A Good Start

While the President and the Democrats in Congress continue to move forth with their plan of impoverishing America's working and middle class families under the weight of government-run health care, Speaker Newt Gingrich is moving forth with a simple, common-sense plan to get the economy rolling:

1. Cut the Payroll Tax in Half for 2 Years.

2. Abolish Taxes on Capital Gains.

3. Reduce the Corporate Tax Rate.

4. Abolish the Death Tax.

I'm not sure the Speaker's plan goes far enough. I would tie-in appropriate cuts in discretionary spending, and make the cut in the payroll tax permanent and not a temporary, two-year tax, but this is certainly a step in the right direction.

For too long, Democrats like President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, and Governor O'Malley have tried to sell the public on a bill of goods that implies that only massive bureaucracy, wasteful government spending, and immoral levels of taxation can get us out of our current economic funk. But as we have shown time and again, higher taxes and wateful spending do nothing but put the onus of government largesse on the backs of America's middle and working class families. And I am more every day that the American public is becoming more and more fed-up with the status quo on taxes and spending, something that can be seen with the rise of the size and influence of the tea party movement in America.

Speaker Gingrich's tax proposals are a good start for Congressional Republicans to do their best to try and return fiscal responsibility and sanity to Congress...

Asking for It

So Governor O'Malley, devoid of any ideas of his own in how to manage a budget responsibly, is asking the public for their ideas on how to cut spending.

I have a funny feeling that I'm not the only conservative in Maryland who has ideas on how to accomplish this task. So maybe we all need to tell Governor O'Malley what he really doesn't want to hear.

Do your part over at http://www.governor.maryland.gov/budgetcuts.asp.

Whoops

This is just one of those moments where you just have to sit back and shake your head:

A state constitutional requirement that a gubernatorial candidate must be a registered voter in Maryland for five years could prevent Charles County Republican Central Committee Chairman Charles J. Lollar from seeking the state's highest office.....

....If Lollar opts to run for governor, he will have to prove his eligibility.

A candidate for governor or lieutenant governor "must have attained the age of thirty years, and must have been a resident and registered voter of the State for five years next immediately preceding his election," according to Article II, Section 5 of the Maryland Constitution.

OK, that's bad enough. But the story amazingly gets worse:

Lollar moved to Maryland from suburban Atlanta in October 2005 and submitted his voter registration application with his vehicle registration application shortly thereafter, he said.

However, a copy of his voter registration card on file at the Charles County Board of Elections obtained by the Maryland Independent shows he signed and dated his application on June 6, 2006. He maintained that the application was submitted right after he moved, but was not processed until the following June for unknown reasons.

It's almost like Republicans in our state are trying to find new and creative ways to embarrass themselves and the party these days....

Hopefully, Lollar will throw his hat into the Congressional race and not risk further dragging this story out for an even longer period of time. But I'm pretty curious to know why Lollar says he is going to be found eligible when the form he signed and dated appears to say otherwise.

Protecting the Wrong Interests

One of the reasons why charters schools have become so popular and so successful is because they were schools that go away from the typical school board bureaucracy, the typical school board issues, and became places that teachers could go to really teach and try to reach kids who may not necessary be able to maximize their opportunity to succeed elsewhere.

Well, we can't let those great ideals and the idea of giving kids opportunity to get in the way of the teacher's union, now can we?

Baltimore's most successful middle school is laying off staff and shortening its school day to meet demands of a teachers union contract in what is one of the first major disputes over teacher pay between a charter school and a union.

KIPP Ujima Village Academy, based on a model that has forged a successful track record among poor students in more than a dozen states, has been violating a contract requiring teachers to be paid more if they work extra hours, school and union leaders acknowledge.

After seven years of ignoring the issue, the Baltimore Teachers Union told the charter school earlier this year that it must pay its teachers 33 percent more than other city school teachers because they were working nine hours and 15 minutes a day, as well as every other Saturday. The standard workday for teachers is seven hours and five minutes.

Of course, this is one of the strangest circumstances to see the BTU come down on KIPP seven years after the fact, and after the school became noted for its success. But there are two things that are incredibly annoying about the BTU's involvement in this case.

The first issue is that virtually all of the teachers at the KIPP school were there of there own accord and liked it that way. They were perfectly comfortable signing onto teaching at the school, knowing what was expected of them, and knowing that they would receive a salary 18 percent above those comparable teachers at regular city schools. I'm not exactly sure why any teacher would be filing complaints (as the BTU suggested) about the pay scale when everybody knew exaclty what they were getting into when they agree to teach there.

The second, less transparent, issue with BTU's involvement is the obviously negative impact that the increase in pay is going to have on the students of this KIPP school. Because of the increase, the school is seeing not only a reduction in staff, but also a reduction of classroom hours. Students will be in class over six hours a week less in 2009-2010 then they were last year thanks to this boneheaded complaint from the union. That adds up over the course of a 34 week school year to nearly two weeks of reduced instruction. Why is the issue of performance so important in the analysis of the union's complaint? It's because of this:

In 2008, 96 percent of the eighth-graders at KIPP passed the Maryland School Assessment in math and 56 percent passed in reading. Overall, the students scored among the top 10 percent of all middle schools in the state.

