Maryland Sixth District Primary Nears

George Wenschhof

Last Friday, I published current sixth district voter registration data in a column where I suggest a change in the manner redistricting is conducted nationwide.

The current voter registration numbers in the sixth (rounded off):

Democratic - 183,000
Republican - 141,000
Unaffiliated/Other - 90,000

I thought it would be interesting to look back to the 1992 election, the year Republican Roscoe Bartlett was elected to compare the voter registration numbers. Numbers were taken from Maryland Board of Elections website.

Democratic - 139,922
Republican - 140,979
Unaffiliated/Other - 29,677
Total - 310,578

Thomas Hattery (D) received 46% of the vote - 106,224
Roscoe Bartlett (R) received 54% of the vote - 125,564

Democratic voter turnout was 85%, Republican 84% and Unaffiliated/Other 81%.

It is interesting to note, the even registration between Republicans and Democrats in 1992 and the very high voter turnout in that election.

As the primary nears, the bickering and rumor mongering abounds among the top three Democratic candidates.

State Senate Majority Leader Rob Garagiola, who some believe was handpicked by state senate president Thomas V. Mike Miller, is the front runner among five Democrats vying to unseat Rep. Roscoe Bartlett.

Some Democrats, from the old portions of the sixth district, after suffering for 20 years without Democratic Party support, are resentful Garagiola is from the new portion of the district.

Garagiola has put his years as a state senator and his voting record to work for him as he has racked up endorsements from elected officials throughout the sixth district.

Leaving, Democratic challengers John Delaney and Dr. Milad Pooran to counter with national level endorsements from former President Bill Clinton and former Democratic National Committee chair Howard Dean respectfully.

The Pooran campaign is hopeful for a split in the vote between Delaney and Garagiola which would allow them to eke out a victory with a plurality of the vote.

Over, the next three weeks, Democratic voters will need to look past the sniping that often occurs between hotly contested campaigns and focus on the positions the candidates have on the issues important to them.

Democratic voters should plan to visit their websites and attend any remaining forums.

Below are links to Democratic candidates websites:

Rob Garagiola: http://www.robgaragiola.com/
John Delaney: http://www.delaney2012.com/
Milad Pooran: http://miladforcongress.com/
Charles Bailey: http://charlesbaileyforcongress.com/
Ron Little: http://ronlittle4congress.com/

Republicans, recognizing the voter registration disparity in the district, will try to capitalize on Democratic in-fighting, to help their nominee win on November 6.

Perhaps, wishful thinking on their part, but one only needs to look at the 2002 Maryland Governor election between Democrat Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and Republican Robert Ehrlich in which Ehrlich emerged as the upset winner.

After, an unremarkable 20 year term in office by Roscoe Bartlett, it is time for a change.

Democratic candidates and voters, mindful of the Townsend and Hattery defeat, should focus on the prize.

Stay Tuned...

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O'Malley/Brown and Mikulski Fire Up Frederick Democrats

George Wenschhof

On day three of their "On Your Side" tour across Maryland, Governor Martin O'Malley and Lt. Governor Anthony Brown were joined by Maryland U.S. Senator Barbara Milkuski at their stop this afternoon at the Bernard Brown Community Center located in the City of Frederick. Also speaking to the crowd was Maryland Democratic Party chair Susan Turnbull.

They fired up the enthusiastic crowd of supporters before heading off to Frostburg State University and then on to Cumberland for more events today. The statewide tour will conclude in Baltimore next week prior to the election on Tuesday.

Senator Mikulski, as she was introducing the Governor, told the crowd about how she first met Martin O'Malley years ago when he was working for her in her early campaign for Senator of Maryland. It was a humorous story on how O'Malley managed to bag her, a stool for her to stand on, and after an introduction from Mikulski, also bagged his wife Katie Curran - a fortuitous night for O'Malley.

The Governor and other speakers focused on the campaign theme of moving Maryland forward with the Governor highlighting his accomplishments during his first term in office.

From keeping college tuition rates steady, receiving high evaluations/ratings in the areas of public education and public safety, to balancing the budget in difficult economic times, restoring the Chesapeake Bay, and keeping Maryland's unemployment rate among the lowest of any state in the country, the emphasis was on moving Maryland forward.

