E-PUBLIUS UNUM

Out Of The Electronic Many, One

Name:
Location: Washington, DC, United States

Saturday, September 23, 2006

EVERYTHING IS BIGGER AND HARDER TO INSTITUTE THROUGH DEMOCRATIC PROCESSES IN TEXAS

The Democratic Party in Texas is suing two of the state's public officials in an effort to rollback draconian voting "rights" laws that, if enforced, would result in stupid, excessive penalties for doing very normal things.

Parts of the law criminalize such dastardly deeds as:

carrying someone else's filled out ballot to a mailbox;

WHAM!

posessing someone else's blank ballot;

SOCKO!

assisting someone with an absentee ballot, if they haven't asked for help;

BLAMSKI!

also, the New York Times reports:

One plaintiff, Gloria Meeks, a 69-year-old Fort Worth woman who said she was being investigated for helping elderly and disabled voters cast ballots, provided a sworn statement saying two state investigators “peeped into my bathroom window not once but twice while I was in my bathroom drying off from my bath.”


The laws, enacted in 2003, were designed to prevent and punish fraudulent voting. To be absolutely fair though, it is likely that Attorney General Greg Abbott and Secretary of State Roger Williams, the targets of the suit, think that non-white voters are fraudulent.

Texas is going to be a place to watch in the coming months, due to the upstart candidacy of Kinky Friedman, a cigar smoking, Jewish cowboy whose campaign slogan is "Why the hell not?" and who just might be the next governor.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL: PATRICK WINS

Results of the September 19, 2006 Massachusetts Primary

Candidate Votes Pct.
Winner Deval Patrick 452,393 50%
Christopher Gabrieli 248,095 27%
Thomas Reilly 210,389 23%

In particular, I enjoy this visual representation:














We did real okay.

Monday, September 11, 2006

Sunday, September 10, 2006

DON'T WORRY MR. BUSH, IT HAPPENS TO EVERY ADMINISTRATION

The New York Times reported this morning that the Bush administration is suffering from exec-tile dysfunction.

In the wake of years of awkward fumbling that has left the country unsatisfied, the once broad, firm power of Vice President Dick Cheney has gone soft and flaccid. Feeling performance anxiety concerning the management of the war in Iraq, prison detainee scandals, and secret domestic wiretaps, Americans have tired of laying lifeless under the grinding authority of the VP's shadowy presence. On hand job performance numbers indicate Cheney polling somewhere in the 2os.

This is certainly a blow to the administration, and strains relations between the VP's office and the rest of the executive, making things very hard on Dick. Cheney's power grew turgid early in the Bush administration, stimulated by the events of September 11th, when he hoped to restore to the executive branch the authority he believed forfeited to the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal. In doing so, the Vice President wielded his power expansively, swinging it in the face of detractors, and using it to repeatedly ram through legislation and legal changes suiting his goals.

Today, the Times reports that many of the crucial decisions coming out of the Oval receive more input from other sources, including Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. No internal sword fights have been publicized, though Cheney has clashed with party leaders, including Senators McCain and Warner over detainee policy.

Mr. Cheney dismisses the notion that his influence has wilted, saying it's not the size of your power that matters, it's how you use it. “History will decide how I did,” Cheney offered in response.

To date, no calls have been made to Bob Dole.

Saturday, September 09, 2006

FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

THE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY IS ON SEPTEMBER 19TH. 10 DAYS FROM TODAY.

Deval Patrick just released a new ad. You can watch on Deval Patrick TV, which is, ironically, available online.

The ad is a short spot that deals alternately with the negative attacks the campaign has been enduring since Mr. Patrick reached the top of the field:

...well they [the political insiders] are not laughing anymore, they're worried, and they're responding just as you'd expect: with misleading, negative ads.

and Deval's position on the income tax rollback:

All I've said on taxes is the truth. If we cut the income tax now, your property tax will go up - it's a shell game, and we can't afford it.

And my favorite part, said as the Deval Patrick for Governor symbol fades in on the bottom right:

Insider politics and negative ads won't lift our state, but on election day, we can.

Actually, my favorite part is that I get to say I know a guy who is on TV...online. My only criticism is that they never mention that the PRIMARY ELECTION IS ON SEPTEMBER 19th, though unfortunately there is a certain logic to it, that being that the bulk of people that are voting for Deval already know when primary day is.

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

THE GLOBE FEELS MY FLAVA

Did Paul actually die in the motorcycle accident? Did LBJ actually have Kennedy killed? Is Federalist No. 2006 actually Eileen McNamara and Steve Bailey from the Boston Globe?

Compelling evidence:

From Blue Mass Group two days ago.

McNamara is today's Globe.

Bailey in today's Globe.

Somebody get A Current Affair on the phone.

