Friends and associates of Sandwich Democratic Town Committee members can have fun looking through the recently posted photographs of our recent fundraiser.  The  fundraiser was held at the home of committee members Bob King and Tobin Wirt, who also own and operate  Cafe Chew in Sandwich.  About 50 people attended the luncheon which followed the annual July 4th parade sponsored by the Town of Sandwich. Because their home is located a mere block from the parade route participants were able to enjoy the parade and then just walk over to the fundraiser.

Check out the Fundraiser photos in our Gallery under About Us; those who did not participant may find themselves feeling a little jealous!

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Cape Cod Democrats are waking up this morning to the long-awaited news that State Senator Dan Wolf has declared that he is running for Governor. Wolf’s candidacy had been widely rumored for months and its official declaration comes on the eve of the Democratic State Convention this coming weekend. It also comes just a matter of days before Sen. Wolf is scheduled to speak at the monthly meeting of the Sandwich Democratic Town Committee. See also the story in today’s Boston Globe.

In related news State Rep. Sarah Peake has announced that she will run to fill Sen. Wolf’s seat, while Steve Grossman says that he will announce his candidacy for Governor at this weekend’s State Democratic Convention. State Party activists will apparently get no rest from the campaign rigors they experienced from Elizabeth Warren’s run for the U.S. Senate and Ed Markey’s run, also for the U.S. Senate.

Resources:

Official Campaign Web Site for Dan Wolf

Official Announcement Video on on YouTube

Twitter Handle: @danwolfma

It appears that Gabriel  Gomez’ touting of himself as a highly experienced business person who knows how to get things done is a bit overdone, to put it mildly. The Boston Globe noted in a recent article that:

 A Globe review of Gomez’s nine years at Advent International, an elite private equity firm, found that he was directly involved in just half a dozen companies and helped lead only one of those investments. The one deal he touts, Lululemon Athletica Inc., is one Advent credits to other executives.

The article goes on to note that Mr. Gomez’ claim to widespread success in building regional businesses into household names and in helping pension funds invest for workers’ retirement is both suspect and glosses over some things. The Globe reports that he:

 …also had a role in applying common private equity strategies that are often controversial with voters — piling debt on companies and laying off workers or moving jobs overseas. Gomez’s involvement in a company called Synventive Molding Solutions was a case in point.


 Mr. Gomez seems to be a bit sensitive on the issue, as shown in a brief video of him shutting his car door in the face of a reporter who was asking about shipping jobs overseas. You can read the full story here: Gomez Seldom the deal maker.

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Linell Grundman brought to the attention of the Free Press an opinion piece written by Jim Butler of Falmouth that appeared in the Cape Cod Time yesterday, May 16th.  The piece is entitled “We are the ones we’ve waited for” and chronicles the strength of the Party that was apparent at its May 3rd gathering at the Revere Hotel in Boston. It is definitely worth reading. Mr. Butler states in part:

This was not a bash-the-other-party bash, but rather a kind of celebration of the Democratic ideals and form of government that allow for candid and progressive discussion of the issues at hand, whose deliberation reflects the best America has to offer to not only the state, the nation and the world — but, most important, to the promise of the individual to be an integral part of our own governing apparatus.

You can access his opinion piece at: We are the ones

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There seems to be a bit of “déjà vu all over again” happening with U.S. Senate Republican candidate Gabriel Gomez and his exploitation of the tax code. According to a piece in the Boston Globe on Thursday (May 16th) under the headline “Gomez failed to pay, appraiser says” the newspaper revealed that Mr. Gomez had sought and received a special tax break associated with historic preservation of homes or parts of homes.

In this case, Mr. Gomez had sought in 2005 a charitable deduction of over $280,000 associated with granting the National Architectural Trust rights to preserving the façade of his home. The Gómezes were granted the deduction but, according to the Globe report:

In 2011, federal prosecutors, citing findings by the Internal Revenue Service, said the National Architectural Trust had arranged for “unwarranted” claims by homeowners for huge deductions. The Department of Justice obtained a court injunction against some of the Trust’s practices.

As far back as early 2005, the IRS had listed preservation agreements such as the one the Gómezes signed with the trust as one of its ‘Dirty Dozen tax scams.”

While this particular arrangement was not challenged by the IRS it does seem a little manipulative of the tax code given that the town where the property is located had existing laws prohibiting alterations to the façade of historic properties like the one Gomez owns. To date Mr. Gomez has refused to release his 2005 federal returns, the year when he took the deduction. Sound familiar?

Just to make matters a little worse the main focus of the Globe story was on Mr. Gomez’s subsequent refusal to pay the fee of an appraiser he had hired to establish the value of the home’s façade. The fee was $1000 but Mr. Gomez refused to pay it because he did not like the valuation the appraiser had reported. Mr. Gomez hired another appraiser who came back with an assessment that was nearly $40,000 more than the first one. Who knew that you can refuse to pay for an appraisal because you don’t like the results?

