On affordable housing: Delay, do not destroy - Democratic Source
Crossposted from Channel Surfing:
A delay like this, given the confusion and the difficulty of accommodating changes in state affordable housing law, seems appropriate — especially with Republicans looking to overturn some of the changes imposed by Democrats’ reform of the Fair Housing Act.
The key element of the reforms, which won approval earlier this year, was the end of regional contribution agreements. Such agreements had been created when affordable housing rules were established after the Mount Laurel decisions in the 1980s. RCAs allowed towns to transfer up to half of their state-mandated obligation to urban communities in the same region at a cost. Towns like Cranbury and Monroe have taken advantage of them over the years.
RCAs, however, also allowed towns to skirt the intent of the Mount Laurel rulings, which were not about providing housing but instead about ensuring that all communities in the state provided their fair share. RCAs continued the practice of concentrating low-income housing in the cities, perpetuatinga a pattern of economically induced segregation that has plagued New Jersey and fuels much of its unequal distribution of publice resources.
That said, the confusion surrounding the rules is real. Which is why Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts, D-Camden, and Speaker Pro Tem Jerry Green, D-Union, are seeking a delay. According to a letter they wrote to the Council on Affordable Housing, there are “many communities struggling to adapt to COAH?s third-round housing rules,” which means that “the state must provide more flexibility to help towns adjust.” Plus, the Assembly members said, economic and environmental concerns ahve been raised and “municipalities should be given the chance to apply for additional time so they can submit thoughtful and realistic housing plans that reflect the latest changes and the economic and wastewater management concerns.”
A delay, as I said, seems wholly appropriate — and a far better option than the RCA provision being pushed by Senate Republicans. An October bill “would reestablish the regional contribution agreement as a viable method for a municipality to assist in affordable housing construction” as part of a larger group of changes being pushed by the GOP. The changes, which would make suburban communities happy, would do little more than eviscerate the state’s affordable housing goals, even if some of its provisions are worth considering (meeting obligations through rental vouchers, for instance).
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A Show Trial - Today in Politics?
By Patrick Appel
Walid Phares predicts that the Guantanamo trials will be used against the US:
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his comrades will use the so-called confessions deal to build a psychological environment for a martyrdom case: “istishaad.” They aren’t interested in saving their lives (at first, although they think they could) but in providing a maximum damage to their enemy through the tribunal proceedings.
They will claim the court is not legitimate, the entireGuantanamo process as illegal and that they are ready to die as Jihadisin the path to Allah. Their first target is to grant themselves, in theeyes of millions of militants around the world the status of “Shuhada,”martyrs, even though they could survive it.
The “confessions” turned declaration of victory will be picked up by AlQaeda and other jihadi groups and transformed into vital material forpropaganda: videos, audio and texts. The “show” inside court will beused for indoctrination purpose around the world. A myth will be set inmotion and emotional reactions to the “story” will be mutated intofuture revenge operations.
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Obama, Gore talk energy, the environment - Political News
Former Vice President Al Gore visited with President-elect Barack Obama on Tuesday, but the topic was expected to be the planet rather than Gore’s formal return to Washington.
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Sustainable Energy and You - Cited by Sharpy News
Rick Strahl just wrote an excellent and timely post - now that oil prices are "back to normal" - about energy, alternatives to oil, peak production, and the impact of an unstable supply on the daily lives of most westerners. The first step in any attempt to change our energy consumption habits is to really understand how much a stable, affordable power supply means to us.
Rick:
Think about it, even if you do nothing more than a little thought experiment with yourself. How would you live if you had to make do with a more primitive society that doesn’t run on power or power that is treated as a luxury rather than an abundant ever available resource as it is now? Or even one that doesn’t run with private cars? Do you live in the suburbs with no way to even get to a store by foot and no public transportation? How will you get to work if your job is in the city that’s 20, 50 or 80 miles away? Will you even have a job? In a drastically shrunken economy that has paid a heavy energy tax that is bound to deflate any economic growth that isn’t likely to come back, do you think you’ll still have a paper pushing job? Or an abstract job like programmer for example? How do you code when there’s no consistent electricity and which business would still need abstract work.
That’s a damn good question and one that, to varying degrees, matters to virtually every American and European worker. A stable, scalable energy industry is one of the primary bedrocks of western civilization.
