Howie Carr and Jim Braude are about as far apart on the political spectrum as you can get, but both of them are singing the same song about the state’s probation service.

With all eyes on the big dogs in the governor’s race, the underdog can afford to go out on a limb.

The 2009 "underemployment rate" for Massachusetts, which includes those who have given up looking for work, and those working only part-time, was at 14.5 percent, according to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This was still somewhat below the national average of 16.2 percent, and it put us in a tie with Delaware for 26th place.

Michigan had the highest underemployment rate (21.5 percent), and Rhode Island came in sixth (19.1 percent). North Dakota had the lowest rate (8.0) percent, and Vermont was in 42nd place (11.8 percent), better than any other state in the Northeast.

The New York Times has a 50-state map of the underemployment rate here.

By Bruce Mohl

Washington may be paralyzed by political partisanship, but our state’s Democratic and Republican senators seem to be getting along reasonably well.

By Gabrielle Gurley

Most of the revenue-generating remedies for the state’s ailing transportation networks are “feasible,” “viable” and “doable.” Problem is they aren’t getting done. Which brings us to former Transportation Secretary James Aloisi.

In one of his first major public appearances since he left his post last November, Aloisi pitched two not-so-new ideas — taxes on mileage and parking — to help fund mass transit in metro Boston and across the state at a Wednesday talk billed as “innovative solutions” and sponsored by the Conservation Law Foundation.