Today’s issue of Parade, the fish-wrap magazine included gratis in my and many Sunday newspapers, included an article entitled: How Much Would You Pay in Taxes? It purports to be a non-partisan evaluation of how the two presidential candidates’ tax proposals would affect citizens of various income levels, but it is an example of either [...]
Category Archives: Politics
Planetarium Earmark
October 9, 2008 – 9:38 pm
As former chairman of the Summer Science Program (SSP), an academic enrichment program for the very brightest teenagers, I know a bit about astronomy, the focus of SSP’s curriculum. I also know a bit about planetariums ["planetaria" is also accepted, but that sounds like a type of worm to me]. And since SSP once investigated, [...]
Vote Today Ohio–Day 6–Tote Board
October 4, 2008 – 8:51 pm
Our Friday traffic was heavy. We were canvassing every student at Kent State who came within eyesight of our van. We had two shuttles running all day long. Over the week the Vote Today Ohio teams ferried over 2,000 early voters to the polls, with over 800 of them new registrants.
Vote Today Ohio–Day 5–The Morning After
October 3, 2008 – 6:55 am
What to make of the Vice Presidential debate [transcript here] last night? We err if we view Sarah Palin through the lens of our own ambitions and anxieties. Many assumed she would be apprehensive, even terrified by the prospect of facing millions of Americans. The future of the GOP was hers to destroy. But this [...]
Vote Today Ohio–Day 4–On a Timetable
October 2, 2008 – 8:20 pm
In a groove now. Starting at 9 a.m., one trip every hour from Kent State to the Board of Elections in Ravenna. As many as five students signed up per trip. The pace is picking up.
Vote Today Ohio–Day 3–Shuttling in the Rain
October 1, 2008 – 8:34 pm
After nearly two months of on-campus work by various organizations, almost all students at Kent State University now say that they’re registered to vote. The temperature is in the low 50s. The sky is light gray. And a hard rain falls intermittently. This is my third day on campus, standing beside the Vote Today Ohio [...]
Vote Today Ohio–Day 2–Tach It Up
September 30, 2008 – 11:55 pm
Yesterday was our first day on the Kent State campus. We arrived with a 15-passenger van festooned with signage that invited early voting and positioned it right in front of the Student Center. Under cloudy, often rainy skies, hundreds of students passed by. “How would you like to avoid the long lines on Election Day [...]
Vote Today Ohio–Day 1–On the Ground
September 29, 2008 – 9:36 pm
Ohio election law permits voter registration through October 6. But Early Voting begins September 30. This means that for one week, Ohio residents may register and vote early in all of Ohio’s 88 counties.
Secretary Paulson Wants a Section 8
September 24, 2008 – 5:58 pm
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Wall Street’s financial mess is complicated. The bail-out is complicated. But one thing is clear: whatever is to be done must be done in the sunshine with full recourse for chicanery and self-dealing.
Vote Today Ohio–A Grassroots Effort
September 18, 2008 – 12:03 am
My wife and I are going to Ohio to register voters. Ohio recently changed its voting laws in a way that creates an extraordinary opportunity to register new voters. For one week only (Sept 30—Oct 6), Ohio residents may register and vote early in all of Ohio’s 88 counties. They need make only one trip [...]