It’s therefore necessary for citizens to insist that government, at a minimum, nurture an economic environment that allows energy companies to prosper. This means encouraging competition, minimizing regulation, allowing real diversity in the marketplace, and rewarding research and development efforts. It also means, as a careful reading of these requirements implies, staying out of the way of the men, women, and companies that produce the energy we, the consumers, demand.
There is an idea loose in the world that people should reduce their energy use by "turning off" part of their lives. This is an unfortunate Luddite notion and a mistake, culturally and socially speaking. If energy consumption is to be reduced - along with its parallel impact on the natural world - this must be achieved through increases in efficiency of future generations of electronics and through the development of cleaner energy sources. Short of the free world being bombed back to the 1800s or earlier, nothing else will ever reduce energy demand and its effects.
Even now, after just the briefest of lulls in the storm of recent energy price increases, Americans are beginning to re-embrace their darlings of yesteryear, the gas-guzzling SUV. How quickly we forget.
Tags: Oil, Energy, Environment, War
Storing the Mentally Ill - Political News
A woman at the market I went to Thanksgiving morning reacted to my banter with a question, “Are you a Marine?” When I told her I had been, she said her son was a Marine. “He got in trouble with the law and had to go in,” she remarked.
One of Senator Webb’s comments in his address to The Hamilton Project reminded me of this encounter. It is a chance meeting that is not uncommon and I never know how that story is going to turn out. Having spent a lot of time involved in entry level training, I know that the story can go either way. Senator Webb mentioned that he thought the Marine Corps provided a pretty good model on how there can be, on the one hand a disciplined environment, and on the other hand a fair environment. But my experience in that kind of environment informs me that that approach will not necessarily succeed in the manner desired for portions of two of the three classifications in the Webb triage concept. Not all violent criminals are incorrigible, but many are; rarely will discipline and fairness alone evoke civil and rational behavior from the mentally ill. On the one hand, we must still treat the incorrigible with civility; on the other, there is no sustainable good that can come from using the criminal justice system to house the mentally ill.
During the mid-eighties, funding for the mental health care system was slashed. Immediately thereafter, fellows who had been set loose by a system that could no longer provide care began coming up to my recruiting tables on campuses. One in particular became a fixture at the table at San Jose State University where he had been a student at one time. He was the first person I remember meeting who had nicotine yellowed nails and fingertips. I never saw him without a cigarette or tobacco product of some sort. His story involved a stint in the military that had been very brief and now that he had lost another temporary home he wanted to know how to get back in. He promised he could behave himself this time. I would not be surprised if today he is one of the mentally ill who Senator Webb believes are inappropriately incarcerated.
Our prisons are housing the great portion of our nation’s mentally ill, according to Webb. The number of mentally ill in prison is calculated at nearly five times the number of people in inpatient mental hospitals. A forensic psychologist has pointed out that, nationwide, jails have become the number one holding stop for the mentally ill. Here Webb sees resources that are dedicated to incarceration being used more effectively in mental health care. An effort must be made to find better ways to treat those who are suffering mental illness. It is not a crime to be mentally ill. It is a crime to live by violence. By waiting until the mentally ill become violent to address their issues is to invite the kind of tragedy seen at Virginia Tech last year.
Plus there is the aspect situations like that discussed in John Grisham’s The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town. It is a compelling story of Ron Williamson’s journey from professional baseball prospect to convicted murderer. Though innocent, he was arrested, charged, and sentenced to death largely due to his mental competence. Grisham has stated that these kinds of incidents are happening in this country with increasing frequency. So, not only do you have the mentally ill being incarcerated for crimes that are from despair, there are the innocent mentally ill being put away with no prospect for proper care and treatment.
Like the issue of our treatment of non-violent drug offenders, an alternative can reduce incarceration, improve public safety, and produce social benefits in excess of their costs. But unlike the bumper sticker law enforcement and criminal justice solutions offered by those who just want the problem to go away, we must move in more creative ways of dealing with problems in our society. Again, a national dialogue is required.
