An alert reader, MB, points out that the disgraceful behavior of Maryland Republican candidates will go unpunished: The Justice Department says it won't investigate misleading fliers that Republicans distributed in Maryland on Election Day. [...] Acting Assistant Attorney General James Clinger says there's not enough legal basis to support such an investigation. And you wonder … Continue reading Disgraceful: followup
Category: National
The new Democratic leadership
Thursday, the Democrats elected new leadership for the 110th Congress, which begins in January. As expected, Nancy Pelosi was elected Speaker, becoming the first woman in history to hold that office. After a somewhat contentious battle, Steny Hoyer was elected Majority Leader. Pelosi, in my opinion, used up a bit of her political capital in … Continue reading The new Democratic leadership
A couple of comments on Economics
First, somehow I missed that yesterday, Milton Friedman died. Friedman won the Nobel Prize for economics in 1976. His ideas of monetarism were in contrast to those of John Maynard Keynes. These were the two dominant economists that I studied (in the dark ages) of college. He [Friedman] said government should allow the free market … Continue reading A couple of comments on Economics
HR550: Paper trail
If they can give you a slip of paper verifying an electronic transaction from an ATM machine, then they can give you a piece of paper verifying your vote. This isn't rocket science, folks. Putting paper trails on electronic voting machines is a no-brainer to me. Just take a look at what's going on in … Continue reading HR550: Paper trail
MLK Jr National Memorial groundbreaking
Today, some 5,000 people gathered in Washington, D.C. for the groundbreaking ceremony for the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial. The $100 million memorial will be on Mall, near the Lincoln Memorial (click to enlarge the photo) where King gave his famous "I Have A Dream" speech in 1963. Included on the four-acre site will … Continue reading MLK Jr National Memorial groundbreaking
Disgraceful
Just back from a meeting about ethics and while perusing the Virginia Political Blogs aggregator, I ran across this post about the behavior of Republicans in Maryland. Steele, however, is ensnared in an incipient election scandal that we haven't heard the last of yet. [...] Shortly before the election, the campaigns of both Steele and … Continue reading Disgraceful
Post-election podcast
Bearing Drift has up the post-election podcast recorded last night. Joining Jim & Squeaky Wheel in the conversation were Brian Kirwan, Republican political consultant, Ben Tribbet and yours truly. Check it out 😉
Negative ads: this needs fixing
Like nearly everyone in the country, I'm sick of the negative advertising that permeates campaign season. Around here, they started running early, with the Moveon ads. In today's Daily Press, op-ed writer John Miller offers some suggestions for making the ads go away: Require candidates appearance in the ads. "If they want to call their … Continue reading Negative ads: this needs fixing
AMT and the middle class
Since Jerry Furham doesn't allow comments on his blog, I figured I'd answer his post about alternative minimum tax here. In it, Jerry asserts that AMT doesn't affect the middle class and challenges the Washington Post to produce any middle class Virginian it affects. Well, as a CPA in Virginia, I could produce a list … Continue reading AMT and the middle class
The History of Veterans Day
From Military.com: November 11, or what has come to be known as Veterans Day, was originally set as a U.S. legal holiday to honor Armistice Day - the end of World War I, which officially took place on November 11, 1918. In legislature that was passed in 1938, November 11 was "dedicated to the cause … Continue reading The History of Veterans Day
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 