Daffodil Lane: Political: Maryland Archives

December 26, 2006

Insurer to limit policies in Maryland

Allstate Corp., one of Maryland's largest insurers, will stop writing homeowners' policies in coastal areas of the state, citing warnings by scientists that a warmer Atlantic Ocean will lead to more strong hurricanes hitting the Northeast.
The company will no longer offer new property insurance beginning in February in all or part of 11 counties mostly along the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Existing customers won't be affected; a spokeswoman said Allstate intends to renew those policies even in coastal areas. It will continue to write new policies in Baltimore and Baltimore County.

......
Allstate's move will affect residents in Calvert, Dorchester, Somerset, St. Mary's, Talbot, Wicomico and Worcester counties and parts of Anne Arundel, Charles, Prince George's and Queen Anne's.

If other insurers follow suit this is going to be extremely bad for this area. You can't buy a home with a mortgage if you can't get insurance on it. As we've seen from our neighbors to the south that once the big boys move out of the insurance business in an area, it gets filled by much more dishonest and expensive replacements that slowly drain an area of the vitality. In places like Florida they have the tourist industry is able to prop up the drain on the local economy, but further North without that kind of offset, it's not clear to me how we will be able to keep the drain on our economy from happening. Definitely speaks to the need that once we get some real representation in the Governor's mansion and that we need to need to join West Coast and the other Northeastern states in restriction CO2 growth in our state and our country. I fear the people of District 31 are going to regret the lack of serious legislators in Annapolis during the next few years as things get worse.

[via America Blog]

Read more over at Baltimore Sun.

Posted by Jamison at 9:00 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

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Who said Kipke and Schuh aren't serious? Certainly an improvement over Cadden and Leopold...

Posted by: Ted at December 26, 2006 4:52 PM

Given that they are Republicans and given the track record of Republicans in Annapolis, I see no reason to expect that they will even try to be any more effective than their mentors Dwyer and Leopold. I could be totally wrong, but I expect to get the same level of poor service as I got from Dwyer and Leopold for the next four years from their disciples Kipke and Schuh. They will represent the most radical Republican ideals and not their constituents. It's just the way things are when you have Republicans in office.

Posted by: Jamison at December 27, 2006 9:30 AM

November 19, 2006

Justice Department Won't Investigate Flier Distribution

Honestly, for as long as I can remember our government hasn't been as dishonest and partisan as it's been under the Republicans in the last 6 years. The Republican controlled Justice department has decided that it shouldn't investigate the obvious misconduct committed by the Republicans in Maryland desperately trying to swing the vote towards their candidates on Election day. I mean the Governor's wife met the workers as they got off the buses to give them their assignments, but it had nothing to do with Ehrlich or Steele if you ask the Republicans in Washington. This is yet another blatant abuse of power by the Bush Administration trying to cover for the criminal activities of a Republican party that has gone completely out of control. When Republicans scream out in horror about why they are losing races that used to be close, the answer is that Americans believe in the rule of law and not the tyrannical whims of dictators. It's utterly disgraceful that this kind of misconduct goes unpunished. This is yet more evidence of the two tiered system with one set of laws for the rest of us and one set of laws for Republicans.

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November 16, 2006

GOP is seeking to be less confrontational

Now I find that extremely hard to believe. This is the party of Don Dwyer and Brian Simonaire folks. They are narrowly focused on a handful the most divisive issues on the planet. These are the only issues they care about at all. The entire rest of the state could fall into complete disrepair and be destroyed, but it wouldn't even bother the GOP. I mean look at Dwyer's quote when people brought up how ineffective he was representing District 31 because of his absolute focus on divisive issues instead of actually representing his district, "If you think I was ineffective before, Katie bar the door." We can pretty much expect the same thing going forward for all the Republicans. As we've seen nationally, there is no such thing as a "moderate" Republican, your choices are more or less extremist.

I've really enjoyed the extremist Republicans of District 31 claiming that the "county is still trending Republican." Reality check guys, you got a massive boost because of Ehrlich a local candidate for a statewide office, in a normal year you wouldn't have gotten that kind of turn out. Your base got motivated hoping they could turn the tide of the state and they failed. Everywhere else you lost ground or broke even at best. In the four years we've seen the Republican party wasting valuable time on their extremist agenda and the voters will actually be ready for real representation and we will see where your vaunted trending is heading.

Read more over at Washington Post and Free State Politics.

Posted by Jamison at 11:41 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

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That's funny....Democrats push to open the borders to illegal aliens and wants to turn us into a socialist nation.

Incidentally, the base wasn't that motivated. The fact of the matter is that the Democratic candidates in District 31 were weak. And there is no bench.

The Democratic party in Distrcit 31 is DEAD.

Posted by: Jason Black at November 18, 2006 12:07 PM

Yeah, it's the Democrats in District 31 that were single handily opening America's borders and turning us into a socialist nation. Please! It's the state legislature folks they have absolutely NO control over anything related to those topics.

As for the specifics of the Democratic party in District 31, I'm writing up a special post mortem post about what went wrong.

Posted by: Jamison at November 18, 2006 2:49 PM

Maryland's fiscal woes to linger

Gov.-elect Martin O'Malley will face fiscal problems nearly as dire as those endured by Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., with state spending expected to outpace tax receipts by more than $1 billion a year for the foreseeable future without major policy changes, nonpartisan General Assembly analysts predicted yesterday.
One of Ehrlich's major claims on the campaign trail was that he turned $4 billion in predicted deficits into a $2 billion surplus. That was true, but the report presented yesterday to the state Spending Affordability Committee indicates that the state's fiscal turnaround was a blip of good fortune masking a long-term, structural imbalance between revenues and spending that the Ehrlich administration did not fix.

This is just an example of what you get when you put a Republican in charge of your budget. I except to see the same kinds of financial failures with our new county executive. Republican economic changes cause short term jumps in the economy, but they are never sustainable and therefore those policies are doomed to failure. Once again the children have run the state into a hole and now it's the Democrats job to come in and take responsibility for saving the future. I really don't get why the voters can't figure that out. Take for instance this scenario, right now the Republicans in Congress are screaming about cutting the budget deficit in half, which actually means they have to cut their overspending in half, not counting their spending for the war. So you see if you want to know why the Republicans have added 5 trillion dollars to our national debt, it's because the war is being put on the national credit card, but the Republicans refuse to count that overspending against themselves. It's ridiculous. O'Malley is going to have to make some hard choices to secure the future of Maryland. Choices that the Republicans are incapable of making.

