Open Thread: Election Day

I cast my vote this morning. #264 in my precinct. From the moment I parked my car to the moment I got back in it to head to work took about 8 minutes.

This post is an open thread for election day discussion.

How was your polling place?

Local predictions?

National predictions?

Does your vote matter?

Your Vote Does Matter Tomorrow (…Well, Some of Them)

Massachusetts is written off by presidential candidates. It’s a sure thing.

But there are a series of state elections that your vote does matter…and can have a huge impact on state politics.

Here is my take on the three questions:

Question 1, to eliminate the income tax. Truthfully, how you vote on this is really about sending a message to Beacon Hill. If the citizens do vote to end the income tax, and I believe they will, the Democratic Legislature will just ignore the will of the people, as they have done many times in the recent past.

Question 2, decriminalizing pot possession of 1 oz. or less. Anyone caught with said amount will have to “give up pot” and pay a $100 civil fine. Does anyone think telling someone they have to give up pot is going to work? It’s already an illegal substance. $100 fine is beans. This question sucks. A vote yes sends the wrong message, and it paves the way for the complete decriminalization of marijuana. I predict it will be close, but will pass, even though it shouldn’t.

Question 3, seeks to ban dog racing and betting. The pro-Question 3 effort is spearheaded by the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. I have not been able to pay attention to the ad campaign to see who make the most compelling argument. That said, I don’t lose any sleep at night if a greyhound gets hurt on a racetrack. Racetrack owners who are leading the opposition argue the animals are well cared for, and that 1,000 jobs would be lost if this question wins. Sorry, but people are more important than animals. Vote no.

Where your votes can make the most difference is Beacon Hill.

Beacon Hill is nearly 90% democrats. This is absurd. The reason why your vote on Question 1 is meaningless is because of the state legislature has shown time and time again your vote is bupkis–totally meaningless. The “party of choice” takes that choice away from you. You vote for change, and they take it away. Party of the people? Not quite. It’s only natural that we disapprove of the whole government body, but like our particular elected official…but people, please, look at the record of your elected officials. If they are not on your side, don’t give them the privilege of your vote. The only way to reign them in is to bring something resembling balance to Beacon Hill, and yes, that means electing some Republicans. Here is a list of candidates running for election and reelection:

State Senate

Jon Rockwood – Bristol and Norfolk
Brion Cangiamila – Fourth Middlesex
Keith McCormic – Hampshire and Franklin
Sandra “Sandi” Martinez – Third Middlesex
Richard Tisei – Middlesex and Essex
Steve Levy – Middlesex and Worcester
Scott Brown – Norfolk, Bristol and Plymouth
Robert Hedlund – Plymouth and Norfolk
John Lebeaux – 2^nd Worcester
Bruce Tarr – 1^st Essex and Middlesex
Mike Knapik – 2^nd Hampden and Hampshire

State Representative

Don Howell – Barnstable 4
Jeff Perry – Barnstable 5
Fred Barrows – Bristol 1
George Ross – Bristol 2
C.J. Ferry – Bristol 7
Elizabeth Poirier – Bristol 14
Brad Hill – Essex 4
John Blaisdell – Essex 8
Lawrence Brennan – Essex 18
Robert Parks – Franklin 2
William Scibelli – Hampden 2
George Vazquez – Hampden 10
Paul Avella – Middlesex 2
Sonny Parente – Middlesex 3
Arthur Vigeant – Middlesex 4
Dan Haley – Middlesex 8
Susan Pope – Middlesex 13
Brad Jones – Middlesex 20
Anthony Lucacio – Middlesex 22
Jeffrey Bilezikian – Middlesex 29
Brian O’Connor – Middlesex 31
Kurt Hayes – Middlesex 37
Bob Thomas – Norfolk 4
Richard Ross – Norfolk 9
Vinny DeMacedo – Plymouth 1
Susan Gifford – Plymouth 2
Dan Webster – Plymouth 6
Lewis Evangelidis – Worcester 1
Stephen Comtois – Worcester 5
Ronald Chernisky – Worcester 6
Paul Frost – Worcester 7
Kevin Kuros – Worcester 8
George Peterson – Worcester 9
Karyn Polito – Worcester 11

Capitol Hill suffers from a similar problem… but our delegation is 100% Democrats.

