(I remember outrage when Mitt Romney used Tar Baby, where is the outrage now? - promoted by EaBo Clipper)
You might want that one back John. Liberal or not, there are some tabboo things we are all supposed to banish from our tongues. John Kerry interviewed by MSNBC said McCain " is trying to throw that big tar baby out there." criticizing an explanation. I seem to recall that term getting some nasty backlash when last used by a candidate.
(Eldridge is the same Rep. whose proposed to raise the state sales tax by 20% in during his first term in office. Raising the most Regressive of taxes by 20%. how "Progressive" as him... - promoted by Cool Cal)
Steve Levy's campaign reports in an email blast that Democrat Jamie Eldridge, who is seeking Pam Resor's Senate seat, was one of only fifteen state reps to oppose the sales tax holiday in today's vote.
WAY TO GO JAMIE!! KEEP IT UP!!
Here is his email:
Friends,
Today I received a clear reminder about why I decided to run for the State Senate in the Middlesex & Worcester District. The Massachusetts House of Representatives passed a bill today that calls for the establishment of a temporary Sales Tax Holiday. I strongly support this measure and I'm happy our legislature finally got something right in passing it. It received near-unanimous support. There were, however, some Democrats who voted against it. Of the fifteen that opposed this worthy legislation, one of them ironically is the man who also wishes to be our next State Senator.
Today, in an act of callous disregard for the financial strain borne by Massachusetts residents, James Eldridge voted against the Sales Tax Holiday that would provide the people of Massachusetts some much needed tax relief and help stimulate our economy. As people in the Middlesex & Worcester District struggle with rising fuel and food costs, this tax holiday promises them some assistance and our retailers a boost in a difficult economy. Today our opponent voted against the people of this district... do we really want him to be our next State Senator?
We can stop that from happening though. Be sure to donate now so we can have the resources to let the people of this district know that James Eldridge DOES NOT SUPPORT THEIR INTERESTS. People are unanimously in favor of the sales tax holiday. If we can get our message out and make people aware of our position in favor of tax relief and our opponent's consistent position against it, it will go a long way in helping us reach our goal of electing a Republican back to this State Senate seat. I need your help now so be sure to visit my website to donate so we can get the word out.
Please visit www.StevenLevy.org and click on the DONATE button.
Donating is not the only way you can help though. We need people who are willing to submit a "Letter to the Editor" to all of our local papers so the people of the Middlesex & Worcester District know who will best represent their interests come November. Here is a list of the local papers, make your position on the Sale Tax Holiday known NOW.
The Beacon(Acton and Boxborough) : Beacon@cnc.com
The Public Spirit(Ayer) : Editor@NashobaPub.com
The Harvard Hillside (Harvard) : Editor@NashobaPub.com
The Hudson Sun (Hudson) : CBuday@cnc.com
The Littleton Independent (Littleton) : Littleton@cnc.com
The Marlborough Enterprise (Marlborough) : CBuday@cnc.com
The Beacon Villager (Maynard and Stow) : Beacon-Villager@cnc.com
The North/South Villager (Northborough and Southborough) - GHazard@cnc.com
The Shirley Oracle (Shirley) - Editor@NashobaPub.com
The Shirley Volunteer (Shirley) - Publisher@TheShirleyVolunteer.org
The Sudbury Town Crier (Sudbury) - Sudbury@cnc.com
The Westborough News (Westborough) - Westboro@cnc.com
The Community Advocate - News@Community Advocate.com
Thank you all for your continued support and again I invite you to visit our website at www.StevenLevy.org.
(Hedlund for Senate Minority Leader - promoted by EaBo Clipper)
Senator Hedlund had a very similar column to Rep. Jones' in my local paper. I have attached the text below... it's a very good read and really outlines how tough a shape the Commonwealth is in.
It also includes a nice section on the tax rollback!
Here is the column:
By Sen. Robert L. Hedlund
A good sign of whether the state is facing tough financial times is when budget negotiations start to stretch into July. It took the Legislature until July 3 this year to finally adopt a state budget for the fiscal year that began three days earlier - a sure sign that our chief budget writers are uncomfortable with how this year could play out.
