Scott Sanzone Charged with DUI

I'll be catching up on a lot of stories. I like to point out politicians who get in trouble with the law. Since they write the laws, I never want them to think that they are above it. However, that doesn't always seem to be the case. There are plenty of politicians who have broken the law, but seem to have the right connections and plenty of money to get out of trouble (e.g. Kumar Barve).

In October, Sykesville Town Councilman Scott Sanzone was arrested for Driving Under the Influence. According to the Carroll County Times, Sanzone was arrested by a Maryland State Police officer near Jeroby and Village Roads in the town of Sykesville.

I hope that Councilman Sanzone doesn't morph into the likes of former Baltimore County Councilman Sam Moxley who has had at least two run-ins with the law over drinking and driving.

New List of Most and Least Effective Legislators in Maryland

The Gazette released its list of the 10 Most and Least Effective State Senators and 20 Most and Least Effective State Delegates. And here is my analysis.

You would expect that the list would be overwhelmingly in favor of Democrats being the most effective since they occupy an overwhelming majority of the seats in the legislature. And you would be right. When you have the most votes you get your way more often than not.

You would expect that the list would be overwhelmingly against Republicans since they are in the minority by an overwhelming disparity in the General Assembly. And you would be right. If you can't get the Democrats to agree to common sense legislation, then you'll never get anything passed and thus not be effective.

Kumar Barve proved that people with alcohol problems can still be considered influential leaders. He was selected as the 5th most influential delegate in spite of using his influence to get out of a DWI charge. Or maybe because of his influence.

Saqib Ali has a lot of friends. And a lot of haters. Not only did he make the list as the 17th most effective delegates, he is also the 3rd least influential delegate. Perhaps if he added some more pundits and political observers as friends on Facebook he would get a better ranking next year. Seriously - the guy is pretty darn funny. Don't always agree with him (he has a man-crush on Harry Reid), but he IS funny.

Curt Anderson went around and took pictures of everyone in the General Assembly and added their image to Wikipedia. He did this for both Democrats and Republicans - an admirable motion. And for this he was rewarded as the 12th most effective delegate. Is this one of those false positive correlations?

Mike Busch and Mike Miller were awarded for bullying everyone in the General Assembly and received number 1 slots on both lists of Most Influentials. I suspect Miller is influential by telling everyone that he'll retire if they pass such-and-such bill, only to recant later.

Despite Ulysses Currie's brushes with the law, marijuana, and raids of his home by the FBI, he was selected as the 4th most influential state senator. It pays to be a corrupt pot smoker!

Some Democrats, despite having the special wand to do practically anything they want, were selected as un-influential. You must really suck as a Democrat if you fall into this list in Maryland. The list includes James Brochin of Towson (has made this list before), Nathaniel Exum of PG County, Michael Lenett of Montgomery County, Frank Conaway, Jr. of Baltimore, Ana Sol Gutierrez (again, and who wants in-state tuition for illegal immigrants), Emmett "Illegal Campaign Contributions" Burns, Jr. of Baltimore County (again), Jill Carter of Baltimore, Charles Barkley (not that basketball player) of Montgomery County, Herman Taylor, Jr. of Washington County (who also wants in-state tuition for illegal immigrants), and finally Barbara Robinson of Baltimore.

Republicans on the Most Influential side of the list are Tony O'Donnell of Baltimore County and Christopher Shank of Washington County. I was a bit surprised not to see Allan Kittleman on the list, but then again he's the leader of the Republican Party in the State Senate, so naturally no one is going to like him.

So that's my take. Let me know what you think of this list.

Jack Young - Returning Corruption to Baltimore

When Baltimore City Councilwoman Helen Holton was indicted on criminal charges in 2009, then City Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake removed her from her chair position over the City's Taxation Committee. Then Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon resigned in disgrace after facing corruption charges, which by-law moved Baltimore City Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake up to the position of Mayor. The Baltimore City Council then voted unannomously to appoint City Council member Jack Young to the City Council President.

Now with Jack Young as City Council President he has made a move that signifies that he is ready to return Baltimore back to the days when corruption was tolerated in city government. Jack Young has reaapointed Helen Holton to the chair of the Taxation Committee.

