O'Chutzpah

Man, this takes either a great deal of guts or a great lack of foresight:

As lawmakers worked Monday to trim state spending to balance Maryland's budget for next year, Gov. Martin O'Malley proposed $18.2 million in new expenditures, much of it earmarked for health care, programs for children with disabilities and a fund to help the poor pay their electricity bills.

O'Malley called for additional general fund spending totaling $28.7 million over the next two years but also proposed significant expenditures relying on special earmarked funds, some of which are nearing approval by the General Assembly.

Seriously. The General Assembly is trying to cut $300 million from the budget, and the Administration is trying to sneak in additionally supplementary funds to pay for things that, realistically, we don't need.

While he makes a hefty salary to do it, I somewhat sympathize with Rick Abbruzzese for having to go defend this:

O'Malley spokesman Rick Abbruzzese defended the governor's submission of a supplemental budget request -- an annual tradition -- at a time when lawmakers are struggling to balance the state budget and repeal an unpopular computer services tax.

"This is a very lean supplemental budget that goes directly to making government more effective and more efficient," Abbruzzese said. He said the governor focused his spending requests on "core services" such as juvenile services, state police and aid for infants and toddlers with learning disabilities.

Of course, the truly lean supplemental budget would have zero dollars contained in it because of some sort of revelation to the Administration that we have a budget crisis.

I wonder what it is finally going to take for somebody on the second floor to understand that Martin O'Malley cannot tax and spend Maryland into prosperity. This continued reckless spending is just continuing to propagate preexisting problems with our state's financial posture. It takes a lot of chutzpah to offer a wasteful supplementary budget when we have a budget shortfall during a recession. But what exactly is it going to take for Democrats in Annapolis to act in a fiscally responsible manner?

Forget all our problems....

...because it's Opening Day!

55-107

You can never really discount the optimism one has on Opening Day, when all 30 teams and all of their fans can wax poetic about how this is their year to win the World Series. Of course, if you are a realistic Orioles fan, you've probably come to grips with the fact that this is not going to happen in 2008. Or 2009. Or probably 2010.

I for one, wouldn't have it any other way. Finally, despite my own worries, andy MacPhail has is fully in charge of baseball operations. This is his project. He is the one who got a load of prospects and players for both Erik Bedeard and Miguel Tejada, and hopefully soon Brian Roberts as well. MacPhail is calling the shots and for once, the Orioles rebuilding project looks like it is going in the right direction.

It is going to come at a short term price, however. The team is going to be bad this year. The starting pitching from top to bottom is suspect. Beyond Roberts and Markakis, the hitting his worrisome. Luis Hernandez as the starting shortstop troubles me given his play in the spring. We still have $13 million tied up in albatrosses Aubrey Huff and Jay Gibbons. This season is going to be rough, and I think 55 wins is probably the most one can reasonably expect from this team. I hope they prove me wrong.

The future is where the focus should be on. We've got Markakis, and we've got Adam Jones. But we also have a load of prospects on the way: Radhames Liz, Hayden Penn, Cory Doyne, Chorye Spoone, Bob McCrory, Brandon Erbe, Chris Tillman, Billy Rowell, Brandon Snyder, Nolan Reimold, and of course Matt Wieters. We are fortunate that we have this future to look forward to it what is going to be a rough and tumble present...

Leopold does something rare

Wow, for once John Leopold actually told the truth:

Years before he became Anne Arundel County's chief executive, John R. Leopold sounded a lot like the critics of his current plan to impose perhaps the highest development impact fees in Maryland.

In 2001, Leopold attacked county leaders' idea of raising those fees "during our current recessionary slump." He argued that it could hurt commercial growth, dampen the prospect of affordably priced housing and unfairly burden selective homeowners.

"They are insidious, regressive homeowner taxes," Leopold, then a member of the House of Delegates, wrote in a letter to the Maryland Gazette.

Today, as Leopold tries to balance the county budget amid millions lost in state aid and real estate tax revenue, the second-year county executive acknowledged that he has flipped his position.

We have known Leopold has lied, inflated his accomplishments, and changed his position in order to get whatever political office he is seeking at that particular time over the course of the last 30 years. I am just amazed that Leopold finally had the guts to admit it for once.

What of course is just as disturbing, unfortunately, is the fact that we have this guys masquerading as a conservative Republican who is coming out in support of raising fees that he himself called "insidious, regressive homeowner taxes." This is something Councilman Ed Middlebrooks noted:

"Historically, he has been consistent on where he has been on impact fees," Councilman C. Edward Middlebrooks, a Severn Republican, said of Leopold. "He fought against them, and he thought the transfer tax was the way to go. Then, when he had the opportunity to actually do something, he abandons everything he has said over the years for raising impact fees. How can that be?"

How can one truly call themselves a conservative Republican if you are supporting higher fees and taxes that you know to be morally irresponsible? I mean, raising any fee by a multiple of four is about as far from a consistent conservative viewpoint as one can possibly get.

Unfortunately, John Leopold at the end of the day remains an embarrassment to Anne Arundel County and an embarrassment to the Maryland Republican Party for his O'Malleyesque stance on this important pocketbook issues...

More of John Leopold's Big Government

For all of those apologists who still say John Leopold is a "small government conservative," for the love of god explain this:

Rude cabbies may need a new gig if a law requiring them to be "courteous" passes the County Council.

A bill proposed by County Executive John R. Leopold would revamp taxicab regulation in Anne Arundel, pushing out solo operations in favor of centralized companies and imposing more restrictions on how cabbies can conduct business.

