Campaign Laws head to Supreme Court and Libertarians engage

An attorney in Washington state posted materials that form the bulk of the posting below. Attribution in the comments.

The US Supreme Court accepted review of two cases of major significance to the Libertarian Party. One case is from New York and the other is from Washington State. Pundits are discussing these cases together because they appear as "bookends" to the fundamental issue of the relationship between the political parties and the states.

In the New York case the parties were virtual gatekeepers to who could appear on the general election ballot. In the Washington case the parties were excluded from the process, except to the extent their endorsements might mean something.

At stake are rights of political parties, of candidates and of voters. How does the concept of partisanship impact those respective rights?

Political parties want the right to decide not only who participates in their nomination processes, but also which candidates are entitled to claim affiliation with the party. Candidates want easy access to the ballot and the right to claim affiliation with any political party they choose. Voters want meaningful choices on the ballot that are not controlled by party bosses.

Wrapped up in these various claims are core constitutional principles of free speech, free association, due process and equal protection.

But what if the associational rights of political parties are at odds with the ballot access rights of candidates? New York State Board of Elections, v. Lopez-Torres, #06-766 is, in essence, a ballot access case in which Lopez-Torres convinced both the lower courts that the Republican Party had too much control over who could appear on the ballot. Link to the Second Circuit opinion in PDF.

Or, what if the associational rights of political parties are at odds with the free speech rights a candidate to declare his/her "preference" for a political party even if the party does not support the candidate? Washington v Washington State Republican Party, #06-713 involves Washington's attempt to replace Washington's "blanket primary" with a "top-two primary" that allowed any candidate to list a party "preference" on the ballot of what was otherwise a non-partisan primary. Link to the Ninth Circuit decision on that case.

And what if the associational rights of the political parties operate to limit the choices to the voters only to those "annointed" by the parties? At what point does a state have a "sufficiently weighty" interest in limiting the exclusionary rights of the political parties to ensure that the voters have a wide range of meaningful choices on the ballot? How does the state satisfy that interest without running the risk of overcrowding the ballot?

On a related matter, it is clear that a state can require political parties to settle their internal differences prior to the general election, by nominating conventions, caucuses or primaries. But can a state force any particular candidate selection format on the parties? Even more fundamentally, isn't ANY pre-election winnowing process for candidates an unauthorized "qualification" for federal office, upon the same rationale term-limit legislation was ruled to be unconstitutional 10 years ago?

So far, these issues are being discussed by the Ds and Rs, and within the academic election law community. Now it is starting to perk with the libertarian press and blogosphere.

It is certainly necessary to debate Iraq or health care from a libertarian perspective. But what does that mean if the the very identity and purpose of all political parties, including that of the Libertarian Party, is at risk?

true colors giggle

From another blog.

ONCE MORE UNTO THE ARENA DEAL, FRIENDS: "Though the letter goes on for eight more sentences, Mr. Spagnolla never actually tells us what those true colors are. Which is kind of disappointing. But if I had to guess, I'd say that Ed Rendell's -- he is, after all, the former Mayor of Philadelphia and an avowed Eagles fan -- true colors are green and white. If his public persona and his public speaking ability are an indication, Dan Onorato's true colors are probably beige. Or maybe puce. And, no matter how much he tries to convince us that they're black and gold, we all know that Luke Ravenstahl's true colors are blank slate and baby blue."

The new arena talk isn't over yet. No way. It needs to be built. The costs need to be covered.

Heck, Three Rivers Stadium isn't over yet. They still have a Stadium Authority. We owed $30-million when it went away. We are now going to pay, what $4-million, for an outdoor, glass covered concert venue to be owned by the Steelers. Eeeks. These deals never are over and done with.

Rep. Ron Paul: Running to Win in 2008

Rep. Ron Paul: Running to Win in 2008 Dr. Ron Paul, Congressman from Texas, has been a fervent advocate of limited constitutional government, low taxes, free markets, and a return to sound monetary policies based on commodity-backed currency. He's now considering taking his no-nonsense show on the road in an under-the-radar run for the White House.

Paul is an absolute original -- never voting for legislation unless the proposed measure is expressly authorized by the Constitution. It's an iron rule that sometimes annoys his Republican colleagues.

