Showing posts with label Saqib Ali. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Saqib Ali. Show all posts

Friday, April 9, 2010

New List of Most and Least Effective Legislators in Maryland

The Gazette released its list of the 10 Most and Least Effective State Senators and 20 Most and Least Effective State Delegates. And here is my analysis.

You would expect that the list would be overwhelmingly in favor of Democrats being the most effective since they occupy an overwhelming majority of the seats in the legislature. And you would be right. When you have the most votes you get your way more often than not.

You would expect that the list would be overwhelmingly against Republicans since they are in the minority by an overwhelming disparity in the General Assembly. And you would be right. If you can't get the Democrats to agree to common sense legislation, then you'll never get anything passed and thus not be effective.

Kumar Barve proved that people with alcohol problems can still be considered influential leaders. He was selected as the 5th most influential delegate in spite of using his influence to get out of a DWI charge. Or maybe because of his influence.

Saqib Ali has a lot of friends. And a lot of haters. Not only did he make the list as the 17th most effective delegates, he is also the 3rd least influential delegate. Perhaps if he added some more pundits and political observers as friends on Facebook he would get a better ranking next year. Seriously - the guy is pretty darn funny. Don't always agree with him (he has a man-crush on Harry Reid), but he IS funny.

Curt Anderson went around and took pictures of everyone in the General Assembly and added their image to Wikipedia. He did this for both Democrats and Republicans - an admirable motion. And for this he was rewarded as the 12th most effective delegate. Is this one of those false positive correlations?

Mike Busch and Mike Miller were awarded for bullying everyone in the General Assembly and received number 1 slots on both lists of Most Influentials. I suspect Miller is influential by telling everyone that he'll retire if they pass such-and-such bill, only to recant later.

Despite Ulysses Currie's brushes with the law, marijuana, and raids of his home by the FBI, he was selected as the 4th most influential state senator. It pays to be a corrupt pot smoker!

Some Democrats, despite having the special wand to do practically anything they want, were selected as un-influential. You must really suck as a Democrat if you fall into this list in Maryland. The list includes James Brochin of Towson (has made this list before), Nathaniel Exum of PG County, Michael Lenett of Montgomery County, Frank Conaway, Jr. of Baltimore, Ana Sol Gutierrez (again, and who wants in-state tuition for illegal immigrants), Emmett "Illegal Campaign Contributions" Burns, Jr. of Baltimore County (again), Jill Carter of Baltimore, Charles Barkley (not that basketball player) of Montgomery County, Herman Taylor, Jr. of Washington County (who also wants in-state tuition for illegal immigrants), and finally Barbara Robinson of Baltimore.

Republicans on the Most Influential side of the list are Tony O'Donnell of Baltimore County and Christopher Shank of Washington County. I was a bit surprised not to see Allan Kittleman on the list, but then again he's the leader of the Republican Party in the State Senate, so naturally no one is going to like him.

So that's my take. Let me know what you think of this list.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Vote for the Most & Least Effective in Maryland General Assembly

Thanks to my friends at Maryland Politics Watch (I'm not sure if they like me or not, but I read their blog!) - they have intercepted an email to the Gazette that allows you to vote for the most and least influential State Senators and State Delegates.

Click on this link to vote for yourself:

Gazette Poll.

Who do you think is the least and most effective? For the record, I voted for both Republicans and Democrats. Which Democrats would I vote for? My friend Saqib Ali, for one. He seems like an honest guy. And I'll take an honest hard-working Democrat over a questionable fringe Republican.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Maryland Politicians? Ha!

Why are so few politicians in Maryland not born in Maryland? Do native Marylanders have an aversion to politics? You think I'm kidding? Check out this list of elected and appointed officials that are not Maryland-born.

State-level

Martin O’Malley Washington, DC

Peter Franchot New Haven, Connecticut

Anthony G. Brown Huntington, New York

John P. McDonough Scranton, Pennsylvania

Nancy K. Kopp Coral Gables, Florida

Thomas Perez Buffalo, New York

John Porcari Rochester, New York

State Senators

Nancy Jacobs Charleston, West Virginia

Alex Mooney Washington, D.C.

Andy Harris Brooklyn, New York

Delores Kelley Norfolk, Virginia

Bobby Zirkin Davis, California

Rona Kramer Washington, D.C.

Robert J. Garagiola Warren, Michigan

Brian Frosch Washington, D.C.

Jennie M. Forehand Nashville, Tennessee

Michael G. Lenett New York, New York

Jamie Raskin Washington, D.C.

