Showing posts with label Elections 2012 presidential. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Elections 2012 presidential. Show all posts

Monday, November 5, 2012

Delegate Nancy Stocksdale weighs-in on the 7 questions on the Maryland election ballot

Delegate Nancy Stocksdale weighs-in on the 7 questions on the Maryland election ballot

Carroll County Delegate Nancy Stocksdale wrote in an e-mail on November 1, 2012 http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/2012/11/delegate-nancy-stocksdale-weighs-in-on.html



Many have asked my opinion on the ballot questions. There are so many conflicting TV ads and even mailings from "Republican Leaders" which have confused the issues.

This is how I voted and the reason why:

Against Question 1.   If passed, this would require candidates for the ORPHANS COURT JUDGES in Prince Georges County to be lawyers. I believe lawyers can run for these offices and if citizens elect them, they can serve, but I don't believe other citizens should be discriminated against.

Against Question 2  This is the same as question 1 except it applies to Baltimore County.

For  Question 3   This amendment removes elected officials from office upon the conviction of a felony rather than waiting until the sentencing. As the law is now, the elected official can appeal and appeal and stay in office.

Against  Question 4     This law permits illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition at our state supported colleges and universities. I believe that if children were brought here illegally, they should follow the procedures to become legal. Federal Law prohibits employers from hiring illegal people so after the taxpayers pay to educate them, they are not legally allowed to work.

Against  Question 5 The Congressional Redistricting Map just does not make sense. It has been gerrymandered so that no one can be fairly represented in Congress. For example, what does Ocean City have in common with Taneytown or what does Garrett County have in common with Montgomery County?

Against Question 6   This law redefines MARRIAGE as we know it. In recent years, same-sex couples have been given many of the rights they have requested such as hospital visitation rights. They have been offered "Civil Unions," but they want the term "Marriage" changed. This has far reaching ramifications such as changing the school curriculum and dangerous consequences for ministers who preach from the Bible. Although they argue that ministers would not be affected if they did not want to perform a wedding ceremony for a same-sex couple, look what has happened to the Catholic hospitals and doctors who now must perform abortions and provide birth control.

Against Question 7 This law expands gambling in Maryland. This is a bad bill for the citizens in Maryland.

1. The schools are funded by a formula called "The Thornton Formula" and this determines how much money each school system should receive. The money from gaming will go into the EDUCATION TRUST FUND. This will free up general fund money which is normally spent on education to be used for other things. Just as money has been taken out of THE TRANSPORTATION TRUST FUND, money will be taken out of the EDUCATION TRUST FUND for other things.

2. Last year several bills were introduced to "lock" the transportation trust fund so the money would only be used for transportation purposes. These bills failed. That fund was raided for many other uses. I don't Trust money in these trust funds to go for their intended use.

3. The "Republican Leaders" Michael Steel and Audrey Scott, from whom you have received mailings live in Prince Georges County and the law is written so that the local jurisdiction where the casino is located will receive a large percentage of the tax revenue. That is the reason they are in favor of this bill.

4. In May, a Special Session was held to raise your taxes and this gaming bill lowers the taxes for the casino owners.

5. SCHOOLS WILL NOT RECEIVE ANY MORE MONEY THAT THE THIRNTON FORMULA REQUIRES. EVEN THE TEACHERS KNOW THESE STATEMEENTS IN THE AS ARE NOT TRUE. I HAVE BEEN ON THE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE LONG ENOUGH TO SEE ALL THE SPECIAL FUNDS RAIDED AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER. THEY PROMISE TO "PAY BACK" BUT DON'T. Please vote against this bill and let the legislature come back in a regular session where all interested parties have an opportunity to have input.

[20121101 sdosm Stocksdales view of 7 questions]

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Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoffTwitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff
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E-mail: kevindayhoff(at)gmail.com
My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/
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Monday, October 29, 2012

The sample ballot for the November 6, 2012 presidential election in Carroll County Maryland


October 18, 2012

Attached please find a sample ballot for the November 6, 2012 presidential election in Carroll County Maryland, including the seven questions…

election, voting, ballot, Carroll County, Maryland, 


The sample ballot for the November 6, 2012 presidential election in Carroll County Maryland
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Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoffTwitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff
Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net

Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
Smurfs: http://babylonfluckjudd.blogspot.com/
Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/

E-mail: kevindayhoff(at)gmail.com
My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/
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Sunday, October 28, 2012

Harford County Executive David Craig addresses a McDaniel College panel


Harford County Executive (Rep.) David Craig addresses a McDaniel College panel during an October 2, 2012 presentation on the 2012 presidential election.