The Governor took a moment to talk to me after the rally. I asked him about the "dirty tricks" pulled by the Ehrlich campaign on election day in 2006 and what his campaign was doing to inform voters of the potential of this type of shady behavior in this election. I also asked him how he came to name the "On Your Side" Van used for the tour after his wife Katie.



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O'Malley in Frederick Tomorrow

George Wenschhof

As part of his "On Your Side" tour of of Maryland, Governor Martin O'Malley will be in the City of Frederick on Wednesday. The governor is traveling across the state during the last week prior to the general election next Tuesday on November 2.

The Maryland Democratic Party website has a list of the stops the Governor will be making here.

On Wednesday, O'Malley will be attending a Democratic rally at 2:00 PM located at 629 North Market Street behind Cafe Moxie. The rally will also be attended by Senator Barbara Mikuski.

Also on hand will be Democratic candidates for local races and Andrew Duck who is running for the 6th district congressional seat.

After a recent Gonzales research and Marketing Services poll showed Republican former Governor Robert Ehrlich closing the gap between the two candidates to 5 points, a Washington Post poll was released with O'Malley having a commanding 14 point lead.

Yesterday, former Republican Congressman Wayne Gilchrest (1st District) endorsed Governor O'Malley. Gilchrest said O'Malley was "on the side"of Maryland's working families.

Gilchrest was defeated two years ago by Andrew Harris in the Republican primary. The seat was won by Democrat Frank Kratovil, who is currently locked in a "pick-em" race with Andrew Harris.

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Listen to O'Malley/Ehrlich Radio Debate

George Wenschhof

After two televised debates, Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley (D) and former Governor Robert Ehrlich faced off this morning on Baltimore WOLB Radio.

You can listen to the debate here.

The candidate campaigns immediately began the spin war with their respective releases claiming their candidate had won the debate.

Here is the release from the O'Malley campaign website where they point out the "F" grade Ehrlich has received by the NAACP every year from 1997 to 2002 and that Ehrlich had resorted to shrill and desperate attacks in the debate due to their being behind in the polls.

The release from the Ehrlich campaign can be read here. The release points out failures by O'Malley during his term as mayor of Baltimore in the areas of education and law enforcement.

Only 12 days remain until the General Election on November 2. It is doubtful the two candidates will appear together in another debate prior to the election.

The latest poll by Gonzales Research and Marketing Inc. showed Ehrlich had closed within 5 points of O'Malley.

The Maryland Democratic Party (MDP) is taking nothing for granted, including reminding voters of the shenanigans which took place in the 2002 and 2006 election. They also have started up a voter protection website. In a recent email to supporters, the MDP pointed out the following:

In the 2002 Governor’s race, Bob Ehrlich’s campaign distributed a brochure at African American voting precincts that included a picture of Mr. Ehrlich, Congressman Elijah Cummings and other notable African American leaders - along with the caption:“Democrats for Ehrlich.” That assertion was not true.

In 2006, Bob Ehrlich’s campaign for Governor bused homeless people from Philadelphia on Election Day to distribute fliers designed to trick African American Democratic voters into voting for him by falsely suggesting that Ehrlich was backed by prominent African American Democratic leaders. This year, in a fundraising email, the Ehrlich campaign suggested that it is impossible that African-Americans will turn out in high numbers in 2010.

Also today at 3:00 PM, former President Bill Clinton will headline a rally for Governor O'Malley in Baltimore.

All indications point to a further tightening in this race with voter turnout and specifically, the vote in Baltimore County being pivotal for the winner.

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Ehrlich Closes on O'Malley in Maryland Governor Race

George Wenschhof

The last reported poll on the race for Governor in Maryland was a month ago when the Washington Post showed Democrat incumbent Governor Martin O'Malley with a 11 point lead over former Republican Governor Robert Ehrlich.

Since then, the two have participated in two televised debates and both campaigns have saturated the airwaves with ads critical of the other; especially in the area of taxation and government spending.

A Maryland polling company Gonzales Research and Marketing Strategies now has it at a 5 point lead for O'Malley; 47% - 42%. 6% are still undecided and 4% of the voters say they will vote for a third party.

This poll was conducted from October 11-16 which was the week the televised debates were held. The margin of error is 3.5%

You can read more on the poll results here.

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Watch O'Malley-Ehrlich Debate Today

George Wenschhof

Maryland candidates for Governor; Democrat incumbent Martin O'Malley and former Republican Governor Robert Ehrlich face each other today. This comes just two days after their first televised debate aired last Monday night.

