And Jim Zorn is the NFL Coach of the Year....

Four-and-a-half years ago, Time magazine named then-Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley as one of America's five best big city mayors. I noted at the time that Time must be setting low standards to credit O'Malley as being good at his job.

Fast forward back to today, and you would be shocked and appalled to discover that Governing magazine has named Martin O'Malley one of their 2009 Public Officials of the Year.

Seriously:

Everyone knows Martin O'Malley is a numbers guy. The data-driven approach to policy and administration that he created as mayor of Baltimore, known as "CitiStat," has been copied by cities across the country. Now, as governor of Maryland, O'Malley is showing that states, too, can improve performance by measuring what they do and relentlessly monitoring their progress.

Emphasis mine. Because I'm not exactly sure what progress we are improving upon here in Maryland thanks to O'Malley and any of his metrics.

Frankly, somebody needs to get the guy a calculator and a clue so he might realize that spending more than you make is an irresponsible, reckless, and immature way to run a government.

The Governing article gets even deeper with O'Malley in an extended interview that has some, well, enlightening comments.

So as you're tackling these big jobs, how do you keep everyone focused and keep morale up when the budget situation is so tough?

I think there's two things that allow us to stay focused as we're jumping these budgetary bowling balls that keep coming down the gutter at us: It's clarity about the big goals — sustainability, security and skills — and it's the relentless stat meetings.

I ask you this; is a Governor who is so focused on his band really able to keep his entire administration focused on public service?

Next, we get to Martin O'Malley's thoughts on power and "being mean":

But how do you know when to back off a little and when to lean in?

When you actually hold the power, I don't think you ever have to be cruddy or mean. I appoint judges, and that's one of the things that I share with them. If you're wearing the black robe you don't have to be cruddy or mean, you've got the power.

Hasn't Martin O'Malley made a career of being cruddy, mean, petty, immature, irresponsible, and a bunch of other adjectives that you could insert here? O'Malley has some of the thinnest skin in the history of Maryland politics, and loathes it when he doesn't get his way. Just look at his shakedown of Constellation Energy and you will see a Governor who is more petulant than poised, and more concerned in political posturing that doing real work for real people.

And furthermore, you will note in the original that O'Malley himself put an emphasis on the phrase "you've got the power." You can draw your own conclusions of O'Malley's views on government intrusion and the scope and size of government from that little emphasis on that little word.

Then, the subject turns to the budget and the economy, and O'Malley continues to show that he has been living in some fiscal wonderland that the rest of us are not privy to:

We did a lot of things prior to getting hit with this recession. When we came in, we had what was primarily a structural deficit, not a cyclical deficit. That was the result of Democrats and Republicans alike, who had voted for huge increases in education investments, the cost of which they knew wouldn't come ashore for another five or six years, while simultaneously voting for 10 percent cuts to revenues. And so we had to address that utterly irresponsible fiscal math, and we chose to do that in a special session eight months into my first year.

Yes, he somehow managed to squander a $1.2 billion surplus eight months into his term. It was amazing and stupefying, yet he was able to pull it off. That leads us to....

Most of us remember it as a really miserable session — there was nothing terribly special about it. But we looked at virtually every revenue source available, the primary one being the sales tax. So we raised that by a penny. We also put in place a progressive income tax for the first time in Maryland's history, where we asked higher-earning folks in our state to pay a little more than a single parent who might make only $30,000 a year. And we also increased our corporate income tax by 1 percent. Those were some of the things that we did. And as difficult as it was, the fact that we did them before the recessionary tsunami hit has stood us well.

Yeah, it was a miserable session alright; mainly for Maryland's middle and working class families who have been suffering at the hands of Governor O'Malley's recklessness and incompetence. Higher and higher taxes continue to slow our economy, drive jobs out of state, and force middle class Marylanders into continued economic uncertainty, but Martin O'Malley thinks that this is a good thing. And what's even more delusional is the fact that Martin O'Malley thinks that Maryland's fiscal situation is good right now. He raises billions in new taxes, adds billions in new spending, wonders why the math doesn't work out, and then in an Orwellian fashion declares the crisis managed and that victory has been won. It's surreal.

Finally, as is Governor O'Malley hadn't already shown how divorced he was from reality, comes this:

In talking to some of the Republicans in the legislature, while they complain about Democratic dominance they do say that your administration is at least approachable. What's your basic strategy when it comes to working with the legislature?

I was elected following a term of tremendous polarization. It was almost the Newt Gingrich sort of thing, that you'd better not be seen having lunch with people that are not of your party. So I've tried to bring us together, and to underscore that we're one Maryland and we're all in this together. I do understand that each legislator is individually elected and each has a vision that they bring into government.

