Open Thread: Miscellaneous Notes
Submitted by George Pence on Mon, 01/08/2007 - 6:12pm
Republican NC Senator Harris Blake said that his top priority in the next legislative session is to "...free the counties from the obligation of Medicaid costs." Is it cynical to wonder if Sen. Blake has an alternate method of funding in mind to cover these costs? Could he just be wanting to do away with Medicaid obligations?
Did you know that Rep. David Price is co-chair of the Democratic Party committee that establishes the calendar for presidential primaries? Price is quoted in The New York Sun as saying that California could move its primary up to February 5th without running afoul of party rules.
Putting a huge delegate rich state like California early in the primary season could have a large impact on a candidate's campaign strategy. Someone like Bloomberg or Giuliani could score well there and minimize the effect of smaller more conservative states where their socially liberal views are not very popular.
The congressman you love to hate, pit bully Patrick McHenry was named a deputy whip today by House Minority Whip Roy Blunt. "Patrick McHenry's new role will give North Carolina's Tenth District an even bigger voice in the decision-making process in the House," Blunt said. "This is a real win for Western North Carolina."
According to a report in today's New York Times, Republicans should take solace in the fact that their drubbing in the last election could have been much worse, "Of the 202 Republicans sworn in Thursday as members of 110th Congress, 15 maintained GOP control of their seats by margins of just 3 percentage points or less. On the other side of the aisle, just two of the 233 members of the new Democratic majority were winners of contests in which they retained their party’s control by similarly razor-thin margins."
I wonder
What Edwards did to piss of David Price so much that he is making comments like that.
We need to completely rewrite the primary rules.
Also, does McHenry have the strength to even lift a whip? I realize a whip is relatively light, but has he ever lifted anything heavier than a beer can?
HelpLarry.com
"Keep the Faith"
California, Price, and Edwards.
I have to think that Price was helpful in getting South Carolina and Nevada (last great union state) moved to the front of the calendar. But, I doubt there is much he can do to break the rules.
If California moves to Feb 5th it screws up the nomination for everyone. California has 54 electoral votes, while Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, and South Carolina have 23 in total. Even the other states that are lined up for Feb. 5th barely make up that much. So, someone like Richardson can skip all the races, hope to win New Mexico and Arizona and California.
One of the pitfalls of childhood is that one doesn't have to understand something to feel it.
- Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Jesus Swept ticked me off. Too short. I loved the characters and then POOF it was over.
-me
Link Recommendation?
Can anyone offer a link to a decent site explaining why the current way Presidential primaries are held is a good thing?
I suppose it saves some money not having to appeal to the whole country at once just to get nominated for one's party, but to me it seems like a lame way to do things. Plus, I don't really care what Iowa or New Hampshire think.
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
I can't imagine anyone having a good argument
for why the current model is a good thing. I'm sure it's just something that has evolved into a dysfunctional mess over the years.
It pretty much sucks as far as I'm concerned.
Do good. Be nice. Have fun.
Wikipedia
has a pretty good article on the system, but there doesn't appear to be anyone saying the current system is great. There are a few interesting suggested alternatives though.
Counties really shouldn't have to pay medicaid bills
One option that springs to mind would be to reduce state funds flowing to counties by an amount that equals a fixed percentage of what the county is paying in medicaid (but significantly less than 100%), and then to authorize a hike in county taxes. That way the county gets immediate relief from paying some of the highest county medicaid bills in the country, has the flexibility to move even more money into programs that have been languishing, but the state government doesn't take 100% of the hit. Just a thought.
Anglico, can you share any info on the OLF?
Today on the NPR they said that the bird count was up this year....78,000!
No matter that patriotism is too often the refuge of scoundrels. Dissent, rebellion, and all-around hell-raising remain the true duty of patriots.
Harris Blake
Rumor has it that Mr. Blake is ready to retire. We need to field a good candidate for his seat in 2008. (He represents Moore and Harnett County) Anyone interested? :-D. I'm thinking Momoaizo would be terrific.
"Be the change you wish to see in the world." - Gandhi
ROTFLMAO
:O
No matter that patriotism is too often the refuge of scoundrels. Dissent, rebellion, and all-around hell-raising remain the true duty of patriots.
Johnston OneCorps meeting
FYI all -- if you live in Johnston County and want to get involved in grassroots local work or politics, attend a meeting this week and see if one of these groups is something you'd like to become involved in:
Democratic Women of Johnston County: 7pm St. Paul's Episcopal, Smithfield. (refreshments provided)
Democratic Men's Club, Johnston County: 8am Trackside Cafe, Pine Level (breakfast available)
Johnston OneCorps -- First organizing meeting!: 11am Riverside Coffee Company, Smithfield. (appetizers provided)
Feel free to pass this to your friends.
"They took all the trees and put them in a tree museum Then they charged the people a dollar 'n a half just to see 'em. Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone? They paved paradise and put up a parking lot."
Chapel Hill, too.
I'm trying to find out how to arrange a social gathering.
One of the pitfalls of childhood is that one doesn't have to understand something to feel it.
- Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Jesus Swept ticked me off. Too short. I loved the characters and then POOF it was over.
-me
pfft. Helps if I include
date and time information in my shameless promotions, huh?
The Ansley family will be special guests at the Democratic Women's meeting Thursday evening, and there is plenty of good coffee, interesting conversation and excellent breakfast available at the Democratic Men's meeting Saturday morning.
"They took all the trees and put them in a tree museum Then they charged the people a dollar 'n a half just to see 'em. Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone? They paved paradise and put up a parking lot."
Narrow-margin Story
ran last week in CQ Politics with a summary of the NC-08 race and was front-paged on Kos with some good chatter about Larry.
Of course, CQ still misses the point about the '06 primary with this outdated pearl of wisdom
...although in the end they seem to muster a little credit where credit is due...
In his analysis of the CQ article, Kos goes on to highlight that a large number of these razor-thin-margin races were Netroots supported:
So while CQ and the NYT are offering solace to Republicans, I offer my Congratulations to the folks here at BlueNC and to the candidates who embraced us. Just wait 'til 2008!
Larry Kissell is MY Congressman
Another hat in the Lt. Gov. ring
from Winston Salem
This makes four, according to the paper. I know of Smathers, Dellinger, and now Besse. Who's the fourth?
I'm brain dead.
Do good. Be nice. Have fun.
Who wants to compare contrast them ; )
One of the pitfalls of childhood is that one doesn't have to understand something to feel it.
- Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Jesus Swept ticked me off. Too short. I loved the characters and then POOF it was over.
-me
Testing pollishness
Do good. Be nice. Have fun.
Doesn't seem to work here either.
Grrrrrrr
Do good. Be nice. Have fun.
Can we all just agree that pollverize hates us?
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