I write this in a state of shock and disbelief. I know grief is coming, but I still can't believe Dave is gone, so it hasn't fully hit yet. I just found out from a Greenwich Post breaking news alert that Dave Roberson, the Chairman of our town's DTC, was killed in an auto accident on the way home from the RTM meeting last night. No other cars were involved in the accident and police are investigating the cause.
I first met Dave in the cafe of Greenwich Library, where I used to go to write when I was still married and needed an escape from the atmosphere in my house. He saw me plugging away on my laptop in between sandwich bites and we started talking about writing (he was also a writer, more interested in Sci-Fi than the young adult angst stuff I write). When we moved on to politics, we found we had even more in common.
Dave was a tireless worker for Democratic causes. I just can't believe he's gone.
Daniela Altimari has the story on The Capitol Watch Courant blog:
According to Judicial Branch records, Alpert is "administratively suspended from the practice of law pursuant to Practice Book Section 2-79(a) for non-payment of the client security fund fee due June 15, 2008," branch spokeswoman Rhonda Stearley-Hebert said in an email.
The order of administrative suspension took effect on June 16, 2009, she added.
Alpert seems to think non-payment is appropriate because he doesn't practice law, but it's not. I don't practice law either, but I'm required to pay:
An attorney is not exempt from the fee because he or she practices out of state, or because he or she does not actively practice law. Only those attorneys who have retired, resigned, who have served on active duty in the armed forces of the United States for a period of more than six months during the calendar year, or who have been disbarred, are exempt from payment of the fee. Attorneys have "retired" only if they have complied with the provisions of Practice Book Section 2-55 and Section 51-81b(g) of the Connecticut General Statutes. (Attorney Retirement Notice - Form JD-CL-68). A partial, fifty percent exemption is available to attorneys who do not engage in the practice of law as an occupation and have not earned and do not expect to earn more than $450.00 in legal fees or other compensation for services involving the practice of law during the calendar year. Please note that if you engage in the practice of law as an occupation outside of Connecticut, you do not qualify for the partial exemption. If being an attorney is a factor in an individual's employment, such attorney is deemed engaged in the practice of law as an occupation for purposes of the partial exemption and does not qualify for the partial exemption. An attorney claiming a partial exemption must complete an exemption claim form and submit the form with their payment. (Claim of Exemption, Client Security Fund Fee - Form JD-GC-14E)
So what should Mr. Alpert do?
He should pay the fees he owes and retire from practicing law and running for office:
On Saturday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi came to the Graduate Club in New Haven and joined in a roundtable discussion on the benefits for women in the health care reform legislation which is currently under intense debate in Congress.
Joined by Congressman Rosa DeLauro, Congressman John Larson, and Dr. Carolyn Mazure, Director of Women's Health Research at Yale University, the hour long discussion (which included the panelist answering questions from members of the audience) covered a wide range of issue, which centered on how the pending health care legislation will impact the lives of women.
From tales of gender discrimination women face by insurance companies, to the story of Melissa Marottoli, a 28 year old woman with stage four cancer who fears that losing her job or changing careers will result in her being denied coverage due to her pre-existing condition, the points raised in the discussion should serve as a reminder that reform to health care is needed now.
In the following video clip, while responding to a series of questions directed at her by members of the audience, in her closing remarks, Speaker Pelosi gives her take on the current state of the health care reform legislation in Congress (NOTE: Although the video picks up at the LAST question from an audience member, Speaker Pelosi is responding to a several questions that were directed to the panel).
You can watch the roundtable discussion in it's entirety below the fold.
The saga finally seems to be coming to a close. From the Stamford Advocate.
Christopher Shays' former campaign manager is expected to admit next week that he embezzled at least $82,118 in donations from the former Fairfield County congressman's unsuccessful 2008 political run and spent the money on such things as hotel stays, expensive dinners and baseball tickets.
Michael Sohn, 34, of Fairfield, is scheduled to plead guilty to the embezzlement and a tax evasion charge March 11 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna Fatzi Martinez at the federal courthouse in Hartford.
The tax evasion charge involves Sohn's failure to include pilfered money as income on his 2008 federal tax return. The prosecution, headed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Jongbloed, said Sohn should have reported taxable income of $163,949 rather than $75,860. As a result, he owed $43,468 in taxes but paid only $15,617.
Sohn is looking at a possible prison term ranging from 27 to 32 months. Additionally, the government will be seeking payment of taxes owed for returns Sohn filed.
"I think this is long overdue," Shays said Friday. "Michael embezzled money. Michael failed to pay his taxes. Michael hurt a lot of people, including himself."
I was talking with Kim from Common Cause about the Citizen's Election Program "fix" bill yesterday, and today learned that the transcript from the February hearing on the subject has recently been made available. And it occurs to me that there's a lot of talk about how to make special improvements to the bill that are unrelated or tangential to the Constitutional issues raised in Judge Underhill's ruling. There are two big proposals floating around:
The first is the idea that current statewide candidates need some special assistance to qualify, as the target contribution amounts are somehow unrealistically high. Senator Slossberg gave voice to this view in the news this week.
The second is the idea that the grant amounts should be reduced; that they're large enough to constitute a "windfall" that would give more money to candidates than they could realistically raise on their own. This is a popular idea among incumbent legislators, as there's a certain charm to promoting yourself as a "fiscal conservative" while simultaneously diminishing the ability of prospective opponents to promote themselves.