James Rosapepe Rome, Italy

Paul Pinsky Camden, New Jersey

Nathaniel Exum Memphis, Tennessee

Ulysses Currie Whitevilel, North Carolina

John Astle Charles Town, West Virginia

Edward Reilly Glen Ridge, New Jersey

Lowell Stoltzfus Pottstown, Pennsylvania

Nancy King Niagra Falls, New York

Catherine Pugh Norristown, Pennsylvania

Maryland State Delegates

Kumar Barve Schenectady, New York

Talmadge Branch Northampton, North Carolina

Tony O’Donnell Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

John Donoghue New York, New York

Charles Jenkins Norfolk, Virginia

Tanya Shewell Piqua, Ohio

Gail H. Bates Washington, DC

Emmett C. Burns, Jr. Jackson, Mississippi

Shirley Nathan-Pulliam Trelawny, Jamaica

Dan K. Morhaim Los Angeles, California

Shane Pendergrass Los Angeles, California

Frank S. Turner Mt. Pleasant, New York

Anne R. Kaiser Washington, D.C.

Craig L. Rice Washington, D.C.

Kathleen M. Dumais La Jolla, California

Brian J. Feldman Pittsburgh, Pennsulvania

William A. Bronrott Washington, DC

Susan Lee San Antonio, Texas

James W. Gilchrist Washington, DC

Luiz R. S. Simmons Winchester, Virginia

Ana Sol Gutierrez El Salvador

Alfred C. Carr, Jr. Cleveland, Ohio

Hank Heller Washington, DC

Roger Manno California

Tom Hucker St. Louis, Missouri

Sheila E. Hixson L’Anse, Michigan

Heather R. Mizeur Blue Mound, Illinois

Barbara A. Frush Washington, DC

Benjamin S. Barnes Peoria, Illinois

Joseline Peña-Melnyk Dominican Republic

Tawanna P. Gaines Washington, DC

Anne Marie Healey Scranton, Pennsylvania

Gerron S. Levi Chicago, Illinois

James W. Hubbard Washington, DC

Marvin E. Holmes, Jr. Cleveland, Ohio

Joanne Claybon Benson Roanoke, Virginia

Carolyn J. B. Howard Deland, Florida

Michael L. Vaughn Tuskeegee, Alabama

Aisha N. Braveboy Washington, DC

Dereck E. Davis Washington, DC

Melony Ghee Griffith Albilene, Texas

Melony Ghee Griffith Washington, DC

Jay Walker Los Angeles, California

Veronica L. Turner Washington, DC

James E. Proctor, Jr. Washington, DC

Joseph F. Vallario, Jr. Washington, DC

Sue Kullen Verona, Italy

Peter Murphy Washington, DC

Virginia P. Clagett Washington, DC

Ron George Syracuse, New York

Mary Ann Love West Pittson, Pennsylvania

B. Daniel Riley London, England

David Rudolph Summit, New Jersey

Susan K. McComas Denver, Colorado

Richard A. Sossi New York, New York

Adelaide C. Eckardt Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania

Douglas Page Elmore Nassawadox, Virginia

Charles E. Barkley Elkins, West Virginia

Kirill Reznik Kiev, Ukraine

Saqib Ali Chicago, Illinois

Barbara A. Robinson Alexandria City, Alabama

Shawn Z. Tarrant Freeport, New York

Stephen W. Lafferty Washington, DC

Curt Anderson Chicago, Illinois

Ann Marie Doory Yonkers, New York

Margaret L. McIntosh Quinter, Kansas

Keith E. Haynes Shelby, North Carolina

Talmadge Branch Northampton, North Carolina

Hattie N. Harrison Lancaster, South Carolina

Jolene Ivey Washington, DC

Doyle L. Niemann Grand Island, Nebraska

Victor R. Ramirez San Salvador, El Salvador

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Filling Senate Vacancies

I'm interrupting this string of blog posts about my vacation to comment on a post by Maryland House of Delegates member Saqib Ali on his blog.

Saqib Ali, if you don't know, once commented on my blog about me listing him as one of the 10 Democrats in the state that needs to be kicked out of office. I do not have any disdain for Delegate Ali, I just do not agree with his politics. Nor do I condone his violation of Wikipedia policy of updating articles about yourself, which he has done regularly. It is a well-written biography and advertisement, but that's not why I'm talking today.

