Hmmm...

Well it appears the the Capital is against the machinations to add the salary amendment to the current School Board bill. But I couldn't help but laugh when I saw this quote (bolding mine):

We don't oppose paying board members for their services - Anne Arundel County, the fourth-largest jurisdiction in the state, is one of only three that doesn't offer salaries, although it does provide money for expenses.

School board members can devote as much time to their jobs as County Council members. And the job is certainly more time-consuming than that of a liquor board commissioner, who earns at least $8,500.

But the amendment came at the 11th hour, when there wasn't much opportunity for public debate. Until that point, the issue was fixing a faulty system that occasionally puts people on the board who haven't been vetted by a nominating convention.

While I agree in principle with what they are trying to say, I find it incredible that the Capital's editorial board chose to belabor that particular point when the entire purpose of this bill is to remove the opportunity for public debate from the school board selection process.

Random Picture

I have taken probably way too many pictures with my digital camera. So, every so often I am going to upload one:
This is taken right before sunrise headed northbound on U.S. 54 near Alvarado, New Mexico, which really isn't much more than a blip on the map. There isn't much other than desert between El Paso and Alamogordo...

What the Hell is Going on Around Here?

Last Week: Armed Robbery in Chesterfield

Yesterday: Shooting at a Wendy's near Marley Station

Today: Officer shot, bank robber killed in Severna Park

Can anybody explain what is going on? Why all of a sudden there has been an explosion of violent crime in Northern Anne Arundel County. All at a time when, as we discuss in this week's podcast, Annapolis seems intent on being softer on most criminals.

What is happening? What is causing this? And how do we stop it? (The last answer is easy to come up with; the question is whether or not people have the political will to do it).

The Perez Debacle

FreeStatePolitics has a well-written and informative essay today regarding the situation surround Tom Perez's disqualification from last year's Democratic Primary for Attorney General.

Short version: does one have to be barred for ten years in Maryland in order to be Attorney General?

But for some reason, Judge Bell saw it fit not only to say, yes, one must be barred for ten years, but to also say that one must be an active practitioner in Maryland as well, "steeped" in the practice of Maryland law.

This was a slap at Perez, and nearly every other attorney, who lives in Maryland, is barred in Maryland, but works in the District of Columbia. That's right: if you are a federal attorney barred in Maryland, or work in D.C. with no real practice in Maryland, you can't run for Attorney General.

More importantly, it raised more questions than necessary. What does it mean to be "steeped" in the practice of law in Maryland? How much is enough practice in Maryland to qualify? What constitutes practice "in" Maryland?

Judge Elkridge, in his concurring opinion, rightly points this out. Indeed, the Appellant's own counsel , when questioned by the Court with a hypothetical, conceded the point that if one is barred in Maryland, but practices primarily in D.C., that attorney should be considered a practicing Maryland attorney...

So what's the problem here? Why did Judge Bell find it necessary to go beyond the confines of what the Court was asked?

The can of worms has been opened. Now it will be open to debate, and even more litigation, if one wishes to run for Attorney General in the future and wants their qualifications for practicing law in Maryland to be under scrutiny.

All excellent points. The problem is the fact that the State Constitution is incredibly vague:

SEC. 4. No person shall be eligible to the office of Attorney General, who is not a citizen of this State, and a qualified voter therein, and has not resided and practiced Law in this State for at least ten years.

No where in the Constitution does it indicate what the idea of "practiced Law in this State for at least ten years" means. I can somewhat see the point that if you are not actively practicing in Maryland but are working in D.C. that you may not actually be practicing in the state. But how does one determine that? Theoretically, one who is a member of the Maryland bar has been practiced (or licensed to practice) in the state, much in the same way as somebody who has a driver's license is considered a drive regardless of how many times they drive a car in the state of Maryland. This leaves such decisions much too susceptible to the interpretation of a judiciary legislating from the bench.