I think very little of both of these ideas. Not only are they bad ideas on their own, they both threaten to inject 2010 politics into the bill, which is totally what someone would do if they wanted to destroy the program.
But rather than just call these ideas dumb and counterproductive, I've made some graphs to illustrate exactly why these ideas are dumb and counterproductive.
Dodd says he's "still confident" about having a financial reform bill passed including new consumer protection measures. However, see this criticism from Ariana Huffington on the compromises made in the bill to appease Republicans. When asked about health care and specifically on reconciliation, which to my knowledge Dodd has not publicly supported, he said he would prefer not to go that route but also said "we have to get this done".
Last week, the New Canaan Republican Town Committee endorsed Dan Debicella of Shelton in the race to challenge Congressman Jim Himes. Debicella responded to the news of receiving New Canaan GOP support, and took the opportunity to demonstrate how little he knows about the work of Congress.
"Every family should ask themselves, 'What have I gotten from the stimulus?' and the answer from almost everyone is nothing," Debicella said.
Quarterly review of federal stimulus funds and the initiatives they support show gains in jobs created and retained as well as a dramatic increase in spending for assistance programs, health and welfare services, the environment and crime prevention, Governor M. Jodi Rell said today
"We have been able to keep thousands of people working, particularly in education, and provide safety nets for those who have lost their jobs in this unstable economy," Governor Rell said.
Crime prevention. Keeping your neighbors in jobs. Keeping your schools staffed properly. Extending unemployment benefits. Oh, and providing a $275 BILLION income tax cut to 95% of American tax payers. In the face of these documentable facts, Debicella claims that families in Fairfield county got "nothing."
Let's do some REAL numbers for Dan (again, all reported to the governor by state agencies in her Republican administration):
Jobs created/retained - 6,184 (up from 6,110 in October)
Unemployment benefits - $1.1 billion
Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program - $59 million
General Assistance - More than 7,400 home-delivered meals to Connecticut senior citizens
Health - 5,000 additional rotavirus vaccinations administered to children
Public Safety - 130 Internet Crimes against Children cases have been opened, more than doubling the number (54) in October; 10 full-time forensic officers have been hired; 6,369 DNA profiles have been processed, compared to 39 in October
Energy and the Environment - 90 more Department of Transportation trucks have been retrofitted to reduce diesel emissions (bringing the total to 140); 700 more housing units have received energy audits through the Weatherization Program and 180 units have been weatherized
Debicella offers nothing more that GOP talking points. Congressional Democrats offer real solutions to real problems. If you can't even SEE the problems people face, Dan, you don't deserve to represent them.
CNN's Randi Kaye looks at Linda McMahon's senatorial campaign. She says she'll spend $50 million to win. Of particular note is that CNN seems to have been inspired by this youtube video, I assume from a CT blogger who shall remain nameless.
The latest poll numbers from the conservative-leaning Rasmussen Reports shows Richard Blumenthal holding a commanding lead against his GOP rivals.
The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely voters in the state shows Blumenthal leading former Congressman Rob Simmons 58% to 32%. Blumenthal held a 19-point lead in this match-up last month and a 23-point lead in early January just after Dodd announced his decision not to run again.
Blumenthal leads Linda McMahon, former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, by 29 points, 60% to 31%. A month ago, he posted a 20-point lead over McMahon after leading by 24 points in the first Rasmussen Reports survey of the reconfigured race.
Peter Schiff, president of Euro Pacific Capital, trails the Democrat 57% to 27%. Schiff's numbers against Blumenthal were worse in January when he was down by 36 points.
Blumenthal continues to do well among independent voters.
Among voters not affiliated with either major political party, Blumenthal leads by 15 points or more against all three GOP opponents. The Democrat holds roughly 40-point leads against all three candidates among women. Among men, Simmons performs best of the three, trailing Blumenthal 49% to 40%.
Blumenthal's high "very favorable" numbers are also solid.
Forty-one percent (41%) of Connecticut voters share a very favorable opinion of Blumenthal, while only 10% view him very unfavorably. Those ratings are largely unchanged from February.
Although spending millions of dollars in an attempt to establish herself as a candidate, McMahon's high "very unfavorable" numbers indicates that the former head of the wrestling empire is having a problem connecting with the state's conservative base.
For McMahon, very favorables total 13% and very unfavorables 21%.
In comparison to Simmons and Schiff's very favorable/very unfavorable numbers...
Just 13% view Simmons very favorably while eight percent (8%) view him very unfavorably.
Schiff remains the least-known candidate, with 29% of voters who do not know enough about him to share even a soft opinion. Eight percent (8%) view him very favorably, and 10% view him very unfavorably.
If these are the best numbers Simmons, Schiff, and Simmons can get from a GOP-friendly polling firm, I can't wait to see there numbers on the next Quinnipiac poll.
George Jepsen, who, by the way, would make an outstanding Attorney General, spoke last night at the Fairfield DTC. In response to a question from the audience he opined that the chances were less than 50% that the Court of Appeals would overturn the lower court decision, or even issue a stay, and/or that the legislature (Senate) would approve the required changes.
I was 
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