Delegate Ali recently wrote House Bill #369: Special Elections for US Senate Vacancies Act. As the law currently reads, when a Senator leaves office either to appointment to a another office or by some other situation, the Governor of the state appoints his or her replacement until the next election cycle. Clearly, the Governor is going to appoint someone that he or she wants in office and politics being politics, you know there is some kind of kick-back, back-door shenanigans going on. We already saw this in Illinois when Governor Rod Blagojevich offered Obama's Senate seat to the highest bidder. The seat was eventually given to totally incompetent former Illinois State's Attorney General Roland Burris.

Delegate Ali's new law would mandate a special election called by the Governor of Maryland should a U.S. Senator from Maryland vacate his or her seat. I totally agree with this part of the bill. I do not agree with interim appointments as they, the appointee, usually end up getting elected in the next election cycle anyway without having to properly go through normal election channels to gain recognition, raise election capital, and gain the acceptance and trust of the people. Instead, the Governor picks the candidate of his or her liking, someone who will agree with him and push his agenda on a national level, then the candidate gains favor with the Congress and can easily attract funds for reelection. The intention of this bill is right-on. Congratulations, Delegate Ali, for submitting this part of the bill.

Unfortunately, Delegate Ali also included a provision that would not allow the bill to go into effect until January 2015, many years (hopefully) after we kick O'Malley out of office. The reason Delegate Ali gives for the inclusion of this provision is "so as not to seem to impugn the the integrity of our current Governor."

As if the Governor had any integrity. This totally leaves O'Malley a blank check to appoint a new Senator of his liking should Ben Cardin or Babs Mikulski suddenly decide to leave office mid-election cycle (if we could only be so lucky). Why is the thought of impugning the integrity of Governor being placed above the will of the people? The real intention of this provision is to protect the rapport of the Democratic legislators and their Governor when they vote to approve this bill. Imagine the pissing match O'Malley would have with the Democrats in the General Assembly that voted for this bill without the provision. I think it would make for great headlines!

What is more important? The reputation and rapport of the current gang of motley politicians, or the allowing the people of Maryland to choose which Senator will represent them in the United States Senate?

Unfortunately for Maryland, Delegate Ali is making that decision for us.

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Who's Reading Vote NoMalley?

Apparently, Saqib Ali, that's who. Who's that? He's a member of the Maryland House of Delegates and represents liberal District 39 in Montgomery County.

Why would he be reading this blog? Well, I've tagged in a couple of times. And like a modern educated politician, which is the total antithesis of most of the delegates from Baltimore City, Ali probably Googled himself and found his name. Delegate Ali appears to be well-educated. He has a bachelor's and master's degree in computer science from the University of Maryland (yeah -Terps!). Sound like my kind of guy.

I'm fairly certain that he wrote his own bio on Wikipedia. I only write bios for Republicans and his is written like a political campaign pamphlet - not that there's anything wrong with that. I applaud him for being proactive and utilizing all of the means available to him to promote himself....unlike Republican Delegate LeRoy Myers who totally snubbed me. I bet he Twitters and wouldn't be surprised if he's on Facebook. Perhaps I'll try to add him as a friend when I get home.

So how do I know that Delegate Ali reads (or has read) my blog? Because he left this comment:

Saqib Ali said... Interesting Blog.Would love to explain to you sometime why my bills are not stupid. I'm *sure* I could convince you ;)

Thank you, Delegate Ali, for reading my blog. And I appreciate your comment, though I did find it interesting that you left the comment on the post about how hot Valerie Bertinelli is. :-)

I hope by "interesting" he means that this is the best f-in' blog he's ever read and he set it as his homepage when he opens his web browser in the morning. I mean, where else are you going to find top-notch political banter along with hot pictures of Reese Witherspoon and news on Van Halen? Only on VoteNoMalley!!!

So my message to Delegate Ali - I would love for you to explain to me why your bills are not stupid. And I don't think I called your bills "stupid". I did give you a Bonehead Award for wasting time and money in the General Assembly, but that was one of about 80 awards that were given.

[Correction] - I found that I did say "Stupid Bills" in my Top 10 List on the side bar. In fairness, I reworded this to be "unneeded". My apologies to Delegate Ali.

One particular item that I know I will NOT agree with Delegate Ali is his sponsorship of HB6 (2007). This bill was to allow for in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. Seriously? You wanted to use MY tax money to give in-state tuition to people who are illegally in this state??? How about you sponsor a bill to tax illegal immigrants and give me the money to help me steal cars? I mean, I gotta make a living doing something, right? I'm not getting rich by blogging.

