Please, No More Tax Delinquents In The State House…

It’s a bizarre irony when the Beacon Hill folks (excuse me, Democrats) who push for raising taxes and overturning the will of the voters to remove a tax cut are the exact same people who have a problem paying their own taxes. Isn’t it about time we say “no” to tax delinquents in the State House?

The best thing for voters to do is completely avoid getting these tax deadbeats in office. Voters in the Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex districts have that opportunity in their laps. Sara Orozco, Democrat challenger to Senator Scott Brown, finished paying taxes from two years ago in January.

State financial disclosure forms show that state Senate candidate Sara Orozco finished paying off back taxes in January that she had owed from 2005.

Orozco, a Needham Democrat, said the taxes were paid off through an installment plan, with a final payment of $1,500 to $2,000 coming on January 24.

A psychologist, Orozco said the situation surfaced in 2005 when she started a practice on her own and became self employed.

She said she made estimated tax payments that year based on what she thought she would earn from her practice.

Business good But by the end of the year, her business had picked up and she made more money that she and her accountant had estimated. It turned out she owed the Internal Revenue Service more taxes.

The state forms said the total was between $5,001 and $10,000.

The IRS allowed her to set up a payment plan and she had regular payments deducted on time from her checking account, she said.

“The payments were made in a timely and responsible manner,” she said.

Peggy Riley, a spokeswoman for the IRS, said she could not comment on a specific case because of privacy laws.

However, she said an installment plan for back taxes is an option the IRS makes available to all taxpayers.

Not such a big deal, right? You might say that, but why is it that she took years to payoff a $5,000-$10,000 tax bill but was still able to loan her campaign $10,000 in the space of four months? According to OCPF filings, Sara Orozco made the following loans to her campaign:

5/2/2008: $5,000
6/26/2008: $2,000
8/22/2008: $3,000

I understand that some people can run into a hard time with their taxes, especially small business owners. It is also good that she did actually pay off her back taxes, but if you can afford to give your own political campaign a $10,000 check while slowly paying off up to $10,000 in back taxes, well, it seems to me that if she was able to make those campaign loans so quickly, she likely could have paid her taxes off quicker.

The Committee to Elect Sara Orozco also made the following donations to the Democratic State Committee:

5/2/2008: $250.00
5/29/2008: $200.00
10/3/2008: $10,000.00
10/7/2008: $4,500.00

Did she come into a lot of money at the beginning of May of this year? Seems strange that she’s been able to loan her campaign $10,000 and donate nearly $15,000 to the Democratic State Committee, all since May.

Does anyone else find it odd she could make $25,000 in political loans and donations since May… but two years to pay off $10,000 to the IRS?

MassGOP Says Benson, Eldridge Violated Campaign Finance Laws

The Massachusetts Republican Party has filed a complaint with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance.

The Massachusetts Republican Party announced today it has filed a complaint with state officials alleging that a Democratic contender for the state Legislature violated campaign finance laws at a campaign event in Boxborough earlier this month.

The complaint was filed this morning with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance, the state body that regulates political fundraising. The one-page letter claims that during an event at Boxborough’s Sargent Memorial Library, Democrat Jennifer Benson encouraged supporters to donate to her campaign, violating a state law that prohibits soliciting donations in a public building.

The complaint, which asks the OCPF to investigate the incident, also alleges that state Rep. Jamie Eldridge, D-Acton, who hosted the event, also violated the law by urging supporters to donate to Benson’s campaign.

Benson did not return messages today.

While these kind of allegations should be investigated, will the OCPF do anything, really?

Can Ogonowski Win? Yes He Can.

Jim Ogonowski, who is vying for the vacant seat in the House of Representatives left by the recent departure of Rep. Marty Meehan, was just on CNN talking about his candidacy.

The CNN segment included analysis given by David King, a so-called political expert at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. King claimed that Ogonowski has no chance because the 5th Congressional district is “the bluest of blue districts.”

King may be a political “expert” but one can’t say he’s unbiased. According to OCPF and FEC reports, he’s donated to the campaigns of Deval Patrick ($210), Rep. William Brownsberger ($100), and former LG candidate Andrea Silbert ($50). It’s even harder to accept his “analysis” when you look at the voting record of the district. Which, clearly the Ogonowski campaign is aware of. In an interview with Hub Politics last month, Ogonowski said the 5th congressional district “is a winnable district for Republicans,” and noted that “Governors Weld, Cellucci and Romney all won the district.”

So, clearly the political “expert” King’s assessment that the 5th congressional district “bluest of blue districts,” thus making it unwinnable for Ogonowski, can’t be accepted at face value. Republicans have won in the district before, and the right Republican could easily win it again.