What is odd, though, is that the only the office of Attorney General has such an ambiguous definition. The Constitutional qualifications to serve as a State's Attorney are less stringent in definition:

SEC. 10. No person shall be eligible to the office of State's Attorney, who has not been admitted to practice Law in this State, and who has not resided, for at least two years, in the county, or city, in which he may be elected.

Which means that you only must have been admitted to practice Law, not actually practice law. That word makes the entire difference. And there is similar language dealing with the fact that Judges need to be admitted to practice law in the state without any specificity as to how long they should have been admitted to practice.

Regardless of Perez's politics (which are out there for my tastes) the truth of the matter is that he got hosed by the court last year. His qualifications to serve as Attorney General given his limited time practicing before Maryland Courts are a debatable point, however it seems to me that the spirit of the law would be in his favor.

The correct thing to do in order to avoid such goofiness again would be to amend the Constitution to either clarify this section or to reduce the requirements to make it so that the Attorney General need only to be admitted to the Maryland bar.

The Death of Influence

Public input and participation in the School Board selection process is virtually dead upon the overwhelming passage in both houses of plans that setup a Nominating Commission to name School Board members. Whatever influence parents, citizens, teachers and taxpayers played in the process will been totally wiped out once this legislation takes effect. Instead, unelected elites will chart the course of public schools.

The only potential snag in the legislation is the proposed hikes in compensation that School Board members may receive upon the passage of this legislation.

It will be a sad day for the people of Anne Arundel County if (but most likely when) this measure is signed into law. The Delegation in both houses will have done a complete disservice on this one. But I hope that people who realize how important the issue of an elected school board is realize that only through continued efforts and continued measures will the people finally receive a voice in this process.

Quid Pro Quo

Who says you can't buy and sell in politics for a handsome profit?

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton won't know until the night of the Iowa caucuses whether the backing of Tom and Christie Vilsack, the state's former governor and first lady, who formally announced today that they were endorsing her, will pay off. But Mr. Vilsack could reap benefits sooner.

Before ending his presidential bid on Feb. 23, Mr. Vilsack had accumulated a debt of about $430,000. The Clinton campaign has agreed to help erase at least some of that debt. A fund-raising appeal on his behalf could be landing in mailboxes of her donors soon.

Aides to Senator Clinton and Mr. Vilsack say there was no quid pro quo.

Right...

Something that probably only bothers me

On commercial radio, why do radio stations bleep certain words only? Example: one radio station yesterday I heard playing Fall Out Boy's "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" and during the chorus the radio bleeps "God" instead of "damn." And I can't figure out why.

Like I said, this is something that probably only bothers me...

A Chuckle

I had to get a chuckle when the Free State Politics group blog let me know that I, and I quote, " simply despise global warming science" without any background information of what that actually means. Particularly in the context that their blogger Andrew Kujan continues on a bizarre, meandering rant that somehow tries to link up the fact that there is a global warming committee in Congress with Republicans covering for Wayne Gilchrest by not belittling his stance on global warming. Never mind the fact that I, for one, have been critical of all sides in the global warming debate, particularly John Leopold.

What amazes me about all of this is that, in the midst of this inanity, I note that nothing on this blog has been mentioned at all about the Bromwell scandal. What does that mean? That they are covering up for scandal-ridden Democratic politicians? Of course not. It doesn't actually mean anything. Sure, the joint's raison d'être is to regurgitate Democratic talking points based on their grant from this special interest group. Which is fine. I suppose that there is a place for that. But don't try to make lame political points about who is and who is not covering for this person and that person, particularly when they themselves cherry-pick which issues to discuss when Democrats don't toe the line.

At least the cat is cute...

Big Time

Think the Anne Arundel County school budget has problems? Heather Bartlett talks about a new $102 million high school project down in LaPlata. The full story is here.

Does any school of any size in any county need an IMAX Theater? And should we really give any other school district the idea?

Common Sense from Europe?

How about that(H/T Instapundit):

Europe's citizens must be on their guard against political correctness and moralising politicians, says the European Commission President José Manuel Barroso in an interview with The Daily Telegraph.

