CT Dem State Central misteps with mailers

Image via CT News Junkie
Democratic State Central recently sent out a couple of mailers that address the recipient's recent voting record, in what was called "tone deaf" and "creepy" by some. "Big Brother" was mentioned in reference to the mailers.

It turns out that while everyone's actual VOTE is a secret matter, the fact of whether you voted or not is listed on publicly available voting records.

It means that anyone can find out if their friends or relatives or political rivals have done their civic duty by voting, or if they're hypocritical idiots who complain endlessly about their elected representatives yet do nothing to change anything.

I was aware of this for many years, after a dear friend who shall remain nameless chided me on missing several local elections in previous years. Since that moment, I've been very good about voting, even to the point of voting early when I knew I was going to be traveling on election day.

But many Democrats are somewhat shocked and offended by the tone of the mailings.

I understand that in a close election you need to do as much as possible to get people to show up at the polls. Using voting records to guilt people into voting probably isn't the most effective way of doing it.

It was a mistake, probably a bit embarrassing for State Central and the person who was responsible for it. But will it negatively affect the results of Tuesday's election? Very doubtful.

Read the article on CT News Junkie for a very in-depth examination of this relatively minor controversy.

And be sure to get out and VOTE on Tuesday...

Or we'll all know!

I voted Yes on Question #1

(Doing my part to keep the Working Families Party line on the ballot!)
​​​CT Bob: I already voted absentee because I'm out of town on Election Day, but there are ways to make it easier for people who, for whatever reason, can't get away to the polls during that relatively brief 14-hour window on Election Day. I voted YES on the amendment, because I'm all in favor of ANY change that makes it easier for eligible citizens to participate in our representative democracy.

I dream that I will one day see a 100% turnout for our elections. THAT'S the very definition of a participatory democracy!

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MEDIA ADVISORY
For Immediate Release: Monday, October 27th, 2014
Contact: Jimmy Tickey 203-520-1910 DeLauro
Mike Smith 203-450-4579 Merrill​​
​​
DeLauro​ & Secretary of the State Denise Merrill Hold Press Conference on Constitutional Amendment
​​
New Haven – Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro will join Connecticut's Secretary of the State Denise Merrill tomorrow, Tuesday, October 28, 2014 t​o call for passage of ​the constitutional amendment question on the ballot this November. The press conference will be held at the Tower One/Tower East apartment and assisted living community.

WHO: Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, Secretary of the State Denise Merrill

WHAT: Constitutional amendment question on the ballot this Nov​.​ 4th

WHEN: Tuesday, October 28, 2014 at 2:00pm

WHERE: Tower One/Tower East, 18 Tower Lane, New Haven, CT 06519

If passed, the constitutional amendment would give the Connecticut General Assembly the ability to enact early voting. Thirty-five states already have some form of early voting.

The question on the ballot reads “Shall the Constitution of the State be amended to remove restrictions concerning absentee ballots and to permit a person to vote without appearing at a polling place on the day of an election?”

DeLauro said, "If passed, the constitutional amendment proposed in Question 1 will remove decades’ old limitations that can make it difficult for people to vote in elections. Whether you are a working parent, commuting to work and trying to balance job and family responsibilities, a senior who is dependent on others to get to the polls​ or​ a student managing classes -- removing these restrictions will make voting easier for everyone."

"Being able to vote on a day other than Election Day will make it easier for Connecticut residents to exercise their fundamental right to vote," Merrill added.

Hey Tom Foley, this is why we need paid sick leave!

Tom Foley has stated that he's against paid sick leave. Gov. Dan Malloy helped push through the legislation that gave Connecticut the Paid Sick Leave law.

I would imagine someone like Tom Foley doesn't ever have to fly commercial airlines. Because if he did, he would expose himself to employees like a flight attendant who obviously couldn't afford to take the day off to nurse her cold/flu/ebola/smallpox...

Tom Foley can afford to fly on private jets, he can boat on private yachts, and he can have his personal chef make gourmet meals for him. All the while having the ability to be safe from ill employees.

The vast majority of Connecticut residents don't have that option.

So imagine how you'd feel if you were trapped on a six-hour flight in an airtight tube with a sick person who handles your food/drink/life during the trip.

Click on the link below to this SoundCloud recording by Sarah Silverman from a recent flight she took.

SoundCloud: Sick Flight Attendant

And follow @SarahKSilverman on Twitter, because she's so damned funny!

PS: Being filthy rich is just SO MUCH FUN!!!!

Would you want a governor who paid no taxes?

I mean, really!

This is just crazy that Tom Foley is SO bloody rich that he DOESN'T HAVE TO PAY INCOME TAX!