A medical doctor by training and certification, Paul is nothing if not a thinking man. When he voted against authorizing military force against Iraq, his rationale read like a lawyer's analysis:

'This resolution is not a declaration of war, however, and that is an important point: This resolution transfers the constitutionally-mandated congressional authority to declare wars to the executive branch. This resolution tells the president that he alone has the authority to determine when, where, why, and how war will be declared. It merely asks the president to pay us a courtesy call a couple of days after the bombing starts to let us know what is going on. This is exactly what our Founding Fathers cautioned against when crafting our form of government...'

Join us at TalkShoe for Micro Credit Efforts

First 24 hour LIVE Talkathon for Kiva International

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Talkcast ID: 14678

Link

Kiva efforts are rocking today

No trouble for Buchanan to stay in line

No trouble for Buchanan to stay in line Political prosecutions
Aside from those high-profile cases, Ms. Buchanan has put a special emphasis on public corruption during her tenure.

Tube City Almanac: March of the Penguins

Tube City Almanac: March of the Penguins I'm sure glad that this arena is being built at no expense to the taxpayers. Well, except for:

* $10.5 million in cash the state is paying the Penguins 'in recognition of delays the team suffered while it was negotiating for a new arena,' and,

* $7.5 million for the next 30 years that the state will contribute from its economic development fund, and of course, the

* $290 million bond issue that's being underwritten by the taxpayers of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Other than that, yes, there's no taxpayer money involved!

. . .

Auditing Dep’t.: If you live in the country, where you rely on the state police, you may be interested to know that $7.5 million per year would pay the salaries (not including benefits) of 150 new troopers.

If you live in the city, where you or your neighbors rely on public transportation, $7.5 million per year would make up more than 10 percent of Port Authority's projected budget shortfall.

You may say that the $7.5 million is coming from gambling revenues, so it isn't really tax money. But I thought that we legalized slot machines to reduce property taxes in the state. Did I miss the part where it said, 'reduce property taxes, or maybe build an ice rink for Canadian and Russian millionaires'?

Rendell's bungling nearly iced deal for new arena

O-R OnlineKeeping the Penguins in Pittsburgh should have been a no-brainer.

Unfortunately, the city officials negotiating with Mario Lemieux's group - in particular Gov. Ed Rendell - have no brains. Or, at least, they did not understand how important it was to reach an agreement.

Some Question Tactics Of U.S. Attorney Buchanan

kdka.com - Some Question Tactics Of U.S. Attorney Buchanan County Democratic Chairman Jim Burn says he's suspected partisanship all along.

'Her record speaks for itself,' said Burn. 'I've seen a long line of Democrats and mistakes aren't made based on party affiliation but I haven't seen anybody from the other side going though that system.'

Duhh.

Jeff Habay and Robert Glancey are GOPers who have been in hot water. For Glancey, it is going to get worse before it gets better. Then there is Michael Diven.

Pile on. So what. Real problems exist within both of those camps. They even have issues within the camps with provisional ballots and in-fighting to knock each other off of the ballots. Ballot access is a major issue and mega big deal.

From texture - misc.

I want to see public trust in all offices restored. We've got a long, long way to go for that to begin to happen. Trust will increase among the people as a direct reflection of their might at the ballot box.

Who is going to be the hero: Showing up six times without blowing up.

The brief video clip above, (a segment of Heavy Or Not), drives home a point that has surfaced a number of times in the recent weeks.

My statement at city council on March 13 hit against a member of city council who didn't show up for a debate. Meanwhile, ballot challenge matters from a number of candidates are headed to the judge because certain paperwork didn't show up.

I love to point being made that one doesn't need to blow up. Just show up. That's a big theme of mine. At all cost, avoid burnout. Stand for office. Do what you can. Show up.

My intention is to stand for office in 2007, six times. I intend to show up on the ballot. Statements need to be made. And, my stance needs support from others, behind and most of all, beside.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, with the force, needs to show up to debate.

State bread & circuses - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Blistering and beautiful letter to the editor:

State bread & circuses - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review On the same day that our elected leaders were patting themselves on the back about their deal to keep the Penguins in town, the state issued a report that the Pittsburgh region lost 27,900 (seasonal and weather-related) jobs in the month of January alone.