The former Portuguese premier and centre-Right politician is concerned that freedom can be the loser in European culture wars over climate change, cheap air travel, Islam and free speech.

"We should be aware of people who, sometimes for good reasons, try to establish what I call private moral codes, for this or that, be it climate change, religious behaviour or any kind of social behaviour," he says.

Unfortunately too many folks over on this side of the pond could use a refresher...

Making 1 and 1 Equal 3

The Sun's fascinating series of articles on former Senator Tommy Bromwell had this series of comments today about the financing of election campaigns:

But the Bromwell story could reverberate in Annapolis this year. Some liberal and good-government groups are pushing for a voluntary system of taxpayer-funded campaigns for the General Assembly, and they were quick to pounce on Bromwell's claims of being a "rainmaker" for his corporate friends as evidence that the state needs to act to get big money out of politics.

"It's past time to consider public finance ... particularly given what we read in the paper about the role a former senator played," said Sen. Paul G. Pinsky, a Prince George's County Democrat.

Sean Dobson, interim executive director of Progressive Maryland, a liberal advocacy group, said public financing, which passed the House last year, is bottled up in a Senate committee.

He said his group and others will make a public push on the issue next week, highlighting Bromwell's claims to have pushed legislation to help Comcast and other corporations that supported him.

"Bromwell was the second-most -powerful senator for many years," Dobson said. "He's not some isolated bad apple. He lifted a curtain onto the inner workings of the Senate, and now this great institution has a stain on it. If senators want to clean that stain, they need to show they're not beholden to special interests. They need to pass public financing for campaigns."

Try to figure out what Pinsky and Dobson are trying to prove. Bromwell was a powerful State Senator who allegedly was making some money on the side for his own personal gain accepting bribes and peddling influence. What he was not accused of doing was accepting illegal campaign contributions. It just so happens that certain leftist interests are trying to parlay the Bromwell scandal into making a case for publicly financed election campaigns, which benefits nobody and sharply curtails public participation in the electoral process.

Additionally, what laws can you pass that aren't already on the books that are going to make people more honest? You could have no campaign finance laws, or you could have laws that ban private dollars from funding campaigns entirely and you still would not eliminate the kinds of nefarious activities Bromwell has been accused of participating in.

Trying to link the Bromwell scandal with the desire for publicly financed elections is like adding one and one to get three; it is just illogical.

Read It Yourself

The Sun story today notes that the Center for the Study of Local Issues has released its Spring 2007 polling results. Now noting the problems with CSLI studies that we have noted in the past (here and here), I highly recommend you read the findings yourself at http://www2.aacc.edu/csli/CSLI/PressRelease/2007/CSLISping2007PR1.pdf rather than rely on the Sun article. Quite frankly, the reporting of the article does not make any sense when you compare the data relayed in the story and the data contained in the study.

The headline reads: County voices fiscal opinions; Poll finds majority would support tax increases, budget cuts. That implies that a majority would support tax increase and a majority would support budget cuts. The actual response that garnered 55% of support was "The county should pay for these expenses by a combination of cost reductions and tax increases," which would lead one think that maybe some of those people support budget cuts, while only some support tax increase, particularly since only 25% of those surveyed supports Kevin Maxwell's tax increase. I think that the County Executive and the Council will notice this.

Additionally, the survey noted that a majority of those surveyed support an elected school board (contradicting John Leopold's nefarious claims).

And as usual, the methodology was unscientific for political purposes:

The survey polled a random sample of 529 county residents who were at least 18 years old. Phone numbers were derived from a database of listed numbers as well as computer chosen, randomly assigned numbers.

Just a Thought

I am sitting here watching Mississippi play Clemson in the NIT, and a quote from one of the announcers caught my ear and immediately made me think of the school board debate:

"Never confuse activity for achievement."
- John Wooden

His Benevolency

Boy, it sure is kind of John Leopold to triple his senior tax credit from $30 a year to $90 a year. Boy howdy, that'll prove everybody wrong. I don't know if the county can now handle the $150,000 a year out of the budget. His Benveolency knows no bounds.