So naturally this brand of "small government conservatism" means unneeded, unnecessary, and unwarranted regulation of small businesses:

Tightening rules on a taxicab licenses is "really a consumer protection bill," explained Alan Friedman, Mr. Leopold's director of government relations. "We wanted to give people the feeling that there was structure, that if there was a problem, there was a company to handle it."

County officials have received complaints about "cell phone cabs," said Mr. Friedman, which he described as "basically one guy with a car and a cell phone."

The one-cab operations float around the county, and some consumers allege the operations are unreliable and unreachable when complaints arise. By restricting taxi cab licenses to only companies that own at least three cabs, then requiring companies to operate 24 hours a day and set up a physical office in Anne Arundel, the county can reassure riders and let the12 companies in the county police their own drivers.

I am completely puzzled and perplexed as to why this is such an issue for County Government. With all of the problems that are going on in Anne Arundel County (school funding, a school board commission debacle, lower revenues, higher taxes and fees, permitting problems) I can't imagine that there is a real need for such comprehensive taxi reform here in the county. I'm not saying that there should be no regulation of taxis in Anne Arundel County, but in what harm is there in sticking with the status quo? Why is it so bad that independent operations have an alternative business model? Why should independent taxi companies be forced by Leopold's intrusive government to expand or go out of business? And what harm will be brought to consumers who may have their choice of cab companies reduced through this legislation.

Maybe it's just because I never use taxis, but this legislation seems silly, short-sighted, and unnecessary at best. Beyond that, sadly it is just another way for John Leopold to implement his big-government, high regulation, high fee "management" style at the detriment to the taxpayers and consumers of Anne Arundel County.

Anne Arundel School Board Commission dooms process from the get go

Have you heard about the results of the meeting the School Board Nominating Commission of Anne Arundel County held on Monday? Of course not. Did you hear about the consensus that was reached? You will be shocked to read it:

"The purpose of the testimony was to further assist the Commission in meeting its statutory obligation to identify, vet, and ultimately recommend applicants to the Governor for appointment to the Board of Education" said Commission Chairman Joshua Greene. Four overarching points were constants in all the testimony given to the Commission regarding what to look for when attracting, reviewing, and selecting potential Board members for appointment: a commitment to serve; an ability to listen to all sides; strong interpersonal and analytical skills; and a recognition that the proper role of Board members is to focus on policy making and strategic planning not school system operations.

That's right, in the eyes of the O'Malley and Leopold apparatchiks, School Board members should not pay attention to school system operations. Who in the hell thinks that is a good idea? If the point of having a School Board is to oversee the Board of Education, who in the hell thinks that accomplishing that goal is possible if the Commission appointing Board members think that the Board should be neutered? Who then oversees the budget of the school system? Who comments about the growth of the school system if the appointed Board members are powerless? If the Board of Education should not exercise the power that it has, why do we need a Board of Education at all?

The School Board selection process reforms passed by the General Assembly in 2007 continue to haunt the future of our county schools. Clearly it is becoming apparent that this process continues to be an embarrassment to our schools and our county, and needs to be scrapped for something better. And while we all prefer direct elections of School Board members, we all should be able to agree that almost anything is better than we are going to get from this O'Malley/Leopold Commission....

Hosing those who can leave, and other fiscal silliness

So, here is the proposed tech tax solution:

Gov. Martin O'Malley and top leaders in the General Assembly are lining up votes for a plan to replace Maryland's new computer services tax with an income tax surcharge on top earners and cuts to transportation and other spending.

The plan has the backing of Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller and Sen. Ulysses Currie, the Prince George's County Democrat who chairs the powerful Budget and Taxation Committee....

....O'Malley, a Democrat, discussed ways to repeal the $200 million levy in a closed-door meeting with legislative leaders Tuesday night. The consensus that emerged was to try to raise $100 million by creating a new income tax bracket of 6.25 percent for people earning more than $1 million, according to those who attended the meeting.

An additional $50 million would come from the state's $400 million Transportation Trust Fund, and the rest from additional budget cuts.

So, we are going to go ahead and try to further fleece those Maryland taxpayers who are simultaneously most able to pay more taxes and able to pick up and move someplace that their tax burden won't be so high? This is what passes for fiscal responsibility in the minds of Maryland Democrats?

What cracks me up even more is the fact that the 6.25 percent tax bracket will be a "temporary" tax bracket. Does anybody really believe that this crew in Annapolis would ever repeal this new bracket?

What's bizarre is the fact that the tax solution calling for a higher tax bracket is now being joined by $300 million in proposed cuts:

House and Senate leaders began this morning to hash out a deal over the fiscal 2009 budget that is expected to include more than $300 million in cuts, although negotiators largely put off until tomorrow discussions over the most contentious funding questions.

"We're making good progress," said Sen. David R. Brinkley, the Senate minority leader from Carroll and Frederick counties, who is one of eight lawmakers on the budget conference committee. "It's a tough budget year, and there are a lot of hard decisions to make across the board."

So far, lawmakers and legislative staffers said, the differences between the spending plans are not as formidable as they have been in previous years. They predicted that much of the rancor over budgetary issues will come not from these negotiations, but from the question of how to make up for a repeal of the sales tax on computer services.

So now we are going to cut more money from the budget than the tech tax would raise, but legislative leadership still wants to replace that money with more taxes? Is that logical?

I hope that the taxpayers of Maryland are paying attention to this charade in Annapolis, because I hope that it is becoming clear to them that their elected leaders in Annapolis don't have the financial interests of the taxpayers first and foremost in their minds.....