KIPP schools are drastically overperforming traditional Baltimore City middle schools. If the trend continues, one could reasonably deduce that either curriculum, hours, and methods at other Baltimore City will change, or more students will be shifted over to the charter school model. Either way, this could have a potentially negative impact on the majority of the teachers who work in Baltimore City Public Schools and are represented by the BTU.

I am cynical enough to believe that the Baltimore Teacher's Union put the self-interests of mediocre teachers ahead of the interests of the students of Baltimore City? Yes I am, and frankly it is the most reasonable of all conclusions.

I think we all owe a debt of gratitude to teachers for the hard work that they do in what, in most cases, is a thankless jobs. But teachers should also call a spade a spade, and challenge their union to do what is necessary to maximize opportunities for all students in their school systems. And finding new and creative ways to screw charter schools that are showing demonstrable success at reaching out to students who may not otherwise succeed is not in the best interests of students, teachers, or taxpayers...

Alternative Funding

You know that I have gotten on my privatization high horse more than once before, but it looks like on the other side of the Potomac the idea might get put to good use in a very unusual way:

Robert F. McDonnell, the Republican candidate for governor of Virginia, proposed Tuesday handing over about 330 state-run liquor stores to private operators to pay for road improvements -- a novel way to fund fixes but one that confronts many of the same obstacles that have stalled previous efforts.

For those of you that don't know, all alcohol in Virginia is sold in state-owned ABC stores. McDonnell's proposal would generate half-a-billion dollars in immediate revenue to deal with transportation woes in Northern Virginia, where there is strong opposition to both new taxes, but also in a reduction in funding of education to pay for it.

While this proposal comes from a Republican, and does not solve all of Virginia's long-term revenue needs when it comes to transportation, it is one logical and reasonable alternative to raising taxes and fees in order to keep state government running. Maybe Martin O'Malley can take the hint and realizes that there are, in fact, alternatives to trying to squeeze every last red cent out of Maryland's taxpayers....

Peanuts

In Martin O'Malley's never ending quest to show he is incompetent when it comes to fiscal matters, he announced his plans to put a band-aid over a severed limb:

Health care providers who serve Medicaid patients will get paid less, the University System of Maryland will hire fewer faculty members and 40 state workers will lose their jobs as part of $280 million in budget cuts proposed by Gov. Martin O'Malley.

The Democratic governor has compiled a list of budget cuts to be presented today to the Board of Public Works, a three-member body that can approve midyear budget adjustments when the General Assembly is not in session.

But the cutbacks won't end there: O'Malley plans up to $470 million in further budget cuts before Labor Day. The next round of spending reductions will target aid to local governments and state employee compensation, O'Malley said during a news conference.

And what exactly is included in the current proposed reductions?

• Limiting how much Medicaid will pay for hospital stays over a certain length. Savings: $24 million
• Reducing funding for operating expenses at the University System of Maryland. Savings: more than $17 million
• Reducing the Maryland Lottery's advertising budget. Savings: $5.5 million
• Cutting funding for stem-cell research and Chesapeake Bay cleanup. Savings: $5 million
• Laying off 40 state workers

It's almost like Governor O'Malley is doing his part to do as little damage as possible now, in order to really have to do some financial jujitsu later.

Meanwhile, the adults are the only ones stating what's painfully obvious to the rest of Maryland:

The governor, who briefed reporters on his plan Tuesday afternoon, was harshly criticized afterward by Republicans for not acting more boldly.

"It appears to me to be inadequate and avoids the difficult decisions that need to be made," said House Minority Leader Anthony J. O'Donnell (R-Calvert), pointing to projections showing an even larger budget shortfall next year. "We are in dire financial straits, and the governor continues to fail to act."

It just continues to defy logic and explanation that Governor O'Malley refuses to face the facts that he has wrecked Maryland's economy. He continues to refuse to face that fact that his draconian and immoral tax hikes have stretched Maryland's taxpayers thin, and forced business to close or move out of state. And he refuses to take any preemptive measures to avoid near certain budget shortfalls in the future through adequate planning and fiscal prduence. Martin O'Malley is continuing to cut out peanuts when we desperately to take meat out of our budget.

Just once, I'd like Martin O'Malley to act like he gives a damn about the plight of our state and its taxpayers......

Pipe Dreams

The Sun had a reasonably written editorial this morning encouraging action that will not likely occur in this or any other universe; spending cuts by Maryland Democrats, including cuts to legislative scholarships, a roll-back to the tuition freeze, and a reduction in aid to local governments.

But let's take a look at Governor O'Malley's track record on this. Increasing health care spending in a fiscal crisis? Check. Pass prevailing wage laws to increase required spending on government contracts? Check. Billions to create a "biotech hub"? Check. And that's just a small sampling of the spending hikes that Governor O'Malley has foisted upon us, to say nothing of the tax hikes that have led to reduced tax revenues.

Sadly, we knew back in 2007 that Fiscal 2010 was going to be a tough year, yet Governor O'Malley and his partners in crime in Annapolis did nothing responsible about it. Why should we suspect that they'll start now?