Read more over at Baltimore Sun.

Posted by Jamison at 7:47 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

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November 8, 2006

Ehrlich Finally Concedes Maryland Governor's Race

Mayor Martin O'Malley reclaimed the Maryland governor's office for Democrats today, cutting into Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s base in the Baltimore suburbs and rolling up huge margins in Democratic strongholds in the city and the suburban counties around Washington.
Ehrlich called O'Malley this morning to concede, acknowledging there were not enough absentee ballots outstanding to overcome the Democratic lead.

In a brief and hastily called news conference in the rain outside the governor's mansion in Annapolis, Ehrlich said he congratulated the governor-elect.

It was clear last night that the people of Maryland had spoken, but apparently Ehrlich held on until this morning without conceeding. I for one am extremely happy to see him go!

Found via the Baltimore Sun.

Posted by Dianne at 1:23 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

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How long before good sense overtakes Steele?

Posted by: Jamison at November 8, 2006 2:50 PM

Is he still holding out? They called that race a long time ago!

Posted by: Dianne at November 8, 2006 3:14 PM

November 7, 2006

CNN Maryland Results

Results from Maryland via CNN.

Posted by Dianne at 10:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

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And Now For Maryland!

CNN is also calling the new governor of Maryland to be Martin O'Malley!!

Can it be true? Are we finally getting rid of Ehrlich? Has it only been 4 years? It seems like so much longer!!!

Posted by Dianne at 9:32 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

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Don't hold your breath; they're calling it based on half the precincts in Queen Anne's County.

But they've called Cardin beating Steele too, so keep your fingers crossed!

Posted by: reno at November 7, 2006 9:39 PM

I don't get how they're calling when only 5% of the precincts are in statewide. Plus, what about all those absentee ballots??? It just seems a little short-sided of them -- isn't this what the press has gotten in trouble for in past elections???

Posted by: katherine at November 7, 2006 10:02 PM

It's all exit polls, of course. But they've counted Baltimore and started PG county now, and it appears that Steele's "target demographic" decided NOT to switch parties this year. With that piece of info, it's safe to project Cardin.

Posted by: reno at November 7, 2006 10:06 PM

I think they learned their lesson about calling things until they were really sure. This one was locked up.

Posted by: Dianne at November 8, 2006 2:31 PM

GOP Hands Out Inaccurate Sample Ballots In Maryland

Inaccurate sample ballots describing Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and Senate candidate Michael S. Steele as Democrats were handed out to voters in at least four polling sites in Prince George's County this morning.The ballots were handed out by people who said they arrived by buses this morning from Pennsylvania and Delaware.
Erik Markle, one of the people handing out literature for Ehrlich, who is seeking reelection, and Steele, the current lieutenant governor who is campaigning to replace retiring Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D), said he was recruited at a homeless shelter in Philadelphia.

After a two-hour bus ride to Maryland, Markle said the workers were greeted early this morning by first lady Kendel Ehrlich, who thanked them as they were outfitted in T-shirts and hats with the logo for Ehrlich's reelection campaign. Nearly all of those recruited, Markle said, are poor and black. Workers traveled to Maryland in at least seven large buses.

If you can't win, then practice deception. Again the "values" and "morals" of these people are astounding! Of course they deny it and are playing dumb, but it's obvious what they are up to. The best practice is this; WHEN WALKING INTO YOUR POLLING PLACE DON'T TALK TO ANYONE AND DON'T TAKE PAPERS FROM ANYONE EITHER!! That is one of my biggest pet peeve about voting in person is the fact that all those people stand there from both sides trying to get you to change your mind at the last minute and the GOPers will flat out lie to your face about their candidates as evidenced above! They are just aggressive as all get out!

Intervention time! They must GO!!

Found via the Washinton Post.

Posted by Dianne at 3:25 PM

November 6, 2006

Voter Hotlines

If someone tries to prevent you from voting here's who to call:

1-866-OUR VOTE (1-866-687-8683)

1-888-DEMVOTE (1-888-336-8683)

Remember you have the right to vote and if they want to contest your right you have the right to request a provisional ballot. The law is on YOUR side, not theirs. They are simply trying to portray something that is not reality. Get in their face, do not be afraid. Proceed with knowledge and pass along that knowledge to others. Don't be afraid. Also if you don't get through to these numbers on the first try keep trying. There have been reports of someone trying to jam these lines already. Don't let someone threaten you or bully you into being disenfranchised.

Posted by Dianne at 12:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

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November 4, 2006

Maryland Candidates and Questions

The League of Women's Voters has a very nice run down of the questions up for vote on the Maryland Ballot and what they actually mean. They also have a run down of all the candidates in Maryland along with bios and their stance on the issues. Check it out.

Posted by Dianne at 9:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

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November 3, 2006

Ehrlich Caught Red Handed Breaking The Law...Again!

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has returned a half-million dollars in political contributions that were funneled through a federal account after the Maryland State Board of Elections said the money shifting violated state law, according to campaign officials and documents released yesterday.
Use of the federal account to pay for the governor's re-election effort, which was first revealed in The Sun in August, allowed Ehrlich to receive large sums of in-kind contributions from the Maryland Republican Party and increase the campaign's resources by bypassing a $4,000 donation cap set by state law.

The choice is simple...On November 7th it's time to send this clown to the unemployment line! The wingers will spin and spin, but the simple truth of the matter is that he knew it was wrong, he just hoped he wouldn't get caught. That's leadership for you, I mean really!

Found via the Baltimore Sun.

Posted by Dianne at 10:50 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

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November 2, 2006

Republicans Teach Voter Intimidation In Maryland...No Surprise There

A recently distributed guide for Republican poll watchers in Maryland spells out how to aggressively challenge the credentials of voters and urges these volunteers to tell election judges they could face jail time if a challenge is ignored.
Democrats said yesterday they consider the handbook, obtained by The Washington Post, evidence of a Republican effort to block people from voting Tuesday.

"The tenor of the material is that they are asking folks, if not directing them, to challenge voters," said Bruce L. Marcus, an attorney for the state Democratic Party. "It's really tantamount to a suppression effort."

Advocacy groups including the National Campaign for Fair Elections, Common Cause and the NAACP, as well as a George Washington University professor who is an expert on voter suppression, agreed with that assessment.

