Voting Notes

Election Day tomorrow. Maybe I should figure out what I'm doing...Note that I don't really know anything about politics.

Let's see. What's on the ballot?
◆ President/Vice President
◆ US Senator in Congress
◆ US Representative in Congress
◆ Governor's Council
◆ State Senator
◆ State Representative
◆ Question 1
◆ Question 2
◆ Question 3

Actually Massachusetts makes it very easy to make these decisions as barely anyone runs against the democratic candidate. I had to look up what I'm actually voting on tomorrow (maybe you Germans don't know, but it's not just one check box). There are always surprises on the ballot, for example on the Presidential ticket there are actually 6 choices:

John McCain/Sarah Palin, Republican
Bob Barr/Wayne A. Root, Libertarian
Chuck Baldwin/Darrell L. Castle, Constitution
Ralph Nader/Matt Gonzales, Independent
Barack Obama/Joe Biden, Democratic
Cynthia McKinney/Rosa Clemente, Green-Rainbow

If you thought McCain was terrible, check out Bob Barr or Chuck Baldwin. Wow.



President/Vice President : Obama/Biden
US Senator: John Kerry
US Representative in Congress, District 8: Michael Capuano (unopposed)
Governor's Council, District 6: Michael J. Callahan (unopposed)
State Senator, Middlesex, Suffolk, Essex: Anthony D. Galluccio (unopposed)
State Representative, 25th Middlesex District: Alice K. Wolf (unopposed)


Question 1: State Personal Income Tax
Summary: This proposed law would reduce the state personal income tax rate to 2.65% for all categories of taxable income for the tax year beginning on or after January 1, 2009, and would eliminate the tax for all tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2010.
Dan's Vote: No. This is the worst idea I've heard in a while. Are people going to be so selfish to get back ~$3700 and cut about $12 billion from state funds? I assume this will pass.

Question 2: Possession of Marijauana
Summary: This proposed law would replace the criminal penalties for possession of one ounce or less of marijuana with a new system of civil penalties, to be enforced by issuing citations, and would exclude information regarding this civil offense from the state’s criminal record information system. Offenders age 18 or older would be subject to forfeiture of the marijuana plus a civil penalty of $100. Offenders under the age of 18 would be subject to the same forfeiture and, if they complete a drug awareness program within one year of the offense, the same $100 penalty.
Dan's Vote: Yes. Although an ounce of Marijauana is a lot of pot. Seems like this should be more like 1/16 of an ounce...

Question 3: Dog Racing
Summary: This proposed law would prohibit any dog racing or racing meeting in Massachusetts where any form of betting or wagering on the speed or ability of dogs occurs.
Dan's Vote: Yes. Don't have a strong opinion here, but I think they treat the dog's pretty badly, and we don't need that.