Martin O'Malley: Nepotism is Our Friend. And Relative.

Everyone who has ever held a real job knows that nepotism is bad. If you're a Baltimore City public school graduate, you're probably asking, 'what is nepotism?'

Nepotism is granting favors to relatives or friends regardless of merit. In most cases, situations of nepotism would be severely criticized. It should not be tolerated. But it's an entirely different situation here in Maryland. Especially with the Democratic Party.

According to the Daily Record, on February 18th, Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley re-appointed his wife Katie O'Malley to a 2nd term as a Baltimore District Court Judge.

Isn't that something that Tony Brown could have done? Is there no conflict of interest in appointing your wife to a position of power, regardless of her qualifications? This isn't illegal??? I'm not questioning her ability to serve that position. Most likely she deserves it. It just should be someone else doing the appointing.

Then, according to Robert Lang on WBAL.com, on March 4th, Martin O'Malley nominated his brother Peter to be the next chairman of the Maryland Democratic Party.

It's bad enough that Katie O'Malley is the daughter of former Lt. Governor and former Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. Now we have an O'Malley as Governor. An O'Malley as a Baltimore District Court Judge, and will soon have an O'Malley as the chairman of the Maryland Democratic Party.

Is this the modern Kennedy family? This is the political mafia at its finest.

Imagine if the Republican Party had done the same thing. You KNOW the liberal press and the Democrats would be going ballistic. Instead, they sit quietly on the sidelines blissfully nodding their heads in agreement. Remember the old Bugs Bunny cartoon with Mugsy and Rocky? This is the Democratic Party in Maryland. Sitting around saying, "Okay, boss."

When I become rule of the world, my wife will become Czar of Family Care, my father will be the Czar of Public Policy, my mother the Czar of Healthcare, my brother will be he Czar of Public Works, my sister will be the Czar of Information Technology, and I'll let my kids choose what they want to do. And you'll like it. Because I'm in charge.

O'Malley Ads on WBAL

So what's the deal with the totally obnoxious ads being played by the O'Malley campaign on WBAL radio?

If you look at the demographics, the vast majority of the listeners are conservative, working families, who want common-sense government. This is in total contrast to the average O'Malley voter.

WBAL, on the other hand, must accept these ads in all fairness. And if you're a business, you're not likely to turn down good money.

I suggest that the O'Malley campaign is running these ridiculous 'fairly tale' ads with the sole purpose of annoying the voting base of Bob Ehrlich. Think about it. Are these ads going to change the minds of these listeners? Not at all. Will the listeners suddenly want to vote for a governor who is championing massive spending programs funded by borrowed money - money that will have to be repaid with massive tax-hikes that will strip the middle-class of their lifestyle?

If you are a liberal pro-O'Malley voter, I would think that you would be fairly irritated that the Democratic Party in Maryland is wasting your campaign contributions on such frivolous, unproductive, and wasteful attack ads.

But if that's how O'Malley wants to waste your money - I'm all for it!

Bob Ehrlich for Governor!

It's official. Bob Ehrlich has finally thrown his hat in the ring for Governor. Everyone knew that he was going to run, but no one knew if he was going to run.

I think the sentiment in Maryland, and across the country for that matter, is very anti-establishment, just like it was 4 years ago when the Republicans were in office. This time it's the Democrats. However, since a good chunk of Maryland is such an anti-Christian Socialist-leaning state, especially down in Montgomery County, I'm still not sure if he can win.

I do think, however, that his chances this time are better than they were during the last election when America had had enough of the Republicans, the war, and the economy and booted the bumbs out. I'm all in favor of booting the bumbs out. As I've mentioned many times there needs to be higher turnover in politics and I would love to see term-limits.

This time, the economy still sucks. Maryland's unemployment is still hovering around 10% and Martin O'Malley should not be rewarded for that.

The Democrats in Congress have passed massive legislation committing trillions of dollars to a new health insurance program. Not we have to figure out how pay for it. Obama said it will be paid for by eliminating middle-men and streamlining operations. For anyone that has ever owned a business you know that this is mostly bullpoop. So now we really have to figure out how to pay for it. And since Martin O'Malley is a Democrat, he is guilty by association and should not be rewarded for bankrupting our children's future.

