government reform

What is really behind the wave of states making changes to its Election Laws?  The latest, New Hampshire, want to requre all new voters to be residents.  Sounds simple, but it never is... Check out the debate between domicile and legal residence.  It's not only about voter disenfranchisement, there are economic consequences to New Hampshire as well.  It's never simple...

That law says that claiming domicile for voting purposes does not establish the person's voting address as his legal residence for other purposes. [House Election Law Chairman David]  ] ]Bates would make the voting address the legal residence and that is what could affect students' status and therefore their tuition rates...  [Full Article: The Boston Globe]

I had a hunch about how the two "mini-movements" differed but Kate Zernike in the New York Times did a great job of documenting my simple observations. (Always a good idea.)

She said it is more that a culture war, "young versus old, left versus right, communal food tables versus “Don’t Tread on Me” flags." Here are a couple of paragraphs, but you really should read the whole thing. 

In fact, the two movements do share key traits. They emerged out of nowhere but quickly became potent political forces, driven by anxiety about the economy, a belief that big institutions favor the reckless over the hard-working, grievances that are inchoate and even contradictory, and an insistence that they are “leaderless.” “End the Fed” signs — and even some of those yellow Gadsden flags — have found a place at Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street protests alike.

Where they differ is in where they place the blame. While Occupy forces find fault in the banks and super-rich, the Tea Party movement blames the government for the economic calamity brought on by the mortgage crisis, and sees the wealthy as job creators who will lift the country out of its economic malaise. To them, the solution is less regulation of banks, not more.

Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey declared Monday, “If you told the Occupy Wall Street people and the Tea Party people that they are the same, they would hit you.”

Thank you Governor, wouldn't want to get hit by either one of those groups.

You never know with the Herald.

One day they come up with front page story that, shall we say, spins a perfectly reasonably sound observation about the #occupyboston folk into a threat to close it down prompting a counter threat from one of the leaderless participants. Oh well, to be expected, but NOT to be expected was the full reading from a reporter on BUR that monring. Right after I sent in my annual $100 contribution and generouly declined any prizes. Here's the article in part..

Relations between the city, police and the movement’s members have been amicable thus far, but Menino, for the first time since the Occupy Boston began, said yesterday there’s a limit on how long the demonstration should last.

“There will be a time when they’ll have to leave that location,” Menino told the Herald. Asked when the city might move to clear the park, he said: “We’ll make that decision in the near future.”...........“If he wants to send the police after us, that’s on him,” said Noah McKenna, 25, of Jamaica Plain. “We’ll see where public opinion goes. We’re not going to be silenced by Menino. This is bigger than Menino.”

Today of course is a wonderful set of articles on page 2 of the Herald about the #occupyboston folk reaching out to other subsets of concerned citizens, including supporters accused terrorist Terak Mehanna. A good fair reporting job by Christine McConville

The downtown protest group Occupy Boston threw its proverbial doors open yesterday, and played host to supporters of accused terrorist Terak Mehanna, who are looking to raise awareness of the Sudbury man’s upcoming trial.

The Tarek Mehanna Support Committee came to Occupy Boston’s ever-evolving tent city on the Rose Kennedy Greenway to say Mehanna, a Muslim American pharmacist, is a victim of anti-Muslim sentiment.

Even a good photo. Go Herald. Can't wait to ready you tomorrow! AndWBUR expect an email from me.

Everybody's got an opinion reports the NYTimes. . Especially de Mayah. Go ahead take the quiz yourself.

When does lobbying reform go too far overboard and to the detriment of all?  The Obama Administration may have reached that point.  Lobbying, just like other noble professions, is performed by intelligent, thoughtful, and dedicated people who believe in their issue and who follow moral codes of conduct.  Just like with other professions, not everyone matches this level of performance.  That shouldn't be the reason to paint all lobbyist with the same negative brush, putting constraints on careers.

The report also details several examples of seemingly qualified senior nonprofit employees missing out on appointments because of their lobbyist status. ...David Cohen, a CLPI board member and former president of Common Cause, said the issue is that “people who are quite qualified and bring a different perspective on things are really being kept out of government by critical levels."  [Full Article: Politico]

Judy Meredith and Lew Finfer are pooling their collective organizing, advocacy, and leadership experiences to form the Massachusetts Policy and Organizing Leadership Training Academy.  There's a wealth of knowledge to pass on to the next group of organizers and advocates and the current group of aspiring leaders.

State Representative Linda Dorcena Forry said the pair’s new focus on educating future activists comes at a critical time as non-profits struggle through a sluggish economy and new ethics reforms which she said has left many organizations scrambling to adjust...“I think it’s great what they’re doing,” Forry said. “There are a lot of non-profits that feel they don’t have the skills to address legislators. They find themselves paying out for a lobbyist when they could be doing much of the work themselves.”  [Full Article: Dorchester Reporter]

Secure Communities is the federal immigration criminal database program, that many states have problems with.  Boston so far is the only city in Massachusetts that has enrolled in the program, but Bristol, Worcester, and Plymouth are talking with the feds about joining.

Secure Communities works by tapping into a longstanding relationship between local and state police and the FBI. ..To activate Secure Communities, US officials say they first need enough federal agents, jail space for detainees, and vehicles to transport them to make it work.   [Full Article: The Boston Globe]

Here's a twist on the tax discussion...raise the taxes on those least able to pay (more) and who are currently paying the highest percentage of income in taxes.  This political platform may get a candidate more corporate contributions, but as we know, corporations aren't people and they don't vote.  Think about it...who earns the money that's not being contributed/taxed at the similar percentage of income basis to pay for the programs and services that we all depend and rely upon on a daily basis?

The moral argument would have been obvious before this polarized year. Nearly 90 percent of the families that paid no income tax make less than $40,000, most much less...At a time when high-income households are paying their lowest share of federal taxes in decades, when corporations frequently avoid paying any tax, it is clear who should bear a larger burden and who should not . [Full Editorial: The New York Times]