Resurrection of Subversive Behavior

UMBC Prof Tom Schaller once again is cheerleading for this subversive idea:

Devised by Stanford mathematician John R. Koza, NPV employs federalism, the Constitution's core structural principle, to turn the Electoral College into a de facto mechanism for making the national popular winner the president. How? Because the Constitution grants each state the power to determine the method for selecting its electors - the people who vote in the Electoral College - NPV proposes forming a compact among states to use the outcome of the national popular vote (rather than each state's respective statewide popular vote) as the mechanism for determining which candidate wins the state's electors.

This concept would work only if states with a combined 270 or more electors agreed to the compact; ideally, it eventually would include all states and all electors.

Yes, we are back to seeing liberals try to tell the Constitution to drop dead through attempts at Constitutional Subversion by trying to amend the Constitution without actually having the guts to actually try and amend it. W e are back to trying to turn the Presidential Election from a contest in which states have a relative equitable chance at determining the outcome, and instead making it into a national popularity contest.

Of course once again, we get fed this cockamamie reason as to why we should do this:

There are many advantages to the NPV solution. Every vote in the country would matter equally, no matter where it was cast. Thus, competitive areas and swing voters in otherwise very "red" or "blue" states would receive attention from both parties. Most states, including Maryland, are now eliminated from electoral consideration well before November.

"More money was spent in 2000 on political ads just in Florida than in 46 other states and D.C. combined," laments Senator Raskin.

NPV would change that. And because a nationwide tie is far less likely than a statewide tie, the chances of a Florida-style recount fiasco would drop significantly.

Of course, all of this is hogwash. What it means is that as we have noted before only large metropolitan areas will receive attention from the nominees. Does anybody realistically think that candidates will pay more attention to a voter in Big Sandy, MT under this NPV scheme than they would otherwise? Will voters in Orlando, Cleveland, and Minneapolis receive any less attentions? Of course not, because the money and the attention is going to flow to where the undecided voters are: just as it is now.

Of course, what Schaller, Raskin, et. al who are proposing this nonsense are really trying to do is to continue fighting the 2000 Presidential Election, which Al Gore lost despite continued protestations to this day.

There are legitimate arguments for changing the way the Electoral College functions; I don't subscribe to them, but they are out there. The problem, as usual, is that supporters of this concept do not have the courage of their convictions to try and realistically attempt to make this change through the acceptable means of changing our Constitution. Instead, they wish to use state governments to try and implement a subversive change that undermines the entire foundation of our election law. Instead, they are trying to be sketchy and are intentionally trying to be underhanded in how they are trying to pull this off.

These folks should be ashamed (but as usual, they won't be) of themselves for the scam they are trying to pull on the American people.

A Little bit of everything

This story has something for everybody. First, let's not the complete bureaucratic failure over here at the Census Bureau:

Big worries for the nation's first high-tech census should have been obvious when tests showed some of the door-to-door headcounters couldn't figure out their fancy new handheld computers.

Now, officials say, technology problems could add as much as $2 billion to the cost of the 2010 census and jeopardize the accuracy of the nation's most important survey.

Census officials are considering a return to using paper and pencil to count every man, woman and child in the nation.

Well, I'm glad the bureau spent so much time verifying the necessity, usability, and function of the products they spent billions to buy before buying them. That seems like a great use of taxpayer dollars. Read the entire story to show the wackiness of how this money got to be spent in this fashion.

Of course, it wouldn't be a real story unless we had a congresscritter saying some asinine:

"What we're facing is a statistical Katrina on the part of the administration," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-New York.

I'm not sure how bureaucratic failures in the Census Bureau equate the deaths of 1,200 plus people due to bumbling by the Louisiana and New Orleans governments, but what do I know, right?

The real problem here is the fact that the census is taken every ten years. It's not like they didn't know it was coming. So how come here in March 2008 they realistically still have no idea how in the world they are going to get the job done?

Once again, federal bureaucracy finds examples to give us that provides us with insight as to why we must continue to shrink, not expand, the size of government....

Let's try it

I had a thought this morning reading this story about House opposition to the cell phone ban:

Del. Pamela G. Beidle, an Anne Arundel County Democrat, voiced her support for the bill at the hearing, saying she had just watched a TV report demonstrating the hazards of teens trying to drive while text-messaging.

"I think it's very, very necessary that we take whatever distractions we can from drivers," she said.

Well, this driver is distracted by the insanely high taxes that legislative Democrats want to continue to shove down our throats. Can somebody jump on that, please?

Baseball Predictions

Since the season starts at 6 am Tuesday Morning, I'd figure I should make my picks now:

AL East: Boston, New York, Tampa Bay, Toronto, Baltimore
AL Central: Detroit, Cleveland, Minnesota, Chicago, Kansas City
AL West: Los Angeles, Seattle, Texas, Oakland

NL East: New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Florida, Washington
NL Central: Milwaukee, Chicago, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Houston, Pittsburgh
NL West: Colorado, Arizona, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco

AL Champion: Detroit
NL Champion: New York

World Champions: New York Mets

This could get fun!

Check out this little nugget regarding the Kevin Clark lawsuit:

Gov. Martin O'Malley, who fired former Baltimore police commissioner Kevin Clark when the governor was Baltimore mayor, will be deposed as part of a court battle to return the police chief to office, Mr. Clark's attorneys said.

Which means that, theoretically, anything connected to the Governor's failed years as Mayor of Baltimore could be on the table in the deposition.

One can only wonder exactly what questions Clark's team of lawyers may cook up to ask O'Malley while he is under oath. Because for better or for worse, nothing may be out of bounds...

Brighter Ideas

The concept of CFLs are not new, though I was writing about them long before we knew about the environmental hazards these "green" bulbs provided. But as always, there is something better:



The moral of this story is this; let's not make irrational jumps to support things, particularly to help the environment, that sound great in the short term without trying to get a basic understanding of what the costs are that come with the benefits. And this is a lesson that the fringe-left environmentalist groups have been seemingly incapable of figuring out....

