If death panels weren't enough for the Republicans, now Lamar Smith is sending robo-calls across his district claiming that President Obama will incarcerate people who don't buy in to the public option. Evidently Lamar has been spending too much time reading Free Republic and getting policy advice from Sarah Palin.
"Under the health care plan Democrats passed, if you do not buy the government-prescribed health insurance, you can be fined or put in jail for up to five years. Do you want the government to have the power to make you buy health insurance?" -- Lamar Smith
So, I did a little research. First off, the Senate's two committee bills specifically prohibit penalities such as jail time. One can be assessed a tax for refusing to enroll in any insurance program. But both the Senate Finance and HELP bills specifically prohibit any punishment other than a tax for not getting insurance.
This distortion comes from the House bill's reference to the general penalties for folks who willfully refuse to pay their taxes. However, in practice, if someone refuses to pay the health-insurance related portion of taxes for political reasons or as an act of protest, a tax which will only be assessed if they refuse to enroll in any insurance at all, they're not going to jail.
Now, it is true that in America (as with most developed nations), if you choose to use illegal methods to deliberately avoid paying the taxes you owe you can go to jail. This level of tax evasion goes beyond accidentally misstating your income--we're talking about deliberate efforts to knowingly disguise income to avoid paying taxes on it. (Like, for instance, my former crazed Neo-Conservative boss who hid millions of income in the Caymans. True story.)
So honestly, unless there are some "good patriots" out there planning a Wesley Snipes-level of tax evasion (whom prosecutors allege owes over $2.7 million in unpaid taxes) you're not going to jail for not paying your taxes. And really? If you have so much money you even owe $2.7 million in taxes? You can afford health insurance, and you're not the problem here. (Other famous jailed tax evaders? Joe "Girls Gone Wild" Francis and Richard "Survivor Winner" Hatch. Not a good club. Pay your taxes.)
An interesting side note: folks who refuse to pay all or part of their taxes in a form of protest against the government (war tax resisters, for example) have virtually no history of receiving criminal prosecution. So, tax-haters, you can even protest this penalty for refusing insurance by protesting the tax, and have no fear of going to jail.
This scaremongering from Lamar Smith sounds like the rest of our Texas Republicans in Congress, who spent most of the House floor debate yelling about how having insurance imperils our freedom. Ah, yes. Our freedom. Our freedom to be denied insurance for a pre-existing condition like acne. Our freedom to go bankrupt from medical bills. Our freedom to choose between paying for prescriptions or paying the rent.
Texas Republicans want to preserve the status quo--24% of Texas residents uninsured, 20% of Texas children uninsured--the worst statistics of any state in the nation. These lies and distortions have been spreading around the Republican base, aided and abetted in part by one Sarah Palin, who in addition to fanning the flames of the "death panels" lie, has been promulgating the idea that Nancy Pelosi wants to throw good, honest tax evaders in jail.
Fact is, the average American family pays $1,077 per year to cover the costs of uninsured Americans, who--like those of us with insurance--still get sick, and are often forced into the emergency room as a result. So while the Republicans keep fear-mongering and riling up their base, Americans are dying from lack of basic care. Seems to me that I'd want my elected officials to focus more on that... Rather than suggesting that President Obama and/or Nancy Pelosi want me to go to jail.
In 2006, Nick Lampson replaced embattled former House Majority Leader Tom Delay to win election to the United States Congress. Since then, Lampson has joinged the Blue Dog Caucus, a group notorious for housing conservative Democrats that trumpet bipartisanship and fiscal responsiblity above all else.
Lampson, who has an "A" rating from the National Rifle Association, is running in one of only a handful of seats where a Republican challenge is credible. The district identifies more with Republicans than Democrats, though recent strides in Fort Bend County have begun to shift the dynamic to a more even split.
Olson is running a traditional Republican campaign that focuses on taxes. However, he's running into trouble with his continued ties to Tom Delay -- a comparison that will prove to dog at him for the remainder of the campaign.
The Cook Political Report rates this race a "toss-up" largely due to the political makeup of the district. However, with the recent devastation of Hurricane Ike, the larger reality is that -- right now -- no one knows what to plan or what to expect in this area of the state. To be honest, campaigning isn't the top priority right now. That uncertainty is what allows us to categorize the race as a "toss-up" for now.
A third party candidate -- Libertarian John Wieder -- is also running in the race.
Here are some links to previous coverage of the race on Burnt Orange Report:
Law only allows you to vote where you live. Pete Olson either doesn't know the law or he thinks he is above it.