Mr. Ravenstahl, Mr. Onorato and Mr. Rendell have applied yet another Band-Aid to the much larger problem. They have made sure that they will not be the elected officials under which the area lost one of its precious sports teams...

Unfortunately, it is clear that they have no idea how to address these issues. As such, I suspect that our elected officials and their governments will continue to provide the citizenry with more circuses.

Onorato Provides Insight on Arena Deal

Last Sunday morning we were glued to the boob tube with coverage of Luke and his wife. This week Onorato gets a fist full of free tv exposure and props from Jon Delano.

It is one thing to get free exposure, but another to get that at a cost of $5-million a year for 30 years. Plus, there is the knocking down 12 other buildings. Plus, the loss of land that can be taxed.

kdka.com - Onorato Provides Insight Into Arena DealTo see more of Jon Delano's interview with Dan Onorato, watch the Sunday Business Page this Sunday at 8:30 a.m. on KDKA-TV.

When is Onorato going to go to China? What are the dates of that travel? I was thinking about doing a daily podcast / video show to join with those travels.

Now to watch the infomercial, err... show.

Hat tip to Jon, however, for doing a sit-down with Rich Swartz, a competitor to Onorato for the D primary, and a target of the Onorato cronie lawyers.

If I see Onorato, I'd be quick to ask him to call of the lawyers and allow the voters of the County to decide who should be the ACE. Is Onorato, a powerhouse, with $1.5 million in his Political Action Committee, scared of the people's vote?

Tymoczko now to lead discussion on video tape of planning meetings. Law tip to me: sue. Agenda changed 3 times now,

Weirdness is unfolding.

Tymoczko is now the one, not Smith, to lead the discussion about video tape of meetings at the City's Planning Meeting slated for Tuesday, March 20, 2007. The agenda has been changed three times now. What's up with that?

See the thread below and the more than 10 comments.

Ravenstahl's site drops photos - Ethics N@ II

Also see another of my recent posts on this topic called Ravenstahl's site drops photos - Ethics N@.

Dick Skrinjar hoodwinked the MSM, but that's a yawner to me. Furthermore, what the other bloggers are buzzing about is wonderful, but, really, to me, it isn't going to deliver us to the "promised land." This is a huge about face, fur sure. It is a step in the right direction, no doubt. But I'm not so interested in baby steps. Fast forward to prosperity before another generation of Pittsburgh's depart.

If I'm mayor, I'm taking down all copyright notices on the public web sites. Gone. Materials should be put into the public domain.

I'm a big open source advocate. At the least, "the right direction" would be the use of a creative commons license. But, I'd champion the full "U" turn and go to public domain.

Only 14 of you clicked on this video located on my YouTube sites in the past. However, hundreds of thousands, I expect, have watched it on the net.

Furthermore, if Luke had put materials from the city's web site into the public domain, he'd not be in this bowl of mush he now sits in. Nor would D.S.

The decoder rings -- well -- they might still be necessary for other uses.

This is the work of the public, hence public domain. All content should be accessible by the public. Public domain is the most 'transparent' -- and it is the best solution for being free to craft the best solutions, ideas, messages and concepts.

Since I got into politics and community communication efforts, nearly 10 years ago, nearly everything I touch I push to the public domain or into some other free and open license. It is so much better.

The ago old expression fits. More gets done when nobody takes the credit. In Pittsburgh's political landscape, very little has been accomplished, except for new taxes, red tape and sustaining the downward spirals of decline.

Luke, if the photo was given to you -- then put it into the public domain. Then you (and I) can use it anywhere we want. Game over.

Copyrights have a purpose, but not in politics and our public life. This is why I'm so bent out of shape with the creation of a 'video tape policy' of the City Planning Department for is Planning Meetings.

Those 'red light cameras' and 'speeding cameras' should NOT arrive, but if they do, I'd want the content to stream into the public domain. Be open. Be honest. Hide nothing. Be free. Take down limitations.



My recent posts, Ravenstahl's site drops photos - Ethics N@. (link again)

Condition of Pgh Public Schools comes into focus with parents at big meeting hosted at Hill House by Wireless Neighborhoods & T.Smith

Updated pointer from today's P-G.

