and (c) intending to make the new residence one's home permanently or for an indefinite time, with no certain, present intention to return to the previous home;
· the burden of proving that a taxpayer has changed his or her domicile lies with the party asserting the change.
Assuming Markey meets these criteria, the important substantive issue is whether Markey has represented his district and the nation well and whether he would continue to do as a senator. My answer to both of these is a resounding yes.
How do you manage to post messages in a tiny nearly unreadable font? Why are sentences split by multiple blank lines?
So if actually living in the districts they represent is not important....how come we just don't have a big "pool" of representatives that we can elect from? Heck, why not elect someone from a different state who can get things done for a district? Oh wait, we already do that......residency requirements being what they are.
You raise an interesting point, History. Does one need to live in the Congressional District to adequately represent it? Most of the commentors here assume yes, but without justification.
Being a Representative entials handling constitutent inquries, but how often is local knowledge required to do so? For example, a Veteran in your district has trobule with the VA and needs advocacy. Does the amount of time you spend in your district matter for this?
Furthermore, if you were not born in the district you serve, how much time must you live there before you can represent it?
To me, having local roots and extensive experience with the district seems to matter (a) more for the House than the Senate and (b) more for gaining initial electoral support than representing the district once you are elected.
I'm just brainstorming here...its not something I've given that much thought and doesn't seem to be part of much of the wider discussion.
OK, I'll bite. Name me a Congressman or Senator who doesn't represent a district within commuting distance to Washington who does not have a home there. Support your childish fantasy with some facts.
The Globe will report tomorrow whether he puts the toilet paper over or under! I cannot wait!
I would hope they could objectively report on all the candidates but that ain't gonna happen.
it's obvious Markey hasn't really lived in Malden for decades. He should have been voted out long ago. One more Massachusetts politician that's a poster boy for term limits. Capuano may have spent haof of last year in Somervile but, the other half was on vacation traveling the world on the government's dime.
Of course he hasn't "lived in Malden". He works in Washington, D.C. therefore he lives in DC.
Yahoo. A very appropriate screen name.
Yes, the voters will decide and yes, this is a ligitimate issue for the Globe to write about. I agree with Historyisjustthat (rare occurrance) elected official should have a real connection to their constituents and this is especially true for those in the US House of Representatives who, after all, are the only federal pols that have districts. Myself, I will probably not put much weight on this when trying to decide whether or not to vote for Mr. Markey. I'll be more concerned about what he has done in Congress in the 37 years he had been there. All I can recall at this point is he has been involved in Communications issues and legislation and fisheries. At least he has not been invisible like my Rep, Jim McGovern.
it's a stupid article plain and simple.
This Senate race should continue to be about the issues: Ed Markey has been standing up for Massachusetts families for decades, on issues from equality to climate action. He's been doing his job by being in DC for important votes while maintaining a strong Massachusetts presence.
um, according to the water bills, he is a very dirty Ed Markey though.... is that the "strong presence" you refer to?
Nope. I'm referring to the fact that he's a regular face in the community, attends community events, and even when he's in DC, is clearly looking out for his constituents' interests. But I like your imagery. He looks like a pretty clean guy to me, water bills notwithstanding.
Oh c'mon.... a lot of these folks are career politicians, they are actually residents of the State of Government. No one has even mentioned how 7 out of the 10 wealthiest counties in the US are centered around DC, when the area doesn't produce anything but reams upon reams of regulations and bs.
Pssst, for those of you not aware, Chevy Chase, MD is NOT a cheap place to live.