A Maryland Democrat talking about polarization is so incredibly comical, given the fact that it was Democratic leadership in Annapolis that refused to work with Governor Ehrlich when he came to them with a collaborative approach. In the time since O'Malley has taken office, he has taken a my way or the highway approach, particularly with Republican leadership in Annapolis; how many times over the years has Republican leadership been completely left out of the conversation, particularly when it comes to important issues such as taxation, the budget, and health care.

Sure, there are some Republicans who for whatever reason will give O'Malley cover and vote for his plans. But I think it is safe to say that Martin O'Malley has presided over the greatest partisan divide in Annapolis in my lifetime.

The fact of the matter is that this article in Governing has shown that the O'Malley camp is doing a nice job of pulling the wool over the eyes of people who don't see how he operates on a day-to-day basis, nor people who are living here in the state of Maryland. We see the kind of petulance, incompetence, and indifference that comes out of the O'Malley Administration on a Daily Basis. We see the middle and working class families who are struggling to make ends meet as they suffering from higher taxation and fewer job opportunities. We see state employees suffering furloughs because of lower than expected tax revenues due to businesses, people, and jobs leaving the state in droves.

It makes you wonder how any objective observer could recognize O'Malley's "Accomplishments". I suppose there is hope for Jim Zorn yet...

The Battle Continues

The saga over the Obama Worship in Howard County continues to percolate, with WUSA TV-9 doing a story on it last night featuring Delegate Warren Miller (who was able to step in for me at the last second). And Howard County continues to either deny it, refuse to talk about it, or obfuscate what really happened depending on what day of the week it is.

Well, this Thursday the parents and taxpayers of Howard County an opportunity to speak their mind to members of the Howard County Board of Education at the Board's meeting. The meeting will be at Howard County Board of Ed HQ at 10910 Route 108 in Ellicott City, and will begin promptly at 7:30 PM. If you are a Howard County resident and wish to testify, call Kathy Hanks at (410) 313-7194 to sign-up.

It will be very interested to see if the elected Board of Education in Howard County takes a stand for indoctrination or takes a stand for education this Thursday...

Talking Bollocks

Jeff Quinton has one of the more amazingly deluded "clarifications" I have ever read in my life, this one coming from Howard County Public Schools PIO Patti Caplan regarding the Obama Sing-a-long fiasco. Here it is in entirety, with some commentary interspersed.

Several weeks ago, all Longfellow Elementary School first graders were shown a videotape of President Obama’s speech to students as part of the school’s Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports Program (PBIS), which focuses on being safe, responsible and respectful. As the classes were gathering in one of the first grade classrooms, the teacher was playing a CD of a song she and her students composed last year for a technology competition. She also played the song as the students were leaving.

Interestingly, the Obama speech was causing a scandal of all of its own. The fact that a teacher decided to exacerbate that issue by playing such a song is amazingly shortsighted, but it gets worse.

One (yes only one) parent called and emailed the school with his concern that the students were being forced to “glorify and worship” President Obama. The school administration responded to this parent and provided him with a copy of the lyrics, which his wife posted on a blog. The school administration has met with this parent and he apologized for the posting and for creating so much trouble for the school. He indicated that the school had addressed his concern.

Talk about trying to place the blame on somebody else. The fact that Caplan would throw a parent under the bus is incredibly amazing. Of course, it seems to fly in the face of a few facts.

There is no mention of the principal, or the song lyric, or Longfellow Elementary prior to September 29th, the day I received the email and posted the contents of the email on my blog and at RedMaryland. So, given the fact that a search of blog records and the internet shows no postings before then, exactly who is Caplan saying leaked this and who is she saying that information came from?

On top of it, why does Caplan try to minimize the one parent who had a concern with this? How many times have we seen schools bend over backwards to accomodate the needs of one parent who is pissed off about something? I'm not saying it's right, I'm just saying that Caplan seems to be trying to deflect the seriousness of this story on the premise that only one parent of one child was angry.

The objective of this lesson was to motivate students with a positive message to be respectful, stay in school, work hard and do their best. The lesson supports the work the school is doing as part of PBIS. The children did sing along to the song, which repeats “Yes I Can” and “Yes We Can.” Repetition of this nature is a common element in songs for children of this age.

Well, that's a noble goal. But that leads us to.....

The focus of the lesson was on the children and positive behavior, not the President. There was no intention or attempt to glorify or worship the President. Educators often use positive role models in their lessons, including Presidents of the United States, and this practice is supported by the Howard County Public School System. The Howard County Public School System does not require nor encourage teachers to include references to President Obama in their lessons, nor does it discourage the use of such references.

So why then did the teacher include the President in the lesson plan when there are a plethora of historical figures who could have been used to create a similar example. And does not the fact that the President's campaign slogan was included in the song a tacit endorsement by the teacher and/or the school of the President and the policies that the President is promoting? I mean this isn't rocket science here, and considering that incidents like this are on the rise across the country, you would seem to think that somebody would question whether or not the use of the song is a good idea.