Barbara Burt of Common Cause said the technique, last seen in Ohio in the 2004 presidential election, is an "insidious voter intimidation tactic."

Not surprising at all. You have a group of people who thrive on dishonesty and racism and then they set out to keep people from voting by using intimidation and fear mongering. It's going to get ugly. It truly is a sad day in our country when there are those that try to take away our right as citizens to vote simply because we don't agree with their archaic view of the world. If you vote Republican you condone this type of behavior. It's as simple as that.

The Maryland Democratic party will have poll watchers to ensure that this kind of thing doesn't fly. If you are confronted about voting here in Maryland then please call 1-888-678-VOTE (8683) and let them know right away. It is your right to vote and petty individuals who wish to use intimidation to keep you from doing so must be stopped.

Found via the Washington Post.

Posted by Dianne at 8:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

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November 1, 2006

John Edwards to Campaign For Maryland Democrats

Senator Edwards to attend a rally to support gubernatorial candidate Martin O'Malley, senate candidate Ben Cardin, and other local Democratic candidates.
5:15 PM

Morgan State University
Calvin & Tina Tyler Ballroom, University Student Center
1700 East Coldspring Lane
Baltimore, Maryland
(Doors open to the public at 4:30 PM)

I'm personally a big fan of John Edwards and his wife Elizabeth. In fact I think if Mr. Edwards had won the Democratic nomination instead of Kerry we wouldn't have had a second reign of Bush. I think Alexis and I may venture over to this tomorrow afternoon. We'll see how things go.

Read more over at One America For All Of Us and if you live in Maryland try to make it out and show your support.

Posted by Dianne at 1:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

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September 30, 2006

Our "Esteemed" Governor Up To No Good...AGAIN!

"This is the most important letter I have ever written to you," Ehrlich wrote in the letter to contributors mailed this week. "That's why I've taken the extraordinary step of sending you a real dollar bill. . . . I don't expect you to keep this dollar. I'm asking that you return this dollar along with a contribution of $25 or more."
DeLeaver said the campaign used the technique four years ago with no complaints.

"If there's an issue here, it's four years too late," she said.

But DeMarinis said the letter raises "multiple issues."

It is clearly illegal under Maryland law for candidates to give people money to garner their vote. The propriety of what Ehrlich did is less clear, he said.

The law also requires campaign expenditures to be made by check, and this involves cash, DeMarinis said.

The state attorney general's office is assisting with his inquiry, DeMarinis said.

Well what do you know, old Erlich is up to no good yet again! Not only did he break one set of laws, he actually broke two regarding campaign money. Plain and simple it's illegal to buy votes and it's illegal to pay for anything in cash. There's one and there two for you. Maybe this is why he needed all that tainted Abramoff money to buy this election, though he'll probably just as easily switch the old Diebold machines in his favor to "win", but I digress.

His defense is lame. Basically he argues that he got away with it four years ago so he should be allowed to continue to break the law with impunity now. Wow! What a great message to send out to criminals...It's ok to break the law as long as you can get away with it! I mean go ahead and commit murder or rape or whatever else you want to do, just know how to get away with it and if you get away with it once, it's ok to continue to commit your crimes because after all you did it once before! I just feel the moral values abounding with this man! More of those legendary Republican "moral values" that we always hear about, when in reality the only "values" they have are being indecent and they are anything but moral! They are only law breaking, generally miserable human beings devoid of souls. It just warms the heart doesn't it?

Read more over at AMERICAblog and check out the article in the Baltimore Sun.

Posted by Dianne at 7:04 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

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September 12, 2006

Long delays reported as primary gets under way

It's always troubling to see problems like this cropping up on an election day. Considering that two of the three counties involved are Democratic strongholds it's extremely disturbing to see. Because in a primary where we get about a third of the normal level of voting, it's scary that we can't get the voting machines working properly and the poll workers staffed properly. Nothing jumps out as an overt general election test run by the Republican party yet, but folks this is exactly their kind of bread and butter voter suppression type activities. I think that the Democratic party is definitely going to have to spend some serious efforts to make sure that we can avoid these kinds of problems in the general election.

Read more over at Baltimore Sun.

Posted by Jamison at 11:31 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

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I must say this is a pretty uninformed statement about the election process in Maryland. Respectfully, on multiple levels you have it wrong.

First, the county implements the local voting. The last time I checked, that would mean Janet Owen's administration who is not a Republican.

Second, the state dictates the procedures for voting and purchases the equipment. Usually, this would mean that blame could land squarely on the Republican governor. Bingo! We have a Republican to blame! Finally, meaning in life.

But not so fast...

The General Assembly has stripped the Republican Governor of all his power in overseeing the elections. He can no longer appoint members to the State Elections Board without approval from the Democratic State Party; and the Board of Elections cannot fire the state elections administrator without super majorities in the State Senate (even after this debacle).

So you see, the Republican Governor has nothing to do with the voting problems in Maryland because they have nothing to do with the process and never have. Except control of the Government House which happens once every 30 years or so, the Democratic Party has controlled the electoral process, which will continue to experience failures, until real change is implemented.

Respectfully,

Posted by: steve at September 13, 2006 10:39 PM

Steve, I'm actually not unaware of the actual structure of the electoral structure of Maryland. Which is why I picked my words so carefully. I said it didn't appear to be a Republican plot. And I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss Republican voter suppression efforts. If you recall Ehrlich was the one slowing up the purchase of the electronic voting registry because his vile minions were working so hard to undermine the early voting efforts. So when we see that voting was disrupted by the fact that election judges weren't able to get trained on those electronic registries caused problems on election day. It's not a quantum leap I'm making here. It's just the facts that's getting in the way of your partisan beliefs. Sorry about that, but truth first, propping up unrealistic partisan beliefs of Republican is like one millionth on my list of concerns.

Posted by: Jamison at September 14, 2006 8:40 AM

I once met an old school yellow-dog politician who subscribed to the philosophy that he who makes the rules, wins the game. When the majority party tries to change the rules in the 59th minute of the eleventh hour, I have problems with that...

But...

The problems on Tuesday had nothing to do with early voting or the machines. It had everything to do with the FACT the Board of Election did not have enough judges and had to fill slots with untrained judges. These judges weren't untrained because the machines were late arriving. They were untrained because until Tuesday morning, they weren't going to be judges.

