Be thankful to Rep. James Lyons who made a very public demand for the numbers by refusing to leave the House chambers until the Patrick administration released the information. Now we know why the governor has been stonewalling on Lyons’ request since May:
The 58-year-old Andover Republican — who bucked Beacon Hill by holding a sit-in in the House chambers two weeks ago — pried the shocking report from state officials. It showed that nearly 55,000 illegal immigrants received more than $93 million in MassHealth benefits for emergency medical services last year.
I don’t want to hear another word about looming budget cuts or teacher layoffs when the state is spending close to $100 million a year on free health care for people who are here illegally.
SPITFIRE MURPHY 
Deval Patrick will probably be the 2016 Democratic nominee for president.