Coincidentally, another bill is before the House of Delegates (HB 387 2009). On the surface, this bill looks like it makes sense. However, once you factor in all the amendments that the hard left-wing liberal extremists have added, you now have a bill that will allow for a 2-tiered drivers license system - one for illegal immigrants and one for Marylanders. I cannot seem to find how Delegate Ali voted, though I do not see his name as one of the sponsors of the bill, so based on his previous support of illegal immigrant activity, I'll assume that he supports drivers licenses for illegal immigrants until I see otherwise. Why will I assume that? Because this is my blog and I can do whatever I want.

Furthermore, WBAL Channel 11's question of the day was something to the effect of, "Do you support drivers licenses for illegal immigrants?" My answer (as always) is 'I support deportation of illegal immigrants, so they don't really need a drivers license now, do they???'

The illogical argument that illegal immigrants perform the jobs that Americans won't do does not hold water when unemployment is rising rapidly and our taxes are going up along with it. If I'm unemployed and have been for a while, you better believe I'll clean toilets or cut grass.

So, Delegate Ali - I'm listening!

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Maryland Busy Wasting More Money

As the Maryland General Assembly winds down their session, we are getting a sampling of more bills that were tossed around the crack pipe for consideration. Consider the following:

Frank Conaway (D) House, Northwest Baltimore City - (HB 1009) Designate the shillelagh (a wooden club associated with Irish folklore) as "The State Walking Stick of Statesmen and Gentlemen." This law is definitely needed because we don't have an official state walking stick. Consider these other "official" state symbols and the importance of each:

Cat Calico
Dinosaur Astrodon johnstoni
Drink Milk
Exercise Walking
Folk Dance Square Dance
Gem Patuxent River Stone
Insect Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly

Frank Conaway receives this week's Bonehead Award for wasting tax-payer money.

Saqib Ali (D) Montgomery County - (HB115) Proclaim April 13 as "Punjabi Cultural Awareness Day." Punjab is a region in northwestern India and eastern Pakistan.

What is the purpose of this bill? Self-promotion? If you haven't guessed, Ali, the liberal extremist who voted in favor of providing in-state tuition to illegal immigrants, is Islamic with ancestral roots to India and Pakistan. Ali receives the Assistant Bonehead of the Week Award.

HB131 - Proclaim March 31 as Cesar Chavez Day. Chavez was a union organizer for migrant farm workers. This is to honor the work that he did in Arizona and California. Wha??? It's fine to teach about his impact on history, but to declare an official day for him? And to waste tax-payers dollars to write a bill and debate it? What a horrible waste of money. Who are the boneheads that jumped on board this one? Unfortunately there are a bunch. Unfortunately, the boat with them on it didn't tip over.

The guilty are: Jeff Walderstreicher (D) Montgomery County, Victor Ramirez (D) Prince George's County, Tom Hucker (D) Montgomery County, Joseline Peña-Melnyk (D) Prince George's & Anne Arundel County, Ben Barnes (D) Anne Arundel & Prince George's County, Joanne C. Benson (D) Prince George's County, Aisha N. Braveboy (D) Prince George's County, Emmett C. Burns, Jr. (D) Baltimore County, Alfred C. Carr, Jr. (D) Montgomery County, Kathleen M. Dumais (D) Montgomery County, James Gilchrest (D) Montgomery County, Ana Sol Gutierrez (D) Mongtomery County, Guy Guzzone (D) Howard County, Jolene Ivey (D) Montgomery County, Susan C. Lee (D) Montgomery County, Roger Manno (D) Montgomery County, Heather Mizeur (D) Prince George's County, Karen S. Montgomery (D) Montgomery County, Nathaniel T. Oaks (D) Baltimore City, Justin Ross (D) Prince George's County, Todd Schuler (D) Baltimore County, Luiz R. S. Simmons (D) Montgomery County, Shawn Z. Tarrant (D) Baltimore City, Herman L. Taylor, Jr. (D) Montgomery County, Veronica L. Turner (D) Prince George's County, Kris Valderrama (D) Prince George's County, and Jewell Jay Walker (D) Prince George's County.

Do you see anything that these people have in common? Yes, they are all Democrats. And most of them are from Montgomery and Prince George's Counties. Areas rich in farmland that would have benefited by the work of César Chávez (not really). Waste-waste-waste!

On a funny note, Maryland Republican Pat McDonough commented that the Democrats are so in toe with whatever the governor wants that if O'Malley wanted to close all of the public schools in Maryland, the Democrats in the General Assembly probably would approve it. Nice one, Pat!