It is amazing to me that John Leopold would even propose to help seniors with such an embarrassingly low tax credit, particularly in light of the tax hikes Leopold has already proposed...

Here's a Fivesome

WYPR from South County is having a political roundtable on its Full Circle program tomorrow morning. Check out this lineup:

The panelists for the political roundtable this Saturday are:

• Mike Collins - Chair of the Republican Central Committee
• Ray Naughton - President of the South County Democratic Club
• Rob Savidge - Treasurer, Anne Arundel Green Party
• Spear Lancaster - Former Libertarian gubenatorial candidate
• David Whitney - Constitution Party candidate in D30
  

The political roundtable is hosted by Erik Michelsen. Erik is a member of the Franklin Manor Community Association and serves on the board of the South River Federation.

Full Circle -- Saturdays @ 9am: Full Circle is WRYR's new weekly program discussing the topics that affect us here in South County and the Chesapeake Region. Each Saturday, Full Circle features a different panel of guests to talk about our watersheds, gardening & farming, arts & culture, and politics. Our political roundtable is featured the third Saturday of each month. Political pundits from across the political spectrum will discuss the local issues and take calls and answer emails from the listeners. Listen to it locally or if you live outside of South County listen to it online at http://www.wryr.org Call and email us at 410-867-9677 or full.circle@wryr.org

I think it is safe to say that everybody's viewpoint is going to be covered on this one...

When is Less More?

When the Post says so in a headline:

School Board Bill: No Election, but More Say for Public

I am not even sure how that headline can even be justified...

Information you need for the Podcast

This will make more sense once Greg Kline posts the next Conservative Refuge Podcast:

• Definition of panglossian;
  
  
• Information about the Patriarch of Constantinople.

Here it Is

My 2007 bracket, for informational purposes.

Winning One for Now

According to the Capital , the plans to build a horse park on the old Naval Academy Dairy Farm property are officially dead. Which is a very good thing, and something that I have opposed for some time. The property and the infrastructure could not handle the development and the traffic surrounding that kind of park.

The state has indicated that they are still interested in building this park, just not in Anne Arundel County. However...

County Executive John R. Leopold has said he does not want a horse park at the Gambrills farm, but is open to putting the park elsewhere.

Why? Is there an overwhelming need to this structure to be built in Anne Arundel County? Is there any land in the county in which Leopold thinks it would be acceptable to build this development? What benefits would the park actually have for the county? And why should the taxpayers spend one dime to build it, here or elsewhere, particularly in light of our current fiscal situation?

Bracketed Thinking

So the additional bracket comments beyond this were not forthcoming last night. But I have had some time to think about the bracket, and here are some additional thoughts:

• I spoke of Davidson being underseeded. But there really was not a lot of wiggle room to move them if you look at the S-curve. They most reasonable move could have been to a # 12 seed, because they have a better profile than Illinois, Arkansas, and Long Beach State. And while Davidson's profile is better than George Washington's, Old Dominion clearly would have moved up to an # 11 had GW dropped down. The Terps just got unlucky in that the other # 13's (Albany, Holy Cross, and New Mexico State) aren't as good as Davidson.
  
  
• Bank on it; the Wildcats win the #8-#9 game in the West Region.
  
  
• I still can't understand how Syracuse, Drexel, and to a certain extent Florida State were left out of the field. both Syracuse and Florida State beat the best teams in their conference (Syracuse won 10 games in the Big East). Drexel played more road games than home games and went 14-5 in road/neutral games.
  
  
• That being said, who should have been left out? The only clear arguments can be made that Illinois and Arkansas should have stayed home. Arkansas had 13 losses and just got lucky that they made a run to the SEC Championship game. Regardless, since they did make it both teams should have been 13 seeds.
  