It will be streamed live beginning at noon today. You can watch it live at washingtonpostlive.com

The debate will be rebroadcast at 7:00 PM ET on MPT.

The first debate was fiesty between the two candidates and the general consensus among political analylists is Ehrlich needs a a strong performance today to be competitive on November 2.

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Watch Maryland Governor O'Malley Debate Ehrlich Tonight

George Wenschhof

The debate is over between Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley (D) and former Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich (R). Early reports of the debate, taped by Baltimore WJZ TV and moderated by Denise Koch earlier today, have O'Malley winning easily. It will be aired at 7:00 PM ET tonight on Baltimore channel 13.

This is a grudge rematch of the 2006 election won by O'Malley with O'Malley leading in a recent Washington Post poll by 11 points.

The debate reportedly was heated at times when the topics covered property taxes and education. The Baltimore Sun has more here.

O'Malley stuck around after the debate and chatted it up with reporters while Ehrlich left via a back door without speaking to reporters.

In the all important spin war, the O'Malley campaign website already has a Blog post published entitled "O'Malley Wins 1st Debate.......". You can read the post here.

The Ehrlich campaign website counters with "Ehrlich Scores Decisive Win..." which you can read here.

Make sure you tune in tonight as this is the only televised debate between the two candidates prior to the election on November 2.



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Daily Political Wire 8-20-2010

George Wenschhof

Obama makes four recess appointments - a move made while Congress was on vacation. All four under level positions had been blocked by Republicans. Reuters.com has more here.

Many of the mid level administrative positions in government agencies are by presidential appointment, leading to the question as to why? Instead, they should be merit based and the thousands of these brown bag appointments discontinued.

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Today, Vice President Joe Biden will address the DNC - at their meeting in St. Louis at the Marriott Hotel. He will be rallying the troops prior to the mid term elections. The DNC sent out an email blast to supporters yesterday inviting them to tune in the watch Biden's speech beginning this morning at 10:50 AM ET by clicking on this link: http://my.democrats.org/VPSpeech.

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Israel-Palestine Peace Talks To Resume - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to make the announcement today. Both Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestine Authority President Mahmoud Abbas are expected to arrive in Washington September 2 to begin the direct talks. The NY Times has more here.

Border issues, the status of Jerusalem, the return of Palestinian refugees, and the security of Israel are some of the many issues to be discussed. U.S. Middle East Envoy George Mitchell has been the go between in the so-called "Proximity talks" between the two leaders and it was his efforts which led to the announcement of the direct talks.

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O'Malley-Ehrlich tied in Maryland Governor race - In a rematch of the close 2006 election won by Democrat Martin O'Malley. The latest Rasmussen poll has it O'Malley with 45% and Republican former governor Robert Ehrlich at 44%. Only 3% prefer another candidate and 8% remain undecided. Rasmussen.com has more here.

This poll reflects the uneasiness of voters today as registered Democrats in the state outnumber Republicans 2-1. The Independent voters unaffiliated with a political party may well determine the outcome of this race.

While the state has been spared the the nationwide 9.5% unemployment rate (Md. is at 7%), O'Malley has been hurt with the sloppy and ineffective roll out of slots which were suppose to help raise revenue for the state. Increased scrutiny of the less than effective Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development will also surely come as the campaign heats up.

However, Ehrlich has yet to detail any specifics on his proposals to help business and economic growth. Yesterday, he refused to acknowledge Maryland Democratic Party communications director Issac Salazar who had attended a Ehrlich event and tried to ask a question. The Baltimore Sun reported Salazar was trying to point out that it was during the Ehrlich administration that the fees for personal property returns required annually by small businesses, increased from $100 to $300. The Baltimore Sun has more here.

FirstRead.com has Maryland rated as leaning Democrat. In their top ten list of takeovers in Governors across the country, seven favored the Republican candidate. You can read more here.

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Obama criticizes Republicans for blocking aid to small business - he wants the senate to take up the proposal again when they reconvene. The bill which would increase lending to small business and reduce their taxes was unable to break a Republican filibuster - the vote was 58-42. TheHill.com has more here.

Unemployment which stands at 9.5% across the country, appears ready to jump as the summer is coming to an end and the mid term elections near - a difficult scenario for Democrats.

