Beware The Vengeful Arm Of John Astle

It seems that Senator Astle is not taking kindly to the backlash stemming from his flip-flop during the special session.

I have been made aware of an attempt at personal destruction made by Senator Astle toward Dr. Ron Elfenbein, a former candidate for District 30, in response to this letter:

Ron Elfenbein, M.D.
7023 Chesapeake Harbour Dr. E
Annapolis, MD 21403
(410) 990-0036
November 15, 2007

Dear Senator Astle,

As a constituent I feel that I, and the rest of
District 30, am owed an explanation. How could you possibly vote against the
filibuster on the tax increase bill and then claim to be anti-tax merely by
voting against a bill (the largest tax increase in this state's
history) you already knew was going to pass (as Mike Miller proudly
exclaimed he had the votes to pass it)? You really cannot have it both ways sir.
If you did not believe in the tax bill, what was the
problem with voting for the filibuster? I called your office to
ask you to vote against the tax increase, just after the vote was cast (I had
the incorrect time of the vote down). I was informed by one of your secretaries
that you had, indeed, “voted against the tax increase.” Little did I know that
what I was being told, while technically true, was anything but in
reality.

John, I have to be honest with you. I used to have a lot
of respect for you and I always stood up for you when anyone would question your
motives or character. Now, your behavior during this special session has brought
that into doubt and made me question your integrity, honesty and frankly your
ability to be trusted.

Senator, stand-up, take a side, make a
decision and live by it. You cannot have it both ways. If you are for the tax
increase-fine, I respect that. I disagree with it but at least you made a
decision and I respect it. Trying to have it both ways, merely because you live
in a conservative district and want to be re-elected is downright dishonest and
you, and your 4 co-conspirators, should be ashamed of yourselves.
These sorts of back-door shenanigans are exactly what give politicians a bad
name-well deserved in this case!

I have lost a lot of respect for
you Senator and as a constituent I would like to hear your explanation of this
cowardly act and how you possibly could allow this tax increase to go
forward.

Sincerely Yours,

Dr. Ron Elfenbein

As you can see, the letter clearly represents the view of Dr. Ron, and nothing of his employer. Nonetheless, using a perversion of poetic license, Senator Astle employed the hospital letterhead on Dr. Ron's envelope to make his personal life a living hell, sending the letter immediately to Dr. Ron's boss in what can only be interpreted as an attempt to get Dr. Ron fired or reprimanded. Can anyone think of another explanation?

_

If you ask me, and by reading this post you have asked me, this was a punk maneuver by Mr. Astle. Instead of trying to involve Dr. Ron's employer in a dispute, Senator Astle should have replied in kind. In fact, here is what such a rebuttal letter would look like:

Dear Dr. Elfenbein,

Thank you for your continued interest in the welfare of Marylanders.
It is because of dedicated citizens like you, who take the time to run for
office, that our political system has any chance of working.

I would like this opportunity to explain my vote on the tax issue.
Throughout the entire special session, I was keenly aware of how many votes
would be needed to pass the "O'Malley Theft & Thuggery Act" of 2007.
The organizers of the special session were equally aware that there are zero
people in my district who wanted this bill to pass, and that I would need some
political cover.

I needed to be able to say that I was against the taxes, so
that when the taxes passed, I could pretend that I was sad about that. So
I came out against taxes! I made it known that my office was hearing all
of the opposition; heck, I even implied that I would look at cutting programs
rather than raising taxes! AS IF!!

The problem was those pesky Republicans. They don't understand that
it is government's right to spend money, and tried to stop us. They
mounted a filibuster that would have stopped the whole thing, and I voted to
stop that filibuster to make sure that the tax bill got to the floor. You
are right--this is the vote that really mattered, because we Democrats had
precise control and knowledge of how the floor vote would come
out.

So, the vote came to the floor and I voted against it. Can you
believe that--I voted to allow the bill to get to the floor, but then voted
against the bill once it was on the floor! I got a good laugh that night
over at Harry Browne's. You see, I tried to make it look like I was against taxes, but
the truth is, I looked the other way when I had a chance to stop it. You
really have to appreciate our skill in doing this--we were so coordinated that
the final vote came down 24-23! AS IF! It really wasn't that
close--if there were more people whose votes we couldn't count on, there simply
would have been fewer of us who could enjoy political cover by voting for the
bill.