  
• The lack of respect for Drexel, Syracuse, and Florida State carried over to the NIT field as well, as all three schools were passed over as # 1 seeds. Syracuse and Florida State wound up as # 2's and Drexel wound up as a # 3, potentially sending them on the road in the 2nd Round to Oklahoma State. (Air Force, Clemson, Mississippi State, and West Virginia wound up as the top seeds). On top of that, they have to play a streaking NC State team in the first round.
  
  
• Don't cry for Air Force not making the NCAA tournament. When you lose you last four, you have nobody to blame but yourself, even if they did have the best RPI (30) not to make the tournament.
  
  
• Florida as the overall # 1 seed in the tournament is puzzling. Look at the losses the top 4 seeds had:
  
  • Overall # 1: Florida: Kansas, at Florida State, at Vanderbilt, at LSU, at Tennessee
  • Overall # 2: North Carolina: Gonzaga(N), at Virginia Tech, NC State, Virginia Tech, at Maryland, at Georgia Tech
  • Overall # 3: Ohio State: at North Carolina, at Florida, at Wisconsin
  • Overall # 4: Kansas: Oral Roberts, at DePaul, at Texas Tech, Texas A&M
    
    
• Ohio State loses to thee teams on the road all year, and they get stuck with the overall # 3. Meanwhile, North Carolina loses six games and winds up # 2 overall, presumably only because of the head-to-head win over Ohio State. And look at the RPI of those four teams:
  
  • Overall # 1: Florida: 6
  • Overall # 2: North Carolina: 3
  • Overall # 3: Ohio State: 1
  • Overall # 4: Kansas: 10
  Figure that out.
  
  
• Four games see mid-major teams taking on each other.
  
  • Midwest: # 5 Butler vs. # 12 Old Dominion
  • West: # 4 Southern Illinois vs # 13 Holy Cross
  • South: # 8 BYU vs # 9 Xavier
  • South: # 7 Nevada vs # 10 Creighton
    
    
• Niagara got completely hosed; they wind up in the play in game despite having a better RPI than three #16's and two # 15's.
  
  
• I wonder if Louisville is helped or hindered by the fact they have to play in the home arrival of their arch rivals in their first round pod...
  
  
• Is it just me or does Winthrop have a legitimate chance to get to the Elite Eight?
  
  
• Should Maryland be in the West region? Southern Illinois should have been (relatively) protected in the Midwest, but could not be assigned to that region since the Missouri Valley Conference is hosting the regional.
  
  
• On the top half of the East Region, every time but Eastern Kentucky has appeared in the Final Four at some point. (Even New Mexico State, in 1970 with two other juggernaut programs, Jacksonville and St. Bonaventure).
  
  
• For the first time in a long-time Gonzaga is actually an underdog team. The last time three times were as low as a # 10, they played the second weekend(1999, 2000, and 2001).
  

I'll post my projected bracket closer to Thursday...

I Don't Get It

Jay Gibbons has played 90 games in his career at 1st Base. He's played 26 games in left field. So why is the Sun referring to his "experiment at 1st Base" being over? Why does he have to "concentrate more on left field?" The terminology Jeff Zrebiec uses is weird.

This is not like moving Javy Lopez to 1st Base last year, with Lopez having played 2 innings at 1st his entire life? Why does Gibbons know have to relearn the position, and why is it an "experiment?"

A Blemish on Academic Freedom

Turns out that people who are skeptical about global warming are taking their lives into their hands:

Scientists who questioned mankind's impact on climate change have received death threats and claim to have been shunned by the scientific community.

They say the debate on global warming has been "hijacked" by a powerful alliance of politicians, scientists and environmentalists who have stifled all questioning about the true environmental impact of carbon dioxide emissions.

Timothy Ball, a former climatology professor at the University of Winnipeg in Canada, has received five deaths threats by email since raising concerns about the degree to which man was affecting climate change.

One of the emails warned that, if he continued to speak out, he would not live to see further global warming.

"Western governments have pumped billions of dollars into careers and institutes and they feel threatened," said the professor.

"I can tolerate being called a sceptic because all scientists should be sceptics, but then they started calling us deniers, with all the connotations of the Holocaust. That is an obscenity. It has got really nasty and personal."