To be sure, even though the House and Senate took the unusual step of meeting in formal sessions the day before a major holiday to pass the Commonwealth's $28 billion budget, there is a very good chance that this budget could still require some major reworking.
One major concern is whether the state's revenue growth projections will hold up. For example, Wall Street had a very poor month of June. If this develops into a trend, the state could see a significant drop in the amount of capital gains taxes we collect. But the biggest hinge point is whether the federal government will continue to grant the Commonwealth a crucial Medicaid waiver. If this waiver isn't approved, we could find ourselves having to cut anywhere between $200 and $800 million from the budget. To prevent this from happening, the Patrick Administration has been lobbying the federal government hard, and has even reached out to Republicans such as Mitt Romney and Andy Card in an attempt to secure the waiver.
New poll numbers out from the Detroit News have the Michigan race between Obama and McCain very competitive with a chunk of voters still on the sidelines.
Obama is up 43-41, but 12% of voters said they're undecided
I don't think anybody needs any more reason that Mitt Romney will be the pick. If McCain flips MI and keeps NH he wins the election.
Rep. Brad Hill signals a warning about the spendthrifts on Beacon Hill. From the Salem News
...corporate taxes are just the start of the problem. The commonwealth is essentially spending money it does not have, by counting on tax revenue, as well as the rainy-day fund, to make up the difference. An appropriation of $310 million from the state's rainy-day fund was used to balance this budget, putting our stabilization fund below the $2 billion figure that Treasurer Tim Cahill told the Legislature would be needed to help ensure our strong bond rating.
Additionally, the Legislature is counting on a waiver from the federal government that totals $600 million. The waiver period has expired, and we have been told by the federal government that this waiver may not be renewed. In essence, this budget is counting on $600 million that we do not have. Failure to receive these funds could cause a financial crisis.
The state legislature never learns. Even Deval, who is seeking 9C budget authority, knows the budget is a time bomb. It's time for the legislature to hear from fiscal conservatives from both parties.
A Springfield lawmaker muscled through $200,000 for a social service agency where her brother-in-law is the $90,000-a-year director, even as penny-pinching legislators trimmed millions for health care, firefighters and public safety from the state budget, the Herald has learned.
Rep. Cheryl Coakley-Rivera - an up-and-coming member of House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi's leadership team - secured two $100,000 earmarks for the New North Citizens Council in Springfield.
(Here's an oldie but goodie since sign ordinances came up in another thread. They are unconstitutional and can be ignored. So ignore them already. - promoted by EaBo Clipper)
One of my biggest pet peeves are sign ordinances which are on the books in many towns and cities in this Commonwealth. While I am opposed to all signage ordinaces(people should be able to do what they want on their own property), what is particularly galling to me are political sign ordinances. You know the ones that say for instance a sign can be only so big, or that a sign can only go up at a certain time. These restritions are a gross violation of freedom of speech and the First Amendment of the Constitution.
Sign ordinances have been struck down by courts at all levels time and time again. The First Amendment Center has a great article on this.
Yup we're crazy us neanderthal conservatives. We go looking for Media Bias when it obviously isn't there. Don't you know the evil corporations control the media and any bias is obviously slanted against "progressives". At least that's what the progressives would have you think.
Good for team McCain for showing just how blatantly biased the New York Times is. Drudge Reports:
An editorial written by Republican presidential hopeful McCain has been rejected by the NEW YORK TIMES -- less than a week after the paper published an essay written by Obama, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.
The paper's decision to refuse McCain's direct rebuttal to Obama's 'My Plan for Iraq' has ignited explosive charges of media bias in top Republican circles.
'It would be terrific to have an article from Senator McCain that mirrors Senator Obama's piece,' NYT Op-Ed editor David Shipley explained in an email late Friday to McCain's staff. 'I'm not going to be able to accept this piece as currently written.'
MORE
In McCain's submission to the TIMES, he writes of Obama: 'I am dismayed that he never talks about winning the war�only of ending it... if we don't win the war, our enemies will. A triumph for the terrorists would be a disaster for us. That is something I will not allow to happen as president.'