Gee, who woulda thunk it?

Why would anybody accuse such an upstanding citizen of such a heinous offense?:

The discovery millions of extra ballot forms proves that President Robert Mugabe intends to rig the March 29 elections in his favor, Zimbabwe's main opposition party said Sunday.

Tendai Biti, secretary general of the Movement for Democratic Change, told CNN that leaked correspondence from the election commission showed it had asked the company that is printing paper ballots to make nine million.

However, the African country has an electorate of 5.7 million registered voters, he said.

Also, 600,000 postal paper ballots were requested for soldiers and police officers, Biti said.

Postal ballots are usually requested for civil servants serving abroad, and the total number for soldiers and police in Zimbabwe add up to no more than 50,000, he said.

How come we cannot get any support here in the U.S. for dealing with this thug?

New tricks not working

Obviously transit riders still aren't feeling all that great about safety conditions on MTA facilities:

Some bus riders in Baltimore brace themselves before stepping aboard. They say they never know what might happen.

Even after transit and city officials vowed to make public transportation safer after a brawl in December that left a 26-year-old woman with broken facial bones, the experience of riding buses is far from serene, some regulars said yesterday.

"Sometimes kids get on the bus and your heart is pounding," said a nursing assistant who, fearing for her safety, gave only her Nigerian first name, Ebun, as she waited for the No. 27 bus in Hampden -- the same route on which the Dec. 4 assaults occurred. "You better keep quiet or you're going to get slammed. You pray to get off safe."

Well let's face it though, would you feel that much safer because of the meek changes to MTA's security posture following December's outbreak of transit violence?

The fact of the matter remains this: the new tricks MTA implemented in order to get the public off of their back regarding their catastrophic failures in keeping riders safe are doing little if anything to improve the safety of the system. What this means is that consumer confidence in MTA facilities and services is continuing to decline. And if that confidence continues to decline further, ridership will decrease and the MTA systems will become even more of a logistical and financial boondoggle than they already are.

It is becoming more and more apparent every day, as I have been calling for for months, that not one more red penny should go to expand MTA operations and that MTA should be completely privatized. At the very least and only as a short-term solution, the entire senior leadership of the MTA should be terminated and replaced with people who might actually care about providing a reliable, efficient, and safe public transit system. Because clearly at this moment in time nobody with any decision-making authority over at the MTA actually cares one bit about the safety of their customers, and that is unacceptable as a taxpayer of this state...

Spend it like ya stole it

It's becoming apparent that fiscal responsibility has no place in Annapolis, despite the best efforts of our Republican minority:

The Maryland House of Delegates yesterday rejected a series of Republican-sponsored budget amendments to curb spending on transportation, education and other programs as the state prepares for a new fiscal year amid significant economic uncertainty.

The most sweeping proposal, by House Minority Leader Anthony J. O'Donnell (R-Calvert), sought to cut $560 million from a $31.2 billion spending plan expected to be approved by the Democrat-led House today.

"A lot of these programs are good ideas, but we can't afford it right now," he said during preliminary floor debate. "We have not done enough to rein in the growth of spending in this state....."

.....O'Donnell said he was seeking to reduce proposed spending growth rather than make outright cuts to the budget. Under his amendment, he said, the overall budget would grow by 2.5 percent next year.

It is getting more and more amazing each day that these Democrats in Annapolis think they are invincible. They believe that they are beyond reproach, that they cannot be be beaten, and that they will continue to run roughshod over the people of this state. The fact of the matter is that the longer these Democratic legislators are in power in Annapolis, the further detached from reality they become.

The General Assembly seems to be completely of incapable of making the sacrifices they so readily ask us taxpayers to take. They seem to be incapable of making the tough decisions, and they are certainly incapable of spending with the state's means. And nothing proves that point more than the General Assembly's overwhelming rejection of common sense spending cuts proposed by the Republican minority.

It is, unfortunately, going to have to wait two more years until the voters get an opportunity to correct this imbalance. It will take us until 2010 when we the voters go to the polls with the opportunity to truly elect representation that puts people before politics, and get the opportunity to send leaders to Annapolis who actually understand that Maryland needs to spend less and to spend more responsibly. Until then, we are just going to get more and more of this irresponsibility from the legislature....

Momentum for Privatization

Looks like other people are picking up on the idea that only privatization may be all that we can do to save our transportation infrastructure:

Free markets may be the only way to save the nation's roads and highways. They might even be the best way to save them. The Department of Transportation, under this Administration, has made no secret of its desire to lease highways to private companies, to use tolls and congestion pricing, to auction off fast access to those willing to pay and to otherwise let free markets drive transportation. Under this view, breaking up the government monopoly on transportation could lead to innovation and more choices for the public. Let those who use a resource pay for it, without burdening everyone else with the costs. Let the pain of price ease gridlock. It will reduce both fuel consumption and emissions. Heck, it might even drive down your insurance premiums.

Let us hope that we get to this point. Privatization may not be the solution for every state, nor the solution for every transportation method. But there is a pretty good chance that privatization will lead to all of the things that Marty Jerome's post suggests: innovation, consumer choice, and lower costs. And these should be concepts that all citizens, both left and right, can get behind...

A Conservative Defense of HB1416

There has been some consternation about the support of some conservatives for HB1416, which will pull funding for the Intercounty Connector. My longtime friend Delegate Nic Kipke is one of the Republicans who has put his name to the bill, and I asked him why he was supporting it. While I don't agree with his position to pull the funding (delaying the project, in my view will only make it more expensive in the long run), here is his response without any further comment from me:

At first glance, this appears to be out of step with what you'd typically expect from me. However, let me suggest to you that the INTENT of this legislation is completely consistent with my conservative beliefs & record. This legislation is not about Global Warming, it is completely about pressuring the Governor to control state spending.