Violent zealotry hasn't worked for other fringe movements. So I certainly cannot understand the need for it with such a "consensus" out there...

Danger, Danger

Maryland gets a # 4....but has to play an incredibly good (and probably underseeded) # 13 seed in Davidson. This has shades of 1997 (an underseeded # 5 seed Terps lose to an underseeded # 12 seed Charleston) all over it.

More on the rest of the bracket later...

A Twist

Buried in a story from today's Capital regarding the school board bill's approval by the Senate:

Voted in favor of a bill that would ban all solicitation and sign waving in county and state right-of-way along roads. The vote split along the same lines as the school board bill. Originally the legislation would have just banned roadside solicitation, but Mr. DeGrange, D-Glen Burnie, amended the bill to prevent all sign distractions. "It takes everybody out, including political people," he said. "It's a safety issue."

Which is fascinating, because that has never been something that has actually been discussed before. I have a feeling that like the now-dead robocall bill, that this does not pass the First Amendment smell test because, once again, political free speech is being infringed upon.

I have a feeling that John Leopold's enthusiasm for this bill isn't as high as it was yesterday...

An Amazing Quote

From an L.A. Times story reprinted in today's Sun on the overturn of the D.C. handgun ban:

A leading gun-control advocate denounced the ruling as "judicial activism at its worst."

"By disregarding 70 years of Supreme Court precedent, two federal judges have negated the democratically expressed will of the people of the District of Columbia," said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Center to Prevent Handgun Violence.

A liberal activist complaining about an activist court? That's funny.

What Mr. Helmke fails to note is that the strict interpretation of the Constitution cannot, by definition, be "activist." One can only consider a decision as "judicial activism" when the court takes established precedent and creates new Constitutional rights, obligations, or privileges out of thin air. This D.C. decision merely (and correctly) restores the proper interpretation of the Second Amendment.

What's Funnier?

What's funnier from this clip: Kathleen Kennedy Townsend as an expert on religion and politics, or Chris Matthews saying conservatives are against sex in all forms?

Discuss. (H/T Instapundit and Ms. Underestimated)

Good Grief

It's not online yet, but check out John Leopold's letter to the editor in today's Gazette. Apparently, Leopold has adopted the Global Warming/Al Gore idea of consensus (which I guess shouldn't be surprising).

I can assure you that few, if any, of the parents, activists and citizens I have talked to are in support of the Leopold/Democratic plan. Who is he trying to kid?

A Sham and A Shame

The movement for an elected school board on the Senate side was nearly completely wiped out yesterday, with SB28 being withdrawn and with Sen. DeGrange siding with the anti-election faction.

The entire process is now turning into a farce. Sen. Astle calls the bill a "compromise bill" because it will "appease critics of the current law," completely ignoring the fact that the people who criticize the current law don't think that this idea of an elitist nominating commission is any better. This critic says the Leopold/Astle bill is a gigantic step backwards for everybody. Even the current system, with its byzantine rules and processes, is more democratic and provides more opportunities for public participation than this sham of a bill.

What's even more distressing is the attitude shown by some. Alan Friedman, Leopold's legislative director, is quoted as saying;

"This is an issue that has been debated for 24 years, and I think everybody feels we've waited long enough."

Is that really an acceptable rationale to pass any bill, much less a bill the people do not want?

The turn of events in the last several days is a complete disaster for education in Anne Arundel County. Instead of siding with parents, citizens, and taxpayers, the Senate delegation has decided to kowtow to John Leopold's idea that the School Board should be controlled by a coterie of unelected elites. And it is a shame that the Senators are following the lead of a career politician like Leopold(who, incidentally, was elected to the Hawaii State Board of Education forty years ago) in deciding that citizens, taxpayers, and particularly parents, should have no say in who makes decisions for the schools in our county.

This is a travesty. I hope that there is enough common sense in the House Delegation to suppress this bill. No change is better than a bad change...