Kevin Dayhoff The Tentacle Dialogue on the Presidential Election



Dialogue on the Presidential Election Elections 2012, Elections 2012 presidential, Politics debates


Recently, political science professor Dr. Herb Smith, the McDaniel College director of government relations, brought together a distinguished panel at the college in Westminster for a local “Dialogue on the Presidential Election.”

Just as early voting has begun in many states, and the date of the traditional fall general election is within weeks, now is the time that our country turns to the podium and stage for the debate edition of presidential reality theatre.

[…]

Harford County Executive (Rep.) David Craig addresses a McDaniel College panel during an October 2, 2012 presentation on the 2012 presidential election.

On October 2, the day before the much-ballyhooed presidential debate in Denver, I particularly enjoyed the “Dialogue on Presidential Election” debate forum at McDaniel College.

The event brought together my friends Maryland Delegate (Dem.) Samuel (Sandy) Rosenberg and Harford County Executive (Rep.) David Craig for a discussion moderated by McDaniel President Roger Casey.

Instead of an audience of 70 million, about 125 students gathered at the Decker Center Forum on the college campus to witness County Executive Craig and Delegate Rosenberg answer questions and provide thoughtful insights into the many complicated issues that are part of the difficult matrix that must be negotiated before one makes a decision as to how to mark his or her ballot on November 6.

For an hour and a half, County Executive Craig and Delegate Rosenberg discussed sixteen questions from panelists that included McDaniel faculty members, Dr. Julie Routzahn, an economics and business administration professor and Dr. Debora Johnson-Ross, a political science professor.

Also on the panel were Maryland Public Television’s Jeff Salkin and my former editor, Jim Lee, who has served at the helm of the Carroll County Times for 15-years.

[…]

Many have been surprised that the Republican presidential challenger, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, did as well as he did during the first presidential debate in Denver on October 3.

Writing for The Slatest, Josh Voorhees penned on Monday, “Was Romney's Debate Win the Most Convincing in History? It Looks That Way.” According to Mr. Voorhees, “Gallup's latest survey shows just how overwhelmingly the American public thought Mr. Romney bested President Obama onstage in Denver last Wednesday: 72 percent of debate watchers gave the win to the GOP challenger with only 20 percent seeing the president as the winner. That 52-point gap was the largest the polling outfit has ever seen, topping even Bill Clinton's 42-point margin over George H. W. Bush in 1992…”

For those who missed the debate, it is also a great read. The transcript of “President Obama and Mitt Romney’s remarks at the first presidential debate …,” has been published by The Washington Post.

For a concise and insightful commentary on the debate by TheTentacle.com writer, former Maryland State Del. Rick Weldon, read, “A Slam-Dunk Election Snapshot.” “Employing language familiar to basketball fans, the first presidential debate of the 2012 election cycle resulted in a slam dunk for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney,” says Delegate Weldon… http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=5389
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Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoffTwitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff
Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net

Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
Smurfs: http://babylonfluckjudd.blogspot.com/
Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/

E-mail: kevindayhoff(at)gmail.com
My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/
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Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Kevin Dayhoff - Soundtrack: Kevin Dayhoff The Tentacle Dialogue on the Preside...

Kevin Dayhoff - Soundtrack: Kevin Dayhoff The Tentacle Dialogue on the Preside...: October 10, 2012 Dialogue on the Presidential Election Elections 2012 , Elections 2012 presidential , Politics debates http://www...

Kevin Dayhoff The Tentacle Dialogue on the Presidential Election


Dialogue on the Presidential Election Elections 2012, Elections 2012 presidential, Politics debates


Recently, political science professor Dr. Herb Smith, the McDaniel College director of government relations, brought together a distinguished panel at the college in Westminster for a local “Dialogue on the Presidential Election.”

Just as early voting has begun in many states, and the date of the traditional fall general election is within weeks, now is the time that our country turns to the podium and stage for the debate edition of presidential reality theatre.

Many have been surprised that the Republican presidential challenger, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, did as well as he did during the first presidential debate in Denver on October 3.

Writing for The Slatest, Josh Voorhees penned on Monday, “Was Romney's Debate Win the Most Convincing in History? It Looks That Way.” According to Mr. Voorhees, “Gallup's latest survey shows just how overwhelmingly the American public thought Mr. Romney bested President Obama onstage in Denver last Wednesday: 72 percent of debate watchers gave the win to the GOP challenger with only 20 percent seeing the president as the winner. That 52-point gap was the largest the polling outfit has ever seen, topping even Bill Clinton's 42-point margin over George H. W. Bush in 1992…”

For those who missed the debate, it is also a great read. The transcript of “President Obama and Mitt Romney’s remarks at the first presidential debate …,” has been published by The Washington Post.