The FACT is that the Board of Elections has known for quite a number of years that an electin would be held on September 12, 2006 in Maryland and that poll workers would be needed to cover a certain number of precincts. Their inability to prepare and have enough judges to cover the precincts falls squarely on them and is the direct cause for the problems on election day.

Tuesdays election underscores a much deeper problem in our election system. A lack of accountability -- the status quo will continue as if nothing happened.

With regard to early voting, I will reserve comment until the 2007 General Assembly to determine the true intent of the leadership in the House and the Senate.

And if they pass early voting, I am all for it - just not in the 59th minute of the 11th hour. I hope that they put together reasonable, constitutional legislation which gives the Board of Elections enough time to prepare properly for the changes and keep elections in MD fair.

not partisan. just the truth.

Posted by: Steve at September 15, 2006 1:10 AM

That's one perspective I guess Steve. But you leave out the fact that the Governor vetoed the bill purposely after the General Assembly was out of session, forcing it to come back the next year and override his veto. Then you claim that it's not his fault because it was rushed? This entire situation was by design of the Republican party and then you are blaming the Democrats because they did their jobs and tried to do the will of the people.

I'm all for fair elections, but for as long as the notion of a fair election is a ruthlessly partisan issue, it's never going to be fair. I think once we have a Democratic governor, we will see a quick move towards a better system than we have now. With a Republican governor, it's just not going to be possible, because he needs it to be unfair to have a chance of getting reelected and it clouds his judgment.

Posted by: Jamison at September 15, 2006 12:56 PM

August 18, 2006

Maryland: all-in-one website for voters and candidates

I have to say I'm extremely pleased with the website that University of Maryland Baltimore County has put up. The Maryland Voter Information Clearinghouse is what we've been lacking for a long while now. The high points are that you can check to see if you a registered to vote. That might not seem very important to you, especially if you've voted for years, but realize the Republican party goes through when they think they are going to lose and purges voter lists and you arrive at the polls and they don't let you vote. By the time you've gotten it all cleared up they stolen the election and your right to vote away from you. With a system like this, when you hear that they've done something like that you can go out weeks in advance and check to see if they've stolen your right to vote away from you and then take corrective action before it's election day. Information is the key to fighting corruption, I think a law should be passed requiring that voter registration changes should be listed online as soon as they happen so people can start lawsuits immediately against the Republican party when they start one of these purges. It should be the standard nationwide.

The site also allows you to check up on campaigns and see where their money is coming from. It's useful for local races, but for the national races the Opensecrets.com folks have them beat hands down. Take my Congress Critter, I can drill down into the campaign contributions to see that he's getting money from Verizon and Comcast to turn the Internet over to Corporate control. Combine that with the information from BuyBlue and I realize that he put my Internet safety at risk to radical right wing Republican Corporations looking for the opportunity to cut off all the people raising their voices against the Republican party. That's the kind of stuff that makes me into a grumpy constituent. These are also bad people that turned over all our private information to the Republican party to spy on us illegally. And the guy I voted for thought it was a great idea to help them out and after writing me a letter saying he wasn't going to vote for it he turned around and did just that. That's the insult to injury part, I have it in writing that he's a liar.

Read more over at Vote Law and Washington Post.

Posted by Jamison at 4:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

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August 16, 2006

Schaefer under fire for absences

The more I learn about this guy, the less that I like him! His only job as comptroller is to watch over the state's money. Yet he can't be bothered to show up meetings to do just that?? Then why am I wasting my tax dollars paying him?? If I don't show up to work, I don't get paid. Why shouldn't the same kinds of rules apply to someone like Schaefer?? I think the easiest solution, if he can't be bothered to show up to do his job is to pass the job onto someone else who is more interested in actually doing it. And what I really love is his use of a standard Republican tactic to defend himself.

"Golden, Schaefer's spokesman, pointed to the pension system's improvement over the past three years as validation of Schaefer's record."

Let me get this straight, Schaefer is personally responsible for the growth of the stock market over the last three years? Why can't we measure the success of the fund over a more realistic time frame like his entire time as Comptroller? Oh because there were dips in the market and that would make him look bad because he won't be able to goose the numbers to cover up the fact there has been little significant economic growth because of the Republican control of the country. But if you take the right time slice you can claim anything. I guess he's got a lot of the Republican traits rubbing off on him from all the time he's been spending with our dishonest governor and his buddies in the radical right wing Republican party.

This guy has to go folks. I'd really like to see some polling on the three way race to see where we are. I think I'm going to have to start carrying literature for one of the candidates in this race to make sure this guy doesn't make it back into office, he's a disgrace!

Read more over at Baltimore Sun.

Posted by Jamison at 11:09 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

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July 6, 2006

Schaefer's words stir criticism

Ah one of the main reasons I became involved in Maryland politics. A man so vile and annoying that the very fact that he draws breath made me want to get involved to reform the establishment. It's really not a secret that Schaefer is a misogynistic bigot, so how the hell does he keep getting elected? Does the Democratic party not have a freaking primary process to handle just this kind of situation?? The rumor mill says that he's been around so long and so many people owe him their political careers, that he's got a job until he dies or doesn't want it anymore. That kind of good old boy crap is exactly what has managed to weaken the Democratic party. It's just got to stop! The Sen. Sharon M. Grosfeld quote pretty much sums up my feelings on the matter ."As a Democrat I'm embarrassed by him. As a human being I'm embarrassed by him. He needs to step down now." If you share that sentiment, Sharon is one the honorees at the Democratic Diva Dessert Party Fundraiser. A person should rise and fall based on their ability and merit, not their connections. The living opposite of that is called the Republican party. He's literally Maryland's Zell Miller, just crazier. Now that's a comment I never thought I'd be making. I don't care who does it, but this guy has got to go!

Read more over at Baltimore Sun.

Posted by Jamison at 6:21 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

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This guy is an animal! He must be defeated!