Helen Holton is no stranger to corruption. In fact, she gave former Mayor Sheila Dixon a run for her money for the title of the most corruption Baltimore City politician. Holton was charged with bribery, perjury, wrongdoing in office, accepting a bribe (ABC News 1/9/2009), and campaign finance violations (Baltimore Sun 7/28/2009) when she soliticed campaign contributions from developers Ron Lipscomb (Sheila Dixon's former boyfriend) and John Paterakis, the developer who is giving himself a questionable reputation.

The position for which she will be reappointed will give her the power to give tax breaks to developers. So let me get this straight - she was charged with illegally soliciting campaign contributions from developers, but she will be allowed to provide tax breaks for developers? No conflict of interest there!!! This would be like appointing Maryland Delegate Kumar Barve who was arrested for DUI to be in charge of the liquor board.

If Baltimore City wanted to remove any hints of impropriety, it would ban campaign contributions from developers to elected officials who can grant tax breaks to developers. In fact, the city should ban campaign contributions from any entity that receives tax breaks to any elected official who is on a board that provides such tax breaks. Think that will happen? Not a chance in hell!!! Baltimore City politicians like their cozy corrupt relationships.

So don't be too surprised when we learn of more corruption in Baltimore City. Because when you put people with no ethical standards in charge of the government, you get corruption.

Maryland Politicians? Ha!

Why are so few politicians in Maryland not born in Maryland? Do native Marylanders have an aversion to politics? You think I'm kidding? Check out this list of elected and appointed officials that are not Maryland-born.

State-level

Martin O’Malley Washington, DC

Peter Franchot New Haven, Connecticut

Anthony G. Brown Huntington, New York

John P. McDonough Scranton, Pennsylvania

Nancy K. Kopp Coral Gables, Florida

Thomas Perez Buffalo, New York

John Porcari Rochester, New York

State Senators

Nancy Jacobs Charleston, West Virginia

Alex Mooney Washington, D.C.

Andy Harris Brooklyn, New York

Delores Kelley Norfolk, Virginia

Bobby Zirkin Davis, California

Rona Kramer Washington, D.C.

Robert J. Garagiola Warren, Michigan

Brian Frosch Washington, D.C.

Jennie M. Forehand Nashville, Tennessee

Michael G. Lenett New York, New York

Jamie Raskin Washington, D.C.

James Rosapepe Rome, Italy

Paul Pinsky Camden, New Jersey

Nathaniel Exum Memphis, Tennessee

Ulysses Currie Whitevilel, North Carolina

John Astle Charles Town, West Virginia

Edward Reilly Glen Ridge, New Jersey

Lowell Stoltzfus Pottstown, Pennsylvania

Nancy King Niagra Falls, New York

Catherine Pugh Norristown, Pennsylvania

Maryland State Delegates

Kumar Barve Schenectady, New York

Talmadge Branch Northampton, North Carolina

Tony O’Donnell Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

John Donoghue New York, New York

Charles Jenkins Norfolk, Virginia

Tanya Shewell Piqua, Ohio

Gail H. Bates Washington, DC

Emmett C. Burns, Jr. Jackson, Mississippi

Shirley Nathan-Pulliam Trelawny, Jamaica

Dan K. Morhaim Los Angeles, California

Shane Pendergrass Los Angeles, California

Frank S. Turner Mt. Pleasant, New York

Anne R. Kaiser Washington, D.C.

Craig L. Rice Washington, D.C.

