(Cheers for another extreme left-winger, hate-mongering infidel crashing the gate. - promoted by Scarce)
CTBob appears to be a lightning rod for partisan division in Milford. The Board of Alderman voted along party lines (9-6) to appoint Robert A. Adams, a blogger, to the MGAT Commission - Milford Government Access Television Commission.
Bob was a last minute entry; and this seemed to start the rankling. Then Alderman Scott Willey (R) stated that he had been to CTBob's website. He noted the "extreme left wing" commentary and wonder if that would be the new tone of MGAT. Bob was thrilled to hear about the increase in traffic to his website.
We can only hope that MGAT will improve with someone like Bob on the commission. No more endless video of small children pledging allegiance to the flag. No more grandstanding by the Mayor, presenting awards to children for sports events - this took up the first half hour of last night's meeting. Unfortunately, I think Bob actually likes all that stuff.
Alderman Willey also seemed to be perturbed that the commission was made up if three Democrats and two persons who were unaffiliated - no Republicans. The source of this fracas can be traced back to when the MGAT commission was approved as a Aldermanic Board appointment, and not as a Mayoral appointment as the ordinance was originally written by the City Attorney. Elections have consequences.
It should be noted that Alderman Willey recently referred to the Democratic Aldermen as socialists, trying to turn the government in Milford to something akin to that of the former Soviet Union. The subject of this particular revelation was a "Fight the Hike" resolution passed along party lines, urging UI and the General Assembly to reduce electric power rates in the State. (Sounds like the Communist Manifesto to me.)
Congratulations Bob we expect big things from you on this commission - like ambushing State Reps at the train station and videos of paper machete heads - kissing.
Jim Himes and the rest of the Connecticut House contingent get sworn in today. Himes was also notified that he won a spot on the financial services committee. Also a big day for "Rep. John Larson, the new chairman of the Democratic caucus, and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, co-chair of the steering and policy committee (in addition to her spot on appropriations.)"
Former Hartford Mayor Mike Peters died yesterday due to kidney complications.
Mike Peters, the wisecracking fireman who over four terms as mayor helped lift Hartford from a political, financial and crime-ridden funk, died Sunday about 8 p.m. following a struggle with liver failure. He was 60.
Peters had undergone a nearly eight-hour surgery inOctober to remove his cirrhosis-damaged liver and replace it with a healthy one. He had done well with the new liver but developed complications with his kidneys. By Nov. 20, he was back in intensive care at Hartford Hospital, and his doctors were considering a kidney transplant once he regained strength.
Peters' sister, Geraldine Sullivan, said Sunday night that her brother took a sudden turn for the worse about 3 a.m. Sunday morning and that his death was unexpected. He died peacefully and was surrounded by family, she said.
"He fought to the bitter end, and with each complication he got weaker, but he fought until the end and was interested in everything to the end, including all of the Hartford news," Sullivan said. "It's just that with each passing complication he got weaker and weaker and couldn't fight anymore."
As someone who grew up in Hartford, I can tell you that Peters will be deeply missed by all who knew him.
With the start of a new year, here's a round-up of the states Sunday political talk shows.
Dennis House of WFSB's State the State takes a look back at Connecticut's political highlights of 2008.
As Fox61 ran a repeat of The Real Story, here's a segment of the program that I didn't post last week that centers on the state's budget crisis.
Rounding up the list, as talk of the bailout of the big three auto makers continues, WVIT's Connecticut Newsmakers takes a look at the economy's impact on the state's automotive industry.
I decided to peel myself out of the recliner today (after all, the good game didn't start until 4:30, Eagles at Vikings) and head down to New Haven to shoot some video at the Gaza protest.
Maybe fifty people were there at any point in the proceedings, but on a Sunday in New Haven, that's a huge crowd. I spent about an hour taking pictures and interviewing people who showed up.
Check out this banner headline in the December 28, 2008 issue of Greenwich Time:
"Bush departs with legacy in question"
In question? The only questions for most Americans seem to be: "Can't he leave sooner?" and "Is he the worst president in American history, or only the second worst?"
But if you thought that headline strange, take a look at the first sentence of reporter Neil Vigdor's article:
"Some will remember him as Bush the protector, the president who prevented another terrorist attack from befalling the U.S. on its own soil during his watch."
Some will? Perhaps, but certainly extremely few, especially in this state. Vigdor goes on to write that in Greenwich,
"Where the seeds of his family's political dynasty were planted, George W. Bush is seen among many of his most ardent Republican supporters as an enigmatic figure at the close of his presidency."
An "enigmatic figure"? He carries the lowest approval ratings in modern history, thousands are dead in his pointless Iraq War, the country is racking up the worst economic numbers since the Great Depression, and Neil Vigdor believes that there is something "enigmatic" about Bush? No, he's an unmitigated disaster. Period.
I don't want to let the first day of 2009 go by without wishing a very Happy and Hopeful New Year to my friends at MLN. I will be sworn into Congress in less than a week. If we rise to the occasion, as we must, there will be precious few moments of leisure in the coming years to reflect, to thank, and to strengthen those bonds of partnership and friendship that make so much of what we do worthwhile.
So let me start by saying thanks. Partly to the many of you who offered advice, help and encouragement along the incredible journey that was the campaign. Some of you were there from the very beginning. But mostly, thanks for the engagement, commitment and passion that leaps from this and other blogs. I'm convinced that our Republic can withstand anything except the disengagement of its citizens from its civic life.