Here's why:

The ICC is estimated to cost $2,300,000,000 dollars, but the road is only 18 miles long. So the state will be spending $128,000,000 per mile. This cost is exorbitant, even for a project like this. Also, Eminent Domain is being used to procure many properties from private citizens, and while sometimes that is definitely appropriate, in this instance I fear we will be financially devastating approx 200 families. (established communities will suddenly have a major highway running right through it, lowering property values)

Additionally, I cannot in good faith support a project that the state cannot afford. Even after the largest tax increase in Maryland history Maryland faces a $300,000,000 deficit. Also, Maryland is reaching its cap on bond sales which means this project will prevent many other important capital projects from taking place in the rest of the state, including Anne Arundel.

I hope this helps you understand my position. In the interest of full disclosure, I like the idea of the ICC. But I just do not think we can afford it, I am concerned about the impact on the residents in the region, and I am not convinced this is the best place to make a $2.3 billion dollar state investment.

Hypocrisy in Action

A Sun editorial on the oral arguments from yesterdays District of Columbia v. Heller hearing had this gem:

Outlawing a city's ban on handguns would unfairly strip citizens of their collective ability to make their communities safer.

Of course, does not a city's ban on handguns also unfairly strip citizens of their individual ability to make their families and property safer? Of course it does, but the mental midgets on the Sun editorial board don't see it that way. They see gun ownership as a collective right; the only piece of the Bill of Rights, incidentally, that they see as a collective right. Because I have a feeling that a city banning a third-rate newspaper that serves as the propaganda arm of one of the major parties to allow citizens the collective ability to get lies and deceit off of the street is going to get a lot of support from the Sun's board.

Fortunately, it looks like the Supreme Court is leaning towards doing the right thing...

Knuckling Under

ESPN's Jim Caple takes on the knuckleball. Hilarity doesn't ensue, but it's funny to see a civilian try and catch the knuckler:

Bad Day for Marylanders

Looks like the State Senate forgot it's common sense on the way to the chamber today, not once....:

The Maryland Senate has revived a statewide ban on driving while using a hand-held cell phone.

The legislation, long sought by lawmakers who say it's needed to protect public safety, appeared dead last week when the chamber voted to limit the bill to prohibit only reading or sending text messages on wireless communications devices while behind the wheel. Senators today voted 25-22 to restore the broader ban on talking and texting.

...but twice:

The Maryland Senate mustered the votes today to approve the use of speed cameras in highway work zones and in local jurisdictions that want them in neighborhoods and near schools, while lawmakers in the House argued over a similar measure.

The bill, which was proposed by Gov. Martin O'Malley's administration, was approved by the Senate 26-21 without debate.

It's amazing that the General Assembly would pass such legislation that has little impact in improving the safety of Maryland's highways. Sure, the concept of a hand-held cell-phone ban sounds like something that would improve driver safety, but statistically that's not the case. And we all know that red-light and speed cameras are nothing more than revenue enhancers for localities that actually may increase (not decrease) driver safety in areas where the cameras are being used.

Let's face it; this legislation is of no benefit to the citizenry of Maryland.

It's also amazing that, given the financial and budgetary problems our state has, that the Senate would pass such poppycock that could further put financial and other burdens on the people of Maryland while doing nothing to deal with the important issues that are currently before legislators...

Back on the Radio

I'll be joining Warren Monks, Joe Gagliardi and maybe even media superstar Mark Newgent on WAMD 970 AM in Aberdeen tomorrow night on Warren's Word on the Street program during the 7 o'clock hour.

With the time change, you might be able to hear it in northern Anne Arundel County......maybe.

Sad States

About a week and a half ago one of the things that I had to do on my trip was drive from Minot, North Dakota to Great Falls, Montana. When you are making that drive along US 2 and you pass Williston and into Montana, you pass near two Indian Reservations, the Fort Peck and Fort Belknap reservations. When you make the turn at Havre and drive south on US 87, you pass near the Rocky Boy Reservation.

Let me tell you this; everything you have heard that is so emblematic about Indian reservations is not accurate. From what I saw, things are much worse than you have heard. Towns made of dilapitated homes, plywood for windows. Damaged cars in the streets. Unkempt lawns. Dogs running the streets of the small towns. Small stores, some of them closed forever, some of them too shoddy for me to consider going into. Every small outfit possible had casinos on site. Billboards everywhere encouraging reservation residents to avoid alcohol, drugs, and encouraging seat belt use. The states of these reservations as person just passing through was sad. It was more reminiscent of abandoned section of the inner city than the beautiful Big Sky country that surrounded the reservation areas.

The question really gets down to this: what has the Federal Government done to address this? How much money does the Bureau of Indian Affairs spend each year? Where does that money go? Why has the Bureau let things get to this point in time where these folks are living in such dilapidated states. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that additional federal spending is the answer here, but good grief there needs to be a relatively reasonable accounting of what money is being spent by the Federal Government. Clearly, nothing is being done positively that will improve the lives of those living on the reservation. From the outside, it looks like members of these tribes are living in squalor more than anything else.

What is the solution to the plights of these and other tribes? I'm not really sure what the answer is. Commonplace conservative solutions like enterprise zones and tax credits are not likely going to make an impact in tribal areas such as these. But the Sad States of these tribal areas should lead require some sort of Congressional inquiry into the operation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and some measure of accountability as to where the Bureau is spending their money. If the Bureau is responsible for the welfare of these tribes, then somebody is clearly falling down on the job....

