Latest news with #KellerAtLarge
CBS News
04-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
With funding under fire from Trump administration, UMass president says climate research is key
As he celebrates his tenth year running the University of Massachusetts system, President Marty Meehan has survival on his mind and is looking at climate research. "I think that we've seen the federal government kind of letting up on our climate goals that we have set out as a country. And I think you're seeing across the country that states are stepping up," says Meehan in an interview on WBZ's "Keller At Large." Higher education struggling With university research funding under fire from the White House and higher education in general struggling through a period of economic decline, Meehan is betting that UMass can survive and prosper by aligning its focus with the legislature's recent funding commitment to climate tech research and development. In a recent "State of the University" speech, Meehan pointed to research already underway at campuses including UMass Dartmouth (on sustainable fishers), UMass Amherst (water treatment technologies) and UMass Boston (protecting coastlines from damage) as examples of how the university can leverage state and private-sector investment into good jobs for students and an academic future safe from budgetary erosion at the federal level. Marty Meehan on climate research "There is a significant business that has developed as a result of [climate change], UMass educates the workforce of Massachusetts. We need to train people to get them the skills they need to work in this sector," he says. Meehan also discussed diversity on campus, the safety of foreign students, and dealing with anti-Semitic and anti-Palestinian behaviors. You can watch the entire interview on-demand right here, and join us for interviews with top local newsmakers every Sunday at 8:30 a.m. on the weekend edition of "Keller At Large."
CBS News
27-04-2025
- Business
- CBS News
President Trump's tariffs are hurting Massachusetts construction industry, lawmaker says
Massachusetts Congressman Stephen Lynch said that President Donald Trump's tariff war is concerning and having an adverse effect on the construction industry in his district, but that he believes the White House is beginning to reconsider its approach. Massachusetts Rep. Stephen Lynch is hitting out at the Trump administration, criticizing the president for his tariff war that he said is having an adverse effect on the construction industry in his district. President Trump's tariffs "Tariffs on 140 countries at the same time, treating Canada the same way we treat China was a terrible mistake," "I would have hoped for a balanced scheme. Instead, the president put in very onerous tariffs on some of our European allies, as well as smaller countries that probably couldn't withstand a 35% tariff." In an interview on the Sunday edition of "Keller At Large," Lynch said he sees signs that the White House is "retrenching." "With the market going down, with the strength of the dollar receding, I think he's a bit worried Treasury bills are not as desirable," Lynch said. "So he's seeing some fundamental changes there that are not good for even the medium term results that he's seeking." How tariffs impact construction industry Still Lynch, a former steelworker, said he remains very concerned about the uncertainty created by the tariff policies. "I come out of the construction industry, so we've got a bunch of projects in my district that are ready to go environmentally, we've worked out the differences, zoning. The community's on board, and yet the developers are afraid to put a shovel in the ground because they don't know what steel is going to cost," Lynch said. "Is it going to cost 25% more than it is right now, especially with the tariffs on Canada, all of our lumber, steel, aluminum, aggregate concrete, all of that? So it's really huge uncertainty that's preventing a lot of these projects from going forward. And we're seeing high unemployment growing in the construction industry." Tufts student in ICE custody Lynch is also critical of the administration's policies toward foreign students who engage in political activity here, comparing the recent arrest of a 25-year-old Tufts University graduate student who had co-authored an op-ed article in the student newspaper critical of Israeli military action in Gaza to the actions of the Nazis during World War II. "She broke no law," he said. "We have 80,000 foreign students in the city of Boston and Cambridge. Those families and families all over Europe can send their kids to the city of Boston because they feel that we're a safe community. We are a center of learning. We are a place of cultural and religious tolerance. And so what happened to [her] flies in the face of all of that. If you start snatching kids off the street who are here putting them in detention centers, shipping them 1,700 miles to Louisiana, if that's the way you're going to treat kids who come here, you know, our reputation will suffer greatly. And think about, there's over a million foreign students in this country right now going to school. We destroy all of that. Our reputation, our image in the world will decline very, very quickly because of one man." Lynch also offered his analysis of Boston Mayor Michelle Wu's performance in office and bid for a second term during the interview, which is available for viewing on demand here. You can watch "Keller At Large" every Sunday morning at 8:30 a.m. on WBZ-TV for timely interviews with newsmakers.
CBS News
13-04-2025
- Business
- CBS News
What is stagflation and how could it have a major impact Massachusetts?