I wish I was that rich.

I'd be able to afford a new car for me and my wife. Both our cars were made in the 90s, and we have over a quarter million miles between them! Oh, and we both work full-time and we pay our fair share in taxes.

Besides new cars, having a five million dollar yacht like Foley's would be fun, too!

Watch this video called "Yacht", and decide if you want a governor who views our state from that perspective:

Dead heat in Governor's Race

Gov. Dan Malloy has evened up his race with Tom Foley in the latest Q-Poll.

From News12: A new Quinnipiac University Poll shows Connecticut's race for governor is a dead heat.

The poll finds Republican businessman Tom Foley no longer holds a lead over Democratic Gov. Dannel Malloy.

Voters were asked who they would vote for if the election was today and 43 percent said Malloy and 43 percent said Foley.

Petitioning candidate Joe Visconti got nine percent.

Last month, a Quinnipiac poll had Foley in a six point lead over Malloy.

I always wondered why they call a tie in the polls a "dead heat".

So I decided to Google the phrase to find it's origins.

Merriam Webster says:

Full Definition of DEAD HEAT
: a tie with no single winner of a race; broadly : tie

The American Heritage® Dictionary:

dead heat n.
1. Sports A race in which two or more contestants compete evenly or finish at the same time.
2. A political campaign or other contest that is so close that it is impossible to predict the winner.

Collins English Dictionary:

1. (Individual Sports, other than specified)
a. a race or contest in which two or more participants tie for first place
b. a tie between two or more contestants in any position

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary:

dead′ heat′ n.
a race in which two or more competitors finish in a tie.
[1790–1800]

Farlex Trivia Dictionary:

dead heat - If two horses tied in a heat, the heat did not count and was called "dead"; now any tie can be called a dead heat.

So it appears that the term originated with horse racing to describe a tie upon the finish of a race, and was later applied to many racing competitions that ended with a tie.

It's no wonder that the term has been applied to political contests. There is absolutely a sporting aspect to politics, and many people who follow races like these are not shockingly also sports aficionados.

Hunter S. Thompson has often written of the similarity to sports and politics, and the same way a person can become a sports junkie often applies to those who are politics junkies.

And it looks like we're in a real hoss race for the next four weeks! Gonna go right down to the wire!

Tom Foley smoked pot

He just said so, on the governor's debate with Dan Malloy tonight.

Wow!

So they guy who wants to be governor is a lawbreaker who is against making pot legal.

Hypocrite.

(full disclosure: seconds later, Dan Malloy admitted to smoking it "once", sounding eerily similar to Bill Clinton's infamous "didn't inhale" line. I don't know a single person alive who smoked it only once...even if they didn't like it.)

Tom Foley is a dick

I just really wanted to say that.

I only hope this article shows up on his Google searches and it ruins his day. Please repost this article everywhere so it will further embarrass/anger/humiliate him.

Republican gubernatorial candidate and perpetual bridesmaid but never the bride Tom Foley has a slight lead over Gov. Dan Malloy, based on the most recent Q-poll.

Here's why I think he's a dick. Not all the reasons, but a major one. From DailyKos.com:

Four years into [Foley's] tenure [at a Pennsylvania factory], unionized workers at the manufacturing company refused his labor agreement and voted to strike – which they did, for 24 hours a day, for two and a half years.

"Because of Tom Foley … people were destroyed - and it's because Tom Foley wanted to profit," said Julie Kushner, the director of United Auto Workers Region 9, who held a press conference in Higganum Thursday along with other union leaders to call attention to the strike. According to news reports at the time, Foley received nearly $40 million as the largest shareholder when the company was sold in 2007.

"People don't do that in a haphazard way," Kushner said, referring to the length of the strike.

The strike was not resolved through labor negotiations; rather, Foley began hiring replacement employees who were not, as the striking workers were, demanding a 50-cent increase in hourly wages.

Fifty fucking cents! That's what Foley decided was worthy of dumping the factory and destroying people's livelihoods.

Of course, his $40,000,000 payday for doing so may have been a strong incentive!

What a dick!

Hey, let's be honest here. I might be capable of being as much of a dick as Tom Foley if someone was waving a $40 million check in my face.

I don't know...

But I'm not running for governor...

He is.

Anyway, it will make me feel good when Foley's campaign will spend some money on another failed bid for governor. Even if it is publicly financed this time around. At least some of it (but not all, based on his practices of hiring out of state media people) will make its way into our local economy.

At least he's gracing us with that.

And let's not forget that his multi-million dollar mega-yacht was named Odalisque, the Turkish word for a female slave in a harem.

What a dick!