Documents obtained by the Lone Star Project show that Republican congressional challenger Pete Olson (Texas CD22 - Houston) voted in both the State of Virginia and the State of Connecticut during a five month period in 2003. By remaining on the voter rolls and casting ballots in both states, Olson may have committed voter fraud. Under Virginia law, a person who intentionally registers to vote in Virginia and any other state or territory is guilty of a felony violation.
The time line is pretty specific.
Connecticut: 9/6/1996 - Olson registers to vote in Newtown, CT. ( Federal Post Card Registration and Absentee Ballot Request , Newtown Town Clerk, Received September 4, 1996)
Connecticut: 11/5/1996- 11/4/1997 - lson votes in 2 general elections in Newtown, CT. ( Voter Election History , Peter G. Olson, Newtown Town Clerk, Search conducted April 30, 2008)
Virginia: 2/27/1998 - On Olson's Confirmation of Voting Residence Return Form signed 2/27/2005, Olson indicated that he moved out of Newtown, CT to Annandale, VA on this date. (Confirmation of Voting Residence Return Form , Newtown Town Clerk, Received March 3, 2005)
Virginia: 9/3/1998 - Olson registers to vote in Fairfax County, VA. (Voter File , Virginia Democratic Party)
Virginia: 11/3/1998- 6/10/2003 - Olson votes in 7 elections in Fairfax County, VA. (Voter File , Virginia Democratic Party)
Here's the kicker Connecticut: 8/12/2003 - Olson votes in special election in Newtown, CT. (Voter Election History , Peter G. Olson, Newtown Town Clerk, Search conducted April 30, 2008)
Back to Viriginia: 11/4/2003- 11/2/2004 - Olson votes in 2 general elections in Fairfax County, VA. (Voter File , Virginia Democratic Party)
Virginia: 2/27/2005 - Olson signs and returns Confirmation of Voting Residence Return Form indicating that he had moved out of Newtown on 2/27/1998. Gave new address as 8203 Strong Spring Court, Annandale, VA 22003. (Confirmation of Voting Residence Return Form , Newtown Town Clerk, Received March 3, 2005)
As the Lone Star Project states, Pete Olson lived in Virginia until late 2007, when he moved to Texas to run for Congress. While in Virginia, he voted regularly in State and local elections. During much of this same period, Olson also maintained his voter registration in Connecticut. Election documents show that between June and November of 2003, Olson voted in the Virginia Republican Primary, a special election in Newtown, Connecticut and then again in the Virginia General Elections.
That is voter fraud.
Virginia does not allow individuals to register in multiple states. The Virginia election code states clearly that any person who "registers to vote at more than one residence address at the same time, whether such registrations are in Virginia or in Virginia and any other state or territory of the United States ... is guilty of a Class 6 felony." ( Va. Code. Ann. Section 24.2-1004 (C) ). ??
While Pete Olson resided in Virginia and participated in Virginia elections, he owned property in Connecticut and remained active on the Connecticut voter rolls through at least March 2005. Pete Olson's presence on the 2003 Connecticut voter rolls and his vote in Newtown, Connecticut , which was followed by his vote in the 2003 Virginia General Election, appears to violate Virginia election law.
After Tom DeLay, Texans don't need another politician plagued with legal problems.
The ripples of the Abramoff conviction are most apparent in Tom DeLay's old district. Congressional District 22, Represented by Democrat Nick Lampson, is running against a challenger that doesn't just have ties to the culture of corruption, he embraces them.
Because of Abramoff's conviction of conspiring to defraud the United States and corrupting public officials he was sentenced to four years in prison and brought Tom "The Hammer" Delay's day in court one step closer.
While Republicans as a whole try to distance themselves from Bush/Cheney and DeLay/Abramoff, Pete Olson continues to embrace them. As we pointed out nearly two months ago, Olson, has spent over $300,000 and most of it Tom DeLay's closest advisors.
The Lampson campaign states clearly:
Olson employs several consultants who stood with DeLay through the scandal that ripped through America and has refused to denounce the actions of DeLay or his cronies.
According to the most recent Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings, Olson paid $90,389 to consultants that advised Tom Delay. According to a Fort Bend Now article on July 16, 2008, Olson employed several consultants close to Delay's inner-circle. From April 1 thru June 30, 2008:
Olson's campaign spent about $15,600 with Dana Benoit of Richmond, for fundraiser consulting services. Benoit served as DeLay's finance director for several years.
Olson's campaign spent just over $9,000 with Walden & Associates of Houston, also for fundraising consulting. According to Source Watch, the firm is owned by Sue Walden, whom the New York Times described as a "close ally of Tom DeLay" who also served as an adviser to the late Ken Lay, former Enron chief executive.
Olson's campaign also spent about $9,650 during the quarter with Marathon Strategic Communications, for media and "grassroots" consulting. The firm's address is listed at 3771 Vinecrest Drive in Dallas. Real estate records list the owner of the property at that address as Christopher Homan. Chris Homan was DeLay's former campaign manager.
