"Markey stays reserved after heated words from Gomez" by Jim O’Sullivan | Globe Staff, May 25, 2013
Even as Republican Gabriel E. Gomez injected a personal edge into the US Senate race, US Representative Edward J. Markey, the Democrat in the race stuck to his more reserved front-runner strategy Friday, avoiding the caustic fisticuffs that often overtake campaigns.
After Gomez tagged Markey Thursday as “pond scum” for an online Markey campaign video showing Gomez on-screen at the same time as Osama bin Laden, Markey declined to engage directly, instead arguing that the private equity investor was attempting to distract voters from policy matters.
“I don’t think that the people of Massachusetts want to hear any name-calling,” Markey told reporters. “I think what they want to hear are real proposals that ensure that we get assault weapons off the streets, that we protect Social Security, that we create jobs, that we make sure that Wall Street doesn’t turn into a casino again.”
The ad targeted by Gomez ripped the GOP nominee for his work with an outside group that criticized the Obama administration for leaking details about the US Navy SEALs’ 2011 raid on bin Laden’s compound.
It's hard for me to continue functioning and typing in this made-up media illusion and imagery, folks. Scripted and staged events, hoaxes, drills gone live, and all the rest have really worn me down and I simply no longer believe my media anymore. It's outright lies at worst, agenda-pushing distortion at best, and that just isn't good enough.
At one point, the video shows Gomez on the screen at the same time as bin Laden, using an image of Gomez from his television appearance on behalf of OPSEC, a group of former military and intelligence officers opposed to Obama’s reelection.
“I don’t think there’s anything more offensive,” Gomez said in a National Public Radio interview. “You know, I’ve got four young kids, and they got to sit there and they got to see an ad with their dad — who served honorably — talk to anybody I served with — whether as a pilot or as a SEAL, or anybody I worked with. And for him to be as dirty and low, pond scum, to, like, put me up next to bin Laden, he’s just got to be called what he is. It’s that simple.”
The harsher rhetoric failed to draw a matching response from Markey, who addressed reporters after an appearance at a Dorchester union hall. That strategy, of holding the daily back and forth at arm’s length, is of a piece with Markey’s broader approach to the campaign and his public presence generally.
The guy who never throws a punch in politics rarely wins.
Markey has maintained a light public campaign schedule since the April 30 primary, although his aides say that he has been traveling the state to meet privately with prospective supporters and raise funds.
That's odd, and keep it in mind for later.
The escalation in bitterness drew a rebuke to both candidates from Mayor Thomas M. Menino of Boston, who formally endorsed Markey Friday but was less than complimentary of the Malden Democrat’s campaign.
“Both of them,” Menino said, when asked whether the candidates shared equal responsibility for the campaign’s tenor. “You can’t blame one or the other, both of them. Now Gomez is mad because Markey did this, Markey said this. Let’s get beyond that. Let’s get beyond to what they’ll do in Washington first.”
That's Menino keep Wa$hington doors open.
Menino, who is not running for reelection this year after a historic 20 years as mayor, said he could explain neither Markey’s string of missed votes in Congress nor his decision not to release his tax returns until the Friday of Memorial Day weekend.
I can explain those, and will.
“I can’t explain that,” the mayor told reporters of Markey’s timing around the tax disclosure. “Everybody runs their own campaign and their own political situation, what they do publicly and privately. I can’t explain that at all.”
The mayor frequently offers backhanded critiques of statewide Democratic candidates, even as he offers both rhetorical and organizational support. Earlier, speaking to about 100 people at a Dorchester union hall, Menino praised Markey’s work in Washington on behalf of Massachusetts.
He told the Globe he had advised Markey to “meet and greet” more aggressively.
“Once you meet him, you know you’ll vote for him,” said Menino.
Asked about the 37-year congressman missing the last 40 House votes, while at the same time adhering to a light public campaign schedule, Menino, famous for appearing frequently around the city, said: “I can’t explain that. I just know what he’s done as a congressman. I’ve known his record. He’s been able to deliver for Massachusetts; he’s been able to deliver for Boston. Sustainability, safer, making Boston a better city.”
Is Ed just tired?
Since his entry into the race, Gomez’s involvement with the OPSEC has been the subject of controversy....
Many Democratic defenders to say OPSEC was trying to “swift boat” the president by trying to turn his best military victory into a negative....
“Swift boating” is the political shorthand used to describe campaign techniques similar to those used against John F. Kerry in 2004 by conservative groups who tore into the Massachusetts Democrat for his military service in Vietnam and for his later protest of the war.
Gomez has used the bin Laden split-screen in his own television ad, which labels Markey as “Dirty Ed” and accuses him of “comparing [Gomez] to bin Laden.” Markey’s Web video does not explicitly compare Gomez and bin Laden.
Markey and Gomez are vying to fill the seat that Kerry vacated when he became secretary of state. The election is scheduled for June 25.
At which point both candidates will gear up for the regularly-scheduled election in 2014.
--more--"
About those taxes:
"Markey’s taxes show deductions, Social Security income" by Stephanie Ebbert and Frank Phillips | Globe Staff, May 25, 2013
Representative Edward J. Markey, the Democratic nominee for the Senate, paid an effective tax rate of less than 20 percent over the past eight years, claiming large deductions for his mortgages, his travel expenses, and his car, his tax returns show.
He paid ROMNEY RATES while advocating INCREASES on the rest of us?
According to his federal and state tax filings dating back to 2005, almost all of Markey’s income, which ranged from $140,777 to $161,433 per year over the eight-year period, came from his congressional salary.
He paid ROMNEY RATES while advocating INCREASES on the rest of us?