With trepidation, I asked that mother I met at the market how her son was doing in the Marines. She grinned broadly and said, “He just loves to go running in those green shorts and boots when he is home, he is so proud. He’s 37 now and almost ready to retire, but he may stay in some more.” So, yes, the Senator is absolutely correct when he says that a disciplined and fair environment can go a long way towards nurturing growth. Think of what that environment could do for social justice writ large.
This is the third in a series of what will be five posts generated by Senator Webb’s address before The Hamilton Project audience.
7 December, 2008 The War on the Impoverished
8 December, 2008 Senator Webb at The Hamilton Project
Next:
The War on Drug Users
Cross posted at Blue Commonwealth
Cross posted at VBDems.org - Blogging our way to Democratic wins in Virginia Beach!
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Press Conference of Fitz Blago Liveblog - Cited by Sharpy News
from enterstageright
Ah. Liveblogging Pat Fitz again. (Though it’ll be weird to liveblog watching his face, rather than the bald spot on the back of his head, which is what we got to see in the Libby trial.)
The press conference will start 7 minutes late.
In the meantime, here’s my question for Fitz (not like he’ll answer it). Local Chicago press is reporting that Rahm Emanuel reported Blago after someone approached the Obama folks about who he wanted for the Senate seat. In other words, yes, Rahm may well be the good guy here, and Obama couldn’t be cleaner. Is that true?
Fitz up, introducing the guys involved. He’s not wearing his lucky blue tie.
Sad day for government. Blago taken us to a new low. Political corruption crime spree. Most appalling conduct is attempt to sell the Senate seat he had the sole right to appoint to replace Pres-Elect Obama.
Back 8 weeks ago we had the following environment. A known investigation, recent trial.
Most appalling behavior that Blago tried to sell the seat vacated by Pres-elect Obama. Lincoln would roll over in his grave. "It’s a bleeping valuable thing. You just don’t give it away for nothing." Tapes reveal that Blago wanted a number of things: HHS, Ambassadorship, higher paying job for his wife, union job. He thought union might get benes from Pres-elect.
Complaint makes no allegations about Pres-elect.
This lost when Pres-elect’s candidate took herself out of the running.
In another event, somebody else approached the governor. In government’s view, they were approached by intermediaries. Blago was worried that the contributions would actually be paid. He wanted the money "up front." "Some of this stuff’s gotta start happening now, right now." "You gotta be careful how to express that, assume the whole world is listening." That’s the governor of Illinois. Finally, the governor talked about appointing himself to the Senate seat. He wanted to do it to avoid impeachment.
We need to do the investigation now that it is overt.
[Basically going to try to figure out who was playing in the pay to play for the Senate. He's not done--not at all.]
In all seriousness, we have times when people decry corruption. Wide ranging schemes. If the people felt uncomfortable they ought to come forward. We’re already quite heartened by the number of people who have come forward today. There’s a lot we don’t know and need to know. We ask that the press, in particular, recognize that we’re not casting aspersion on the other people mentioned on this.
FBI guy: A new low for Illinois. I did not answer whether Illinois is the most corrupt state in the US. If it isn’t the most corrupt state in the US, it is certainly one hell of a competitor. The FBI agents were thoroughly disgusted by what they heard.
PF: There were a lot of things imminent. There’s a bill waiting to be signed, based on whether a hospital’s CEO coughed up a campaign contribution. An editor waiting to get fired. When there were layoffs, conversations about whether that editor was fired. A governor, the only one looking for more layoffs. Add it to the fact that we have a Senate seat auctioned off to the highest bidder. Blago’s own words talked about selling this like a sport’s agent. We stepped in for a number of reasons. In the middle of a corruption crime spree, and stepped in to stop it.
Journalist: You said not to cast aspersions. Does that mean they’re beyond blame?
Fitz: We never give clean bills of health. What I’m trying to do is explain caution about what’s on the tapes. We’re going to do an investigation about what was said about other people on the tapes. There may be people who had no idea what was going on. Some things will be black and white, some things will be shades of gray. What they understand when they’re scheming. We’d like to see what schemes were carried out, who made contributions, we’d like people to take what we say with a grain of salt. If other people did wrong, we’ll deal with that.
Journalist: Blago will walk out today, he will still have the power to appoint the Senate seat.
Fitz: We make no allegations about what the Pres-elect is aware of or not.
Journalist: You intervened bc of something that was going to happen. He still has the power to do it.