Posted by: Dianne at July 6, 2006 8:34 AM

July 5, 2006

Democratic Diva Dessert Party Fundraiser

Please join the YDM Women's Caucus along with Karen Britto, Myrna and Congressman Ben Cardin, Susan Elwell, Frances Hughes Glendening, Ariele Hausner, Teresa Healey-Conway, Sarah Holstine, Marc Korman, Sarah Lane, Noel LaPenna, Catherine and Ike Leggett, Diana Mueller, Sarah Schenning, Melanie Share, Jennifer and Stephen Thibodeau, Radha Vishnuvajjala for the Democratic Diva Dessert Party Fundraiser. The event will take place Sunday, July 16 at the home of Barbara Porterfield, 3704 Raymond St., Chevy Chase from 3 to 5 p.m.
We will be honoring Delegate Pauline Menes with the Lifetime Diva Achievement Award and Senator Sharon Grosfeld and Senator Gloria Lawlah with the Democratic Diva Award

$20 minimum donation for all you can eat dessert!
$35 donation includes a "Democratic Diva" T-Shirt

As young Maryland women, we are proud to be residents of a state that is the 5th strongest Democratic state in the nation and ranked #1 in female political representation. Let's increase our representation in 2006.

For more information, including how to be on the host committee, questions, comments, responses, can be directed to arielehb@gmail.com.

We hope to see you there!

I have to say these ladies are an amazing group of individuals! They were out in force during one of the Young Democrats training sessions, there isn't a task that they can't seem to organize and complete in seconds. I can't think of a better group for people to get out and support. Plus they are taking this chance to honor some truly great women in Maryland politics. So if you can make some time on July 16th to drop by and have some all you can eat deserts to support the next generation of female leaders that would be great. If you can't make contact with Ariele and see what else you can do to give them some support! I couldn't find their website, I feel a weekend project for Dianne coming on. ;) Actually I'm trying to convince Dianne, that we need to go. All you can eat desserts and she's still only minor interest.

Posted by Jamison at 1:20 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

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My main concern is fidning a babysitter for She Who Screeches too much! She's in such a state as of late I feel bad leaving her with anyone. She seems to be getting better so maybe by the 16th she'll be peachy. We'll see.

Otherwise I think it would be a lot of fun to go! Who can say no to dessert??

Posted by: Dianne at July 5, 2006 1:31 PM

July 3, 2006

Janet Owens for Comptroller

I'm not going to lie, I was extremely disappointed when Janet got into the Comptroller race. One of the major reasons I'm trying to change the Establishment Democrats in power right now is because of the unforgivable actions of Schaefer and his buddy Ehrlich. I have a daughter and I'm not going to let her have to grow in a state that condones such behavior towards women. Not on my watch! So I will take any Democrat, but Schaefer in the post.

That being said, I'm convinced that Janet will do either one of two things. Split the anti-Schaefer vote, giving him a victory. The second option is that her pro-business leanings will allow her to split the Schaefer vote and anti-Schaefer vote giving her victory. But we have a Schaefer like clone in office and if by some chance another Republican gets in office we will see the same sort of anti-Marylander decisions coming out of the Comptroller's office. I don't like either choice. I'm going to try and get to know Janet better and go over her record to see if I can find something in it that will alleviate my concerns about her pro-business leanings. I'm not against people making a buck, but when it comes at the expense of the quality of life for everyone living in the state, I want someone that cares about that in office.

As for her website, very modern and dynamic. I put myself on her mailing list for fun. I get a couple million emails a day now, so it's kind of a drag. But it's a good way to figure out what the candidates are up to. No blog, but then again, I've stopped hoping for stuff like that from Maryland Candidates. It's on my agenda for the DCC when I get a voice on the board.

Read more over at Janet Owens for Comptroller.

Posted by Jamison at 12:49 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

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I believe you need not worry about good 'ol janet owens. She is an amazing candidate for comptroller and will surely do our great state of maryland a wonderful service if elected. Please vote Owens for comptroller, if for nothing else, than its time to.

Posted by: farryn at August 20, 2006 3:04 AM

Farryn your response addresses none of my concerns about the candidate. I hate races that require me to pick the lesser evils. You still end up with evil in the end, lesser or not.

Posted by: Jamison at August 20, 2006 9:16 AM

June 29, 2006

Judge clears way for firing of PSC members

I'm really so glad to see this!! The notion that those industry cronies that Ehrlich appointed were going to be allowed to keep their jobs after trying to rob the people of Maryland was making me sick! What makes me even madder is that Ehrlich is using taxpayer money to mount these legal challenges against the people of Maryland. This is situation normal for a Republican, but it makes me so mad! Hopefully the legislature will appoint some people with the interests of the people of Maryland to these positions instead of the corrupt interests of the corporate entities in Maryland. I still haven't managed to get over Ehrlich's claim that he was a neutral entity in the negotiations. You are suppose to representing the people of Maryland you moron!! There is no neutral standing for a governor, the people are supposed to come first and not the interests of a handful of greedy corporate tycoons trying to steal Maryland's future.

Comments

June 28, 2006

Simms joining another battle

We have a new Attorney General Candidate running for office here in Maryland. I've met Gansler and Perez, so now I've got to make some time to meet Simms. I've heard quite a few great things about Simms and I think this will definitely shake the race for AG up a bit. My current stance on the race before Simms' entry was sort of leaning Perez just based on my gut impressions of them when I met them. This sort of pushes me back into the neutral category. When I find the Simms website, I'll give it a once over and give more information on my impressions. Once I get to meet Simms and hear him speak, I'll put up something about that.

Comments

Hello. I've enjoyed some of your writing and wonder if you might be willing to share the MD politics pieces with readers of FreeStatePolitics.blogspot.com? It's just a bit of cut and past. Not only can it lead to more readership generally, but it might draw readers to your blog! For those of us who only blog occasionally, the collaborative thing sometimes makes it easier to stay interested in blogging.

Posted by: Bo at June 28, 2006 5:49 PM

Bo, the folks over at Free State Politics suggested that I should consider posting over on their site. I thought about it, but I'm a bit more aggressive about politics than they are. I haven't really ruled it out, I just usually don't think my stuff meets the Free State Politics standard of quality and civility.

Posted by: Jamison at June 28, 2006 6:41 PM

I looked again, they were the folks from Free State Comment, which has some of the same people posting on both.

Posted by: Jamison at June 29, 2006 1:36 PM

June 22, 2006

Duncan to withdraw from governor's race

I'm not sure what to say about this one. Maybe we will know more after the 2 PM press conference.

Read more over at Baltimore Sun.

Update: Doug Duncan has put an official statement on his website. We should all keep him and his family in our prayers.

Posted by Jamison at 1:47 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

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I am sorry to see him out of the race. He's clearly the strongest candidate. I contended all along Duncan would win because he doesn't implode under pressure. The same can't be said about O'Malley or Ehrlich.

Posted by: Mike at June 23, 2006 5:28 PM

Well hopefully O'Malley find a strength he hasn't known before and steps up to be a strong leader for the party.