For a concise and insightful commentary on the debate by TheTentacle.com writer, former Maryland State Del. Rick Weldon, read, “A Slam-Dunk Election Snapshot.” “Employing language familiar to basketball fans, the first presidential debate of the 2012 election cycle resulted in a slam dunk for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney,” says Delegate Weldon… http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=5389


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Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Washington Post Josh Voorhees: “Was Romney's Debate Win the Most Convincing in History? It Looks That Way.”



Writing for The Slatest, Josh Voorhees penned on Monday, “Was Romney's Debate Win the Most Convincing in History? It Looks That Way.”

According to Mr. Voorhees, “Gallup's latest survey shows just how overwhelmingly the American public thought Mitt Romney bested President Obama onstage in Denver last Wednesday: 72 percent of debate watchers gave the win to the GOP challenger with only 20 percent seeing the president as the winner.

That 52-point gap was the largest the polling outfit has ever seen, topping even Bill Clinton's 42-point margin over George H. W. Bush in 1992…”

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Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoffTwitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff
Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net

Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
Smurfs: http://babylonfluckjudd.blogspot.com/
Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/

E-mail: kevindayhoff(at)gmail.com
My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/
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Thursday, September 27, 2012

Senator Joe Getty’s Tampa convention report – part two


Thursday, September 27, 2012

Senator Joe Getty’s Tampa convention report – part two

By Kevin E. Dayhoff



“Mitt Romney's speech was spectacular in energizing the convention,” reported Senator Joe Getty, R-Carroll, and Baltimore Counties, last Thursday. This is the second half of TheTentacle.com’s coverage of the senator’s insights, pictures, and anecdotes from attending the recent Republican National Convention in Tampa Florida.

The foreign policy theme was one of many highlights of the convention, according to Senator Getty … “With a riveting speech by former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice. The convention gave rapt attention as she worked from her own notes instead of using a teleprompter and provided a detailed view of future policy challenges: ‘Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan understand this reality: Our well-being at home and our leadership abroad are inextricably linked.’”

Senator Getty reported last Thursday that Republican candidate for vice-president of the United States, Wisconsin 1st congressional district Representative Paul Ryan said at the beginning of his keynote address, “After four years of getting the run-around, America needs a turnaround, and the man for the job is Governor Mitt Romney…”

“Those who follow Congress know Ryan as the policy guy,” observed Senator Getty, but at the convention, “he proved that he is ready for the national stage. He tactfully offered a stinging rebuke of the Obama Administration with a focus on the Romney plan for economic recovery and achieving a balanced budget...

Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin was another highlight of the week for the Maryland delegation, said Senator Getty. “Walker appeared at the delegation breakfast on the morning after his friend and Wisconsin colleague Paul Ryan delivered his floor speech to accept the vice presidential nomination.

“Walker teased the Maryland delegation that there is a ‘Cheese head Revolution’ going on in America with three young ‘Reagan Republicans’ who grew up within 30 miles of each other rising to prominent roles in the national, state and party positions… Paul Ryan as candidate for vice president, Walker as governor and Reince Priebus as chairman of the Republican National Committee...

“In a presentation similar to his speech before the full convention on Tuesday, Walker described how Wisconsin has added jobs and lowered unemployment over the past two years under his leadership. When 44 of 50 states saw an increase in unemployment last month, Wisconsin was instead a leader in job growth. Their success has been part of his administration's pro-business agenda of lower taxes and less governmental restrictions. He emphasized that these are the same pro-business policies that will be the mainstay of a Romney-Ryan administration that will lead America to economic recovery and restore our greatness.”

Another highlight of the 2012 convention according to Senator Getty “was the many featured speakers that represent the younger generation of Republican leaders. The best example was Florida Senator Marco Rubio who (was) elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010.

“His nominating speech could have been a keynote address for any other evening of the convention. He offered one of the best summaries of the Obama administration when, after listing the failed economic programs of the last 4 years, Rubio said, ‘These are tired and old big government ideas. Ideas that people come to America to get away from. Ideas that threaten to make America more like the rest of the world, instead of helping the world become more like America.

“Romney is not known as a great orator and the national media had set a very high bar for this speech to be considered successful,” said Senator Getty. “I felt he leaped over that bar with much room to spare. He was humble but emphatic that being an excellent business leader is an honorable career in America. He was emotional in talking about his family that displayed his human side.

“Romney was critical of the present administration but did so by expressing his own policy goals. Citing a plan to make American energy efficient by 2020, Romney said of Obama, ‘His plan to raise taxes on small business won't add jobs, it will eliminate them; His assault on coal and gas and oil will send energy and manufacturing jobs to China.’