Kathleen M. Dumais La Jolla, California

Brian J. Feldman Pittsburgh, Pennsulvania

William A. Bronrott Washington, DC

Susan Lee San Antonio, Texas

James W. Gilchrist Washington, DC

Luiz R. S. Simmons Winchester, Virginia

Ana Sol Gutierrez El Salvador

Alfred C. Carr, Jr. Cleveland, Ohio

Hank Heller Washington, DC

Roger Manno California

Tom Hucker St. Louis, Missouri

Sheila E. Hixson L’Anse, Michigan

Heather R. Mizeur Blue Mound, Illinois

Barbara A. Frush Washington, DC

Benjamin S. Barnes Peoria, Illinois

Joseline Peña-Melnyk Dominican Republic

Tawanna P. Gaines Washington, DC

Anne Marie Healey Scranton, Pennsylvania

Gerron S. Levi Chicago, Illinois

James W. Hubbard Washington, DC

Marvin E. Holmes, Jr. Cleveland, Ohio

Joanne Claybon Benson Roanoke, Virginia

Carolyn J. B. Howard Deland, Florida

Michael L. Vaughn Tuskeegee, Alabama

Aisha N. Braveboy Washington, DC

Dereck E. Davis Washington, DC

Melony Ghee Griffith Albilene, Texas

Melony Ghee Griffith Washington, DC

Jay Walker Los Angeles, California

Veronica L. Turner Washington, DC

James E. Proctor, Jr. Washington, DC

Joseph F. Vallario, Jr. Washington, DC

Sue Kullen Verona, Italy

Peter Murphy Washington, DC

Virginia P. Clagett Washington, DC

Ron George Syracuse, New York

Mary Ann Love West Pittson, Pennsylvania

B. Daniel Riley London, England

David Rudolph Summit, New Jersey

Susan K. McComas Denver, Colorado

Richard A. Sossi New York, New York

Adelaide C. Eckardt Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania

Douglas Page Elmore Nassawadox, Virginia

Charles E. Barkley Elkins, West Virginia

Kirill Reznik Kiev, Ukraine

Saqib Ali Chicago, Illinois

Barbara A. Robinson Alexandria City, Alabama

Shawn Z. Tarrant Freeport, New York

Stephen W. Lafferty Washington, DC

Curt Anderson Chicago, Illinois

Ann Marie Doory Yonkers, New York

Margaret L. McIntosh Quinter, Kansas

Keith E. Haynes Shelby, North Carolina

Talmadge Branch Northampton, North Carolina

Hattie N. Harrison Lancaster, South Carolina

Jolene Ivey Washington, DC

Doyle L. Niemann Grand Island, Nebraska

Victor R. Ramirez San Salvador, El Salvador

Wine By Mail

An article in The Sun by Laura Smitherman indicates that the Maryland General Assembly will consider changing the law to allow Marylanders to order wine and beer from other states and have it shipped here.

Currently, the law strictly prohibits this practice. You cannot go to Barboursville Wine's website and order this great bottle of Merlot. If you have ever been to Wine.Woot.com, you cannot order any of the great deals that they have if you live in Maryland. Their website states:

Thanks to stick-in-the-mud buzzkilling state legislators, wine may only be delivered to the following states:

- and Maryland is NOT on that list.

Morality-legislating elected officials have claimed that the law protects minors from obtaining alcohol by mail. Anyone who didn't grow up under a rock knows that children do not order $45 bottles of wine from Napa Valley. They have older friends or siblings who buy it for them. Tell me that's not what you did.

I'm not sure if this will impact any of our elected officials' alcohol desires, like Montgomery County Delegate Kumar Barve who was arrested for DUI, but whose charges were mysteriously dropped, or Baltimore County Council member Sam Moxley, who was not arrested once, but twice, for driving under the influence. Perhaps the law can be written so that only non-elected officials can order alcohol from outside of Maryland.

Regardless of our elected officials' reckless disregard for the laws they pass, let's hope they get this one right and allow adults in Maryland to order fine beverages and have them shipped to our state.

Contact your State Delegate or State Senator and tell them to vote for this! Don't know you your elected officials are? Go here.

O'Malley's New Slave Law

Thanks to Blair Lee for bringing this to my attention. Starting in 2011 all companies that want to do business in the state of Maryland will be forced to comply with a new law that Martin O'Malley signed on April 14th.

The new law titled the Maryland Slaveholder Insurance Disclosure Law requires that insurance companies disclose any policies they or their predecessor companies issued to slave holders up through 1865. In addition, they will also need to disclose the names of the slaves.

I want to know what the purpose is of this law. According to the lead sponsor of the bill, Lisa Gladden, queen of tax payer waste, said the law will "...help Americans gain a deeper understanding of the evils of slavery and to find peace with the nation's checkered past" and "this is about becoming comfortable with our history. This is about healing."

Um...don't we have schools where we already teach about slavery? Isn't slavery already condemned in modern society? How will forcing insurance companies disclose this information help us heal and find peace with our checkered past? Lisa Gladden - you're nuts.

Here's what Delegate Lisa wants: (husband at breakfast table reading the Washington Post because the Baltimore Sun no longer exists) "Hey honey, check out this list of slaves that Met Life insured in Maryland back in 1745. Wow! I now have a deeper understanding of the evils of slavery. Boy, I sure feel a lot more comfortable about my past. Let's move on! Can you pass me another Eggo?"