Who knew that you could get a tax break for agreeing not to do what the law already prohibits you from doing? Mr. Gomez apparently did. Upon closer examination the otherwise compelling life story that Mr. Gomez has to offer  voters may turn out to have more than a few cracks in its own façade.

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The folks at Progressive Massachusetts have compiled a comparison of U.S. Senate candidates Ed Markey’s and Gabriel Gomez’s positions on a number of issues. Even for a newcomer to electoral politics Mr. Gomez seems to be hard to pin down on a whole host of issues, on many of which he seems to not have taken a position – at least publicly – that voters can find. For example, while Rep. Markey has a 92% rating from the National Education Association for his support of pro-education policies and supports the President’s “Race to the Top” initiative, Progressive Massachusetts has been unable to find any policy stands related to education on Mr. Gomez’s web site or in his public statements.

What we do know so far doesn’t look particular attractive to the policy stands of many voters across the state. For example, on the question of gun violence and public safety Mr. Gomez does not support universal background checks, a ban on assault weapons, or a ban on high capacity gun clips. Ed Markey supports all three initiatives. Click on Markey v. Gomez On The Issues to see the side by side comparison as it stands today from the Progressive Massachusetts viewpoint.

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A front page story in the Boston Globe on May 12th presented stark evidence of just how far-reaching the negative impact of the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Citizens United case has become. Under the headline “They go to lead, but courting cash is now job 1” Globe writer Tracy Jan describes a truly depressing (for the health of our democracy) situation requiring newly elected members of Congress to spend significant amounts of their time “dialing for dollars.”

She wrote that “At a party-sponsored orientation session, the freshmen [Democrats]…were schooled in their party’s simple list of priorities for them. Raise money. Raise more. Win.” The freshmen were advised to spend at least 4 hours of each day on fundraising. In the sample or model schedule they were given they would spend 1-2 hours on constituent visits, 2 hours on committees or voting, 1 hour on strategic outreach, and 1 hour for “recharge” time. In other words, 40% of the sample 10-hour day was to be spent on fundraising – and that was the minimum!

Both political parties follow essentially the same procedures with similar demands on their elected representatives. They both maintain telemarketing style “boiler room” facilities in nearby buildings (fundraising is illegal on congressional grounds).

 “The all-consuming quest for dollars is part of Washington’s permanent, intensely waged campaign for party dominance. It cuts deeply into the typical day of lawmakers, robbing them of time they could spend building relationships with colleagues, dealing with constituent problems, and delving into policy issues. It is a major contributor to party gridlock, and keeps lawmakers dependent on the good graces of lobbyists and other special interests seeking favor on Capitol Hill.”

Equally egregious in today’s political environment are the instant attacks on members of the opposite party aimed at setting them up for defeat in the next election, sometimes even before they are sworn into office on the heels of the last election. Newly elected Rep. Rodney Davis (R) of Illinois found his name on a Democratic “hit list” for 2014 two months before he was even sworn into office. Is there any question about why Washington is paralyzed?

All of this did not start with the now infamous Citizens United decision, but that decision flung open the doors to moneyed interests up and down the land and forced everyone to become almost obsessed with constant fundraising and constant campaigning. No wonder we do not see relationship building and effective governance at work in Washington, D.C. any longer. No wonder the influence of money has gotten totally out of control. Time for the American voter to take back the value of their votes and put an end to the unbridled influence of money on American democratic governance.

 

Linell Grundman sent an interesting piece from Roll Call to the Free Press.  The article posits five critical factors that may be at work in Tuesday’s U.S. Senate Democratic Primary election. Written by Kyle Trygstad the post focuses on:

  1. How the bombing affected the race
  2. Polls show Markey’s lead varies
  3. Blue-collar towns are key for turnout operations
  4. The Democrats are political opposites in the Party
  5. Markey has not run in a competitive race in a long time.

Follow this link to read the whole post: Five Things to Know About Tuesdays’ Primary.

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Via SDTC member and Sandwich Selectman, Linell Grundman, we have learned that the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance will be holding a public forum on May 6th in Hyannis. Interim Commissioner Stacey Monahan is conducting a “listening tour” around the State to gain input on how her department is doing and to hear ideas about services needed. According to the Department, its mission is: “to assist low-income individuals and families to meet their basic needs, increase their incomes, and improve their quality of life.”

The meeting will run from 7-9 PM and will take place at the Hyannis Youth and Community Center. Please click here – Dept of transitional assistance forum – for more details and additional information about the Department .

Massachusetts Democratic Party Chairman John Walsh has announced the hiring of a new state Executive Director, Chris Joyce. The previous director, Clare Kelly has resigned to pursue another opportunity after serving as our Executive Director for the last two years. Click on Proud of my Team to see the announcement from John, which includes a message from outgoing director Kelly.