According to his federal and state tax filings dating back to 2005, almost all of Markey’s income, which ranged from $140,777 to $161,433 per year over the eight-year period, came from his congressional salary.
Markey, who turned 66 in July, also began collecting Social Security benefits last year, his 2012 tax return shows. The documents indicate he received $11,600 in Social Security benefits.
Is that the CHAINED CPI that Obama wants to slap on us in the name of austerity and deficit reduction?
Markey wrote off large payments for mortgage interest, property taxes, and business expenses, in itemized deductions that ranged from a low of $38,378 to a high of $49,066 a year.
Is that the CHAINED CPI that Obama wants to slap on us in the name of austerity and deficit reduction?
Markey wrote off large payments for mortgage interest, property taxes, and business expenses, in itemized deductions that ranged from a low of $38,378 to a high of $49,066 a year.
The Markey campaign said his effective tax rate was 20 percent or less over the eight-year period. However, a spokesman insisted the tax rate was largely because he fell under the so-called alternative minimum tax, and not because of the deductions. “Like many Americans, Ed paid the alternative minimum tax, which means that he did not benefit from many of the itemized deductions in his filings,” said his spokesman Mark Horan.
Huh?
Huh?
He could not explain why the rate was as low as it was. The standard rate for someone in Markey’s tax bracket is closer to 30 percent.
(I'm astonished at the bald-faced lying that comes from politicians and their spokesflaks, even now)
(I'm astonished at the bald-faced lying that comes from politicians and their spokesflaks, even now)
Markey’s campaign did not release the returns but allowed reporters to review his federal and state filings at the state Democratic Party headquarters in Boston Friday afternoon.
It looks like he has something to hide.
It looks like he has something to hide.
His wife, Susan Blumenthal, a doctor and health care consultant, filed her taxes separately from Markey, as is allowed for married couples. The campaign did not release Blumenthal’s returns.
That's where the real dough is. Ed married into money.
That's where the real dough is. Ed married into money.
Markey’s tax returns showed no stock or bond holdings. His returns did not reflect his wife’s investments.
Markey’s Republican opponent, Gabriel E. Gomez, released six years worth of tax returns in March and again this week, and had criticized Markey for declining to release his filings. The effective rate for Gomez was 21 percent over a six-year period.
Markey pledged to release the returns earlier this week, then postponed the review until Friday, leading some GOP critics to accuse him of burying the news by dumping the reports at the start of Memorial Day weekend...
We call it Slow Saturday 'round h're, but same thing.
Globe liked Winslow, too.
Because his wife files separately, it was unclear how much Blumenthal made and what deductions she claimed, though her investments are noted on a financial disclosure document that all members of Congress and Senate candidates are required to file as a way to spotlight any potential conflicts of interest. The last filing available, for 2011, showed that Blumenthal held a stock portfolio valued between $845,000 and $2.1 million.
Markey’s deductions for mortgage interest and real estate taxes on his returns include only his share of the expense — not Blumenthal’s — for properties in Malden and in Chevy Chase, Horan said.
Each year, Markey’s tax returns show, he claimed large deductions for work-related expenses, including a $3,000 deduction for travel expenses. He also claimed deductions for the depreciation of his Toyota Camry hybrid, which is now about six years old, as well as for parking, tolls, and other driving expenses in and around Washington, D.C.
He also claimed additional business deductions of varying amounts, only some of which were described in detail on the returns. One 2007 deduction showed a $975 expense for professional books, while in 2005, he claimed $550 for professional magazines and journals.
Markey also gave about $2,200 a year to charity.
“It’s consistent with what he can afford,” said Horan said of the charitable contributions.
--more--"
Related:
Gabriel Gomez opens new front in war on Edward Markey
A low point for Gabriel Gomez
Was ‘pond scum’ the best Gomez could do?
Gomez Getting After Markey
Beyond Gabriel Gomez’s jacket
Gomez vs. Markey: Debate policy, not patriotism
Markey, Gomez should agree to more debates
McConnell offers to triple donations to Gomez campaign
Markey ad links Gomez, national GOP
Michelle Obama to fund-raise for Edward Markey
Michelle Obama hits the trail for Markey
Longevity a liability for Ed Markey?
Koutoujian will run for US House if Markey wins Senate bid
Putting the cart before the horse, isn't it?
"Markey misses a string of votes in House" by Joshua Miller | Globe Staff, May 24, 2013
This week, Markey missed voting on 23 matters, including legislation to approve the construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, a project he has said he strongly opposes.
Markey also did not vote at all last week, when he had few public campaign events from Tuesday through Friday, the days the House voted. Despite being in Washington for two events on Wednesday of last week, he missed all 17 votes before the chamber that week.
Markey has called his vote in favor of President Obama’s health care legislation “the proudest vote of my career.” But among the votes he missed last week were ones relating to GOP legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
Sitting members of Congress often miss votes in the weeks before an election. What’s less typical is taking time away from Washington, but not packing a schedule with public campaign events back home.
Markey spokesman Mark Horan defended the congressman in a statement....
As an average voter and concerned citizen that's indefensible to me.
Among his critics, Markey has been compared to state Attorney General Martha Coakley, who was criticized for resting on the laurels of her front-runner status and not working hard for the open Senate seat she lost to Republican Scott Brown in 2010....
Uh-oh!
That's not a good comparison. You better get off your ass, Ed.
--more--"
Related:
"Federal tax legislation that was passed this year raised the top tax rate for individuals to 39.6 percent, but left untouched the so-called “carried interest” tax loophole that taxes private equity gains at just 20 percent."
Related: Gomez’s tax deduction: Blame a bad law
Also see: Sunday Globe Specials: Fiscal Cliff Fraud
That was the tax "increase?"