“Romney assessed the hype surrounding Obama's candidacy of hope and change in 2008 to as the leading factor for political disappointment today, ‘You know there's something wrong with the kind of job he's done as president when the best feeling you had was the day you voted for him. President Obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans and to heal the planet. My promise is to help you and your family.’”

In reference to the negative attacks on his business accomplishments, Romney retorted, “In America, we celebrate success. We don't apologize for success.”

In a carefully crafted closing, Romney provided the vision that I believe will resonate with voters this November, remarked Senator Getty, “If I am elected President of these United States, I will work with all my energy and soul to restore that America, to lift our eyes to a better future. That future is our destiny. That future is out there. It is waiting for us. Our children deserve it, our nation depends upon it, the peace and freedom of the world require it. And with your help we will deliver it. Let us begin that future together tonight.”

Many agree with Senator Getty’s analysis of the campaign between Governor Romney and President Obama. That it will ultimately be decided according to who, a majority of the voters believe “has the ability to guide the nation through the next coming worldwide economic downturn.

“If Americans think that class warfare is the right approach, then Barack Obama will be re-elected.”

If, on the other hand, according to Senator Getty, “Americans believe that expanding opportunities to succeed is the best way forward, then Mitt Romney will be sworn in on January 20, 2013…”

I’m just saying

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Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoffTwitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff
Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net

Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
Smurfs: http://babylonfluckjudd.blogspot.com/
Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/

E-mail: kevindayhoff(at)gmail.com
My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/
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Senator Joe Getty’s Tampa convention report – part one


Senator Joe Getty’s Tampa convention report – part one

By Kevin E. Dayhoff, Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Last Thursday, September 20, 2012, Senator Joe Getty, R-Carroll and Baltimore Counties, shared insights, pictures, and anecdotes that he had gathered from attending the recent Republican National Convention in Tampa Florida.

At the pre-election breakfast, September 20, in Westminster, Senator Getty also made some observations about the upcoming general election in Carroll County,

Several hundred attended the early morning presentation, including four of the five Republican Carroll County commissioners, Haven Shoemaker, David Roush, Doug Howard, and Robin Frazier.

Maryland Delegate Justin Ready, a Republican from Carroll County, and a rising star in the Maryland General Assembly, attended, as did Senators E. J. Pipkin, R-Maryland Eastern Shore and Allan Kittleman, R-Howard County.

Many in the audience appreciated the comments of District 8 congressional candidate Ken Timmerman.

It was especially delightful to see former Maryland State Senator and retired Circuit Court Judge Ray Beck in attendance.

Senator Getty’s thoughtful and well-prepared program included a narrated slide show of his experiences attending the convention.

He began, in part, with a series of pictures documenting a media bias incident which involved an unpleasant interaction between members of the Maryland Delegation to the convention and CBS News of the contemporary ‘Gotcha Media.’

“About 30-seconds,” into former Massachusetts’ Governor Mitt Romney’s acceptance speech, a reporter for CBS News, stationed in the aisle by the Maryland delegation pronounced prophetically into microphone that Governor Romney had failed to rally his base support… had failed to rally the convention behind him…

As Senator Getty explained, she said this just seconds after he had begun his speech. Louis M. Pope, a national committeeman of the Maryland Republican Party, who was seated essentially right beside the reporter, objected loudly.

“You can’t say that,” Mr. Pope announced…

Unhappy over the unplanned challenge to her carefully prepared script, written well in advance of Governor Romney’s speech, the reporter loudly responded and bit of an unpleasant exchange followed.

I experienced, first hand, several examples of blatant, in your face, media bias at the Republican National Convention in September 2008 at the “Xcel Energy Center” in St. Paul Minnesota.

Find my Tentacle coverage of the 2008 Republican National Convention in TheTentacle.com here: Friday, September 12, 2008, “A Little Convention History,” and Thursday, September 11, 2008, “Eloquent Prose – Excellent Friends,” and here, Wednesday, September 10, 2008, “The Four “E’s” of the GOP Convention.”

I’m here to tell you, that to explore the concept of media bias intellectually – or emotionally is one thing. But until you have actually witnessed media bias, you cannot fathom how upsetting it is to see and hear it with your own eyes and ears. There is something so fundamentally unfair – so un-American about it that it shakes you to your very core.

As for the current presidential election campaign coverage by the major elite media; no matter what the situation or the scenario, just like the CBS reporter in Senator Getty’s example – the story has already been written with all the Democrat Party talking points included – all the reporter needs to do is cut and paste and press print…

Moreover, the elite media will cover for each other and the president. So, for those out there wondering how can the CBS reporter get away with that behavior? The answer is, because she can. No organization or individual in the elite progressive media will challenge a colleague or hold each other accountable for their dereliction of professional duties and responsibilities…

For some additional perspective of Senator Getty’s presentation last Thursday please understand that Senator Getty remains, along with Maryland Senator David Brinkley, R-Frederick County, and Senator Kittleman, among the most-respected elected officials in Annapolis.