NYT's Shipley advised McCain to try again: 'I'd be pleased, though, to look at another draft.'
[Shipley served in the Clinton Administration from 1995 until 1997 as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Presidential Speechwriter.]
So Bill Clinton's speechwriter deemed John McCain's response to Obama to not be Obamafied enough to be printed. WHAT?
(Hey Hey Ho Ho Richie Tisei has Got to Go - promoted by Cool Cal)
This once again raises a major point. On many many major issues, Senator Tisei takes positions to the left of many senate Democrats, let alone Republicans. He's more liberal than the REpublicans and Democrats, and senators such as Panagiotakos, Moore, Timilty, etc.
He's failed to lead on any major issue. He's not effective at raising the party's profile in the media. His liberalism is demoralizing to the grassroots and the donors of the GOP.
He supports high taxes, abortion, and gay marriage. Failing to support the roll-back to 5% is just too much if you're going to be a LEADER.
It is probably time for new leadership. Scott Brown?
I hope you all had a great weekend. I am writing to remind you that Tuesday is right around the corner and we'll be phone banking on behalf of John McCain here in Boston on Tuesday and Thursday night this week.
Bring a friend, enjoy some pizza and snacks, and help Team McCain reach our call goals for this week!
Please RSVP to Massachusetts@JohnMcCain.com if you can attend the phone banks this week. We will be working from 5:30-8:30 at 85 Merrimac St., Suite 400 in Boston.
Looking forward to seeing you there!
Sincerely,
Amber Hillman
P.S. Mark your calendars now for our "Countdown to Victory: 100 Days" phone bank event in Boston on Tuesday, July 29th from 5:30-8:30pm. This will be a great night complete with prizes for our top phone bankers!
Can't make it to Boston? For more information on volunteering at our Nashua, NH office OR to help us identify McCain phone bank locations across Massachusetts, please call our New England Headquaters at 603-369-4944 or email Massachusetts@JohnMcCain.com.
Column after column could be filled with the ways the Massachusetts political class and its hangers-on play taxpayers for suckers - the gold-plated tax breaks for moviemakers, the insanely lucrative sick-time buybacks, the indefensible police details, the public-sector-only paid holidays, the "temporary" tax hikes that last forever, the state budgets that keep growing even as family budgets shrink.
It will never end - not until the suckers get riled up enough to fight back. Not until they start throwing incumbents out of office, instead of blindly reelecting them. Not until they stop letting themselves be treated as ATMs for politicians and doormats for public-employee unions. Not until they force their public "servants" to defer to them, instead of the other way around.
"Are you on your hind legs?" Willie Stark would say. "Have you learned that much yet?" Well, have you?
Bob Dylan once wrote that you don't have to be a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing. And for Republican Bob Parks, it was pretty obvious that things weren't going to blow his way in the 2006 race to represent the Second Franklin District.
"The one thing I heard most from people was that they liked my economic development ideas, but because of what was going on, they were never going to vote for a Republican," Parks said.
"People clearly wanted to send a message to George Bush regarding the war," Parks said. "But my question, two years later, is, 'did that message you sent put one more meal on your dinner table or help you make one mortgage payment?' I don't think so."
shh ... be sure not to speak too loudly about any of this, but rumour has it that the Patrick administration is now in talks and holding hearings trying to settle on a plan to stabilize the MTA.
Evidently the thinking at this point falls into two camps; one wishing to raise the state gas tax 100% along with tolls and fees, while the other simply wishes to take on $2.4 BILLION in additional debt and pass it along with all the rest to future generations.
Hmm ... Such bold thinking leaves me in awe.
There are some great quotes here by some very familiar names in this story from National Review Online all about MassGOP Congressional candidate Nathan Bech!
Nathan Bech has spent most of his adult life serving his country. The 34-year-old Massachusetts native joined the Army Reserves shortly after high school and has served in Afghanistan and Iraq. This November, he's running as a Republican in the Bay State's first congressional district.
"The Republicans in the district are excited to see someone running," says Bech. "I like to shake things up. That's why I'm here."