City parents voice concerns over schools While their complaints ranged from lackluster academics at accelerated learning academies to poor discipline district-wide, about 40 parents who gathered in the Hill District last night had this much in common:

They fear efforts to improve the Pittsburgh Public Schools aren't panning out, and they want their voices heard.

A great group of parents interested in the overall health and quality of the Pittsburgh Public Schools held a meeting at the Hill House tonight. Wireless Neighborhood folks, including Mrs. T. Smith, help to organize the gathering that also included a handful of board members. Randall T, Mark B, Thomas S., and Skip Mc were there with the advocates, regulars and concerned.

Expect to see coverage from Joe S. of the P-G.

The next meeting is slated for May 1, 2007. Save the date.

Sadly, more than 30 people were told in advance of the meeting that they would not be able to attend as only a smaller room was available. At the last minute, the big room was made available -- so more could have attended. I'm not sure how many where there, perhaps 60 to 75.

Discipline starts next year, so says Mr. Roosevelt. I'd still like to know why the wait?

Net the Truth Online: Clean up voter registration rolls

Dan Onorato is in charge. So, this will never happen.

Net the Truth Online: Clean up voter registration rolls With voter registration rolls going unchecked for accuracy year after year, even with the implementation of the Help America Act and its mandated database of registered voters across the country, it's surely a duty of opponents no matter which political party to review and scour nomination petitions and make challenges when warranted.

It's time for Pennsylvania to clean up its voter registration rolls of deceased, the voters who have moved out of the state, and or out of one county into another county, now.

Video tape policy on the agenda again at Planning Commission

The next meeting, bring your video camera, is March 20, 2007 at the end of a meeting that begins at 2 pm.

See the agenda

F. Director’s Report
* Green Building Task Force, Ismail
* Bar Task Force, Ford
* Staff Recommendation on Video Taping, Smith
* City-Wide Investment Report, Andrews

Of note, the Bar Task Force is going to get mentions too.

UPDATE: Hanna, Dolores would like to recall the message, "Revised Planning Commission Agenda for March 20, 2007".

The agenda has been changed three times now. It looks like SMITH isn't the one going to lead the discussion. See comments.

PA Swimming Official Site

Courtney swims FAST in 100 back at STATES. Way to go.

13 Schneiderlochner, Courtney SR Carlynton-07 1:00.54

New school records!

Coach Ed Shupsky has departed

It is with much sadness to learn of the passing of fellow swimming coach, Ed Shupsky, last night. Ed, and his "whoop whoop" will be missed. A viewing is being planned at the Miller Funeral Home, 460 Lincoln Avenue, Bellevue, this weekend. Please check the newspapers for the specific details.

Thanks to Stan for the heads up.

Ed is a good friend of fellow coach, Hosea Holder. Both Ed and Hosea got lifetime awards this fall from the local chapter of USA Swimming.

Correction: BELLEVUE, not Millvale. Times are listed below.

The funeral arrangements for Ed Shupsky will not make the paper until Fri. PM.

Visiting Hours: Friday 2:00 - 4:00 PM

Saturday 7:00 - 9:00 PM. Service is Sunday 6: 00 PM at Miller's Funeral Home in Bellevue, Pa 412-761-2441.

Humm.... Family and Business Healhcare Security Act

Dear Healthcare Reform Leader and Friend:

Due to unforeseen (positive) developments we are postponing our planned joint press conference announcing the "Family and Business Healhcare Security Act" bills in the Senate and House until further notice. SB 300 is already in process and the House version (yet to be assigned a number) is already redrafted and ready to be presented by a prime sponsor. We are in the midst of negotiations to identify the strongest possible advocate for our universal single-payer legislation in the House -- and, without revealing more than I am able at this time, I am encouraged by the above-mentioned "developments." I will get back to you as soon as I have more definitive news.

Thanks for your continued support of our campaign. Keep sending those letters to newspapers and legislators, organizing those house parties for March 29 and beyond, and contributing whatever dollar amounts you can. Everyday is a winning day when we continue the fight for healthcare justice!

Yours in solidarity,

Chuck Pennacchio,

When I see news like this, I wonder why. I don't take any comfort in this type of 'news' of 'no news.' More news is better than less news. Some backroom dealings are unfolding, clearly. Is there a hi-jack situation? Name names.