The Howard County Public School System respects the right of individuals to disagree with the words of the song and/or even the use of the song in this context. However, the idea that a public school system would have a “policy” to force students to “worship” the President is so ludicrous it deserves no response.

Again, Caplan is trying to deflect away from the meat of the story. Nobody is saying that the Howard County Public School System has a policy to force students to worship to the President. But the fact seems to be at least one teacher at Longfellow Elemetnary in the Howard County Public School system has made it their policy to try and force such beliefs on their students. And since they are employees of the aforementioned public school system, I would love to know what steps the Howard County Public School System is taking to end such shenaingans. But since Patti Caplan seems to be denying that a problem exists, I'm guessing that we know the answer.

Glad to know that Patti Caplan and the brass in the Howard County Public Schools seem to condone this ludicrous behavior.

The Brian Griffiths Minute: 09-30-2009

Obama Worship comes to Howard County

Well, it looks like the worship of his holiness Barack Obama has infected Longfellow Elementary in Howard County. See this email below, and get ready to be disgusted. Because no President, Republican or Democrat, should be glorified like this.

* * * * *

From: (Removed)

Sent: Tuesday, September 29, 2009 1:30 PM
To: (Removed)
Subject: Song

Hi everyone, below is the email that our son’s Assistant Principal sent us to let us know the wording of the Obama song that our son told us his class was instructed to sing last week…the teacher is part of the first grade team of teachers and is really nice, but this is not what we want our son doing at school or anywhere!

Any advice?

Sent: Tuesday, September 29, 2009 11:33 AM
To: (Removed)

Subject: Song

Hello Mr. (REMOVED),

The words to the song are below.

Thank you!

Laurel Marsh

Obama,

President Obama,

President Obama,

President Obama,

President Obama--He says

Yes we can!

President Obama--We say

Yes we can!

President Obama--I say

Yes I can!

President Obama--He says

Yes we can!

Barack Obama--Oh yes he rates,

The first Black President in the United States!

He's smart and he's--so so good!

He'll lead this country as he should!

He wants us all to work together,

To make this country even better!

Prez' Obama says--"Yes We Can!"

Make the US better--hand in hand!

Obama,

President Obama,

President Obama,

President Obama

President!

-------------------------------------------------

Laurel Marsh

Assistant Principal

Longfellow Elementary

410-313-6879

(Crossposted)

Martin O'Malley must govern some other state I don't live in

So Governor O'Malley unleashed his State of the State address (and you can even listen to it, if you really are in to self-flagellation) on an unsuspecting populace today, and apparently the Governor is seeing things just a bit differently than the rest of us.

Let's review some "highlights":

But the future of our State is very much determined by the strength and the security of the families of Maryland – the hard-working and loving families that we have the honor and responsibility to represent. And today, the vast majority of Maryland’s families, like families throughout our country, are finding it harder and harder just to pay their bills and maintain the quality of life that they have worked so hard to achieve.

The Governor is absolutely right. We need somebody who is going to make sure that taxes are not raised on the Middle Class, and that somebody is standing up for those who are subjected to ever rising energy costs. I just only wish that this imaginary person were Governor, instead of Governor O'Malley, who continues to do what he can to make it tougher and tougher for families to survive in our state. It is stunning that he can say this without snickering, given the financial harm he has inflicted upon the middle and working class people of our state.

Continuing....

For the sad truth of our shared reality is that over the last seven years, real wages in our country have grown by only 1 percent. And unfortunately, the same cannot be said for everything else a family needs to survive.

Over the last seven years, the price of a gallon of milk is up 30 percent, the cost of a loaf of bread is up 20 percent, and yet real wages have increased by just 1 percent.

The cost of a gallon of gasoline is up almost 100 percent over that same time-frame.

And the cost of health insurance is up 78 percent, and yet real wages have by only 1 percent.

Yes, and the State of Maryland was nice enough to drive the cost of the sales tax up in this state by 20-percent and also raise the cost of income taxes as well. So realistically, that makes Martin O'Malley a key part of the problem and not part of the solution.

But we don’t need those numbers and figures to tell us that people are hurting; we see it in their eyes, we hear it in their voices.

And I see it in my bank account, with the numbers and figures tell me how much money Martin O'Malley is responsible for taking from me.

No wonder many of us are frustrated when – in the midst of this national economic downturn – we were also forced to confront a long neglected and huge structural deficit. The frustration is totally understandable. And there is good reason for all of us to be concerned and worried about our economic future.

But, as we have seen, Governor O'Malley has done anything to actual address the structural deficit. All Governor O'Malley did was ensure that the middle and working class families suffered financially, while making minimal cuts to the budget while still making sure that pet projects are funded at impractical and unaffordable spending levels.