Perhaps Senator Kittleman best explained the significance of Senator Getty’s keen observations, “Joe Getty does not get up to speak in Annapolis unless he has something to say… He always does his homework and he knows the issues…”

Last Thursday, Senator Getty’s informative presentation was positive. Nevertheless, there is a “sense of urgency in this election,” explained Senator Getty. That is the … “most prominent theme there and in discussions with people at home - people are” worried…

“On a more positive note, “Gov. Matt Mead of Wyoming also spoke to Maryland Republicans about the leadership that America needs NOW - This country has a lot of problems. We need leadership, not in 4 a years, or 8 years… We need it now…”

“The toughest job of the convention,” said Senator Getty, belonged to “Ann Romney, the wife of Mitt Romney. She had to offer a personal view of her husband's career with being overly sentimental or superficial. She did an excellent job and energized the entire convention floor.”

As for Ms. Romney’s speech, Senator Getty remarked, Gov. Mead shared with us his wife’s opinion about Ann Romney's speech the prior evening: “It was a message to the women of American and I needed my wife's perspective - as the first lady of a state, she has never heard anything better than Ann Romney's speech.”

“Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey who implored the audience to elect Mitt Romney as the candidate with the experience to create jobs, ignite the private sector economy and restore America's greatness. He was very blunt: US needs an adult conversation… That Obama should quit the pandering… America needs strong leadership…”

At this point in the morning, I was already quite sad that I sat-out this convention due to a series of scheduling conflicts. And I felt this way long before Senator Getty shared his observations of Paul Ryan’s, the Republican candidate for vice-president and currently Wisconsin 1st congressional district Representative - and Governor Romney’s acceptance speeches - which we will cover in another column soon.

Until then, please understand that now more than ever, the old adage; do not believe everything you read in the newspaper has never been truer…

I’m just saying.
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Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoffTwitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff
Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net

Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
Smurfs: http://babylonfluckjudd.blogspot.com/
Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/

E-mail: kevindayhoff(at)gmail.com
My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/
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Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Is the media piling on Romney? September 26, 2012 by Kevin E. Dayhoff






Howard Kurtz, the host of the weekly CNN program Reliable Sources, tweeted last Sunday: “I'm at CNN and about to ask whether the media are piling on Romney.”

Well, duh. Is a school bus yellow? Of course, the media is piling on Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor.

We are currently a witness to history. We are spectators to a presidential election this November that still has all the hallmarks of potentially being stolen by the media. We are witnessing a coup d’état by the elite-progressive press, if you will.

“The weird ecstasy of the media-political complex at the Democratic Party convention in Charlotte last month was the first sign that its attachment to President Barack Obama, always fawning, had become morbid,” wrote Michael Knox Beran in National Review Online on September 17.

How Republics Fall” – The Fourth Estate’s degrading hero worship trivializes an election” – was called to my attention by political writer Steve Berryman. It is an erudite, but scathing, review of the media’s active participation in the presidential campaign.

“In spite of the anemic economy and a real unemployment rate above 11 percent, the high priests of pontificating liberalism were giddy with euphoria. The Democrats ‘put on a nearly flawless convention,’ Paul Begala opined, and it was soon all but incontrovertibly established that, come November, the president — beautiful, magical, and lovable as he was — would vanquish his boring opponent.”

And then there is a story about overt media bias witnessed by Maryland State Sen. Joe Getty (R., Carroll/Baltimore) at the Republican National Convention in Tampa. Senator Getty communicated his first-person witness to blatant media bias at a pre-election breakfast September 20, in Westminster… http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=5361
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Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoffTwitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff
Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net

Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
Smurfs: http://babylonfluckjudd.blogspot.com/
Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/

E-mail: kevindayhoff(at)gmail.com
My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/
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Thursday, August 23, 2012

Upcoming national political conventions are sure to be entertaining

Upcoming national political conventions are sure to be entertaining

By Kevin Dayhoff, August 12, 2012


One may look upon the Republican National Convention, in Tampa Florida on August 27-30 and the upcoming Democrat National Convention which will take place in Charlotte North Carolina September 3-6, as the Olympics of political contests for Americans - - or the full employment act for pundits and political journalists.

Today’s presidential nomination process is very different from the early days of the Republic when the two major parties, the “Federalists” and the “Democrat-Republicans” – the forerunner of the today’s Democrat Party; determined their respective presidential nominees by a “caucus” made-up of members of Congress or state legislatures. This process prevailed through 1828.

The first national political convention of what we now know as the two major political parties; was held by the Democrat Party in Baltimore May 21 and 23, 1832.

