Thursday, November 8, 2012
A Dec. 31, 2012, deadline looms for Congress on a number of significant financial issues.
- GOVERNMENT
- Ben Gross
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Thursday, November 8, 2012
Now that the election is over, the most prominent problem facing the U.S. government is the “fiscal cliff.” You may have heard or seen the term in recent media coverage, but what, exactly, does “fiscal cliff” mean? If Congress fails to act, on Jan. 1, 2013, a number of financial policies will either expire or initiate, including $7 trillion worth of tax increases and spending cuts over the next 10 years. Some of the agencies and programs affected include: Defense cuts, air travel safety and food inspection cuts, income tax rates, the estate tax, marriage penalty relief, child tax credit, the alternative minimum tax, a drop in Medicare reimbursements, small business tax breaks and more. How do you feel about the country potentially going …
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
My husband and I cancel out each other's votes in many elections, but the effect on our kids is a good one.
Today is election day, also known as The Day All the Horrible Phone Calls and Political Ads End. It is a good day. The problem for my family, however, is that my husband and I are on opposite ends of the political spectrum and today is the day that an icy silence descends over my house. Remember those long days of hanging chads after the 2000 election? My husband and I didn't speak for probably two weeks. It got ugly. Now, of course, we have children to consider, forcing us to remain at least outwardly civil, regardless of whom edges out ahead in what is sure to be a nail-biter presidential election. Because one of us is a blue voter and one is a red voter, I'm assuming this makes my kids purple, which I actually think is a really cool …
Monday, November 5, 2012
How to have the best voter experience in Montgomery County.
The Montgomery County Board of Elections has two pieces of advice for the nearly half-million residents expected to hit the polls in tomorrow’s momentous presidential election: 1. Bring your sample ballot filled out; 2. Avoid the Election Day rush hour. Nearly 78,000 county residents took advantage of early voting and another 45,000 will be voting via absentee ballot, according to Board of Elections spokeswoman Marjorie Rohrer. But that still leaves more than 400,000 voters to flood the fewer than 250 polling sites—on average, roughly 1,600 voters per poll—between the hours of 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. Tuesday. The 2008 presidential election drew 441,796 Montgomery county residents to the polls—a 72 percent turnout—followed by a 52 percent turnout…
Thursday, November 1, 2012
More than 43,000 have voted early already in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties.
- ELECTIONS
- Ben Gross
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Thursday, November 1, 2012
Due to the dangers of Hurricane Sandy, early voting locations were closed Monday and Tuesday -- but Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley has now extended the early voting period through Friday for the entire state. During the two days that early voting locations were open, prior to Hurricane Sandy's arrival, 43,629 voters took advantage in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties. Montgomery County According to data from the Maryland State Board of Elections 23,509 of the 616,016 eligible people voted early on October 27 and 28. Of those voters, 16,183 were registered Democrats, 2,821 Republican, 3,753 unaffiliated and the rest split between the Green, Libertarian and “Other” parties. Females so far are outpacing their male early voter …
Friday, October 5, 2012
Local businesses help gauge the election through food and drink.
While choosing a candidate to vote for in the 2012 presidential campaign may seem daunting to some people, businesses in the area want to make sure that you are well-fed and well-caffeinated (and maybe even help predict the outcome) as you debate your selection. BGR: The Burger Joint Reviving its popular campaign from 2008, BGR began offering menu selections celebrating the candidates’ hometowns. BGR has locations in Bethesda, Potomac, Columbia and Gaithersburg. California Tortilla The popular Mexican restaurant has taken a slightly different tactic, honoring the candidates' personal lives: California Tortilla has locations in Silver Spring, Rockville, Gaithersburg, Bethesda, Olney, Annapolis and Potomac. Click here to read more about …
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Two vie for mayoral seat; three for two council seats in Kensington's town election to be held in June.
A return to “civility” was the theme of the Town of Kensington’s candidates' forum Monday night, as the five residents vying for the mayoral seat and two council seats stressed moving forward in the wake of what was described as a “contentious” and “divisive” process that ultimately saw the approval of the long-awaited sector plan. Two candidates are vying for mayor: incumbent Mayor Peter Fosselman is seeking a fourth term against development consultant Stowe Teti, a 10-year Kensington resident. Three candidates are running for two council seats: past council member Glenn Cowan, former media buyer Tracey Furman and incumbent council member Sean McMullen. The election will be held June 4 between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. at Town Hall. The format …
Monday, May 21, 2012
Meet the candidates for town council and mayor tonight at 7 p.m.
Residents will have the opportunity to hear from the candidates in the upcoming council and mayoral election in Kensington tonight at 7 p.m. at a candidates' forum. This year two are running as incumbents— Mayor Peter C. Fosselman and Councilman Sean McMullen. But three newcomers are vying for their seats— Glenn Cowan and Tracey Furman for council, while Stowe Teti will run against the current mayor. The forum will be held at Town Hall. Editor's Note: This article has been updated to include the names of the challengers as well as corrected to include the name of McMullen as an incumbent. We regret our error.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
One incumbent and two newcomers file to run for office in Kensington.
Despite an upcoming election that includes a mayor's race and two council seats, only three candidates so far have filed to run for office in the town of Kensington. Mayor Peter Fosselman is running for a fourth term this spring, while Councilwoman Lydia Sullivan announced she won't run for re-election earlier this year. Glenn Cowan, of Fawcett Street, and Tracey Furman, of Detrick Avenue, have filed to run for the town's two open council seats. Candidates have until May 14 to file to run for office. The town is set to host a candidates' forum on May 21 at 7 p.m. to prepare for the June 4 election.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
In the Montgomery County Board of Education primary, Morris Panner took the No. 2 spot for the At-Large ballot; Fred Evans and Rebecca Smondrowski took the top spots for District 2.
Although the Republican presidential primary bolstered Maryland into national headlines Tuesday, locally Montgomery County voters also narrowed the field for the Board of Education’s general election in November. The unofficial results show that Phil Kauffman and Morris Panner beat out the two other candidates on the ballot to advance to the general election for the at-large seat. Kauffman received 60.3 percent of the vote, and Panner received 17 percent of the vote. The next runner-up, Lou August, received 11.9 percent of the vote. "I am really honored to have received the support I did," Panner, a resident of the Town of Somerset in Chevy Chase, told Chevy Chase Patch. "It is such an important time in our [c]ounty's history and a …
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
No surprises as incumbents and Democrats dominate congressional and statewide races
For many Maryland political observers one of the unsurprising early returns on Election Night was Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski delivering a victory speech in Baltimore. Mikulski's victory was the first of many victories for incumbent Democrats in a state that was largely immune from the anti-incumbent, anti-Democrat or pro-tea party mood that pervaded elections around the nation. While Republicans mounted strong and, in many cases, victorious challenges in other states, the opposition was less organized in Maryland, said Gail Ewing, a Democratic former Montgomery County Councilwoman from Potomac. "It's not an organized, mobilized, get-out-the-vote, hit 'em hard effort [in Maryland]," Ewing said. Republicans—tea partiers or not—have not …
Corbin Dallas Multipass
4:43 pm on Friday, November 9, 2012
"Just like the governor's idiocy. A few commuters got to keep their jobs while many thousands more lost the opportunity. Sheesh. Talk about ingrained stupidity." What? The jobs are moved from LA and weren't available here. How did commuters keep jobs that didn't exist? more ›