Martin O'Malley said that he was going to stop BIG utility companies from raising their rates. He lied. He let them raise their rates. Not once. But several times. And in exchange for raising rates, he got Constellation Energy to give away millions of dollars. Having Martin O'Malley in the pockets of BIG utilities is no different than Republicans being in the pockets of BIG utilities, so since Martin O'Malley lied, he should not be rewarded with another term.

Another thing to consider is that while Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1 in Maryland, that statistic is misleading. Many people are registered as Democrats because the Republican party is so small in Maryland. Take my parents, for example. Both are registered Democrats because they know that voting in the Republican primaries is not going to have much of an impact, so if they can choose the most moderate Democrat, they can pull the political thought closer to the middle where most Americans really stand.

So here is my prediction - if Republicans come out in force and ALL vote for Ehrlich and a bunch of Democrats also vote for him and Democrats are disillusioned or over-confident and don't show up at the polls, he has a chance to win. However, if O'Malley's hypnotising babbling rhetoric convinces people that he's a political god, then Ehrlich will lose.

Let's hope that I'm not confident enough in my predictions.

Baltimore County Councilman Won't Seek Reelection

When I heard on the news that a Baltimore County Councilman will not seek reelection, I said to the radio, "Which one?" They then said it was the drunk one. I said, "Which one?"


Apparently it's the robust Democrat Sam Moxley who has been arrested twice in the past 4 years for drunk driving.


But he wants to continue to serve the public (which should be read as reap the benefits of public office). He wants to run for Clerk of the Courts position that is open due to the resignation (retirement) of 80 year old Suzanne Mensh.


Hopefully the good people of Baltimore County have enough sense to vote for someone who actually deserves the position. One who is not dependent on his pals Bud and Jack to get through the day. Can you image a drunk Moxley swearing in Pat McDonough, potentially the next Baltimore County Executive? Oh, my!

Vote for the Most & Least Effective in Maryland General Assembly

Thanks to my friends at Maryland Politics Watch (I'm not sure if they like me or not, but I read their blog!) - they have intercepted an email to the Gazette that allows you to vote for the most and least influential State Senators and State Delegates.

Click on this link to vote for yourself:

Gazette Poll.

Who do you think is the least and most effective? For the record, I voted for both Republicans and Democrats. Which Democrats would I vote for? My friend Saqib Ali, for one. He seems like an honest guy. And I'll take an honest hard-working Democrat over a questionable fringe Republican.

O'Malley: Iraq and Hard Place

Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley just visited occupied Iraq claiming it was to visit Maryland National Guard troops. While there he held up the Maryland flag for a photo-op, ate some barbecue, put on his fake smile, thanked the soldiers, and left.

I don't have a problem with the spirit of the visit. We all want to thank our troops for putting their lives on the line. Many of us actually do things like coordinate gift packs, books, magazines, etc. for the soldiers. Marty had to do something so that he didn't look like an callous fool come election day.

But you must ask yourself - how much money did it cost the state of Maryland to fly him there and how much did we have to foot for his protection? God help us if Marty got blowed up. (I heard students from Baltimore City saying 'blowed-up', and since B-more City teachers and elected officials say that the students have made great strides, then 'blowed-up' it is!)

However, like Ehrlich, I question the true reasons for the visit. You know he has an ulterior motive for going there. Now he can go to the military voters (overwhelmingly Republican) and say, "I support the troops! I went to Iraq!!! Go America!!!"

We all know Marty is going to run for Gov'nah again and it's probably safe to say (God help us) that he will win again. But he's clearly lining himself up for a run at Senator. If Babsy runs again, it is probably safe to say (God help us) that she'll win again, she'll finish her term and be done, leaving her seat wide-open for him. John Sarbanes - there ain't no way in H-E-double hockey stick you're going to get that U.S. Senate seat if you run against Marty (God help us).

So on top of Ehrlich doing the mandatory criticism of O'Malley taking this trip during an state-wide economic crisis (which may be to redirect the attention of our short-minded voters), Tony Brown immediately responds by saying that Ehrlich's criticism is irresponsible. I was hoping that Ehrlich would respond to Tony's criticism by saying it was partisan, to which Tony could have replied that Erhlich's rebuttal was inappropriate, to which Ehrlich could have responded that Tony's rebuttal was immature. And so on. And so on.