"Pete Olson should immediately cut all ties with Tom Delay's cronies and return every tainted dime he received through that network," said Trevor Kincaid, Lampson spokesman. "It's clear that Pete Olson wants to return pay-to-play corruption to Washington and is will check ethics at the door if that's what it takes."
By re-electing Nick Lampson to Congress two years ago, CD-22 has had more open government, cronyism and corruption are not the status quo, but "The Hammer" and his top lieutenants, still get huge pay days from Washington lobbyists. Sad thing is, this time the Washington lobbyist is a candidate for Congress.
Last week the DCCC started airing an ad clarifying Republican Pete Olson's economic stance.
The ad goes up at the perfect time. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a D.C. based group, will endorse Olson simply because he is a Republican. Not normally a big deal, but sources in the Lampson campaign point out that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce gave Lampson their Spirit of Enterprise award during the primary.
In addition, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently endorsed the Abercrombie/Peterson energy bill, a piece of legislation which Lampson had a huge role in crafting. While the chamber is going with their partisan leanings and endorsing Olson they're also endorsing Nick Lampson's energy plan designed to address our energy crisis and bring down gas prices.
Too bad the Olson tax plan would raise gas prices a dollar and hurt every day Texans.
The Lampson campaign pointed to the National Conservation, Environment, and Energy Independence Act to bring contrast between Lampson and Olson (a.k.a DeLay 2.0).
Reaching Across the Aisle - The National Conservation, Environment, and Energy Independence Act (H.R. 6709) Congressman Lampson has led bi-partisan efforts to reach compromise on a comprehensive, broadly supported bill. As a core member of the Abercrombie-Peterson Energy Working Group, Lampson helped write key measures and lobbied for additional R & D funding to be included in the legislation. The group adopted HR 6067, the Invest in Energy Independence Act, introduced by Lampson in May, as a major component of HR 6709. The Abercrombie-Peterson bill, introduced with 47 original co-sponsors, including Lampson, now has 119 co-sponsors, all added within 1 day of introduction before recess. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has endorsed the legislation and is encouraging Members to become co-sponsors.
Lampson has been a dramatic improvement over Tom DeLay, and Olson represents everything wrong with DeLay and the Republican Party.
More of the same. Pete Olson, the Republican challenging Democrat Nick Lampson in Congressional District 22, has some close ties to Tom DeLay's consulting team. According to Bend Now, Olson came out swinging in the second quarter of 2008, spending nearly $300,000 - including a significant amount on consultants with ties to former GOP House Majority Leader Tom Delay.
Lampson's campaign, which spent a total of $29,352 on consultants during the quarter ended June 30, spent $9,000 of it for "voter outreach consulting" by Mike Malaise, who served as Lampson's campaign manager in his 2006 race, but is not on the campaign payroll this year.
FEC records show Olson spent $50,448 on consultants between April 1 and June 30, some of whom also have faces familiar to District 22 political observers:
- Olson's campaign spent about $15,600 with Dana Benoit of Richmond, for fundraiser consulting services. Benoit served as DeLay's finance director for several years.
- Olson's campaign spent just over $9,000 with Walden & Associates of Houston, also for fundraising consulting. According to Source Watch, the firm is owned by Sue Walden, whom the New York Times described as a "close ally of Tom DeLay" who also served as an adviser to the late Ken Lay, former Enron chief executive.
- Olson's campaign also spent about $9,650 during the quarter with Marathon Strategic Communications, for media and "grassroots" consulting. The firm's address is listed at 3771 Vinecrest Drive in Dallas. Real estate records list the owner of the property at that address as Christopher Homan. Chris Homan was DeLay's former campaign manager.
FEC records show Olson's campaign also owes Marathon another $12,000 for consulting services.
Olson's biggest expenditure for the quarter was $92,163 to On Message Inc. of Crofton, Maryland, for cable TV ad buys. Olson also spent more than $23,000 for "GOTV calls," and more than $37,000 for mailers.
Olson's strong ties to DeLay's friends and political allies is strange given DeLay's strong negatives in the district.
The Texas Democratic Party responds saying:
"As a Washington, D.C. partisan insider, Pete Olson was cozy with the consultant and crony crowd that guided Tom DeLay and took the voters for granted," said Texas Democratic Party Chairman Boyd Richie. "So it's no surprise that Pete Olson has decided to carbon-copy the DeLay political playbook, following a script from DeLay's consultants instead of listening to the everyday people a Member of Congress is supposed to represent.""
[...]