Fitz: If I were someone who wanted to pay to play, I think this would be about the worst time to engage in this kind of action. I was not going to wait until March or April and say, btw, all this bad stuff happened in December. We will expose criminal conduct to let people know we’re on to it.
Journalist: Should the gov step aside?
Fitz: We’re not entitled to any view. What happens in the legislation is not for us.
Fitz: If the charges are true, it’s an appalling thing. We need people in the public to stand up and say "enough." We’re not going to end corruption in Illinois by arrests and corruption alone. What’s going to make a difference is when people are approached to pay to play, they come forward.
Journalist: It’s conceivable that Trib was considering–or forced to consider–what Blago had in mind?
Fitz: Not making claim about Trib. We’re not describing about mindset of Zell’s mind.
Journalist: What does this say about Durbin’s request for commutation for Ryan?
Fitz: To extent office has a view in Ryan pardon, we’ll express that privately. Power of pardon and commutation rests with president, don’t make a practice of commenting.
Fitz: we cite a statute, sole discretion of g
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NH Democrats Now Out Number Republicans in Granite State - Today in Politics
First time in history Democrats have registration edge
Concord - With all of the new registrants counted after the November 4th elections, Democrats now out number Republicans in New Hampshire for the first time in history, New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley announced today.
“Over the past several decades, Democrats all over the state have worked tirelessly to build our party from the grassroots up in every village and city street across the state,” said Ray Buckley. “After the 2006 election many Republicans and analysts scoffed at the Democratic landslide as a fluke,” continued Buckley. “After the historic turnout in the presidential primary, some chalked it up to the excitement and energy of our candidates versus the Republicans. And then again, after the record breaking results of November 4, 2008 there were still those who said Democrats were just lucky again.”
“Today I have some news. Yesterday we learned from the Secretary of State the latest voter registration numbers for New Hampshire. And it is my honor to report to you that for the first time since New Hampshire instituted party registration, Democrats now out number Republicans in New Hampshire,” Buckley concluded.
New Hampshire now has 2,908 more registered Democrats than Republicans. Party registration after the November 4th election indicates there are 393,899 undeclared voters registered, 280,968 registered Democrats, and 278,060 registered Republican voters. Over the past six years, the numbers of voters registering as Democrats (104,334) dramatically out number those registering as Republican (24,556). Numbers indicate that voters are joining the Democratic Party in New Hampshire by a two to one margin over undeclared and a three to one margin over the Republicans - making the Democrats the
fastest growing of the three. If these trends continue at the current rate, Democrats will out number undeclared voters within seven years.
“This historic change in voter registration is also a result of the confidence the people of New Hampshire have in President-elect Obama and our congressional delegation to lead,” said DNC committeewoman Kathy Sullivan. “Be it expanding health care access, raising the minimum wage, or looking out for our taxpayers, Senator-elect Shaheen, Congresswoman Shea-Porter, and Congressman Hodes have a long record of fighting to better the lives of the people of our state, and this has certainly attracted many new voters to the Democratic Party.”
“The new Democratic Majority which we now see in New Hampshire has made it possible for Governor Lynch and our legislative majorities to make progress on a wide-range of issues, including investing in education, health care, the environment, and our economy while continuing to protect our taxpayers,” added DNC committeeman Peter Burling.
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Czech and EU Leader Considers Global Warming a Myth - Cited by Sharpy News
What is often underreported by American media about Europe and then especially the European Union is the divide which exists in the EU between Western and Eastern European states. Western European states tend to be less hawkish, more in favor of a big and reasonably powerful EU government and they tend to embrace issues like global warming.
Eastern European states, most of which former Soviet (satellite) states, have different views, however. They are more hawkish, they tend to support George W. Bush’s pro-democracy and preemptive strikes foreign policy, and they tend to be skeptical about environmental issues such as global warming.
The number on issue for them is economic development. They are poorer than Western European states and they (rightfully) believe that their economic problems are mainly caused by the social rule forced upon them by the Soviet Union during and after the Cold War. Their remedy is more not less free market and capitalism, unlike Western Europe which has tended to limit the free market and the downsides of capitalism, believing pure, unlimited capitalism to be as evil as, say, communism.