You need more proof he's a dick? Listen to him yakking it up with former Congressman Rob Simmons back in 2010. You'll see what really matters to this guy...

Senate gives President authority to arm and train Syrian rebels

Welp, here we go again.

Just what we need, American arms and (almost definitely) boots on the ground in another Middle-Eastern cluster fuck!

Some of those arms will undoubtedly make their way into the hands of people who will endeavor to use them to kill Americans. Have we learned NOTHING from our tattered history of messing about in that region?

It turns out our bloodthirsty Senate voted 78-22 in favor of the motion. For fuck's sake, we can't get enough of them to vote for the justice of having American women paid the same as American men for performing the EXACT SAME JOBS, but we get a super-fucking-duper majority when it comes to killing people in a faraway land and spending unknown BILLIONS on making it so!

Our two senators split their votes. Here's what they say:

Blumenthal Statement On Senate Vote On Continuing Resolution, Authority To Train And Equip Moderate Syrian Opposition Forces

Thursday, September 18, 2014

(Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) today released the following statement after voting in favor of the Continuing Resolution, which, in addition to preventing a government shutdown, provides authority for the Defense Department to train and equip moderate Syrian opposition forces:

“Inaction against ISIL is unacceptable. This savage terrorist organization is a clear and urgent threat. This narrow authorization enables training of moderate Syrians to fight ISIL in their own country. It is limited in time and scope, and it explicitly prohibits American troops in combat. I continue to have concerns and questions, including the need for more specific firm commitments from countries in the region as well as global allies, and sufficient assurances that the arms and training will be used for our interests, not against us.

“The Senate will be voting again on this authorization because this one expires on December 11. My position in future votes will depend on whether my concerns and questions are answered. Chief among my concerns is whether Arab nations commit themselves significantly and vigorously to the fight against ISIL’s inhumane and dangerous brutality and ideology.

“An important consideration in my vote today was the need to prevent a government shutdown.”

And Sen. Chris Murphy had a slightly different opinion:

Moments ago, I cast my vote in the Senate against arming and training the Syrian rebels.

I continue to believe that President Obama has laid out a strong case for taking the fight to ISIL. I agree with his decision to launch airstrikes against ISIL in Iraq, to compel new leadership in Iraq to achieve political reconciliation with moderate Sunnis, and to put together a broad, international military coalition. The president has shown true, decisive leadership in the fight against ISIL and I applaud him for his strength and resolve.

I simply don't believe an effective strategy to combat ISIL requires America to get more deeply involved in the Syrian civil war.

First, the moderate Syrian rebels have shown a disturbing willingness to join forces with Islamic extremists like the Al Nusra Front, a wing of Al Qaeda, and it will be nearly impossible to stop the rebels we train from joining forces with groups that pose a real threat to the United States.

Second, it will be hard to thread the needle of supporting a majority Shiite regime against Sunni extremists in Iraq while, at the same time, supporting a largely Sunni insurgency against a Shiite leader in Syria.

Third, I believe we are too optimistic that the American trained rebels will target ISIL when their true enemy inside Syria is Bashar al-Assad. Asking a minimally trained army to take on two barbaric foes at once seems unrealistic.

I want to close by reiterating that I still firmly maintain Congress needs to authorize this new war against ISIL. This issue remains too important to not have all voices at the table before moving forward.

All the best,

Chris Murphy
U.S. Senator, Connecticut

Q-Poll shows Malloy trailing Foley

A Quinnipiac poll released earlier today shows Governor Dan Malloy trailing Republican challenger Tom Foley 40% to 46%.

There are some reasons why this is happening, and most of them point to Malloy and his re-election campaign.

Susan Bigelow observes some of the missteps of Malloy's efforts in an Op-Ed over at CT News Junkie.

Voter frustration seems to lead the list, but there is one other possible reason things are not going well for Dan Malloy, and that is the simple fact that incumbents tend to have a harder time during mid-term years. An opposition party usually has an easier time getting momentum against an incumbent, especially when he's not very effective at getting his message out, and also that he won his seat by only about 6,000 votes statewide.

There's still about two months until the election, and that's plenty of time to turn things around. But unless Malloy's campaign finds a simple and effective way to get their message to voters, it's likely to be an uphill battle.

Coverage of the Bill Clinton rally in New Haven

Here's the video and all the details I learned by attending today's Bill Clinton grassroots rally in New Haven:




























































(there would be something really cool here probably, but Democratic State Central declined to give me a media pass)





So, in lieu of a new video with Bill Clinton, here is a my video of his speech from October 2010, when the president made a stop in Norwalk to stump for Dick Blumenthal, Dan Malloy, and Jim Himes. I could have made another video like this available today, had I been granted a media pass.