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O'Malley Visits Frederick - Talks Jobs

George Wenschhof

Maryland Democratic Governor Martin O'Malley will combine campaigning with raising money as he spends the greater part of the day in Frederick County, Maryland today.

He begins his visit by attending a Frederick County Chamber of Commerce luncheon meeting at the Ceresville Mansion. As part of a "Jobs Across Maryland" Tour, the Governor will speak about efforts to create and save jobs. You can read the text of Governor O'Malley's prepared remarks here.

Afterward, the Governor will tour Thermo-Fisher Scientific which is the world's largest Biorepository facility in the world. Over 200 million biological specimens used for disease research and drug development are stored in this facility. The company employs over 250 people in facilities across the state.

O'Malley will also attend two fundraisers held at Restaurants located in the City of Frederick Historic District. The first, a high end ticket fundraiser from 6:00 - 8:00 PM at Volt Restaurant and then beginning at 8:00 PM, a low dollar event at Patrick's Irish Restaurant.

Prior to attending the fundraisers, the Governor will meet with the Editorial Board of the Frederick News Post.

Due to efforts by the O'Malley administration such as the $5,000 tax credit to businesses that provide full time employment for an unemployed individual, the unemployment rate in Maryland has fared much better than the nationwide rate of 9.5%.

Maryland's current unemployment rate is 7%. Frederick County's unemployment rate as of the end of July was even lower at 6.5%.

While the overall unemployment numbers in Maryland compare favorably to other states across the country, some counties within Maryland have experienced higher unemployment rates, than the rest of the state with Washington County falling between 10-12%.

When looking at the end of June 2010 unemployment figures by county in Maryland, you can see pockets where unemployment is similar to what Washington county is experiencing. Somerset, Cecil and Dorchester counties are also at 10% and Baltimore City is at 11%.

After the September 14 primary election, O'Malley is expected to face former Republican Governor Robert Ehrlich in a rematch of the 2006 election won by O'Malley.

Brian Murphy, another Republican candidate for Governor, recently received the endorsement of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Yesterday, the Murphy campaign announced they would be conducting a statewide tour with Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins to discuss illegal immigration.

Their first meeting, open to the public, will be held Thursday August 19 at 7:00 PM at the American Legion in Frederick.

In spite of the endorsement of Sarah Palin and the help of Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins, Ehrlich is expected to win the Republican primary.

The first Public Policy Polling survey released on July 13 showed Governor Martin O'Malley leading Ehrlich 45-42%.

In the finance reports just filed by both candidates, each reported raising 3 million over the last quarter. However, in the all important cash on hand figure, O'Malley has a huge advantage with 6.7 million compared to 2.1 million for the Ehrlich campaign.

This contest for Governor promises to remain close with the vote in Baltimore County being pivotal.

Stay Tuned...

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Questions Surround Ehrlich Pick of Kane as Running Mate

George Wenschhof

Yesterday, in a much ballyhooed Facebook announcement, named Mary Kane as his Lt. Governor running mate. Former Republican Governor Robert Ehrlich is running against Democratic Governor Martin O'Malley to try to reclaim his office. The Baltimore Sun has more here.

Ehrlich's "friendlier to business" theme took on a new meaning with the selection of Kane whose family run business is currently being sued for fraudulent billing on government contracts.

The Kane Co. is being sued for double billing labor and fuel costs on government contracts, failing to pay fair wages and inflating prices.

Upon hearing the news of the selection, Susan Turnbull; chair of the Maryland Democratic Party issued this statement:

"Bob Ehrlich has some pretty serious questions to answer about his vetting process for this position since Mary Kane and her husband's company has been under investigation since 2008 when the Bush Department of Justice joined a Federal False Claims Act lawsuit against The Kane Company for defrauding federal taxpayers."

This announcement comes after Ehrlich said he wanted to pay Department of Economic and Business Development (DBED) employees bonuses for bringing businesses to Maryland. A dangerous practice that could lead to less than favorable state offered incentives to businesses to locate here in order for the employee to earn a bonus.

Mary Kane first served (2003-2006) under the Ehrlich administration as Deputy Secretary of State and chief legal counsel before becoming Secretary of State in August 2005.

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Ehrlich To Make Run for MD Governor Official

George Wenschhof

As we reported two weeks ago, former Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich (R) will challenge Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley (D) in a rematch of the 2006 election. Ehrlich made his announcement this morning in Rockville, Maryland.

