Apolitical Juice Blender: Harriet Tubman on the Eastern Shore, Bethesda Homelessness, Gaithersburg vs. Arlington & More

Here's a random blend of apolitical tidbits from recent news, starting with a Maryland Juice reader's suggestion that we check out the news about a new Harriet Tubman National Park in Maryland:

Taney's perch in Annapolis

Apolitical Juice #1: Did you hear about congressional committee approval this week for Harriet Tubman National Park?  Very cool. This was years in the making. The Maryland Park will be on the Eastern Shore, essentially in the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge -- which is beyond stunning, in case you haven't been there.  This is a good thing given the following: Maryland's slave legacy, our past need for the National Guard to come in and suppress the white mob lynchings of blacks, the race riots when the Eastern Shore rejected integration, and the fact that we feel a statue Chief Justice Roger Taney (of Dred Scott v. Sandford fame) in front of the State House is okay because it's "balanced" with Thurgood Marshall in Lawyer's Mall.

Maryland Millionaire to Rep. Chris Van Hollen & Deficit Supercommittee // Tax Me, Roll Back Bush Tax Cuts

UPDATE:  Through a message sent to Maryland Juice on Twitter, Netrino President Michael Barr confirms that he is indeed the Maryland millionaire in question.

The LA Times ran an eye-grabbing headline earlier this week: "Millionaires group to lobby for higher taxes -- on themselves." Their article was about a renewed push by politically active millionaires to persuade Congress to roll back the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy. This week the millionaires, operating under the name "Patriotic Millionaires for Fiscal Strength," focused on members of the "Deficit Super-Committee," like Maryland's Rep. Chris Van Hollen:

As the deadline nears for the congressional “super committee” to come up with a deficit-slashing plan, a group of people who have made $1 million a year or more is pressing lawmakers to raise tax rates on the nation’s highest income earners.

Patriotic Millionaires for Fiscal Strength, an organization formed in 2010, said it’s sending a delegation of 21 members to Washington on Wednesday to seek meetings with super committee senators and representatives.

The group’s message: “Any super committee deal that does not include higher taxes for millionaires should be killed....”

Patriotic Millionaires was formed a year ago as Congress debated whether to extend the personal income tax cuts that took effect during President George W. Bush’s first term. Ultimately, Congress and President Obama agreed on a two-year extension of the cuts.

But Obama in September called for a new tax on millionaires as a way to raise revenue.

At a minimum, the millionaires group wants the top tax rate for the highest earners to return to 39.6%, from the current 35%, according to Erica Payne, a spokeswoman for the organization....

The group says it has about 200 members in all, including more than a dozen current and former Google employees, actress Edie Falco and economist Nouriel Roubini.

Maryland Juice checked out the millionaires' website and noted that the group's public signers include 5 Virginia millionaires, 3 District of Columbia millionaires and only 1 Maryland millionaire....

Government Reformers to "Trick or Treat" at Rep. Chris Van Hollen's Office // Group Seeks Deficit Supercommittee Fundraising Disclosures

This Halloween, open government reformers are planning a "Trick or Treat" visit to "Deficit Supercommittee" members around the country. Since one of them happens to live in MoCo, Maryland Juice thought it would be fun to highlight this issue. No offense intended toward Mr. Van Hollen, who supporters tell me is pushing for Federal employees on the 12-member body (we hope he's also working to keep the rumored Medicare cuts off the table).

At 9:00 am today, costumed advocates from the Sunlight Foundation and area residents will visit Rep. Van Hollen's Rockville district office. We print their announcement below and also include their web ad announcing this project:

Breaking: Rep. Chris Van Hollen Appointed to Deficit Super Committee

Politico reports that Maryland's own Rep. Chris Van Hollen has been appointed as one of the 12 members of the new deficit "super committee." Van Hollen joins Representatives Xavier Becerra (D-CA), Dave Camp (R-MI), Jim Clyburn (D-SC), Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), Fred Upton (R-MI), along with Senators  Max Baucus (D-MT), John Kerry (D-MA), Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Patty Murray (D-WA), Rob Portman (R-OH) and Pat Toomey (R-PA).

Van Hollen and Clyburn had both served as Pelosi appointees on Vice President Joe Biden’s deficit working group earlier this year, and Becerra served on the Simpson-Bowles deficit commission....

Clyburn and Becerra are among the most liberal members of the House Democratic Caucus — and Van Hollen’s not far behind — raising the prospect that Pelosi could take heat for naming a contingent that might be harder to persuade to sign off on a centrist compromise.

All three will have to balance any interest in making a deal against their own ambitions for power. Clyburn is the third-ranking House Democrat, Becerra is fifth, and Van Hollen is considered a potential future candidate for an elected leadership post.

However, like the committee members named before them, each of Pelosi’s picks is a veteran legislator. Van Hollen, first elected in 2002, is the most junior among them — and he played a central role in the debt-limit negotiations that averted a default and created the super committee.

Hmm. If Van Hollen is a potential candidate for an elected leadership post, does that mean he is perhaps giving up on his pursuit of a United States Senate seat -- or would this merely strengthen his hand?