Bizzaro World

Maryland lays an egg against Miami. (Less said, the better about this one)

Cal knocks off # 3 UCLA.

NC State wipes out Duke.

Wyoming beats Air Force.

Louisville and West Virginia go double overtime.

They don't call in March Madness for nothing.

More Bad News

Jamal Lewis signs with Cleveland.

Now, this is not bad news in and of itself. It is probably best that the Ravens moved forth from Lewis and look towards another running back. The problem is that there is no obvious solution to the vacancy as a starter. On the roster, we have:

• Mike Anderson (who carried the ball sparingly in 2006, but has starter experience)
  
• Musa Smith (who I have never been enamored with)
  
• P.J. Daniels (who didn't sniff the field this year)
  

Market solutions at the moment include guys like Corey Dillon and Chris Brown. The Sun story reports that the Ravens are in talks with the Bills to acquire Willis McGahee, but I'm not sure that replacing one injury-prone back with a younger injury-prone back is really the solution.

Should the Ravens see what options are available for trading up in the draft? I think it is a possibility, if a runner like Adrian Peterson or even Marshawn Lynch were available.

This off-season keeps getting more and more curious. But, to be fair, I'm not sure we should have a reason to doubt Ozzie Newsome and the Ravens front office folks at the present time.

Bad News

I spoke with Senator Greenip tonight, and she indicated that it is likely that Senator Rosapepe will vote with the Leopold/Democrat team and in favor of the commission-based school board appointment process, and not for a school board elected by the people of Anne Arundel County.

That is extremely disappointing news.

I hope that there is a way to find a compromise, or to pass a bill for a truly elected board. There is a compromise that would placate at the very least me; if a new law allowed candidates to run against a commission nominee, that would probably alleviate a lot of concerns. But I am not optimistic for that kind of solution.

Unfortnately, the following is all true

H/T Jeff Emmanuel:

Quotable

"At the moment, there is almost a McCarthyism movement in science where the greenhouse effect is like a puritanical religion, and this is dangerous"
- Philip Stott, professor emeritus of biogeography at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London in today's Washington Times

Following the Data

There has to be a lack of consensus on global warming when politically connected French socialists come out as skeptics(H/T RedState):

Claude Allegre, one of France's leading socialists and among her most celebrated scientists, was among the first to sound the alarm about the dangers of global warming....

...With a wealth of data now in, Dr. Allegre has recanted his views. To his surprise, the many climate models and studies failed dismally in establishing a man-made cause of catastrophic global warming. Meanwhile, increasing evidence indicates that most of the warming comes of natural phenomena. Dr. Allegre now sees global warming as over-hyped and an environmental concern of second rank.

His break with what he now sees as environmental cant on climate change came in September, in an article entitled "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" in l' Express, the French weekly. His article cited evidence that Antarctica is gaining ice and that Kilimanjaro's retreating snow caps, among other global-warming concerns, come from natural causes. "The cause of this climate change is unknown," he states matter of factly. There is no basis for saying, as most do, that the "science is settled."

Dr. Allegre's skepticism is noteworthy in several respects. For one, he is an exalted member of France's political establishment, a friend of former Socialist president Lionel Jospin, and, from 1997 to 2000, his minister of education, research and technology, charged with improving the quality of government research through closer co-operation with France's educational institutions. For another, Dr. Allegre has the highest environmental credentials. The author of early environmental books, he fought successful battles to protect the ozone layer from CFCs and public health from lead pollution. His break with scientific dogma over global warming came at a personal cost: Colleagues in both the governmental and environmental spheres were aghast that he could publicly question the science behind climate change.

Read the whole thing, and the others in the National Post series. But I can assure you that with more and more evidence that there is no consensus on global warming, the more and more one has to come the conclusion that only the true believers, the megalomaniacal, and the ostrich-like can claim that there is any sort of "consensus." It also shows that there are, in fact, people in the global warming debate who do follow the data, not political talking points, when speaking on the issue.