I predict that in 2011 you will no longer be able to get insurance in the state of Maryland. How in the world are insurance companies going to comply with this law? Is there punishment for not being able to comply with the law? Gladden claims there will be no punishment for their disclosure, but does the law protect them from punishment or is that her word? What's to stop them for demanding reparations from these companies in the future for their disclosures?

I don't know about you, but I don't trust any word that a politician says. Take Kumar Barve, for example. He says favors tough drunk driving laws, yet his checkered drunk driving past says otherwise.

If this law stays, then I demand that Martin O'Malley sign a law apologizing for the persecution of Catholics in the state of Maryland in the 1600's through most of the 1700's. For those of you who don't know - Maryland passed a law in 1654 making it a crime to be a Catholic. In 1692, Maryland passed a law requiring Catholics to pay a tax to the Church of England. Additionally, Catholics were forbidden from holding services, creating schools, or participating in public office.

I understand that this isn't quite the same context as slavery, but my point is that putting ridiculous constraints on companies for a past in which the living had no part is unreasonable and unproductive. Stop wasting tax-payer money and increasing the cost of doing business in Maryland. We're going to get to the point where Maryland is the most politically correct state in the union that doesn't have any private sector jobs.

New Maryland Law - Co-ed Showers

Maryland's hard-left wing liberal extremists who dominate both the State Senate and State House are hard at work wasting our money and time again. No, they're not working on ways to stimulate the economy, or help people get jobs. Nope. Health care? Nada. Solving Maryland's inadequate transportation problems? Nein. Instead they're busy pushing some really loony ideas. Here's one that was passed along to me in Delegate Susan Kreb's newsletter:

HB 474 and SB 566 - The Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity - Antidiscrimination Bill.

This bill will broadly define the protection awarded to people suffering from gender identity problems and casual cross-dressers. This means that men who dress as the opposite sex will be allowed (by law) to shower and undress in women's locker rooms.

How does this law protect women and children from sexual predators who want to take advantage of the law? It DOESN'T!!!!

Additionally, there will be no exceptions for dating services (if someone wants to pose as a woman and date men, the man on the other end has no right to know that the other person is a dude). Schools and daycares will not be exempt. These facilities for children must allow for gender benders to use the gender-specific bathroom and changing rooms of their choice. Finally, this bill also does not allow for exceptions for establishments for orthodox Jews, Muslim, or Christians.

Who are the nuts that support this bill?

Joseline Pena-Melnyk, Saquib Ali, Curt Anderson, Charles E. Barkley, Ben Barnes, Kumar (pass me another drink) Barve, Pamela Beidle, Joanne C. Benson, Elizabeth Bobo (Howard County), Talmadge Branch, Alfred C. Carr, Jill Carter, Virginia Clagett, Frank Conaway, Anne Marie Doory, Kathleen Dumais, Brian Feldman, William Frick, Barbara Frush, Tawanna Gaines, James Gilchrest, Cheryl Glenn, Ana Sol Gutierrez, Guy Guzzone (Howard County), Peter Hammen, Hattie Harrison, Anne Healey, Sue Hecht, Sheila Hixson, Marvin Holmes, James Hubbard, Tom Hucker, Jolene Ivey, Adrienne Jones, Anne Kaiser, Ruth Kirk, Carolyn Krysiak, Stephen Lafferty, Susan Lee, Mary Ann Love (Anne Arundel), Roger Manno, Brian McHale, Maggie McIntosh, Heather Mizeur, Karen Montgomery, Shirley Nathan-Pulliam, Doyle Niemann, Nathaniel T. Oaks, Victor Ramirez, Kirill Reznik, Craig Rice, Daniel Riley, Barbara Robinson, Samuel Rosenburg, Justin Ross, Todd Schuler (Baltimore County), Melvin Stukes, Shawn Tarrant, Frank Turner, Veronica Turner, Kris Valderrama, Joseph Vallario, Michael Vaughn, Jeff Waldstreicher, Jewell Jay Walker.

Not surprising is that most of these hard-left wingers are from Baltimore City, Prince George's County, or Montgomery County. And the openly homosexual delegates, obviously, support it.