"Pete Olson offers nothing more than the same kind of politics that Texans put behind us with the rejection of Tom DeLay, marked by wedge issues that divide us instead of solving problems that affect Republicans, Democrats and independents alike," added Richie. "Texas voters deserve the kind of independent leadership that Pete Olson will never be able to provide."
Olson just doesn't seem to get it. In addition to working with DeLay's political team and campaign consultants, Olson has also been campaigning with unpopular President George W. Bush. Olson is a candidate that stands for pay to play, business as usual politics. Lampson has show he stands for change and empowerment.
Americans United for Change, a non-profit progressive issue-advocacy group that recently launched its Bush Legacy Project, today unveiled its latest TV ad series called 'Break' which recognizes U.S. Reps. Nick Lampson (TX-22) and Ciro Rodriguez (TX-23) for their work towards a stronger economy, especially their success in passing meaningful legislation to provide immediate tax relief for hard working Americans - $1,200 for most families - including vital relief for seniors, veterans and families with children.
In addition to Lampson and Rodriquez, AUFC also began airing ads recognizing Carol Shea-Porter (NH-1) and Kirsten Gillibrand (NY-20). All four ads are running on a mix of cable and broadcast in these Members' districts and will run through the rest of the week.
Larry Joe Doherty is reporting $53,765.00 raised this quarter bringing his total up to $128,875.00 with cash on hand being $171,236.60 but total debt $100,000. If Doherty pays himself back that gives him $71,236.60 on hand.
Dan Grant raised $45,247.00 this quarter bringing his total up to $118,112.08 with cash on hand being $72,247.01 and no debt.
Grant is already running a full race and Doherty appears to be holding the money until 2008.
Excluding the debt for all three candidates in CD-10, both Grant and Doherty have more money than McCaul. However, both Doherty and McCaul have the ability to self finance this race and could throw money at their problems if they need to. Although looking at the broader numbers, Democrats look good. If you combine the Democratic challengers, the Democrats raised almost 25% more than McCaul did in the third quarter alone. This solidified CD-10 as one of the most likely pick-ups in Texas.
Going from Democratic pick up to Democratic hold, Nick Lampson in CD-22 has some numbers to coo about. Lampson reported $324,918.74 raised this quarter bringing his total up to $871,314.89 with cash on hand being $679,418.12 and no debt to report. Only Chet Edwards in CD-17 (COH $921,223.46) and Lloyd Doggett in CD-25 (COH $2,198,024.05) have better numbers.
The horde of challengers in CD-22 have raised $499,473.07 this quarter bringing the Republican total up to $574,185.38 with cash on hand being $807,836.93 and a total debt of $519,278.49.
The Republican side is a 6 way race and Rep. Lampson is competing closely with the field and is beating the leading challenger, Shelley Sekula-Gibbs almost 2:1 in fundraising.
The fact that it takes 6 Republicans to raise as much as Democrats seems like an anomaly on face, but this trend seems to play out state wide. 16 Democrats have filed Q3 reports but 30 Republicans have filed. Looking at the average money raised and on hand, Democrats are winning in every category.
Democrats raised an average of $124,525.92 this quarter bringing the average cash on hand up to $415,759.49. Republicans on the other hand raised an average of $80,713.39 this quarter bringing the average cash on hand up to $321,111.66.
In a world were money makes you credible, Democrats in Texas look very credible for the '08 cycle.
Stepping aside from Speaker Politics and the Texas Lege for just a minute, we'd like to bring forward an update on what may soon be the next subject to consume the Texas blogosphere- the Texas Senate race to defeat John Cornyn.
There had been much rumor and speculation that Congressman Nick Lampson was eyeing a bid for the office. He's settled those rumors with a definitive answer that he will not be a candidate and is instead running for re-election to Congress in TX-22.
Mustafa Tameez of Houston, a political consultant to Lampson, said this morning that Lampson, the Democrat who last year captured the U.S. House seat vacated by Tom DeLay of Sugar Land, intends to seek re-election instead—fully knowing that his district historically leans Republican.
A Senate bid is “not going to happen,” Tameez said. “It sounds goofy, but he feels like he made a commitment to the people of Congressional District 22.” Tameez said Lampson feels a Senate try would be “disingenuous.”
Tameez aired Lampson’s decision to stamp out speculation regarding a Senate bid. “We just want it to stop,” he said (unwittingly the desire of some observers of this legislative session).
We're happy to see the Congressman recovered from his surgery and continuing the fight for the good people of TX-22. The announcement has come to the joy of many local activists who worked hard to get him into office. They are looking forward to working with his campaign to help county level Democrats in their challenges for local office.
This news removes one of the larger names from the field of prospective candidates which include Rep. Rick Noriega and attorney Mikal Watts.