This one's a bad idea...

I think that I have been pretty clear about my support of privatizing toll roads and through private construction of new toll roads. However, this idea is something that is a bridge too far:

Regional transportation and political leaders are increasingly coming to the conclusion that the only way to keep the chronically congested Washington region moving is tolls, and plenty of them.

A report to be released Wednesday pushes a regionwide system that would place tolls on most existing area highways, bridges into the District, the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, George Washington Memorial Parkway and such major District thoroughfares as New York Avenue. The key to success, the authors say, is the comprehensiveness of the network.

Officials, pointing to the lack of any sizable investment in the region's transportation infrastructure by Virginia, Maryland or the federal government, say they see no other realistic options to keep traffic moving, accommodate newcomers and get desperately needed money to pay for new roads and improved transit. The tolls could generate more than $2.75 billion a year, according to the report.

This idea is problematic for a number of reasons. One is the fact that the roads that have been proposed to have tolls added to them are already existent. Certainly I have never suggested that roads that are already part of the existing non-tolled infrastructure. We already have roads that are clogged, roads that are already used by commuters; how is adding tolls to existing non-tolled roads going to solve traffic? Clearly, it's not.

One other problem with this concept comes from a misconception that is quoted in the article:

Toll proponents say users should pay for the true cost of highways. Unlike traveling by Metro or airplane, users can take roads for free, and there is no financial incentive to reduce unnecessary trips, adjust timing, carpool or use transit. Roads in the region are so overused that they no longer operate dependably.

Of course, roads are anything but free. We pay a pretty stiff fee to use those roads in the form of state and federal taxes. To say that these roads are "free" is, of course, poppycock. And to say that that there is no financial incentive to reduce travel and commuting time is even more farcical when you consider the non-financial costs of commuting that many folks already have to build into their daily lives.

Finally, nobody really answers the question as to who these tolls would be paid to. Will tolls be collected by the states or by the District of Columbia? Are the tolls being collected by the federal government, considering the proposed inclusion of federal parkways in this scheme. Or will the tolls be collected by an unelected multi-state entity? I certainly do not want to see toll dollars from drivers using roads in Maryland shipped off to a regional outfit that will misspend and misuse the money, when the money can be misspent and misused right here in Maryland.

While I am glad that the Metropolitan Council of Washington Governments is looking at ways to alleviate the region's traffic problems, the fact of the matters is that these Utopian proposal are nowhere near optimal nor practical. The Council needs to look at proposals that are practical and realistic, proposals that will reduce commuting time and not take additional funding out of the pockets of the region's working families, not the creation of additional mechanisms to take more money out of the pockets of commuters.

The Brian Griffiths Minute: 03-15-2008

Reckoning

Only now does it seem that Annapolis Democrats are finally beginning to realize the hole they dug for themselves during the Special Session:

A day after Gov. Martin O'Malley said he wants to repeal imposing a sales tax on computer services, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr., D-Calvert, warned that rescinding it could mean education funding cuts.

The movement to repeal the "tech tax" is growing in the Senate this past week as public opposition continues at high pitch. The General Assembly passed the tax last fall during the special legislative session, as part of a plan to close the state's $1.5 billion deficit.

However, Mr. Miller said yesterday there is little need to hike taxes in the last several weeks of the General Assembly session to cover for the estimated $200 million that would be lost if the tech tax is struck down. In fact, the senate president has previously declared no more taxes will be raised during Mr. O'Malley's term.

The statements illustrate a bigger quandary surfacing in the legislature. During the past three months almost all of the good things that were supposed to have come out of the special session have been threatened.

Which of course a lot of people on the right, including myself and my compatriots at RedMaryland were warning about before, during and after the Special Session. While a central theme of O'Malleynomics is that you can spend whatever it takes in order to achieve their liberal utopia, it is going to come at the cost of small businesses and at out of the pockets of middle and working class families.

The problem is that the tech tax is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the negative impact that the Special Session tax hikes are going to have on Maryland and are going to have on our economy. While the Administration and the General Assembly realize how bad of a decision it was to pass this one tax, they still refuse to reasonably acknowledge the need to cut spending. Senate President Mike Miller seems to be the only one who understands that, and I am sure that the O'Malley camp already has a new tax proposal in the works to cover the cost of the tech tax repeal.

I think for the first time Maryland Democrats are realizing that they are going to have to face a reckoning in November 2010. They are going to have to answer for the all of the harm they are causing Maryland's taxpayers...

Just In Case

Just on the off chance you didn't see Blake Hoffarber's amazing game winning shot from the Minnesota-Indiana game last night....

Keeping an eye on Alaska

I noted that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin should be on Senator McCain's short list to be his running mate this fall, and Governor Palin's push for a cleaner Republican Party continues:

A state Republican convention that could have unified a troubled party descended into infighting Friday, with the lieutenant governor announcing his intention to unseat a congressman and the governor calling for changes in GOP leadership.

Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell said he would challenge U.S. Rep. Don Young, the 18-term incumbent who's the subject of a federal investigation that includes his campaign finance practices.

"The days of unquestioning loyalty are gone," Parnell said a few hours later after filing candidacy paperwork. "It's time for principled leadership."

Gov. Sarah Palin escorted Parnell into the Division of Elections office and immediately endorsed him over Young. She gave no thought to the protocol of an endorsement months before the August primary, she said.

"When something's right, it's right," she said. "There's no time like the present to state your case and speak candidly about what you believe it. And I believe in his candidacy."

This is fantastic news in a state where there is a pretty good shot that incumbent Republican Senator Ted Stevens and Congressman Young could both go down in a mire of pork-barrel projects and scandal-related news.