According to a brief history of the Maryland Democratic Party written by Carroll County historian, and former Maryland Secretary of State, John T. Willis., it “was held at the Atheneum (and Warfield’s Church) … located on the southwest corner of St. Paul and Lexington Streets. Twelve delegates from each county and six delegates from Baltimore City were invited to attend.” 

“In the 19th century, difficulties of travel led to the selection of centrally located cities as convention sites. Baltimore, located midway along the Atlantic seaboard, was a favorite choice in early years,” says the Washington Congressional Research Service.

From 1832 to 1872, eight of the twelve Democrat Party national conventions were held in Baltimore. Considering that two of the main routes to Baltimore from all points west travel through Carroll County, an historian’s imagination can run wild as to what national political figures may have passed through Carroll County in those days.

What we now know as the Republican Party essentially began in 1854 and replaced the Whig Party, which had replaced the much earlier Federalist Party.

It would be an understatement to suggest that the events that will take place in Tampa later in the month are quite different from the first Republican National Convention, June 17 to 19, 1856.

That convention was attended by 600 delegates and 100 news reporters, who had ample room to move in the 1200 seat Musical Fund Hall, near 8th and Locust Street in Philadelphia.

The Musical Fund Hall still stands. In 1980 developers saved the long neglected building from demolition and turned it into an apartment house.

The Republican Party was in its infancy, having been organized only two years earlier in at a meeting in Ripon, Wisconsin from a mishmash of anti-slavery Democrats, the remnants of the Whig Party, abolitionists, and “Free-Soilers.”

The original driving force of the party was to fight the “Kansas-Nebraska Act,” which had opened new United States territories to slavery in spite of the “Missouri Compromise of 1820.”

Originally the party was a single-issue consortium of citizens who were adamantly opposed to slavery. Although, many of the tenets of the party, that remain in place today; economic development, education, limited government with an emphasis on individual freedoms and a personal responsibility for one’s future fate, were ancillary issues gluing together a volatile mix of groups and individuals dedicated to abolishing slavery at any cost.

According to the “Independence Hall Association” in Philadelphia; the key plank was firm opposition to the extension of slavery. "It is the duty of Congress to prohibit in the territories those twin relics of barbarism, polygamy, and slavery.”

Many historians consider the very first national Republic get together to be an informal “convention” in Pittsburg, earlier that year on February 22 and 23rd. The purpose of that meeting was to organize the June 1856 convention, which went to nominate John C. Fremont, from California, to be Republican presidential candidate and William Dayton from New Jersey to be the vice presidential candidate.

As the Olympics draw to a close and the end of the summer looms on the horizon, you can be sure that the upcoming Republican and Democrat National Conventions are sure to provide some great end of summer entertainment.

Sort of like the upcoming season 12 of American Idol of Fox TV meets the Oracle of Delphi from Greek mythology with a twist of Survivor thrown-in for some reality.

Only the convention reality shows are carefully scripted; minutely choreographed and in the end, after certain folks have been voted off the island, everyone comes together to sing about a great and wonderful future under either the Republican or the Democrat nominee for president… Or something like that - anyway… Whatever.

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Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoffTwitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff
Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net

Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
Smurfs: http://babylonfluckjudd.blogspot.com/
Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/

E-mail: kevindayhoff(at)gmail.com
My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/
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Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Eagle Archive: School experience has changed in Carroll, but it still adds up for students

Eagle Archive: School experience has changed in Carroll, but it still adds up for students




In August, 1971, much of the community was curious as to whether or not the "Carroll County Vocational Technical Center" would open its doors on Sept. 7 to launch its first year of operation.

Today, the school on Washington Road, next to Westminster High School, is known as the Carroll County Career and Technology Center.

The job training and college preparatory classes at the Career and Technology Center vary from business and retail to computer and construction, from engineering and manufacturing to health and transportation.

According to an Aug. 16, 1971, article in the now defunct Democratic Advocate newspaper, "Frank Mather, administrator of the center, said that all of the school's facilities except for the horticulture area, conference rooms and some lavatories and some equipment will be ready for use on opening day….. http://www.baltimoresun.com/explore/carroll/news/community/ph-ce-eagle-archive-0819-20120818,0,5980768.story

Monday, March 19, 2012

GOP still headed for a cliff and other stories of the coming Zombie Apocalypse by Kevin Dayhoff

GOP still headed for a cliff and other stories of the coming Zombie Apocalypse by Kevin Dayhoff


I'm still hearing from folks, literally, from all over the world about, "The kerfuffle was no fluke." It must have struck a nerve.

So far in the presidential election of 2012 the only debate among historians is just which national election in history has the opposition party collectively conducted a more inept campaign to unseat a sitting president?