I love the juvenile nature of politics!!!

O'Malley Saves the Day for Small Businesses

Despite his hatred of private companies, Martin O'Malley has proposed a $3,000 tax credit for small businesses that hire unemployed people. This is his plan for putting Marylanders back to work.

He mentioned that the state will spend $20 million for this program. When asked where that money will come from (since tax revenues are dropping faster than bodies in East Baltimore), O'Malley's voice got soft and fatherly and he then mumbled something incoherent.

Insiders have informed me that the tax credit for small business will be paid for by a new tax on small businesses. O'Malley's logic, they say, is that if they are going to reap the benefits, they should also pay for it.

Unfortunately, as there are now only 16 small businesses left in Maryland, the impact of the new tax credit will probably be as small as O'Malley's popularity in Carroll County.

The Apparition of Andy Harris

Andy Harris is a feisty guy. He stands by his principals and refuses to back down. I don't have a problem with Andy Harris or his beliefs. He'd be an easy win in Western Maryland.

You'll recall that Andy Harris single-handedly gave the Democratic Party the Maryland 1st District, which is Harford County, parts of Baltimore County, and the Eastern Shore. This is not Western Maryland. The Maryland 1st district in a moderate Congressional district. Harris is no moderate. However, he defeated moderate Republican Wayne Gilchrest in the Republican primary election. Harris was then was defeated by Democrat Wayne Kratovil in the general election. Maryland had 2 Republicans in Congress. Now we have one.

Fortunately for Harris, the Congressional elections are every 2 years and it was mid-term for him and his state senate seat. He could comfortably run for the Congressional seat without worrying about losing the State Senate seat if he lost. This time it is a different story.

Andy Harris has given every indication that he will again run for election in the Maryland 1st District against Frank Kratovil. However, Frank Kratovil is no dummy. In the highly controversial Healthcare Reform bill, better known as socialized healthcare, Frank Kratovil was one of only a handful of Democrats to vote against this trillion dollar boondoggle. Who's the moderate?

Furthermore, Martin O'Malley bedfellow Jim Smith, the current Baltimore County Executive, recently put his house up for sale and announced his intentions to move to Andy Harris' district with full intentions of running for his State Senate seat. Well known to the area, Jim Smith is a sure win. And Jim Smith is an unapologetic tax and spend, toe-kissing liberal extremist. When Martin O'Malley says to jump, Jim Smith asks how high.

So because Andy Harris is showing intentions of abandoning his seat in the State Senate, the Republicans will lose yet another vote. Furthermore, Kratovil is turning out to be more moderate than anyone expected. The Maryland 1st District, as I mentioned, likes their moderates. And Andy Harris is no moderate.

Is It Just Me?

Is it just me or does it seem like the more people that get laid off the worse the economy gets?

Is it just me or does it seem like the music from our generation seems to be the best and it's been downhill ever since?

Is it just me or does it seem like most people vote for politicians that promise to give them something rather than for politicians who want to fix the system?

Is it just me or are all of my food packages getting smaller?

Is it just me or does it seem like politicians don't really care what the people think, they're going to do whatever they want anyway because they know we'll forget at election time?

Is it just me or does it seem like corrupt politics are tolerated in Maryland?

Is it just me or is it really difficult to get excited about sports in Maryland once the NFL season is over?

Is it just me or are people getting tired about hearing how historic it is for Obama to be the first black President? I think we get it.

Is it just me or does it seem like it's colder than it used to be, but we still don't get very much snow?

Is it just me or do most people at work slack off while I'm usually busy working?

Is it just me or does Tom Daschle look totally ridiculous in Sally Jesse Raphael's glasses?

Is it just me or does it seem like the more money I make the less I have?

Is it just me or should I get back to work?

Andy Harris' Friends

Is anyone else tired of hearing about Andy Harris' friends? I'm sure you've heard the ad. They only play it EVERY commerical for EVERY program. Sure, Andy Harris' friends probably aren't my friends, but I'll bet it's also safe to say that Frank Kratovil's rich lawyer friends aren't your friends, either.

Sure, attack ads are just part of the political process. You say that you're awesome and your opponent sucks and then you make exaggerated outrageous claims against him that are entirely out of context and everyone thinks the other person is a jerk. Then the opponent plays the same ad, but changes roles, and the game continues.

