Tag Archives: Ben Cardin

Cardin v. Bongino v. Sobhani – How do you beat an incumbent in a 3-way race?

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Monday, September 17, 2012

If it seems like there’s one too many names in the title, you’re right.

Ben Cardin is the incumbent Senator from Maryland who is running for re-election. He’s just finishing his first term in the Senate after having spent 20 years in the House. Senator Cardin, in my studied opinion, is the poster boy for do-nothing elected officials, having failed to address any of the economic, fiscal and other crises our country is facing. Perhaps he’s been too busy raising millions from special interests whose contributions are documented in his FEC filings.

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Senator Drivel: An Interview With Maryland’s Ben Cardin

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US Senator Ben Cardin

Thursday, September 13, 2012

While the following interview is imaginary, the bold quotes from Senator Cardin constitute, in order, the entire text of his statement on “Economy and Jobs” from his campaign website, www.bencardin.com. A screenshot of his position statement is at the bottom of this article for you to read, in its entirety, without interruption. Clicking on the image will make it larger.

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Ben Cardin v. Dan Bongino v. “Rob who?”

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Saturday, September 8, 2012

Pleasant looking chap, isn’t he.

The “Rob who?” in the title is Rob Sobhani, Independent (unaffiliated) candidate for the US Senator in Maryland. To tell you the truth, like so many Americans, I’ve be so caught up in the party politics of a Presidential election year that I didn’t even check to see who else was running, other than incumbent Democrat Ben Cardin and Republican challenger Dan Bongino. And then I saw one of Mr. Sobhani’s television spots.

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“Consumer sentiment falls to 2012 low.” So what?

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And so the headline from Reuters read.

It may not have made as much news, what with the Olympics starting up, and the media making way to much of Mitt Romney’s technical, honest answer to a question about those games, but it is big news, as important, maybe more so, than jobs and unemployment data.

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Dubious Distinction: Maryland is #1 in jobs lost.

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Thursday, July 26, 2012

The table on the left appeared in Monday’s Washington Times.

As my title indicates, it is a dubious distinction, to say the least, that Maryland, a relatively small, generally successful state, would have lost any jobs at all during the first 6 months of this year, let alone lead the nation in that negative statistic.

In fact, as the table indicates, only 12 states of the 50 have net job losses over the first half of this year.

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Maryland Voter Registration, Employment and Unemployment by County: Will no incumbent take responsibility?

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Tuesday, July 24, 2012

The following table is too large to insert into this article without the type being too small to read easily. Instead of making you squint to see the numbers, just click on the link below to see – and print, if you like – the PDF version of the table.

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Maryland Congressional Races: Money Raised Through June 30, 2012

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Friday, July 20, 2012

This post updates an earlier article that showed the dramatic differences between what incumbents versus their challengers are able to raise to finance their respective campaigns. The previous article’s data were as of March 31, 2012. Reporting to the Federal Election Commission is quarterly. These data, in the table below, are as of June 30, 2012.

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Ben Cardin and Dutch Ruppersberger: Too lazy or just not smart enough to deserve re-election?

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Monday, July 9, 2012

Hi. In a New York Times article published on MSNBC.com on Saturday, the author, Robert Pear, talks about the “exchanges” mandated by the Affordable Care Act. According to the law, each state is to create an exchange, a marketplace where Americans who can’t afford to buy health insurance on their own can buy insurance with support from the federal government. If the state doesn’t do this, doesn’t set up this exchange as it appears some are reluctant to do, the federal government will do it for them.

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Only 80,000 new jobs: Maybe today would be a good day for Ben Cardin and Dutch Ruppersberger to accept responsibility.

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Friday, July 6, 2012

In an article published earlier today, I showed that Maryland’s incumbent Senator, Democrat Ben Cardin, and incumbent Congressman from the Second District, Democrat Dutch Ruppersberger, have tended to vote 97%, 98% of the time with their party and with the President.

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House and Senate Voting Records: Evidence of Compromise?

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Friday, July 6, 2012

Compromise. Is there really any such thing? Seriously, is there? My wife wants to paint the room green. I want to paint it blue. Does compromise mean agreeing to paint it blue-green which neither of us likes? Or does it mean that one of us concedes to the other this time, in return for getting his or her way on some other matter of equal or less importance? This example is trivial but, in Washington, coming to a mutually acceptable agreement can be a messy and sometimes outright unpleasant, counter-productive process. Picking a color to paint a room is one thing. What happens when the issue is as important, complex and politically charged as health care legislation or what to do about the economy?

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Ben Cardin v. Dan Bongino: The Affordable Care Act.

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Friday, June 29, 2012

At the bottom of this piece, you can see the statement by incumbent Senator Ben Cardin in reaction to yesterday’s ruling by the Supreme Court. It’s on the Senator’s Senate website, www.Cardin.Senate.gov. It’s very neatly typed, and generally well-written. Personally, I’m not a big fan of third person statements that, I think, make the elected official sound aloof. Even though he staffed it out, the Senator should be talking directly to his constituents.

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