One of the places i wanted to go when I wrote "The kerfuffle was no fluke," was the 1860 presidential election. Fortunately, on March 16, 2012, TheTentacle writer, Roy Meachum picked-up that portion of the story: “Inevitable GOP Tuesday,” “As Tuesday pointed out, Republicans seem headed for the fate that led to Abraham Lincoln’s election, establishing the party on the American political scene.
In 1860, Democrats ruled the land. Nomination on their ticket was tantamount to a key to the White House. The great favorite was Stephen Douglas, who had defeated Mr. Lincoln for the U.S. Senate two years before. At their convention in Charleston, South Carolina, they went through 55 ballots before adjourning to Baltimore. Mr. Douglas was the winner of a divided party. The pro-slavery Democrats chose Vice President John Breckenridge, of Kentucky…” http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=4978

[…]

The idea that the Republican Party is on a great march, en masse, off a cliff, is starting to be discussed in a hushed tone of voice that is only growing louder as November approaches.

Apparently I am not the only political observer to ponder such matters. Nor I am the only person to have the temerity to actually put it in print. Washington Post writer Chris Cillizza wrote at length last Monday, “2012: The Republican party’s Gotham election.”

[…]

“That idea — that the only way to truly rebuild something is for it first bottom out — is one that some within the Republican party have begun to toy with privately as the divisions between its tea party wing and the more establishment/moderate side of the party become more and more apparent.”

Although Mr. Cillizza illustrated it better; every time you hear a Republican say that they will not support a ‘R.I.N.O.’ candidate, please understand that paradoxically you are hearing the voice of a foot soldier for the Democrats in the costume of a Republican. I mean, let me get this straight, you would really rather endure another four more years of President Obama than support a moderate candidate for office.

I would not give a rat’s behind if Secretary of State Hillary Clinton changed parties and won the Republican nomination, the only criteria for the Republican nominee for the presidential election of November 2012 is that he or she have a chance at beating President Obama at the polls.

For pity sake, forget about all the hand wringing and Exorcist-gyrations about how the liberal media is in the tank for President Obama. We get it. Now get over it because there is not a darn thing you are going to do about it - - except message control and party discipline.

And speaking of that, please do not waste anyone’s time over whether or not the media treatment of Mr. Limbaugh utterly stupid attack on Ms. Fluke was fair or unfair.

Of course it is not fair to suggest that Mr. Limbaugh speaks for rank and file Republicans any more than it is fair to suggest that the crude and vulgar attacks on former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin by Bill Maher are representative of the run of the mill Democrats.

[…]

The only thing I regret about the piece is that I did not emphasize enough that the entire kerfuffle had nothing to do with the Democrat Party – President Barack Obama talking point, the "war on women." This issue, as Ron Miller said better than me, “is manufactured out of whole cloth by a Leftist messaging apparatus that is breathtaking in its coordination, its scope, and its chutzpah."

This more about the war for the women’s vote…

Nevertheless, I’ve written it before and I will repeat it now: at this point, President Barack Obama could kill a puppy on national TV and still win the election this coming November… http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=4959

I stand in good company with columnist George Will and especially Peggy Noonan who recently observed, “… the Republican nominee will emerge so bloodied his victory will hardly be worth having; the Republicans are delving into areas so extreme and so off point that by the end Mr. Obama will look like the moderate.”

For other columns by Kevin Dayhoff:

March 14, 2012
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Weary taxpayers and consumers, who continue to be frustrated and exhausted by an uncertain future, the ongoing economic malaise, and a ‘new economic normal,’ are in the midst of perpetuating a sea change in how business is conducted in this country.

March 7, 2012
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Rush Limbaugh and conservatives could not have looked more like total and complete idiots in the recent national discussions over the private lives of individual Americans than if the liberal media and Democrats had written the script for this Kabuki circular firing squad.

February 29, 2012
Kevin E. Dayhoff
It was a warm day last Thursday as I took a left turn off Tuttle Avenue on to 12th Street in Sarasota (FL) and tried to remember how to get into the Baltimore Orioles spring training parking lot at Ed Smith Stadium.

February 22, 2012
Kevin E. Dayhoff
The first day of Baltimore Orioles’ spring training began Sunday when the pitchers and catchers reported for the annual ritual in Sarasota, Florida.

February 15, 2012
Kevin E. Dayhoff
There have been many tragedies of economic malaise in the last five years. Kodak’s recent filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy seems especially sad; and it is only fitting that we pause for a moment to pay our respects.

February 8, 2012
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Now that the Super Bowl is over there may be no better time to focus some attention on the continuing Greek tragedy that is unfolding over in the economic Twilight Zone, known as the Eurozone.