The Maryland Democratic Party, anticipating an Ehrlich run, has been blasting away at their opponent for some time. The latest was a email blast to reporters with the following questions they wanted asked:

Six questions we hope reporters ask Bob Ehrlich at his third campaign announcement

As Bob Ehrlich holds his third campaign announcement tomorrow there are several questions that remain unanswered about his candidacy. We've put together a list of a few that we hope reporters will ask him.

1) What do you think of the job Michael Steele is doing at the RNC? Have you asked your Lt. Gov. to campaign for you?

2) What are your responsibilities as a leader of the China Practice for Womble Carlyle?

3) Do you consider yourself a Tea Party Republican?

4) You have clients that have accepted federal Government TARP or Stimulus funds. Did you advise them to take those funds? Do you support their decision?

5) Will you disclose how much you are paid by Womble Carlyle? Or how much you and Kendel are paid by WBAL?

6) Do you promise to refrain from the controversial tactics your campaign used at the end of the 2006 race? We're referring specifically to your campaign busing in homeless from Philadelphia to distribute fake endorsement literature in African-American Communities.

There are clearly many more questions that could and should be asked but we know Bob Ehrlich isn't exactly the most forthcoming person.

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Well, you get the picture. This race is not going to be pretty. Already today, Governor O'Malley challenged Ehrlich to a debate on Ehrlich's radio show this Saturday morning on Baltimore area WBAL Radio. The Baltimore Sun has more here. Seems Ehrlich did not like the idea of a moderator.

Ehrlich is under fire for continuing to participate in his weekly radio show, although it is permissible under campaign regulations up until the time he actually files for the office. The deadline for filing in this year's Maryland elections is July 6.

In addition, Ehrlich's ties to embattled RNC chair Michael Steele are already surfacing. Steele was chosen by Ehrlich to be his Lt. Governor. You can read more here.

A sign that Martin O'Malley is taking this race seriously is his brother Peter O'Malley just resigned from his position as Chief of staff to Baltimore County Executive James Smith. He will immediately join the reelection effort. Peter is a brilliant political tactician and will be a huge plus to the campaign. Peter has been involved in his brother's campaigns since he won as Mayor of Baltimore.

Stay tuned as this race promises to be exciting.

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Ehrlich to Run for Governor of Maryland

George Wenschhof

After months of speculation, ABC 7 News is reporting Republican Robert Ehrlich will run for Governor to reclaim the seat he lost four years ago. According to sources, the announcement will be in Rockville, Maryland on April 7, followed by an event in Arbutus; his childhood home.

For the last several months, the Maryland Democratic Party has been lobbing shells at an expected Ehrlich campaign, including the airing of the video below. in addition, the Maryland Democratic Party has set up a website BobEhrlich.org which is sure to confuse some voters as it is an anti-Ehrlich website.



Maryland Democratic Governor Martin O'Malley defeated incumbent Governor Ehrlich in the 2006 election. Interestingly, it was voting results from Baltimore County in 2002 that helped Ehrlich defeat the Democratic candidate in 2002; Kathleen Kennedy Townsend.

I worked on that campaign in 2002 and arranged the western Maryland announcement event in Frederick, Maryland of her Lt. Governor selection; Admiral Charles R. Larson. A choice, I and many others disagreed, preferring instead an established African-American state politician.

The campaign was also top heavy managed by Alan H. Fleischman who advocated muzzling Ms. Townsend as her speaking skills were not so dynamic. I disagreed and found her to be articulate with a genuine concern about the issues in my conversations with her.

Her campaign was also very heavy handed when it came to discouraging other Democrats from entering the race. Some speculate it was the handling of then Baltimore County Executive Dutch Ruppensberger (D) - who had entertained thoughts of running for Governor - that resulted in the vote count for Ehrich from Baltimore County which contributed to his narrow 51% - 48% victory in the Governor's race in 2002. He is now Representative Ruppensberger in Maryland district 2.

Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, on the other hand has an excellent campaign organization, believes in an entire state campaign strategy and his Lt. Governor; Anthony Brown is well liked across the state. He narrowed the margins of vote loss in congressional districts one and six and won Baltimore County when he beat Ehrlich in the 2006 election. You can access the O'Malley for Governor campaign website here.

Look to see Ehrich attack based on the horrible world wide economy, the O'Malley administration efforts to balance the budget and the less than satisfactory roll out of slots in Maryland.