The Czech Republic is one such Eastern European country, and it is poised to clash with Western European leaders such as France, Britain and Germany in 2009 because it has taken over the presidency of the European Union, a position held by France in 2008.
The first issue on which the two sides broke was the current crisis and war between Israel and Hamas taking place in Gaza. France condemned the Israeli ground offensive launched yesterday immediately arguing that the attack would make the crisis worse and result in a major humanitarian disaster in the Palestinian territories. The Czech Republic, on the other hand, came out in support for Israel almost immediately, calling the ground invasion “defensive in nature, not offensive,” and blaming Hamas for the crisis rather than Israel (or both).
Another issue on which Eastern and Western European will clash in the coming year is global warming. Western European states want to do everything in their power to limit manmade global warming, a thesis they firmly believe. Eastern European states,and especially the Czech Republic, consider manmade global warming to be a myth, however, and want to improve their economies. The Czechs fear that the anti-global warming attitude of France, Britain and Germany may hurt the European and thus the Czech Republic’s economy.
France, Germany, Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium, and so on are generally willing to harm their own economy in order to fight global warming. Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Greece, and so on, are differ considerably; for them, economic growth is the top priority.
The coming year will be an interesting one for the grand European project. The Czechs and others will defy Westerners whenever they can, believing the latter to be too concerned with mythical problems and too little concerned with actual issues such as lasting economic growth. Together they will, however, determine the future direction of the EU nonetheless: it could move to the left, to the right or to the center, dependent on which side becomes more powerful and influential and on whether or not both sides will agree to a compromise position.
Tags: War, France, Environment, Foreign Policy
… And the Rest - Democratic Source
Before the Professor and Maryann got their due in the Gilligan’s Island theme song, they were known collectively as “the rest.” And that’s about how some of NJ’s House races, and the Senate race, must have felt this year.
With the Obama campaign sucking up so much of the oxygen (and money, and energy, and ultimately the very PA-bound volunteers themselves), most of what was left over was focused on the “hot” races in NJ-3, NJ-5, and NJ-7. Like so often in the past, if you weren’t running in one of the hot races, then you found yourself with scant attention being paid to your campaign.
In the case of Senator Lautenberg, and our 7 Democratic House incumbents, no news was good news. New Jersey’s voters delivered a solid double-digit win to its senior Senator, and sent the Magnificent 7 back to Washington with an average margin of victory of over 40%. But for Congressional Challengers in NJ-2, NJ-4, and NJ-11, it was a different story altogether.
We look at each of these races in more detail below the fold.
NJ-2: If there was one District where Obama coattails might have offered reason for hope this year, it would be in NJ-2. For all the talk of gerrymandering following the 2000 census, the fact is the 2nd District is a D+4 district that supported Gore by a wide margin in 2000, and gave Bush only a single-point win in 2004. Obama brought it back into the democratic fold this year, and David Kurkowski seemed to pin his hopes on riding Obama’s coattails. It was not to be.
Some would say that this race was all over the day Jeff Van Drew and Jim Whelan ruled it out, and any other assessment is a pipe-dream. We’re not sure that was the truly the end of hopes in NJ-2. But, absent a compelling reason for electing Kurkowski - indeed, the candidate himself declined to enter the race until Van Drew and Whelan passed - Frank LoBiondo had little to fear.
Deserved or not, LoBiondo has developed supportive relationships with labor and environmental groups, law enforcement and veterans. In New Jersey, when the Republican gets the endorsement of the Sierra Club and NJEA, that’s a District where the Democrat is unlikely to win.
One day soon, the 2nd District is going to make for an easy pickup for the Dems. Until then, this is going to be a tough place to find a win.
NJ-4: We’d like to tell you that Josh Zeitz gave Chris Smith a real run for the money this year. We’d like to say that, but we can’t. In the end, all the exuberance of a bright, young, articulate candidate, the surprisingly good fundraising, and even the occasional nod from Governor Corzine and other party leaders wasn’t enough to move this District at all this year from the 2006 result:
2006: Chris Smith 66% - Carol Gay 33%
2008: Chris Smith 66% - Josh Zeitz 33%
Common denominator: Chris Smith. Hard as it may be to believe, Smith is well-liked by his constituents - democrats included. Not unlike LoBiondo in NJ-2, Smith has enjoyed considerable support from labor and environmental groups through much of his career in the House. But, this year presented an even greater challenge.