"They're Trying to Nickel and Dime us to F***ing Death"

The above is a comment a friend made about HB448, which will drastically expand the amount of taxable items under taxable under the sales and use tax. We talked about it back in February and I still suggest you take a listen to Greg Kline's enlightened discussion on the issue on the Conservative Refuge Podcast # 13.

And it is clearly legislative Democrats who are the "they" in the title comment. It's almost as if the Democrats are trying to push the middle class to leave for the more justly taxed Pennsylvania, West Virgina, and Delaware pastures...

Some Good News

It looks like the Hixson/McIntosh bill to circumvent county tax caps may not make it too far:

''If we are going to have charter government, we need to let the charters work," said Del. Anne Healey (D-Dist. 22) of Hyattsville, Hixson's vice chairwoman...

...''There are people who think Prince George's County should not have TRIM [a 1978 voter-imposed tax cap] and they are trying to get it repealed," Healey said.

Prince George's County voters in 1996 rejected a proposal to let a two-thirds vote by the council lift the cap and added a provision that requires most tax or fee increases to be approved by voters.

''The voters of Prince George's County have been very clear they want a property tax cap and that should be respected," Healy said...

...''I would not like to see Prince George's County be a part of that legislation," said Del. Carolyn J.B. Howard (D-Dist. 24) of Mitchellville and a member of Ways and Means. ''Our voters have expressed their opinion on that matter three times, and I'm going to support the voters."

Dels. Haddaway(R) and Cane(D) from the Eastern Shore are also quoted in the story as not being particularly tickled with the idea.

This is fantastic news, particularly given the tax-hiking mentality that seems to be running amok here in 2007.

An Amazing Waste of Time, Resources, Patience, Common Sense, and Political Goodwill

I have a funny feeling that the Kangaroo Court will continue to drag its feet into the 2006 gubernatorial election cycle. The Democratic- controlled committee will then wait and see what happens in November. I have a sneaking suspicion that these Democrats are going to drop all the talk about legislative protections if the people of Maryland are unfortunate enough to be saddled with a new Democratic administration.
- Me, December 20, 2005

So naturally, I am stunned that the Kangaroo Court closes down shop passing two relatively minor personnel bills. And provides this amazing hypocritical quote:

"An administration should have a legal ability to hire and fire for political reasons,"
- Sen. Thomas Middleton,

Which begs the rhetorical question as to why this inquisition happened in the first place, and EVERYBODY knows the answer to that...

Another Tax Hike?

Kenny Burns at Maryland Politics Today reports:

Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold sent a proposal to raise the gross receipt tax on commercial bingo from 7.5 percent to the general rate of 10 percent.

Leopold says that the increase would generate about $300,000 annually for the County. "This bill is simply charging the same tax on commercial bingo that is being charged to all other admissions and amusements, with the exception of movie theaters."

Legislation is expected to be introduced to the county council on Monday.

Leopold is going to raise another tax? Great. I think this tax hike actually has less to do with taxes and raising revenue than it does with Leopold's anti-gambling obsession. But it is interesting to note than this tax increase, which will disproportionately be passed on to bingo players, will raise nearly four times as much new revenue as the county will lose under Leopold's useless $29 a year senior tax credit.

The Capital story notes:

Yesterday, Mr. Leopold proposed increasing the tax on the county's three commercial bingo parlors, which would add about 85 cents to last night's $33 evening of bingo. Bumping the 7.5 percent tax rate to 10 percent would make bingo taxes in Anne Arundel County 20 times as high as those in Calvert County, the only other jurisdiction in Maryland to permit commercial bingo.

Yes...taxes twenty times higher than Calvert County. Seems like a campaign to drive bingo business completely out of the county to feed Leopold's anti-gambling crusade.

Leopold does give us a hypocritical gem:

"I think it's only fair and equitable that all the amusements be taxed at the same rate," Mr. Leopold said, although his bill would allow the tax on movie tickets to remain at a lower rate.

Yes...raise the taxes to tax amusements at the same rate, but not really.

Another new day, another new taxing idea from the Leopold camp.