Posted by: Jamison at June 26, 2006 12:47 PM

June 21, 2006

Hearing supports Ehrlich's opinion! What a surprise!

It's amazing what happens when you set up kangaroo hearings to confirm your opinions, that they actually confirm what you wanted to believe. What a freaking joke and an utter waste of the taxpayers dollars to try to get some free air time during an election year! The Legislature's plan is better than what Ehrlich negotiates because they weren't completely bought off. It's just that simple. Let's breakdown the three lies being told by Republicans in this little hearing.

1) That consumers have no choice about whether to participate in the legislature's plan.

2) That BGE would be charging interest on deferred payments.

3) The Public Service Commission and the People's Counsel - appointees of the governor - would be replaced.

So many lies, so little time.

1) Well they don't have a choice, because a standard plan decreases administrative costs for BGE. The opt out option raises the costs for everyone.

2) BGE is required the eat the interest charges and half the principal for everybody to be allowed to go through with their merger. So you don't pay any interest at all, end of story.

3) These were all Utility company drones appointed by the governor that almost cost the people of Maryland their way of life. Yeah, the notion that the people should be represented by officials that put the people of Maryland first, insane!

The people of Maryland can do the math and realize that Ehrlich and his Republican cronies were about the really screw them over. And several Republicans in the Legislature realize that the people of Maryland aren't stupid, so they will be support the override of Ehrlich's impending veto. This was nothing more than a desperate election year stunt by a guy that's down 5 to 10 points in the polls because his anti-Maryland policies are really starting to grate on the people's nerves. It's time for a change in the Governor's mansion folks, this incompetent twerp has to go!

Read more over at Baltimore Sun.

Posted by Jamison at 9:58 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

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June 12, 2006

State Attorney General

You know what? I completely forgot that I get to vote for the Attorney General! I don't know why I had it in my head that it was an appointed position. But I was on a Maryland blogger's site today and I saw Attorney General listed. I'll add it to the left hand column listings when I get a chance. We've got two good choices it would appear (Maryland seems to have no end of good Democrats, unfortunatly the inverse is always true as well, we have no end of bad Republicans as well). I haven't read up on them yet, so I'm only going on first impressions at the the moment. I'll ask some of the lawyers I know and get a sense of who would be the better choice, then I'll write up something about it. If anyone has any opinions please feel free to share them!

Check out Doug Gansler and Tom Perez.

Posted by Jamison at 2:51 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

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Well, I don't know how you rate marketing in your voting decisions, but so far I've gotten one piece of mail and one (automated) phone call from Perez. Both were urging me to change my registered party affiliation so that I could vote for him in the Democratic primary (I'm registered 'declined to affiliate') The mail was in both English and Spanish and included a 95% pre-filled-out Change of Party Affiliation form. Between the bi-lingual mailing and the "Now we have a Hispanic Candidate!" banner, I'm guessing I got them because of this mailing list I've gotten on (somehow) that thinks I'm a native speaker of Spanish.

So so far, Perez in high on my 'annoying candidate' list. And all I know about him is that he's 'the Hispanic candidate'.

Posted by: cjmr at June 12, 2006 3:54 PM

Just from looking at their websites I would have to lean toward Gansler. There is something about the tone and the set up of Perez's site that rubs me the wrong way, but I haven't put my finger on why yet.

Posted by: Dianne at June 12, 2006 4:17 PM

Doug Gansler has name recognition, too. When I read who was the other candidate besides Perez, my mind thought, "Oh yeah, Doug Gansler!", though I have no idea why.

Posted by: cjmr at June 13, 2006 9:34 AM

It's amusing that we all came to same conclusions based off of so little information. I guess first impressions are very powerful, even in politics. I'm sure we will all do more research, but it's very interesting that it turned out this way.

Posted by: Jamison at June 13, 2006 9:56 AM

June 7, 2006

Legislative Leaders Plan BGE Session For Next Week

Finally some action on the part of the legislature! It's been pretty clear from the beginning that the Republican Governor and his industry cronies on the PSC have been working hand in hand to deliver the biggest blow they can to the people of Maryland. I'm sure that they've already got consulting jobs lined up when they move on into private life. The Legislature was too trusting of Ehrlich to do the right thing. He's a freaking Republican so of course the first thing he did was sell out the people of Maryland. It's just in their nature to do such things! I'm sure that the appropriate campaign contributions were made to Ehrlich campaign and he suddenly had a change of heart. I hope Mike Busch forces the reluctant Democrats to step up and does the right thing for the people of Maryland this time.

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Ruppersberger: Time To Start Iraq Withdrawal

I have to say I'm sort of surprised to see Dutch saying something like this. He's absolutely right mind you, but given how aggressive the Republicans are about everything, you'd think he'd save such pronouncements until after the November elections are over. But he's a strong candidate and really up on military matters. I just worry that we will see another Swiftboating effort like the Republicans are pulling with Murtha. I'm going to have watch this one closely, because nothing makes me madder than the way Republicans, who have no knowledge or understanding of critical military matters, will attack someone who does for short term political gain. Of course, Ruppersberger hasn't drawn a Republican opponent yet so that helps as well.

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June 1, 2006

Bush backs Ehrlich's campaign

That pretty much sums up the Ehrlich campaign. Republicans love criminality and Ehrlich is a master thief in the great tradition of the Republican party, so it's no surprise that between his mini-K street operations in Annapolis, to his criminal effort to suppress voter turn out in the coming elections, Ehrlich hasn't reached the slimy enough to get W's support level. And the Republicans notion that Ehrlich's time in office has been a "victory" is laughable. He's spent 4 years trying to get every hair brained campaign contributor a give away program instituted in the state, he's made absolutely no effort to lead at all. The only reason that Maryland isn't as bad off as the Federal government is that the Democrats have managed to keep the vast majority of his insanity crushed with a great deal of effort to protect the people of Maryland. Any success is a reflection of the Democratic Majorities that Ehrlich hates so much. If the Republicans were able to hold both the Governor office and break the veto busting majority the state would rapidly descend into the same kind of utter mismanagement that we see in Washington today. Which makes this year's election that much more important folks. It's time to send the Republican party in Maryland a message about how we aren't going to let them destroy our state like they've been working to destroy our country.

Read more over at Baltimore Sun.