The fact that Governor Palin is willing to stand-up to her party's leadership and show loyalty to the core ideas of our party as opposed to loyalty to the party apparatus is something that all Republicans should take to heart.

Franchot's Gambit

Comptroller Peter Franchot has gone out a bit on a ledge in order to try to get the computer tax repealed:

Amid growing momentum for a repeal of Maryland's new computer services tax, Comptroller Peter Franchot released a broad interpretation of the levy yesterday, stoking fears that it will force businesses to leave the state.

Under the draft rules, computer services would be subject to the 6 percent sales tax even if the service provider is located outside of Maryland. That will make enforcing the law difficult and could encourage business customers to relocate computer-related operations, said Franchot, an outspoken opponent of the tax.

Clearly Franchot's release of this interpretation of the tax is designed to give more reasons for the General Assembly to pass the tech tax repeal and get this ill-designed law off of the books. But it is not without risk, both to taxpayers and to Franchot. If the General Assembly does not repeal the tax, Franchot's broad interpretation may mean thousands of jobs and millions of dollars will flow out of state. His interpretation of the tax, on top being bad for the economy, will they be used as a cudgel against him in the 2010 primary election.

It's an interesting gambit, and I hope it is successful is getting this foolish tax out of our lives...

Believe it or not, this could be important

Seriously. Read it for yourself....

To hear Jesse Ventura tell it, he’s either out to become president or an expatriate.

In the opening to his fourth book, due out April 1, the former wrestler and governor of Minnesota writes: “As I begin to write this book, I’m facing probably the most monumental decision of my 56 years on this planet. Will I run for president of the United States, as an independent, in 2008? Or will I stay as far away from the fray as possible, in a place with no electricity, on a remote beach in Mexico?”

Why in the world is this important? Because let's face it, while I am supporting John McCain to become our next President, the fact of the matter is that a lot of people who are opposed to the Democrats may not. And they may look to a third party candidate as a way to not make the choice between McCain and Obama, or McCain and Clinton, or McCain and Gore.

The thing is, we've seen it happen with Ventura before. When Ventura was elected Governor of Minnesota in 1998, he was running as an alternative to then Attorney General Skip Humphrey and then St. Paul Mayor (now U.S. Senator) Norm Coleman. Coleman and Humphrey weren't all that dissimilar, and neither one was popular. Ventura ran against "politics as usual" and got himself elected Governor.

What does all of this mean for 2008? Well, Ventura almost certainly cannot be elected President. The likelihood of that is almost impossible given that one reason for Ventura's success in 1998 was due to Minnesota's same-day voter registration policy. However, that is not to say a Ventura candidacy won't gum up the works more than a Nader candidacy ever could. Could Ventura win states with a more libertarian bent who would be opposed to both the Democratic nominee and McCain? Yes, I think it is possible; certainly more so than with Nader or Bloomberg. And that would send the mess to the next Congress in January 2009, and all bets are off if it goes that far.

While the likelihood of a Ventura candidacy, to say nothing of a meaningful Ventura candidacy, is slim, the unusual election year we find ourselves in actually makes it something worth keeping an eye on...

Alonso gets it: will Maxwell?

It's a sad day when Baltimore City Schools outpace Anne Arundel's in responsible educational spending:

The proposed budget that Baltimore schools chief Andres Alonso will present to the Board of Education tonight would cut $110 million from the central office, redistributing $70 million to schools and using $40 million to help close a budget shortfall.

More than 300 central office jobs would be eliminated under the proposal, cutting the number of full-time positions at system headquarters from 1,531 to 1,222, according to a draft copy of Alonso's board presentation. Alonso has said that administrators with a background in instruction would have the opportunity to be transferred back to schools as teachers or principals, likely taking a pay cut. While that would avoid the need for large-scale layoffs, it appears that some layoffs of noninstructional personnel would be necessary.

It's good to see that Alonso is serious about lowering the cost of education and redistributing money from centralized offices and the administration back towards the classroom, where it is needed. In Anne Arundel County, this is something that superintendent Kevin Maxwell has refused to considered, instead arguing for higher taxes and refusing to cut spending.

I hope that just this once, Anne Arundel County can learn from our neighbors up in Baltimore City and realize that our education dollars are not being spent to their fullest potential....

So....

....will our friends on the left here in Maryland come to the defense of New York's disgraced Governor Eliot Spitzer?

They'll give anybody a fourth chance

If you can throw above 90 MPH, and you have a pulse, you may have a chance:

Sidney Ponson and the Texas Rangers agreed to a minor league contract Sunday.

Ponson last pitched May 12 for the Minnesota Twins, who released him 10 days later. He was 2-5 with a 6.93 ERA in seven starts last season.

The 31-year-old right-hander has won at least 10 games three times in his major league career, including a career-high 17 wins with Baltimore and San Francisco in 2003.

Amazing. The guy has been a head case who can't get hitters out, and he gets a major league contract.....

House of Delegates does the wrong thing....again

The House of Delegates has killed the bill that would allow consumers to purchase wine over the internet.

Why in the world does the General Assembly make it a point to stand in the way of common sense and of commerce at every chance it gets?

Running Buddies

First it was Peter Boulware in Florida. Now it's Kevin Johnson in Sacramento:

Former NBA star Kevin Johnson jumped into the Sacramento mayor's race Wednesday, announcing he will challenge three-term incumbent Heather Fargo in the municipal election in June.

The 42-year-old Johnson made the announcement at a news conference at the Guild Theater in Oak Park, the low-income Sacramento neighborhood where he grew up and where he has devoted himself to urban renewal projects after retiring from the NBA.