Apparently, O'Malley has also established priorities for the state as well:

• To strengthen and protect our middle class, our family owned businesses and family farms,
• To protect our commitment to improve public safety and public education in every single part of our State,
• And to protect opportunity – the opportunity to learn, to earn, to enjoy the health of the people we love, as well as the health of the land, the water, the air and the Bay that we love – for more people rather than fewer.

Is this a joke? Is he serious? Because I'm not sure that anybody is doing less to address these priorities than Martin O'Malley. Families, businesses, and farms have been weakened by O'Malley's reckless spending and tax priorities. How is public education being improved given O'Malley's personal vendetta against Nancy Grasmick, focusing more on removing her than taking real steps to improving our schools? How are the people of Maryland having greater opportunities to learn and earn in these O'Malley years?

It continues to go on like this:

In the coming weeks, months and years ahead, we will be undertaking a number of efforts – legislative, regulatory -- and legal if need be -- to secure fair and reasonable energy rates while also ensuring an adequate supply for our future. Deregulation has failed us in Maryland and we cannot allow our future to be determined by that mistake.

And isn't it something that this gem is contained in a speech the same day that we get reports of higher electric rates?

Now, let's wrap it up towards the closing statements:

Let’s stay focused on the fact that people are counting on us to make these tough times more bearable. Let’s work together – regardless of personality, party or place – to face the challenges ahead.

What tough economic times call for is leadership. Leadership that is responsible to the needs of the people and the needs of the citizenry. What the people need is lower taxes. What the people need is a government that spends within its means. What we need is leadership that will in fact face the challenges without regard to personalities or party. Unfortunately, we currently have a Governor that governs on the basis of his partisan stripes, his desire for revenge, base jealousy, and the greed of personal power. This Governor is the antithesis of what he calls for in his own speech.

We know that Maryland is a stronger state than most. We can get through these tough economic times more quickly than other parts of our country, but only if we can continue to come together to protect the priorities that make us strong.

And again, what we have here is a Governor that is not committed to real priorities that benefit Maryland's working and middle class families. We have a Governor who is committed first and foremost to putting politics before people, and in governing only to benefit his party and his political career.

This Governor's State of the State address is a hubristic nightmare that can only come from the mouth of somebody who believes more in his press clippings, self-genuflection, and his own greatness than he does in doing what is best for the people of Maryland. While the people of Maryland suffer through an impending recession and higher taxes, O'Malley tries to takes steps to improve his political standing, and to continue to implement his O'Malleynomics on our state, with potentially disastrous (yet strikingly obvious) future consequences.

It is sad and depressing to think that middle and working class families of Maryland have to suffer through another three years of Martin O'Malley's reckless mismanagement and misplaced policy priorities.

Ass Kissing to the Extreme

I would be embarrassed to write something that was so genuflective of any individual. But, it's just standard operating procedure for the gang on Calvert Street:

For three weeks, the State House has operated as a crucible as Gov. Martin O'Malley put the heat on the General Assembly to shape a compromise over his deficit-reduction package. It wasn't always pretty. But in the end, lawmakers cast the tough votes to raise taxes and gave the governor much of what he wanted.

It was an impressive victory for Mr. O'Malley - with significant and lasting implications. At a minimum, it means the state's structural deficit has finally been brought under control beyond the piecemeal, "take from Peter to pay Paul" approach of the last administration.

While next year's projected $1.7 billion deficit has been largely resolved, it will still require significant spending cuts. But there's no reason to expect the problem to return within the next several years - if appropriate spending discipline is maintained.

What a bunch of ridiculous, brown-nosing, ass kissing, embarrassing, pathetic, juvenile drivel. It is sad that such garbage even gets printed in a "major" daily newspaper...

Drinking the Green Kool-Aid

This quote in this post completely defies logic:

One thing is clear. O'Malley emerges from the Special Session as a bold and decisive "can-do" leader. He knew what needed to be done. He put together a comprehensive and reasonable legislative package. He took a huge risk by calling a Special Session when the outcome was far from assured. He had the humility to treat the Assembly and its leaders as equal partners.

Where to begin? The Governor's legislative package was comprehensive only in the fact that he attempted to raise many taxes at once. At no point can any portion of the Governor's package be considered reasonable, however, when one takes into account that O'Malley's understanding of economics led him to the conclusion that in order to fix an alleged deficit that the state needed to spend more money. That's only reasonable if you are insane.

And, sorry, you cannot legitimately expect us to think that O'Malley tried to treat the legislators as equal partners when they attempted time and again to browbeat legislators into supporting their scheme and, failing that, just bought them outright.

Apparently, all of this makes sense if you drink the green Kool-Aid. Because only those who are true believers in O'Malleyism truly support taxing Maryland's working families back into poverty, which is what O'Malley and the Democratic leadership have just engineered.