February 1, 2012
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Legislation to address how Maryland estate taxes inhibit farmers from passing-down the family farm to succeeding generations has gained some much-needed interest in the current session of the Maryland General Assembly.

January 25, 2012
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley’s fiscal year 2013 state budget, released a week ago, is a full menu of difficult choices. However, one of the most troubling is the lack of funding for police protection and highway user revenue for municipalities.

January 18, 2012
Kevin E. Dayhoff
The consensus continues to gather steam that the GOP nomination to challenge President Barack Obama for president this fall will be former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Perhaps all the drama now moves to who will be his choice for vice president.

January 11, 2012
Kevin E. Dayhoff
It is fairly well accepted among keen observers of national politics that the Iowa caucuses of Tuesday a week ago are much more about political and media-theater than a prognosticator of who will vie for the Oval Office this fall.

January 4, 2012
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Next Wednesday, on January 11, the 430th taxing tradition of the Maryland General Assembly opera will once again take center stage.

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20120319 KED seo GOP still headed for a cliff

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I’m a newspaper reporter. I’m pushy, inconsiderate and I do not respect boundaries.
Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoffTwitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff
Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net

Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
Smurfs: http://babylonfluckjudd.blogspot.com/
Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/

E-mail: kevindayhoff(at)gmail.com
My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/
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Friday, January 13, 2012

Kevin Dayhoff - Soundtrack: Speaker Newt Gingrich has become an unhinged post ...

Kevin Dayhoff - Soundtrack: Speaker Newt Gingrich has become an unhinged post ...: Speaker Newt Gingrich is an unhinged post turtle January 13, 2012 by Kevin Dayhoff http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2012/01/spea...





The narrative of the attacks upon the presidential candidacy of Gov. Mitt Romney by Gov. Rick Perry, Speaker Newt Gingrich, and the Democratic Party is just plain nuts.

Although I never found the candidacy of Gov. Perry sustainable; I at one time, gave serious consideration to the idea of Speaker Gingrich assuming the responsibilities of the Oval Office. That ship has passed. And that’s sad…

For the balance of the 2012 presidential campaign and perhaps for the rest of his career, Speaker Gingrich is a post turtle…

Between the malicious and irresponsible attacks upon Gov. Romney and the distinct possibility of a Ron Paul third party run for president, the re-election of President Barack Obama is all but a cinch.

Like many, I vote the economy and national security. Anyone who levels specious attacks upon Gov. Romney about his role in venture capitalism and private equity demonstrates a basic lack of knowledge of how our economy works and how jobs are created – and thus, they disqualify themselves to assume the role of the presidency or have any place in national leadership.

As I have written before – and as recently as last Wednesday in The Tentacle, “Iowa caucuses, New Hampshire, the Republican Party and The King of Hearts:”

“By the time you read this, we will all be analyzing the electability of Gov. Mitt Romney and pondering how badly the Republicans will look as they snatch defeat, in the November elections, from the jaws of victory.

“To paraphrase the colorful words of a liberal colleague, who after carefully watching the debates and the political silliness of the Iowa caucuses remarked irreverently, at this point President Obama could kill a puppy on TV and still win the election.

“Especially since President Obama still has the complete support of the traditional left-leaning major media that will work hard to make sure he gets a second term, so as to justify its unabashed and shameful full-throttle support of the machine-made candidate of 2008.

“It has been said that the highest statistical probability of failure is within sight of success. Only with Republicans, they usually can’t wait and work hard at eating their own long before the finish line.

“To paraphrase President Lyndon B. Johnson, the only difference between cannibals and Republicans is that cannibals only eat their enemies.”

My view is apparently shared by many, including, JAMES TARANTO - BEST OF THE WEB TODAY: Barack Hussein Gingrich

JANUARY 10, 2012




Humiliated in Iowa, a desperate and angry Newt Gingrich is taking the offensive against Mitt Romney, whom he accuses of "looting companies when he headed the Bain Capital investment firm," reports NationalJournal.com, and "conservative interests are pushing back":

"Newt Gingrich's attacks on Mitt Romney's record at Bain Capital are disgusting," Club for Growth President Chris Chocola said in a statement Monday night. "There are a number of issues for Mitt Romney's Republican opponents to attack him for, but attacking him for making investments in companies to create a profit for his investors is just wrong.''

Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh said Gingrich "is using the language of the left.''

The National Review weighed in on Gingrich's line of attack this morning, calling it "foolish and destructive.'' Former New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg joined the anti-Gingrich bandwagon in an interview with MSNBC's Chuck Todd. "We are a market economy,'' he said. Added Rep. Frank Gunta, sitting to his left: "I don't think (these attacks) belong in a Republican primary.'' … http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204124204577152971109729132.html