This year - smack in the middle of the campaign - Smith made national headlines when he traveled to war-torn Georgia to negotiate the release of two young girls from his District trapped behind Russian lines while visiting their grandparents in Western Georgia. He returned to the District shortly after, girls in tow, a hero.
In any year, Smith has proven to be a tough incumbent to beat. But, 2008 was definitely not the year to do it.
NJ-11: Perhaps nowhere else in the state does victory seem so near, yet so far away than in Morris County, which makes up the bulk of the Eleventh District. Cycle after cycle promises to elevate Morris County to the next level of soon-to-be-former Republican strongholds, in the mold of Bergen or Passaic Counties. Yet, each cycle, Democrats find themselves on the losing side.
And the Congressional seat presents special problems beyond that. The incumbent, Rodney Frelinghuysen, is a member of one of New Jersey’s longtime political families. Indeed, Rodney’s father was a Congressman, and four Frelinghuysens have served as U.S. Senator from New Jersey, dating back to 1793. So, there’s some history there.
And history repeated itself this year, with a rematch between Tom Wyka and incumbent Rodney Frelinghuysen. In 2006, Rodney won it by a 62%-37% margin, in a year when Wyka raised precious little money, and was forced to rely primarily on a field program, without the resources to penetrate the entire District.
This year, two years later, Wyka had the advantage of an early start, increased name recognition, and a corps of ardent supporters. He worked harder at fundraising, and though still woefully underfunded, did more than double the money raised last cycle.
The result?: Rodney won it by a 62%-37% margin.
Could a third time be the charm? Tom hinted he’s open to the possibility. And, Morris Democrats may give him the chance - Tom is an extremely likeable and very very smart candidate, and it’s really easy to picture him in Congress.
But, he has yet to raise the kind of money needed to make a competitive run for Congress. And, as long as Frelinghuysen holds the seat, and the name, of his ancestors, Wyka or anyone else running here is going to need to come up with something extra special to pull out a win.
NJ-1: Rob Andrews won his congressional race handily, but his surprise, last-minute challlenge to Frank Lautenberg for the Senate nomination, and his subsequent post-defeat retreat back to run for that 1st CD seat he swore he was done with, will probably have a corrosive effect on his political career. The issues he raised in the primary against Lautenberg, picked up and dusted off for use by Dick Zimmer in the general, didn’t work for either man.
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Prusi elected Senate Dem leader - Democratic Source
Just in from the State Senate, Senator Mike Prusi of Ishpeming has been elected by his peers to be the next Democratic Caucus Leader when current leader Mark Schauer heads to Washington D.C. next January as Congressman for the 7th District.
From the Senate Democratic Caucus -
“The challenges before us are great, but by staying focused on what's best for the people who sent us here we can turn Michigan's economy around,” said Prusi. “We must be united in making changes that will help our children and grandchildren find jobs and raise their families' right here in this great state.”
Prusi has served in several leadership positions within the caucus, including as the lead Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee and previously as the lead Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee.
The Senator also serves on the Energy Policy, Judiciary and Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs committees. Before being elected to the Senate, he served three terms in the Michigan House of Representatives. Prior to his legislative career, Mike worked for over twenty years as an iron ore miner for the Cleveland Cliffs Iron Company at various Marquette County mining operations, including five years as an underground miner.“Senator Prusi has been at the forefront of the most pressing issues facing our state, including energy policy and the state budget,” said Schauer. “These experiences will serve him well, and I am confident he will excel in his new role as Caucus Leader. We will work closely together to ensure a smooth, productive transition.”
“Senator Prusi is an experienced, thoughtful legislator who will make sure people are the top priority,” said Democratic Floor Leader Buzz Thomas (D-Detroit). “I look forward to working closely with him to advance an agenda that will attract jobs to Michigan and improve the lives of struggling consumers.”
Previous to today's election, the race was defined by many insiders as a complete toss-up between Prusi and Thomas. It's also worth noting that Prusi had challenged Schauer for the position in 2006 after the Senate elections, but Schauer prevailed.
A hearty congrats to Sen. Prusi, his family, and then entire Senate Democratic Caucus.
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