As consumers and investors deal with great uncertainty with President Donald Trump's tariffs , an ongoing battle with inflation, and a volatile stock market, there is plenty of economic uncertainty. One Massachusetts financial expert believes that as a result, the Massachusetts economy could be looking at hard times ahead. "I think we are heading towards what's called stagflation," said Peter Cohan, an expert market analyst and author of "Brain Rush: How to Invest and Compete in the World of Generative AI," who is a professor of management practice at Babson College. So what is "stagflation?" Cohan explained it has the combination of economic stagnation and inflation, a combination that happened in the early 1970s. "Consumers will be spending less. They'll be spending more on the essentials, and not spending on a lot of things that are not essential," Cohan said. "So that will bring down the economy, which will cause companies to lay off workers who are not needed because they're not growing enough, and that will create this sort of doom loop of people not having their jobs, not having enough money to spend, and companies continuing to lay off at the same time, prices are going to go up." And if that's not gloomy enough for you, Cohan foresees hard times ahead for the Massachusetts economy, between the Trump Administration cuts in higher education fundings and its heavy-handed crackdown on immigration. Can a local "eds and meds" economy heavily dependent on federal research spending survive? "Of course there's the problem of who comes to our schools, on the ed side and also that's also on the med side," Cohan said. "The great thing about Massachusetts is the brain power … It's the mindset. It's the strength of people's minds. When we are unilaterally showing up in the middle of night with an ICE agent, taking people out and throwing them in a prison cell somewhere, will parents from China and India want to send their children here to go to school if that could happen to them?" A significant percentage of workers in Massachusetts health care facilities are immigrants ; what happens if that workforce dries up? Cohan says hospitals and nursing homes "would have to hire people who live in Massachusetts or live in the United States and pay them a lot more to do the jobs that the people who are the immigrants are doing now, and if they're paying more, that means that the going to go up to cover those higher costs." In the WBZ-TV interview, Cohan also discussed the decision-making process he sees in the White House and what the ultimate endgame of these trade wars might be. You can watch the entire conversation above, and join WBZ-TV every Sunday morning at 8:30 a.m. for more newsmaker interviews on the weekend edition of "Keller At Large."
CBS News
23-03-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
DOGE cuts and freezes are severely impacting Massachusetts, Rep. Trahan says
Massachusetts Congresswoman Lori Trahan said the phones have been ringing off the hook at her offices as constituents react to the service cuts and freezes instituted by the Trump administration via Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency , otherwise known as DOGE. "People felt that with portals freezing in terms of Medicaid for getting their health care appointments, food cuts to programs that they rely on, whether they're heating assistance or food assistance, certainly health care and accessing healthcare," she said during an interview on the Sunday edition of "Keller At Large." Trahan said her offices have received upwards of thousands of phone calls from concerned constituents. "That's what happens when you anoint someone like Elon Musk, who is unvetted, unelected. The richest person in the world who, by the way, didn't grow up the way my family did, or the families who I represent," she said. "He doesn't understand that these programs that help people access their health care or give them coverage. His health care coverage was always there for him because he grew up in a wealthy family, and so to put him in charge of fraud, abuse, and waste is really having a horrible impact on programs that have been there for the American people. They expect them to be there for them. And I think that's what people are really reacting to." Trahan's district includes a lot of Trump voters, with the former president drawing well over 40% of the vote in communities such as Billerica, Haverhill, and Fitchburg. "I do think people are worried this isn't what they signed up for," said Trahan. "There's no question that they wanted the cost of living to be lower. They wanted to be able to afford to buy a home. But this is hitting the bone for too many people," Trahan explained. "Medicaid is what I'm most concerned about right now, because Massachusetts is so reliant on the Medicaid contribution from the feds, and you could blow a $20 billion hole in our state budget over the course of 10 years. There's so much more behind Medicaid, the Senior Assisted Living Center that you know seniors rely on, certainly kids rely on Medicaid, kids with disabilities, but also our community hospitals and our community health centers, they will either have to cut services or god forbid, [be] closed down if Medicaid is gutted the way they're talking." Trahan was recently re-elected by her Democratic colleagues to co-chair the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, which helps shape messaging for party candidates. "Clearly, we fell out of touch with the everyday concerns of Americans, and we need to fix that," said Trahan of the 2024 results. "The other thing is we need to communicate effectively where people are. We need to distribute our message differently than we have in the past. I think one thing that has become abundantly clear to me, as I meet with voters and have these town meetings, is [their main issue] really is the pocketbook issues. They really want to be able to not stress out at the checkout of the grocery store, be able to afford a home, be able to provide a better life for their kids. And they're really worried [about] this administration, whether it's tariff policy, whether it's programs that they're going to cut is being felt. And I think the Democrats have an enormous opportunity to get back to the working class, middle-class voter concerns around their economic issues and their quality of life." Trahan also discussed her push for changes in the 1974 Privacy Act to close loopholes she claims can be improperly exploited by DOGE and others. You can watch the entire interview on-demand here , and please join us every Sunday at 8:30 a.m. for timely interviews with political leaders and other newsmakers.
