Sorry to leave you hanging like that, had to go to work.
I'm not linking because I suck at it and and it just leads to dismissal of the info due to the source. So, I'll put it all in my own words.
Have you heard the term "nanny state"?
Mass. is a nanny state.
We have been run by liberal democrats for a long time, Barney Frank,John Kerry,Ted Kennedy,Duvall Patrick to name just a few of the wonders of Beacon Hill........sorry, just threw up in my mouth a little after writing that list. I'm not even going to go into the rampant democratic corruption in this state.
I live in one of the most liberal states (maybe the most) in the Union. Everyone calls us Taxachuesetts, and with good reason.
You can't toss a quahog without hitting an illegal, you can't smoke in a private bar or restaraunt, private citizens have to pay for a liscence to fish in the open ocean (the kings forest), which is a moot point because all the decent fishing spots from when I was a kid are private or off limits now, and if you do find a place it's crammed with persons of questionable legal status and the wardens don't even want to deal with them. The DNC pretty much annointed Liz Warren as their senate candidate in this state blowing off all the other candidates (alot of dems are furious about this).
Doctored fish stock levels, poorly conducted scientific research on fish poulations, arbitrary fines and coruption in NOAA have led to the failure of the private fishing fleets only to have corporate fleet owners move in and send the whole industry into the dumper.
My best friend from childhood is a progressive tree hugging liberal (he says as much), we still hang out but stay away from discussing politics. I think I know a little bit of how American liberals think and work.
The schools.
I work in a school and have one kid in elementary and one in high school. My daughter got yelled at by a teacher for high-fiving her friend during passing period because the kide are not even supposed to touch each other. Some schools in western Mass. tried to ban dodge ball and tag on the play ground. Nobody officially keeps score at kids sporting events because it would hurt the losers feelings (one of my favorites). Some dem pol. actually tried to pass legislation to ban marshmallow spread in schools, just how we want our elected officials using their time.
They literally tell you what your kid can and can't eat in their own lunch from home or your kid will be sent home with a warning. No Halloween costumes that are too scary on costume day, no fun. The dem state rep who just ran for mayor of my city (thank goodness he lost) tried to put forth a bill that would allow any student to cross examine a teacher who repremanded them. The things that the pols. waste their time and effort on in this state is criminal IMO.
None of this stuff is conservative policy, because we have no conservatives. Not even Scott Brown. All the republicans around here spend their breath putting him down for being too far to the center.
I hope this helps to inform you where I'm coming from.