Posted by Jamison at 12:33 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

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Ehrlich has imploded in recent weeks. I just wish Doug Duncan would run a better campaign. His advisors should be fired. He's a strong leader, but he's failing to capitalize on that so far. There's no way he should be trailing Martin O'Malley. Granted, both Duncan and O’Malley beat Ehrlich according to the polls.

Posted by: Mike at June 18, 2006 11:20 AM

Incompetence has become the hallmark of the Republican party, so real surprise to see the Ehrlich campaign self-destructing. I've been sort of disappointed with Duncan myself. The Republicans just seem way to excited about a campaign against O'Malley, which always makes me nervous, it's can't be good when the enemies of humanity are happy with your candidate. I'd like to see Duncan get more serious about the campaign and move on from the sophomoric pranks. Duncan is a powerhouse candidate with an nearly flawless record. He should be spending his time making mincemeat of Ehrlich and his gross mismanagement of the state of Maryland. If he'd stop running a primary campaign and start running for Governor, he'd easily win the primary.

Posted by: ManDrake at June 18, 2006 2:29 PM

May 31, 2006

Republican push for vote suppression

The Maryland Republicans are mirror images of the corruption that has come to define the Republican party as a whole. Right now they are going around the state desperately trying to force suppression in a futile attempt to keep their crazy leader in office. It's unbelievable that such an obvious political ploy is being allow to continue, but that's what you get when Republican party runs things in your state...Corruption. Basically to get around the overcrowding at polling places, the Democrats allowed early voting. The Republicans which depend on causing problems at Democratic leaning polling places to keep vote counts low have decided to try and keep the law from going into effect. Right now the only way that they have a chance after the terrible job done by Ehrlich and his cronies like Dwyer in Annapolis is to keep the vote count extremely low this election. Unfortunately the national wave against the extremists policies of the crazies in the Republican party has sort of left them terrified. They have to suppress the vote at all costs to win. So the Republicans are spending large sums of money to send people door to door to collect signatures. If only they tried to take care of the people of this country with the same zeal as they do trying to take away their right to vote. But that's Republicans for you, nothing but hate for America and her people.

Read more over at Baltimore Sun.

Posted by Jamison at 4:40 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

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Ok all one has to do, to fix this Smuck and his cronies too, is to organize a little.
Flood the Election Commissioners office with absentee ballot request then have
the voters mail them in. Where I live, if I recall correctly, it is pre paid postage by
the Election Commission. By doing this you can get your votes in ahead of the election
day and not have to deal with the shenanigans of the GOP on election day.

Posted by: Royal at June 3, 2006 8:52 AM

Grant rule waived for firehouse in Arbutus

Speaking of corrupt Republicans, it looks like our worthless Governor is up to no good again. He's taking money set aside for small business to buy firehouses for his home town. Most likely an obscene attempt to carry favor. I have nothing against firehouses, what's offensive is that there were very strict rules in place because the money was set aside for small businesses. So how did the Republicans get around the rule? Well they put a Republican in charge of course. Criminality is the norm for Republicans, so when asked to break the rules they happily do it. When it's found out that the rules were broken, you just change the rules and claim nothing is wrong. This is the heart of the "culture of corruption" that has come to define every Republican in the political sphere. Corrupt and evil to their core, they do everything in their power to steal and misuse positions of power to meet their own personal agendas no matter the cost to the people. I'll bet if the traditional media bothered to dig a little bit, they'd probably find that the building contractor is a major political contributor to the Republican party and I'll bet a good portion of the money that gets donated to Ehrlich campaign this year will have come from this kinds of illicit dealings. Using the taxpayers money to crush them with more years of destructive Republican leadership. They are all a disgrace to this nation!

Read more over at Baltimore Sun.

Posted by Jamison at 3:49 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

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May 19, 2006

Ehrlich linked to IRS scandal

No surprise to find a Republican at the end of a scandal, but it's interesting how far reaching the Republican scandals run. As we all know the Republicans have been pushing for months to shutdown non-profit organizations that they felt did anything that could be considered support for anyone opposing the radical right wing agenda. I'm often amused at how offended they get, the Republicans scream from the mountain tops they they want to destroy America and any organization working to save it, and those organizations suggest that if you support them you might not want to consider some other choice than the Republicans and it's a capital crime. You'll notice that it's next to impossible to get a non-profit organization that supports the radial hate ideology of the Republican party investigated. The Republican party actually offers them classes on how to break the law and get away with it. It's kind of amusing that so many of those participating claim to be "Christian" organizations. Breaking the law is breaking the law, it doesn't matter if you can get away with it folks, no matter what a worthless piece of human trash in the Republican party tells you.

Anyway as we all know there are two significant candidates for Senate this year on the Democratic side. Mfume is coming on strong against Cardin. The Republicans are thinking they have a chance to use Steele to split off some the black vote in the city and they decide that they need a scandal on Mfume. The silly someone heard something about someone that heard something stuff just wasn't cutting it, because we all know how rumor and innuendo work in this country. It's called a whisper campaign and it's now the backbone of every Republican campaign, they have no ideas so they make up flat out lies and spread them among their minions who are generally too stupid or too vile to care about the the truth.

Anyway it wasn't having any effect on Mfume's support, so the Republicans were getting desperate because they need to make sure Mfume doesn't make it into the race. So Ehrlich goes to his corrupt Republican buddies in Washington, you know the guys that helped him pass electricity deregulation that we are now all about to get stabbed in the back about, thanks again Bob and the scumbags that make up the GOP, and he asked them to open up an investigation of the NAACP. Now it's no secret that Republicans party is nothing more than a racist hate group under the guise of something else, so it's not a hard sell for them to do something that harms minorities, but this gives them a chance to influence the outcome of an election and they are extremely excited to do it. So the Republican party sics the IRS on the NAACP. The paper makes some suggestion that this could hurt the Republicans in the election, yeah right! Racism always sells well in Republican circles, the more blatant it is the more excited they are about it. Now it might hurt them with the minority vote, but that's not likely to make it in to the double digits in my lifetime anyway. It's a calculated loss that costs them nothing and might win them a few Democrats.

Read more over at Baltimore Sun.

Posted by ManDrake at 2:08 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

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Dose this not remind you of the 80's when the IRS only targeted the little people not the rich people who were robbing the nation blind. Per orders of the GOP.