Second, let me share my optimism. I have sat in on several caucus meetings, been part of a variety of conference calls with the Congressional leadership, and met yesterday with Governor Rell and the rest of Connecticut's Congressional delegation. In each case, I have been impressed by the seriousness of purpose and pragmatism that have driven the discussion. I think that everyone, from the Speaker of the House to the Governor to the Freshmen in Congress, realizes that we are in a very deep hole and that the world and history itself will be a terribly harsh judge if we don't take smart and bold action on the economy, on health care, on energy, on restoring the rule of law and the reputation of the nation. I am heartened by the fact that sometimes it takes crisis for us to be our best selves.
Finally, please stay in touch. We have some really tough choices and changes to make in the years ahead. I suspect that if we do them right, no one will be terribly happy. We're balancing the needs and desires of urban and rural, old and young, north and south, individualist and collectivist. None of these need be zero-sum, but in a world of constricted resources, not everyone gets what they want. That's democracy. But everyone gets a say. That's really democracy.
Afternoon drive-time talk show host Colin McEnroe and Diane Smith, co-host of Mornings with Ray and Diane, have been laid off by WTIC-AM, the station confirmed today.
A new programming lineup beginning Monday replaces McEnroe's show with a 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. "news block" that will be anchored by Aaron Kupec and Bill Pearse. It will focus on the day's top stories both local and national.
"Sound Off Connecticut," a call-in talk show hosted by Jim Vicevich will be expanded from 9 a.m. until noon, lopping an hour off of the Smith and Dunaway show. Dunaway will continue as host of the morning show, which begins at 5:30 a.m.
Smith said in a statement Tuesday that she would sign-off from her show today, and said she and station managers were "exploring ways I might continue as part of the NewsTalk 1080 family."
Let me get this straight, the host of a very popular talk show, loses his job while the Sean Hannity wanna-be gets his show expanded? This makes NO sense.
Bad, bad move...just what we need, ANOTHER all conservative rabid right-winged radio channel.
Do me a favor and drop a comment in support of McEnroe either here or on his blog please.
Himes, who beat Republican Rep. Chris Shays in last month's election, will bring on Hill veteran Jason Cole as his chief of staff, according to Don Carlson, chief of staff for the transition. Cole, former legislative director for Rep. Dennis Moore, D-Kan., is already preparing for the job, although the hire isn't official until Jan. 3, according to congressional rules.
Carlson said Cole, whose former boss in Congress is a fiscal conservative - a Blue Dog Democrat - who often advocated for benefits for military members and their families, brings "the legislative depth that we need in our staff on the Hill."
Looking around, Cole's recent work also includes at least a few years as Federal Affairs Manager and director of UBS' U.S. Office of Public Policy, where he worked as a lobbyist along with Phil Gramm.
His policy interests seem to have been mainly in bankruptcy law, where he has been in the news opposing "cramdown" provisions (meaning allowing bankruptcy courts to revalue debt, especially for homeowners):
Jason Cole, executive director of federal affairs of UBS Americas Inc., New York, said restructuring is inevitable, along with a new wave of regulation. He and Hill said bankruptcy provisions-measures strongly and successfully opposed thus far by MBA-appear "inevitable," and that they could be included in a future economic stimulus bill in planning stages. [...]
Cole commended partnerships among associations for advocacy, especially on the bankruptcy issue. "The joint trade association effort with MBA and others has been successful on the issue of bankruptcy," he said. "All of them worked together and no one has tripped over themselves. There was good information sharing. If not, we would have been crammed down nine months ago."
Cole said he hopes that Congress "runs out the clock" for the remainder of the year on bankruptcy. "If we can have demonstrable evidence of foreclosures going down, rate of work outs go up, we can convince them [policymakers] otherwise," he said. (link)
This quote from just before the election in 2006 was also interesting to me:
In a recent report, UBS said Democrats would likely exert pressure on Republicans by holding high-profile hearings on controversial topics, such as "global warming, Halliburton's activities in Iraq, Wal-Mart's employment practices and allegedly excessive pharmaceutical prices."
If "government by subpoena" occurs, it would create "headline risk" for a number of key industries and companies, says Jason Cole, federal affairs manager at UBS.
That said, Himes has gone on the record [MP3 link] insisting that banks must accept revaluation of mortgages, opposing Gramm-Leach-Bliley, criticizing the weakness of regulation (especially of the credit default swap market), and advocating for homeowners facing foreclosure.
So, while my first reaction to the news was surprise that anyone would hire the director of an investment bank's federal lobbying shop to run a Congressional office in 2008, if Himes intends to make the banking and mortgage industries drink the bitter medicine that they must to make our economy healthy again, Cole might be a good choice to administer the cure.
The Senator from Aetna finally responded to my early November suggestion that he vote to yank Lieberman's Homeland Security chairmanship.
Label Dodd's December 17 letter Exhibit A as to why people are cynical about writing their elected representatives.
Like you, I was very disappointed with many of the actions taken by Senator Lieberman during the 2008 presidential campaign.
Sidebar comment: What is a phone conversation between Dodd and Lieberman like? What kind of a relationship do they have? Does Lieberman even give a crap what Dodd thinks? I think not. Why? Read on.
Moreover, I understand the concerns of those who believe that Senator Lieberman should have been removed from the chairmanship of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs because of his behavior.
Sidebar Comment: Yet, Dodd also understands that his cheating on Aetna with Countrywide is as pathetic as Lieberman's marriage to McCain.
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