US Senate
Jeff Beatty

US Congress
Nathan Bech – 1^st District
Earl Sholley – 4^th District
Richard Baker – 6^th District
John Cunningham – 7^th District

Bottom line, electing mostly or all Democrats is failing this state. If you want change, the answer is clear: send the Democrats packing. If you choose to accept the current state of Massachusetts politics as it is, don’t be surprise if at the next national election we’ll have end up sending a few less congressional representatives to sit in the Capitol.

Deport Her: Obama Aunt Here Illegally

Barack Obama’s aunt, recently found living in a South Boston slum, is living in the United States illegally.

Zeituni Onyango, 56, referred to as “Aunti Zeituni” in Obama’s memoir, was instructed to leave the United States by a U.S. immigration judge who denied her asylum request, a person familiar with the matter told the AP late Friday. This person spoke on condition of anonymity because no one was authorized to discuss Onyango’s case.

Information about the deportation case was disclosed and confirmed by two separate sources, one of them a federal law enforcment official. The information they made available is known to officials in the federal government, but the AP could not establish whether anyone at a political level in the Bush administration or in the McCain campaign had been involved in its release.

Onyango’s refusal to leave the country would represent an administrative, non-criminal violation of U.S. immigration law, meaning such cases are handled outside the criminal court system. Estimates vary, but many experts believe there are more than 10 million such immigrants in the United States.

The AP could not reach Onyango immediately for comment. No one answered the telephone number listed in her name late Friday. It was unclear why her request for asylum was rejected in 2004.

Perhaps Obama should visit Aunti Zeituni before her trip back home.

Wilkerson Still Campaigning While Senate Discusses Her Fate

Senator Dianne Wilkerson is still fighting for her state senate seat, meanwhile, senators are getting together to decide if she should keep her chairmanship, or kick her out of the senate all together.

Senators caucused this morning and examined whether to strip Sen. Dianne Wilkerson of her chairmanship and possibly oust her from the Senate.

Meanwhile, Gov. Deval Patrick said today Wilkerson should resign, “if the allegations are true.”

Patrick said he’s “deeply troubled” by the corruption charges levied against the eight-term state senator. “I feel personally betrayed,” he added.

Wilkerson was arrested earlier this week and charged with accepting $23,500 in bribes in exchange for passing legislation.

Sen. Michael Morrissey (D-Quincy) could move to expel Wilkerson from the Senate at today’s caucus, according to a Senate source.

Senate Ways and Means Chairman Steven Panagiotakos (D-Lowell), who also sits on the Ethics Committee, said he wasn’t sure if members will be able to force Wilkerson from the Senate.

“I think you can request her to do it, but I think you have to wait until the charges against her are settled in court to remove her from the Senate,” Panagiotakos said.

Wilkerson says this is a “test to the limit the notion of innocent until proven guilty.” Well, we are talking proven guilty, or proven guilty in a court of law? It looks pretty clear you are quite guilty, we’re just waiting for the formality of it being proven in the halls of justice.

In the court of public opinion, the verdict is in.

How’s that sticker campaign going, Ms. Wilkerson?

John Kerry Wants Another Economy-Crippling New Deal

Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it… And if John Kerry has his way this country would have another FDR-style New Deal.

The nation’s battered economy needs an old-fashioned “Rooseveltian lift” of regulatory reforms and government spending on the infrastructure, clean energy and other sectors, U.S. Sen. John Kerry said yesterday.

Kerry, facing a re-election challenge from Republican Jeff Beatty, rejected GOP calls for more tax rebates to stimulate the economy, as was done last spring.

“I am for a stimulus package. I am not for a stimulus package that just sends out checks,” said Kerry at a Boston Herald editorial meeting yesterday.

Instead, Kerry said the nation needs to spend more in areas that will both help the economy in the short run and long run – such as on roads and bridges, clean energy initiatives and life sciences.

Calling current financial woes the most “complicated economic time we’ve had since the Great Depression,” Kerry said new approaches are needed to reform the current financial system.

Obviously, John Kerry doesn’t know a thing about history or economics. If he did he would know that FDRs New Deal (which included tax increases, bank consolidations, higher tariffs and forced unionization amongst other things) prolonged The Great Depression rather than got the country out of it.

If that is something Kerry wants to happen again, then how could anyone possibly vote for him?