Inside the MDGOP Exec Board Meeting

I received (and I'm sure others did as well) an anonymous email message from the email account "15westst@gmail.com" regarding yesterday's Maryland Republican Party Executive Board meeting. Since this jives with a lot of the things that I have already heard about yesterday's meeting, I'll repost it here completely unadulterated.

On Saturday the Republican Executive Committee passed a resolution of no confidence in Chairman Pelura by a vote of 20-10.

However there is not any immediate impact of the resolution. Pelura told the meeting he had no intention in resigning.

Under the by-laws, only a full vote of the entire state Central Committee at a convention can remove the Chairman, and a two-thirds vote is required. Counties representing a potential weighted vote of about 50% at a convention opposed the resolution, including Anne Arundel, Caroline, Carroll, Cecil, Charles, Montgomery, Prince George's, St. Mary's, Wicomico and Worcester. The other counties and all the officers voted except Pelura for the resolution. Pelura did not vote.

The Committee rebuked candidate for Governor Mike Pappas on several occasions. Pappas was representing Baltimore County because Chris Cavey votes as First Vice Chair. First Pappas attempted to prevent Pelura from presiding at the meeting as Chairman. This effort was defeated. Later Pappas attempted to close off discussion, although Charles County Chairman Charles Lollar was attempting to be recognized. The Committee voted down the Pappas resolution and Lollar was given a chance to speak.

Repeated criticism was also directed at First Vice Chairman Chris Cavey for his press comments criticizing Pelura. Some members called on him to resign if Pelura remained as Chairman.

The Governor needs to pay attention

How come it only ever seems like Governor O'Malley and his administration are surprised at the need for fiscal restraint, most recently shown through the announcement of an impending $700 million in cuts for the current fiscal year that would be coming down the pike?

How many times over the course of this economic downturn have Republicans, economists, and yes Maryland's conservative blogosphere, warned of the impending economic calamity from the imposition of O'Malleynomics here in Maryland? How many times did people note the folly of increasing discretionary spending during a budgetary deficit? How many times were Annapolis Democrats warned that drastic and immoral tax hikes during a recession would lead to a reduction in tax revenues (something that we have already seen this year)? How many times have people noted that the time Keynesian economics has passed, and its continued implementation would provide disastrous consequences to our state and its taxpayers?

Instead, Governor O'Malley insisted on continuing to raise taxes and to increase social spending in order to keep the coalition of interest groups that elected him in line. It's sad, it's objectionable, and it shows O'Malley's commitment to putting special interests ahead of the interests of Maryland's working and middle class families. Now, it looks like the Governor is actaully going to have to make cuts, which is a good thing except for one small fact.

O'Malley declined to detail specific cuts that he's considering but indicated it would be "impossible" to fully preserve budgeted spending for education, health and public safety because those areas comprise such a large part of the budget.

Two of those three are a severe problem, as two of the state's constitutional duties are to provide funding for public safety and for education. So instead of cutting spending or retreating on his silly list of 15 goals, he is going to really put the screws to the people and cut where it really hurts, presumably in a ruse designed to create popular support for a tax increase or to blame Bob Ehrlich for these cuts. Either way, O'Malley is (as usual) putting the political calculus ahead of the bottom line for Maryland's families.

I think the people are really starting to see through this charade. It is long past time that we return competent leadership to Annapolis. And Governor O'Malley is neither competent or a leader...

It's Johnson

Tricia Johnson gets the vacancy on the Anne Arundel County Council. Fantastic. A Liberal Republican. Just what we needed. Good job County Council.

Look for a bloody primary for this seat next year...

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Fighting the Wrong Enemy

Well, it looks like we've got another self-made crisis in the Maryland Republican Party, as Jim Pelura fired Justin Ready this morning:

Two staff members of the Maryland Republican Party have left, and the top officers of the GOP said they want the chairman to explain why, or resign.

Chairman James Pelura III asked for Executive Director Justin Ready's resignation Monday morning. Events coordinator April Rose tendered her resignation, according to Chris Cavey, the party's first vice chairman....

...Cavey said the executive committee, made up of 31 of the party's top leaders, met last week.

"There was no inkling of any personnel problems. No inkling of any pending firings. No inkling of anything," Cavey said.

After receiving word of the departures, Cavey said the party's top seven elected officials have asked Pelura to convene an executive committee meeting.

"We have asked for either Jim to account for the action or to resign," Cavey said.

This is getting absolutely ridiculous. The rumors about why Pelura canned Ready are even more ridiculous, but I am trying to corroborate them first. And I agree with Chris Cavey on this: Pelura needs to explain to everybody (not just the Executive Committee, but all Maryland Republicans) as to why Ready needed to go.

It's kind of hard to deal with unseating a failed Governor an defeating spend and tax Democrats when we can't even keep the party apparatus on the same page. Marylanders are ready for change and fresh leadership, and at the moment we're not offering them anything but a circus. And I guarantee you that sideshows like this do not help us raise one dollar, recruit one volunteer, or elect one Republican.

Something has to change....