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL: ROLLBACK - THE FAST ACTING TAXATIVE

THE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY ELECTION IS ON SEPTEMBER 19th

It's time to stop taking a dive on taxes. The Live To Fight Another Day tactic has netted Democrats exactly nothing, and I don't think we should be afraid to go to the mat on this and other issues. The Boston Globe recently reported on the dangers of politically engineered budgeting in this election. That, in addition to a number of other factors - implementing the new Health Care laws, reinvigorating our public schools, fixing the Big Dig, putting cops on the street, etc - show that there are ways to argue against a tax cut in a political campaign.

None of the three Democratic candidates is going to be immune from Kerry Healey's (current LG and Republican nominee) attacks on the income tax cut. Tom Reilly has "flip-flopped" ( man I hate that term) from a year ago. Chris Gabrieli has an indeterminate plan based on percentages of revenue before inflation that will be difficult to defend against the full court ideological press that is surely coming. And Deval Patrick has the clear position - or opposition - he has always had.

It is evident from my Blue Mass Group post that I think Patrick's position, should he decide that all roads eventually lead to the income tax cut, is more defensible than Gabrieli’s word problem, unless for some reason voters respond to "Sure, I will get you your money as long as 40% of our tax revenue per annum grow faster than the rate of inflation." At least, Patrick has the leadership to assert and get traction on his reasonable appeal against immdiate income tax cuts.

We have to fight fire with fire here, not fire with pie (charts). Backing down like we always do is going to get us the same thing we always get.

Monday, September 04, 2006

FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL: ROLLBACK THE ROLLBACK RHETORIC

THE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY ELECTION IS ON SEPTEMBER 19TH

Rather than calling for a potentially harmful reduction in the very reasonable income tax rate Deval Patrick has called for local aid increases conditioned on better planning, including cuts to property taxes and local fees. His proposal may not be so sexy as a fraction of a percent dropped from income taxes, but it presents far less of a gamble and is potentially far more effective. At the least Patrick is guaranteeing that cities and towns are getting the dollars they need and not consistently voting for budget overrides just to stay open for business.

Then again, property tax cuts may actually be sexy, because they allow for tangible reductions in the exorbitant cost of Massachusetts living, and would help to bring in businesses and residents. A 5% income tax rate – pretty average among most states – that drains the treasury and/or only happens gradually doesn’t have the draw of a coordinated effort to lower cost of living and doing business town by town.

The rollback stands to save the average family between $200 and $300 per year, so about $4.50 a week. The property tax for the average family has gone up $910 in the last six years. So the rollback will be great for helping those families pay off a quarter of their property taxes. Bear in mind also that property taxes hit the elderly and people on fixed incomes hardest. These are the people most likely to need public assistance if the cost of living keeps rising, putting a further toll on state and local budgets. Still Going the Wrong Direction. Not too many Results to be had.

And Patrick’s plan may be the only way that taxes get cut at all. Again, rolling back the income tax is simply going to short us on necessary budget items. The money will have to come from somewhere, meaning it is likely to get shifted to - wait for it - local property taxes.

So we have two options:

Cut 2 Taxes:
Fund cities and towns -> get schools, roads, and safety we need -> cut property taxes and fees -> lower the cost of living -> attract jobs and residents -> boost the economy -> rollback income tax(?) OR…

Cut 1 Tax:
Make immediate or gradual cuts to the income tax -> drain the treasury and Rainy Day Fund to pay for them -> further deplete local aid -> raise property taxes and local fees

So yes, Mr. Reilly, Patrick really is “for it all.” For helping cities and towns. For relieving the pressure on property taxes and local fees. For lowering the cost of living. For attracting jobs and people to Massachusetts.

Not
merely for a politically expedient rollback.

The first election I ever voted in was when Jim Gilmore ran on the No Car Tax platform and became Governor of Virginia in ‘97. He drove us, no pun intended, straight into economic oblivion, and only managed to shift around the car tax burden – it is now paid through 30% municipal taxes, with the remaining 70% subsidized by state taxes. Don’t believe the hype, and when the general rolls around, don’t let Healey and her gimmickry kick us around on taxes.

Sunday, September 03, 2006

2004 DEAD IN OHIO PT. 2

Not '04-centric, exactly, but part of the same story arc: A federal judge ordered a halt to enforcement of new voter registration laws issued by the Secretary of State’s office, saying they appeared to violate the 1st amendment. A more detailed judgment is due later this week, and is rumored to include the section heading that reads: Yes It’s True – Kennneth Blackwell Has No Dick.

The new old rules required that all registration paperwork be personally delivered or mailed to the registration offices by the individual who gathered them, meaning that completed forms could not be handed over to organizations for processing, but had to be sent – quickly – to the state. The regs also required anyone being paid to register voters to take an online training class.

Registration forms were printed with warnings of strict criminal penalties for violating the new regulations. I have not seen them but assume they involve pictures of aborted fetuses. Register-ers have been told by the court to ignore them.

On further speculation, I figure Blackwell’s new campaign posters will say: “Ken Blackwell, Republican for Governor: Sometimes you feel like big government, sometimes you don’t.”