I'm sorry Ron--can I call you Ron?--this was a roundabout way to answer
your question. In short, I voted the way I did because it does not matter
to me what my constituents think. Six years ago, a relatively unknown Andy Smarick spent hardly any money and I beat him something like 53%-47%. Four years later, the juggernaut Herb McMillan campaign spent a quarter of a million dollars and got 1% more of the vote! It doesn't matter what I do--I will still be elected! I voted the way I did because I stay powerful by increasing the size of government, and do what the Governor and Senate President want.

If you'll excuse me, all of this legislating is cutting into my hunting
time.

Love,

Johnny Boy

The Shame Of John Astle

This letter was sent to the Honorable District 30 Senator from one of Anne Arundel County's hardest working Republicans (not me):

Dear John:

We have known each other for many, many
years. We had always believed you to be a man of principle and
integrity. Unfortunately, your actions have proven us
WRONG.

I know from calling AND personally visiting your office that
you have been very well aware of the snail mail, phone calls, e-mails and fax we
have sent to your office asking you to vote against the tax increases being
considered in this unnecessary Special Session. Additionally, we have
repeatedly asked you to vote to support the Republican filibuster against this
terrible assault on Maryland’s families. (You used to tell Chuck
that you voted with the Republicans many times.)

You need not bother to tell us that you voted against the tax increases. You knew when you cast that vote, it HAD ABSOLUTELY NO MERIT AT ALL!

John, you can’t have it both ways. You can’t vote against a bill just after you have
voted FOR it. When you refused to join the Republican filibuster (as 4
Democrats did) you knew that you were actually voting to allow this travesty to
continue. If you really had a “conscience” and “couldn’t support this
package,” – those are your words, John, -- you would have joined the Republican
filibuster and stopped the entire assault on Maryland’s families with which you
are now inextricably linked. YOU CAST THE VOTES JOHN.

You have clearly identified yourself as an individual who puts POLITICAL PARTY AND YOUR OWN PERSONAL POWER over PRINCIPLE AND PEOPLE! This is not what we expect from a retired Colonel of the Armed Forces. To many in the
military, whether active duty or retired, integrity is important. Your
votes coupled with your comments clearly show that you have sold your integrity
in your lust for power.

Times have changed, John. The new communications medium, i.e., the Internet, has made an enormous change in the way information is disseminated. You are continuing to rely on your media friends at the Baltimore SCUM and The Capital to provide you cover. They have been and I am sure will continue to be your willing accomplices.

However, using a medium which you cannot at the present time control, I have
every intention of making your duplicity well known to as many people as
possible. “By our own works we shall all be known.”

John your unwillingness to STOP these tax increases while at
the same time voting to INCREASE RUNAWAY SPENDING is an unmistakable vote against young families, middle income families, military families, the retired –
in fact AGAINST all of Maryland’s already beleaguered families. I know
this – but more important to me – YOU KNEW THIS and you deliberately, with
malice aforethought, turned a blind eye!

John, at the end of this message, I’ve copied a letter sent to a member of the Maryland General Assembly. I can identify with this lady. A person WITH A CONSCIENCE would be able to identify with her as well. John, you’ve gotten so
accustomed to running with the big ticket lobbyists and the power brokers, you
have forgotten the majority of people are actually struggling. Or, perhaps
we are not good enough or not wealthy enough for you to bother with
anymore?

A wonderful young family in our church lives in the
basement of her parent’s home. A Mother at home is important to them and
they can’t afford rents. Also, they are trying to save money to actually
buy a home of their own – SOMEDAY. And thanks to you and your fellow
travelers, that someday is becoming ever more distant.

A neighbor hires a landscaping service. According to your puppeteer, Senator Mike Miller, they are obviously “rich and can afford to pay the taxes on those
services.” However, the truth is he has Parkinson’s Disease and his wife
is not strong enough to do the heavy lawn work AND take care of her increasingly invalid husband. Therefore, a lawn service IS a necessary part of their
loving efforts to keep him out of a nursing home. Like us, they too are
retired and trying to live on a fixed income.

