While Governor Deval Patrick hosted a picnic at his Berkshire mansion, should our lawmakers really be taking time off to have a good time when our state is in need of real leadership and a clear change in fiscal and economic direction?

The poll of 281 U.S. corporate executives put Arizona at No. 8 with 10.5 percent of respondents citing the Grand Canyon state as having the most favorable business climate. Texas ranked No. 1 with a 40.8 percent tally.

California was viewed as the state with the least favorable business climate with New York, Michigan, New Jersey and Massachusetts sharing the bottom rungs.

We can have all the 10-year, $1-billion Life Sciences initiatives we want, but the word is out: Massachusetts is a bad place to do business.

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