The Midterms Are Coming

Alright, I’ll admit that I’ve been pretty lazy of late in terms of blogging and so forth. I can’t make up for it overnight, and I won’t repeat so much of what other people have said. But here’s a quick recap of some of the stuff going on in my life, in DC, and elsewhere.

In My Life
Nothing exciting for me. Some drama over a team I helped supervise last year lead to its coordinator asking to be reassigned back to a processing role. We also lost the performance incentive program I devised after HR threw a hissyfit that they weren’t involved. But nothing too spectacular. Working on the screenplays, when I get the motivation.

The Rally for Sanity and/or Fear
Was it a comedy show, a spoof on rallies, an anti-rally rally, or a plea for reasonableness by a bunch of ex-Obama fans? Probably a mix of all three. It was fun at times, a nice event mixing elements of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. And as usual, Metro did precious little to accomodate the traffic flow, which caused terribly long lines and angry customers. Par for the course in DC, though.

My Vote for Congress – Moran (VA-08-Dem)While I’ve never been a fan of Moran for his ethics, and I do think Murray is right to blame Moran, a Defense Appropriator, for allowing a BRAC building to be constructed near my (already busy) neighborhood without a traffic plan, Murray is also just too conservative for this district, especially on social issues like abortion. In a different year, or if a new scandal emerged, I might be a swing vote, but not this time.

Ballot Question #1 – No
This would take the state legislature’s oversight powers away when it comes to local revenue. Given the budget crunch at all levels, I’m not sure now is a good time to let local governments hand out tax cuts without a second pair of eyes on the idea.

Ballot Question #2 – Yes
Question #2, however, is focused on a narrowly tailored group of disabled veterans. While I don’t like the idea of singling out any particular subset for a tax cut (in part because the precedent could be abused for future tax breaks), I think disabled veterans deserve our support and gratitude, so I’ll support it.

Ballot Question #3 – Yes
Question #3 merely allows the rainy day fund to collect more money than it used to – not that it will. And given the budget crunch of the Great Recession, even allowing for the possibility of a bigger rainy day fund to cover emergencies is a smart idea.

The Mid-Terms
The Democrats are in for a “thumpin'” this year, as Bush might say, although being blamed for a bad economy, unpopular bills passed under Bush’s watch (TARP), and for legislative gridlock over a jobs bill or the public option (gridlock caused by Republicans) is a bit unfair. Moreover, I am suscipious about the polls that don’t bother calling cellphone-only voters, or ones that say enthusiasm is the driver of likelihood to vote. I also don’t think it’s smart of stastician-types building prediction models based on the predictions of other pundits, as Nate Silver has done. So I’d like to think the Democrats are going to do better than the 55-seat-loss in the House that has become the consensus. I’d also hold out hope for specific candidates, like Scott McAdams in Alaska or Tom Perriello in VA-05 (check out Ken’s List for the campaigns to which I donated). But I’m also prepared for an ugly night, so as long as the Dems hold on to the Senate.