Let me also introduce you to the single African-American mother with her children in the car putting $5.00 worth of gasoline in her car. Right now, WITHOUT YOUR HIGHER TAXES, she can only afford to put $5.00 (less than 2 gallons of gas) in her car at a time. When your tax increases take effect what will she have to give up in order to put gas in her car? Her job? Her children’s day-care?
Food? Heat for her home? What, John? The sad fact is that you
and your fellow travelers don’t have any idea – because you simply don’t care.

These are not isolated incidents – these are small examples of
what is going on in the REAL WORLD. John, it is apparent to everyone but
you and the majority of your fellow Democrats – that you have lost touch with
the real world. You should be ashamed of yourself.

We are ASHAMED OF YOU, JOHN ASTLE.

John Astle: Fake As A $3 Bill

As you probably know by know, John Astle voted against final passage of the tax bill, only after failing to stop such a measure from reaching the floor when he had the chance, and effectively showing his true (lack of) commitment in stopping the legalized theft that will soon haunt all Marylanders.

As I predicted, he is wasting no time enjoying his political cover to spew the false rhetoric that he cares about the common man.

From today's Capital:

Both senators John Astle, D-Annapolis, and Ed DeGrange, Sr.,
D-GlenBurnie, voted it down.

“I’m not a big government Democrat,” Mr. Astle said. “I had
somesympathy with people that don’t want to give up more of their money. I just
inall good conscience couldn’t support this package.”

Give me a freeking break.

When given the chance to comment on the danger of even higher tax increases that may be passed by people in the House that are allegedly more liberal than he, Senator Astle warned:

That has the potential for taking the wheels off this truck. If thathappens,
it comes apart

.
Don't believe the Astle hype--he is as liberal as they come. When I have some time I will look up his voting record and post it as an edit to this post, but off the top of my head, he has supported in-state tuition for illegal aliens, and voted for tax increases on numerous prior occasions.

Rest assured that John Astle is a big-government liberal.

Senator Astle Flip Flops: Allows Passage of Tax Plan

In response to my letter, John Astle had this to say:

Thank you for your letter concerning the special session and the potential
tax increases. Your views are important to me and I appreciate you taking the
time to voice them.

I did not want to see this special session,
unfortunately, as an individual member of the legislature there is nothing I
could or can do to prevent it.

At this point I am not comfortable voting for any increase in taxes. The
state needs to look at ways to better manage spending. There may be some
programs that have outlived there (sic) usefulness and now is the time to look
at them carefully. You can be assured I am not going to be making any hasty
decisions when voting on this tax plan.

Again, I appreciate your correspondence. If you have any further questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,
John C. Astle

So let's make sure we're understanding this correctly....you are against taxes and want to "manage" spending, possibly to include eliminating programs that are no longer useful. Right? Right. Ok.

So how did Senator Astle end up voting? Well, as reported here and here, John Astle voted against taxes when they came up for a vote ONLY BECAUSE HE KNEW THAT IT WOULD PASS WITHOUT HIM. From O'Malley Watch:

SENATORS WITHOUT BACKBONE: The following Senators want to have it both
ways. If just one of them voted for their constituents and kept the filibuster
going, this tax bill would have died. Instead these folks voted to end the
filibuster and now all our taxes are going up. Will Senators ASTLE, DYSON,
KRAMER, DEGRANGE AND ZIRKIN please grow a backbone. It is directly their fault that this tax bill is moving forward and they should be held accountable if
their constituents are against these taxes.

THE FILIBUSTER FAILED BY 1 VOTE (Of course it was designed this way
to protect conservative Democrats) All the Republicans voted to stop the tax
bill along with Della, Klausmeier, Stone and of course Senator
Brochin.

And from Brian Griffiths:

Memo to Sens. Astle, DeGrange, Dyson, Kramer and Zirkin: for not having the
courage to support the filibuster, the tax hikes are your fault. Nobody cares
that you didn't vote for the bill on its third reading. Everybody cares that you
allowed the third reading vote to happen...

I guess we should not be surprised.

His response to me uses phrases like "at this point in time" and promises not to make any "hasty" decisions. Funny how a couple of days was enough time to avoid hastiness and totally reverse your position.