Then there’s this claim, from the CNN.com story:

“This is a district that follows politics very, very carefully and knows all of the players on the Democratic side very well. There is a lot of talent on the Democratic side. Terrific candidates,” King said. “And Lt. Col. Ogonowski is flying in with an air war. He doesn’t have boots on the ground. He doesn’t have troops that are marching door to door. All of the other candidates do.

But Ogonowski is not an unknown. Last month he told Hub Politics, “I have strong roots in the Fifth District,” and expressed his confidence in his chances for victory:

My family has lived in Dracut for over a hundred years, and I’ve lived here all my life. People here care about fiscal discipline, and they also care about the environment, and they’re tired of the usual Washington politics. People know I feel the same way, and they know I’ll take that understanding to Washington. Trust me, I wouldn’t be in this race if I didn’t know I could win!

In facta small army of Ogonowski volunteers have indeed been going door-to-door and making phone calls throughout the district.

Ogonowski also has a growing group of supporters online. The Jim Ogonowski For Congress Facebook group (of which I am a member) has nearly 500 members as of this posting.

Another factor that apparently was not considered by David King was the current low approval rating (24%) and low confidence rating of Congress (14%). Clearly, voters aren’t satisfied with the new Congress, and are certainly going to be very open to change.

The bottom line is that David King’s biased assessment of Ogonowski’s chances ignores several factors that suggest that the seat is winnable for him. Will it be an uphill battle? Certainly. But no matter what the “experts” say, there’s no reason to write off Ogonowski’s campaign. If there’s any Republican who can win in the district, it is Jim Ogonowski.

DiMasi Has Accepted Over $13,000 In Contributions From Anti-Auto Insurance Reform Lobby

Most liberals would say they hate monopolies. But, any liberal has a price to change his heart.

For Salvatore DiMasi, it’s over $13,000.

Hub Politics has obtained a startling analysis of DiMasi‚Äôs records with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF) that explains why auto insurance reforms have gone absolutely nowhere in this state. Since 2004, Salvatore DiMasi’s campaign committee and political action committee together have received at least $13,425 from the anti-auto insurance lobby.

The way the system works today, there is an auto-insurance monopoly in Massachusetts. This monopoly means Massachusetts drivers end up paying too much for car insurance because of limited competition.

So, while we pay more for car insurance, Salvatore DiMasi gets to fill up his campaign coffers with thousands of dollars in contributions from Arbella, Commerce, and Plymouth Rock (the big auto insurance companies in Massachusetts that support the anti-reform group Massachusetts Coalition for Affordable Auto Insurance for All) who benefit the most from the auto-insurance monopoly.

Ken Procaccianti, who is challenging DiMasi, says “it is frustrating to me and every good driver in Massachusetts who pays too much for their car insurance that Representative DiMasi may have been influenced because insurance executives opened their checkbooks to him. After all, his campaign finance records read like the stockholders lists of Arbella and Commerce.”

Deval Patrick’s So-Called Republican Endorsement

Deval Patrick is touting Gloria Larson as his stellar Republican and business leader that is endorsing him, and is a heading his “business cabinet.”

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Deval Patrick yesterday tried to shore up his support within the business community, creating a new “business cabinet” and vowing to “rebuild” the Massachusetts economy.

Patrick, whose liberal candidacy has attracted surprising support from some business quarters, said Gloria Larson, a former economic secretary under GOP governor William Weld and current chairwoman of the state’s convention authority, will head up the cabinet.

It’s no accident why Larson in particular was chosen to head up Patrick’s “business cabinet.” But, what type of a Republican is she?

Well, first, she’s not even a registered Republican. According to the Yarmouth Town Hall she’s ‘unenrolled.’

But, let’s not jump to conclusions shall we… After all, it’s not that uncommon for a Republican in this state to be registered as ‘Unenrolled.’ In fact, I registered as ‘unenrolled’ when I turned 18, and only became a Republican when I voted in 2004 primaries. Prior to my officially becoming a Republican, I still donated money to Republicans, including George W. Bush’s reelection campaign, and South Daktoa Republican Tom Thune’s Senate campaign.

So, who has this stellar Republican Gloria Larson given campaign contributions to? Larson has given money to Republicans in the past, including Romney and Healey back in 2002, but that’s not the full story.

According to OCPF reports, she’s given money to Dianne Wilkerson, Robert Travaglini, Tom Reilly, Tom Menino, Jarrett “Fluff” Barrios, Martha Coakley… Even Marie St. Fleur! Oh, what a fine Republican Larson must be!

Considering the riffraff of Democrats Larson has contributed to, and her being ‘unenrolled’ I wouldn’t be calling her a Republican. If I ever donated to the likes of Wilkerson, Reilly, Menino, Barrios, Coakley or St. Fleur, I wouldn’t call myself a Republican, nor would I deserve to.