For example, Frank Kratovil said that Andy Harris likes Big Utilities. Harris voted in favor of Big Utilities and got campaign contributions. Then Big Utilities raised our rates. Hello! Pretty much everyone in the Maryland General Assembly voted in favor of Big Utilities. And nearly all politicians, Republican and Democrat, including our humble Governor, Martin O'Malley, received campaign contributions from Big Utilities (e.g. Constellation Energy, aka BGE).

So, Mr. Frank Kratovil the hard-left leaning Liberal lawyer: when you get elected, which I unfortunately predict you will, let's see how much money you don't accept from Big Everything and stay true to yourself. I'll bet it lasts 2.3 seconds. As soon as you're in office, you'll be accepting money and voting in favor of your biggest contributors, not the voters in your district. Be honest - you know you're a dishonest crook just like the rest of them. That's oxymoronic, isn't it???

And here's a message for the Republican Party of Maryland. Maryland is full of Democrats. You are not going to win seats by running ultra conservatives like Andy Harris. The only Republicans outside of Western Maryland that can get elected are moderates. If Andy Harris loses this seat for Maryland Republicans, we will be left with 1 Republican in Congress - Roscoe Bartlett. And guess what? The district map will be redrawn in 2010 and you better believe that the uber-liberal O'Malley will redraw that district to go down into Montgomery County with the ultimate plan of permanently eliminating Republican Congressmen from Maryland.

We're outnumbered. Stop playing the game arrogantly and start playing it intelligently.

Letter From House Republican Caucus

I received this from Delegate Susan Krebs. This is not my own writing.
__________________________________________________

HOUSE REPUBLICAN CAUCUS MEDIA RELEASE

For Immediate Release

Contact: Shannon Oxley (410) 841-3401
Carrie Simons-Sparrow (410) 841-3401

Maryland House Republicans Respond to O’Malley Budget Cuts

Maryland House Republicans today responded to Governor O’Malley’s announcement of his planned budget cuts with skepticism.

“ Last year at this time we were told that the state was in a fiscal crisis, and the only way to deal with the situation was to increase taxes, while still continuing to increase spending” said Minority Leader Anthony O’Donnell. “Both during the special session and the 2008 regular legislative session, we continued to remind the administration and the Democratic leadership that increasing taxes and spending at a time when the economy was headed into a downturn was irresponsible and reckless. By disregarding our advice, they have created the situation that makes these cuts necessary. They cannot simply blame the national economic downturn.”

The actions taken during the special session of 2007 raised taxes in Maryland by $1.3 billion, the largest increase in State history, while total spending increased from fiscal year 2008 to 2009 by 4.2%, an increase of $1.3 billion. The Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan tax research group based in Washington, D.C., announced on Oct 15th that, according to their annual review of “business friendliness” of each state’s tax systems, Maryland dropped from 24th in the nation to 45th. This was the largest decline of any state in the nation, a direct result of the O’Malley tax increases.

“This administration has increased taxes and spending in an already gloomy economic environment. Raising taxes right before a national recession has worsened this crisis, dampening consumer spending and creating a climate that will discourage job creation” said Minority Whip Christopher Shank. “Yet Governor O’Malley refuses to acknowledge his own part in the current situation, and continues to ignore our calls for responsible fiscal leadership.”

“The House Republican Caucus has offered an alternative budget proposal for the past two years, and we have been soundly ignored and even flippantly dismissed for entirely partisan political reasons” continued Delegate O’Donnell. “Are the administration and the legislative leadership going to continue setting unrealistic budgets and coming back with doomsday scenarios as an annual event? Or will we finally recognize that significant, honest, ongoing reductions and a fundamental change in attitude is the only way to prevent exactly that?”

“We will continue to offer alternative budget solutions that are thought-out, honest, and reflect core priorities” said Delegate Shank. “Cutting core state priorities like public safety and services to vulnerable populations would not be necessary if the Administration and Democratic leadership had restrained the rate of growth and reigned in spending like we proposed for the past two sessions. Now is the time to seriously consider all of the options available in order to ensure that Maryland citizens are served by their government rather than being encumbered by it.”

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.