Stay Tuned...

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It Starts

Ken Kerr Bio

It didn't take long for the GOP to try and spoil the party. People were still finding their way home from last Tuesday's Inauguration before Limbaugh unpatriotically wished for the complete failure of our new president. Then our former Governor, Robert Ehrlich, told us in Wednesday's Washington Post that we were so "caught up in the historic nature of the moment but blind to the substance of the speech" which, according to Ehrlich is a call for class warfare.

Ehrlich appeared later that evening on the CNN program "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue" where David Shuster asked him about the class warfare and how it can be possible for the middle and working class to engage in "war" on the wealthy. Ehrlich replied, in his unfortunate Baltimore accent, that the top 1% wealthiest Americans now pay 40% of the income tax, and that sounds like warfare to him.

Shuster let it go; I can't. We can't. We can no longer let them Limbaugh-logic us. We can no longer let them play fast and loose with the facts, cherry-pick data, and distort reality.

Ehrlich said "income tax." The top 1% pay 40% of "Income" tax. It's not only untrue, it is deviously deceptive and deliberately designed to make middle and low income earners feel sorry for the wealthy and guilty about not holding up our end.

Limbaugh blustered, "And, of course, when there's a tax cut that comes down, it's inevitable that the people who pay taxes get the tax cut. And I forgot the number off the top of my head, but we're up to now something like 38% of all taxes are paid by the top 1%. How can you have a tax cut and those people not get one? And if the purpose for the tax cut is to stimulate the economy the people that pay the taxes have got to get the tax cut.

"The tax cuts . . . reduced tax rates for people in all income brackets but they had a disproportionate effect on people at the very highest levels because they had already been paying a disproportionate share of total federal taxes and in part because stock dividends get a special lower rate."

Disproportionate as compared to what? Feudalism?

Factcheck.org reports "The top 1 percent of all households got 18 percent of all personal income and paid nearly 28 percent of all federal taxes in 2005, according to the Congressional Budget Office."

According to Stephen Moore of The American, the wealthiest 1% of the population earn 19% of the income but pay 37 percent of the income tax. The top 10 percent pay 68 percent of the tab. Meanwhile, the bottom 50 percent—those below the median income level—now earn 13 percent of the income but pay just 3 percent of the taxes. These are proportions of the income tax alone and don't include payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare.

That's right. But notice how Moore refers to "19% of the income but pay 37 percent of the income tax. " There are other taxes besides "income tax." The wealthy know this all-too-well. Actually, CBO calculates that the top 1 percent paid only 27.6% percent of all federal taxes.

One big tax that lower and middle income earners pay is Social Security—that and Medicare/Medicaid. Most of us pay 6.2% on our earnings for Social Security and 1.45% on our earnings for Medicare. However, that is only for the first $102,000 of yearly earnings. That means most of us (me) pay a tax of 6.2% on every dime we earn while the wealthy get a 6.2% tax cut for every dime beyond $102,000. And for the top 1%, that goes FAR beyond $102,000.

The CBO states that the top 1% pay 4% of those taxes. I think they can afford it. But, we are fighting on their ground and according to their rules. We should be looking at this differently.

Here is how we should be looking at this. Let's take it a-step-at-a-time:

America's 112 million families had combined wealth of $50.3 trillion in 2004.

When those families are ranked by the size of their wealth, however, the top 1% alone held $16.8 trillion in wealth.

That is more than a third of the United States' total wealth

It is also more than the $15.3 trillion held by the bottom 90% of U.S. families.

The top 1% had average wealth of $15 million per family in contrast to the $22,800 average wealth of the least wealthy 50% of families or the $313,500 in wealth for families ranked between 50% and 90%.

You got that? According to Ehrlich and Limbaugh, we are supposed to feel sorry for and grateful to the top 1% who have an average family income of 15-million-dollars-a-year!

Put another way, does it seem fair that 5% of the people have 95% of the wealth, yet pay only 50% of the taxes? Yet, 95% of the people live on 5% of the wealth and have to come up with the other 50%.

Our new President said in his inaugural address that we "will restore science to its rightful place." After a prolonged period of anti-intellectualism in the United States, we can no longer let these conservative sophists frame the argument, set the rules for discourse, and control the language.

Let's start with this nonsense about an unfair tax burden on the obscenely wealthy.

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