However, there were a couple delegates from Anne Arundel County, one from Frederick County, and a couple from Howard County that also supported it. Fortunately for Michael Busch, he kept his name off of this toxic bill.

The Senate version of the same bill was sponsored by the following state senators:

Richard Madalone, Joan Carter Conway, Jennie Forehand, Rob Garagiola, Lisa Gladden, Harrington, Verna Jones, Nancy King, Mike Lenett, Nathaniel McFadden, Paul Pinsky, Catherine Pugh, Jamie Raskin, and Jim Rosapepe.

Again - no surprises in the sponsors. Did you see all of the Republicans who sponsored this ridiculous bill? That's right. None.

Contact your state legislators and tell them that you do not want to give another tool to sexual predators.

Do it now!

Stop the Slots Referendum

I've posted about this before, but now that we are almost to the election, I need to say this again.

Martin O'Malley, who opposed slots under Ehrlich, but favors him now that he is the governor, is pushing for the slots referendum. I am not against having slots in Maryland. However, I have been to Atlantic City and if this is what slots brings, no thank you. Leave that trash in New Jersey. Sounds like a contradiction, but I think I may have fallen into the old, "well if it's done correctly, then it may work" philosophy.

Rather than voting on the slots issue themselves and looking like total hypocrites, the Maryland Democrats voted to have a referendum. Referendums are questions that are put on the ballot for the voters to decide when politicians don't want to get in trouble for attaching their name to a law. Imagine if someone like Maryland Delegate Kumar Barve, who was arrested for drunk driving, but managed to have it expunged from his record (meaning it didn't really happen), voted in favor of slots and his constituents didn't like it. They would vote him out of office.

The problem with this referendum is that it puts the slots bill in the MARYLAND CONSTITUTION! This isn't like passing a law that says that the speed limit can't be above 65 mph. This is like the Big Time Law. It's nearly irrevocable. If voters pass this referendum, and it turns out to be horrible, then will have to convince their unresponsive politicians to put it back on referendum to have it removed from the Constitution.

In the newsletter that I subscribe to from State Comptroller Peter Franchot, he says:

This slots referendum doesn't just legalize slots - it writes gambling into our state Constitution. And, it is very specific. Not only are we enshrining slot machine gambling into the Constitution with Question 2 - we're going to make it nearly impossible to change the law. Once it's in our Constitution - we have to pass another Constitutional amendment to protect Maryland families.

This law does not belong in our Constitution. It needs to be passed by our legislatures in the General Assembly. There is a difference.

Additionally, O'Malley is airing misleading advertisements about what the slots will do. He says that it will generate $600 million for schools. I read that this may be over-inflated by as much as 150%. That's a HUGE over-inflation.

Additionally, as Blair Lee has pointed out, the slots referendum says that much of the money will go to schools. However, there is no "back-door" provision in the law. This means that O'Malley can divert the current funding sources to education and use that for something else, like mirrors in his office to see his pretty smile. Therefore, the slots will not mean additional funding for education, it would be THE funding source for education.

And everyone's assuming that this will bring in a lot of money. If Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, and West Virginia already have slots, are we really bringing that much more money into the state? How much gambling money is there to spend? No one should expect new gambling money to be pumped into the system. We're just going to spread existing gambling money around.

Furthermore, if the slots referendum passes, this money will start pouring in immediately, right? Or do you suppose the state will have to order the machines, sign contracts with gambling companies, and build facilities first? Does this mean that the slots could be several years away from fruition? But O'Malley said that in these tough economic times, slots are needed now. perhaps they have already been brokering dark alley deals and everything's is ready to go. Wouldn't that be nice? Politicians doing things behind our backs. That's never happened before.

Anyone who's over 25 knows that tough economic times usually do not last several years. O'Malley is just looking for a phantom boost to our economy. he's pretending that he's "making the tough decisions to invest in our future." He's so full of crap. He's making scape-goat decisions to help lengthen his political career. Martin O'Malley is so vain that he probably thinks Carly Simon's song is about him. Hey, Martin O'Malley, have you been to Nova Scotia lately?

If Marylanders were smarter than we are, we'd reject the slots referendum and start working on removing this bone-head from office. We want a governor that's interested in Maryland, not a governor that's interested in Martin O'Malley.