"We need a change in the city and I believe we need a change now," Johnson said. "As I went out the last month and talked to people around the city, folks have said to me they believe city government is nonresponsive, tired, uninspired and bureaucratic. They want something different in Sacramento. [They're] clamoring for change.

Of course, Boulware is a Republican and Johnson tries to sound like an Obama-wannabe (he's already been on the stump for him) but it's good to see that athletes want to try and serve their communities in more ways than one....

Different Directions

First, it's the end of an era:

Punter Sean Landeta, the last remaining NFL player who put on a USFL uniform, officially retired Thursday.

And he did it on the 25th anniversary of the first USFL game.

Landeta actually played at Towson State and for the Baltimore Stars in the USFL, giving this story some local flavor.

And now, in a somewhat related story, it's (possibly) the end of an error:

The new All American Football League will have to postpone its 2008 season unless it finds additional financial backing.

The announcement Thursday came less than a week before camps were to open for the six-team league.

The league, which held its inaugural draft in January, has rosters and staffs in place for six teams: Detroit; Little Rock, Ark; Gainesville, Fla.; Birmingham, Ala.; Knoxville, Tenn., and Houston.

Training camps were scheduled to open Wednesday, followed by the first games in April.

Of course, it was kind of silly to have two potential new football leagues vying for competition with the NFL when you consider that the United Football League had financing in place from guys like Mark Cuban.

Hello from Middle America

Greetings from the Minot Civic Auditorium where tonight the Minot Sky Rockets take on the East Kentucky Miners.

As my traveling companion for this trip Sara(no, not THAT Sara) notes, this is quite representative of middle-America, and I love it.

They want to do what?

This seems like a ridiculous concept until I realize that they are serious:

Officials in Michigan and Florida are showing renewed interest in holding repeat presidential nominating contests so that their votes will count in the epic Democratic campaign.

The Michigan governor, along with top officials in Hillary Clinton's campaign and Florida's state party chair, are now saying they would consider holding a sort of do-over contest by June. That's a change from their previous insistence that the primaries their states held in January should determine how their delegates are allocated.

Clinton won both contests, but the results were meaningless because the elections violated national party rules.

So.....because they violated established rules, the Democratic Party is now going to allow them to do it all over again so their delegates count? What's worse is the fact that the farther you get into the story, the more ridiculous it sounds as they take about do-over alternatives to "traditional" primaries.

As an outsider looking into their process, I see it this way; Florida and Michigan made their beds, and now they need to lie in them. If the DNC does not want to look like a fly-by-night operation that's in the back pocket of the Clinton Campaign, they need to stick to their original guns....

Ignore their will at your own risk

As Governor O'Malley continues to ignore the will of the voters and continues to try and tax and spend us to death, his poll numbers fall further into the crapper:

In a new poll by Gonzales Research & Marketing Strategy, 37 percent of the people asked approve of the job the governor is doing, while 48 percent disapproved. Another 15 percent of people in the survey had no opinion.

O'Malley's approval numbers dropped after November's special session. That's when $1.4 billion in tax increases were approved to address a projected $1.7 billion structural deficit.

If the Democrats want to wax poetic about how the Governor is doing what's right and not what's popular, go right ahead. But it is looking more and more apparent that Ehrlich II will be starting in January 2011...

Attention Getter

If there is one thing that Orioles OF Luke Scott (left) is known for, it has little do with his baseball prowess. Acquired from Houston in the Miguel Tejada trade, people know Scott less for the fact that he hit 31 homers for Round Rock in the Pacific Coast League in 2005, and more for the fact that Scott chooses to avail himself of a fundamental Constitutional right.

So it was probably only a matter of time before we saw a story like this from Sun reporter Jeff Zrebiec:

Orioles manager Dave Trembley knew about the intensity, all-out hustle and powerful uppercut swing. But he still had one question about his new left fielder, so he approached Luke Scott while Scott was shagging fly balls last week.

"Talk to me about the gun situation," Trembley said to Scott.

Trembley, who has never fired a gun and joked that he wouldn't know the difference between a water pistol and a BB gun, had read about Scott's thoughts on gun control and about how the player almost always carries a concealed firearm...

..."He very quickly said to me, 'Second Amendment, right to bear arms,' " Trembley recalled. "He said it's not a big deal. He'll never have one here. To me, it's a nonissue."

Obviously it's an issue to somebody on Calvert Street, or else the story would not have wound up in the paper.

To be fair to Zrebiec, he at least went out to detail some of the reasons that ballplayers just might want to be prepared to defend themselves:

[Nick] Markakis said he was at a gas station in Georgia five or six years ago when somebody who was armed tried to force his way into his truck. Markakis, who didn't have a gun in his car, got away unscathed, but the day left an impression on him.

A similar incident helped persuade Scott to obtain a handgun. Scott, then a student at Indian River (Fla.) Community College, was at a party in Delray Beach when somebody pulled a gun on him....

....Scott told of one situation several years back when he was at a Houston gas station and was confronted by a man carrying a shank.

"I didn't pull my gun on him," Scott said. "I would have if he had gotten close enough, and I would have shot him if he wouldn't have backed off. But all I had to do was lift up my shirt and put my hand on [the gun] and I said, 'Can I help you?' He stopped in his tracks. Who knows what that saved me?

Scott's position on guns was also chronicled a few years back on an ESPN story about athletes and guns.

I take solace in the fact that ballplayers are exercising their Constitutional rights and that the Orioles have several players like Scott, Markakis, and Jamie Walker who are willing to speak out about their experiences and why they choose to protect themselves. I just find it somewhat puzzling that the story about Scott's outspoken view on gun rights and self-defense drew attention now, in the middle of Spring Training, as opposed to back in December when the trade happened.