Posted by: Royal at May 20, 2006 11:22 AM

May 4, 2006

Owens joins race for comptroller

Well, well, well! Now this is an interesting development to say the least. Now I'm divided again on a race in Maryland, just too many good Democrats and too few seats to give them! At least she didn't wade into that quagmire that is the MD-03 race. There were way too many candidates already in that race. What can I say about Owens, she's been in charge since I moved here and other than Republicans complaining (which has no merit), I've heard nothing negative about her. The streets are clean, the garbage gets picked up, so on and so forth. All signs of good leadership by my measures. I also like strong women leaders, so that gives her a slight leg up in my measurements of a candidate. But her statement that she's not running against the misogynistic sexist pig Schaefer is a wee bit offensive to me. So that pushes me back to neutral, I have no stomach for DINOs and I don't know if I want to support someone that isn't ready to be serious about the hearts and minds of Marylanders. But there is plenty of time for her to change her mind about what will be the focus of her campaign. When she puts up a website, I'll add it to my list for sure.

Comments

Ehrlich targets elections

We all knew it was only a matter of the time before the Republicans flexed their corrupt muscle in a desperate hope of turning the 2006 elections in Maryland in their favor. There really is no limit to how dishonest a Republican will be to win. Ehrlich has decided since he wasn't able to stifle voter turnout like the Republicans had planned and without the 2006 Republican Voter Turnout Bill by Dwyer on the ballot, all that was left was for them to flat out cheat. So what the crooked Republicans have decided to do is to cut funding from the organization that is responsible for running the voting. Making it so they can't pay people, so the Republicans can make sure that they can suppress voter turnout despite an overridden veto by the legislature. Criminal behavior is such the norm for a Republican, it's amazing how disgraceful it is. The legislature killed the Republican voter suppression and now that the session is over and the crooked governor is going on with his original plan of voter suppression anyway. It just goes to show that no matter what position a Republican has they will bend the law anyway they can to push their radical hate ideology forward.

I think it's time for the legislature to go into special session. It's time to deal with this radical governor overstepping his authority and protect the people of Maryland from his dishonest dealings. If necessary impeach him for ignoring the will of the legislature. It's time for the Democrats of Maryland to stand up to these worthless scumbags and show some leadership. Fix the BGE deal that the governor sold out the people of Maryland on to his big money donors and make sure our right to vote isn't being suppressed by a crooked Republican Administration by whatever means necessary.

Read more over at Baltimore Sun.

Posted by ManDrake at 2:55 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

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May 3, 2006

Steny Hoyer the new Lieberman?

I'm honestly confused by some members of the Democratic party. There are two sides in this battle...America's side and the Republican side. To use Republican terminology you are either with us or them, there is no middle ground. Republicans hate America, they want it destroyed at any cost. They will do anything it takes to make that dream come fruition. And what do we find? A Democrat from my own damn state talking trash about Colbert to defend the President!!! It's beyond infuriating!!! Where was all this Democratic modesty when the right wing media was eviscerating Clinton and Gore? Where was it? Where was Mr. Hoyer then? There is no point in thinking that you're going to gain anything with worthless Republicans by kissing their butts. Hell, every Democrat in America should be acutely aware of that reality! Republicans hate this country and its people. They will do anything they can to bring us harm. For the last freaking time, this is not a civilized debate between bright people, this is an assault on the foundations of this country by a radical hate group seeking our absolute destruction!!! End of story!!! Hoyer needs to pick a side and stay on it!!! If he wants to join the Republicans in their fight against American values more power to him! We have no time for traders to the United States right now. Markos suggested he might be our 2008 DINO extinction choice, but we've got another freaking 4 months to the damn primary in Maryland, let's add him to the freaking DINO body count for this year. What a damn moron!

Read more over at America Blog and Daily Kos.

Posted by ManDrake at 11:51 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

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Why is it when your average East Coast Dem. goes over to the Rep's he goes over in a big way. Is Maryland becoming a red state? ;p

Posted by: Royal at May 4, 2006 6:44 AM

Well Republican racist hate ideology is like any other kind of metastases cancer on society, it's not like you can keep it from popping up. Maryland isn't becoming a red state, but the fringes of civilized society you will always have the crazies. The Maryland 5th Congressional District must be swinging towards that more radical racist hate in it's make up. Evidently Hoyer has decided to join the radicals rather than convince to voters of the merits of his superior ideology.

Posted by: ManDrake at May 4, 2006 10:28 AM

If the Bush Administration and the Republican Congress wanted to help the auto industry
generate more production and conserve fuel they would need to do the following things.

I.) Subsidize the auto manufactures to build plants in the United States that make the components for hybrid cars. This would eliminate the "Bottle Neck" in Japan that is blocking the big three from make the move over to hybrids.

II.) Allow exploration into the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge along a the boundary and only a mile in after the oil industry develops the fields that they have been ignoring for the past 30+ years. Allow drilling in federal submerged land in the gulf with guide lines new pipe lines being laided with slide protection designed in.

III.) Allow electrical power companies to make alternate fuels and market them. Let TVA make Bio-diesel from algae and the high sulfur coal it owns. All the components are in the same place at the power plants. Transportation (Road,Rail,Water) , Energy (Electricity, heat), Knowledge(Engineers and marketing experts).

IV.) Make all new Federal construction energy conservative. Geo heat pumps, solar panels, ect.

V.) Let the urban post offices make the first step in using Fuel cell powered vehicles. Post offices are an ideal place to deploy fuel cells given there fixed routes, low speeds and stop and go conditions. This is also ideal for hybrids and they could be used as an interim step.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/05/business/05energy.html

Posted by: Royal at May 7, 2006 3:43 PM

April 28, 2006

Duncan chooses Simms as running mate

It appears that Duncan has picked a running mate. I'm not aware enough of Baltimore politics to know who Stuart O. Simms is, but the newspaper makes him out to be a good vote getter in Baltimore for Duncan. Which is good since O'Malley's choice for a running mate is good at getting votes out of Montgomery County where Duncan is strong. This should help solidify the campaign teams and move us toward the primary. I'm betting it gives Duncan about a 3 point jump in the polls with Democrats, just because he's finally got a complete ticket to run on, which should turn this race into a much closer affair. More importantly it forces Ehrlich's hand on who he can pick for his running mate with Steele on his doomed Senate exercise. The "official" announcement is expected sometime next week, probably at some massive event to maximize press coverage.

Read more over at Baltimore Sun.

Posted by ManDrake at 12:37 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

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Maryland's Anodyne Debate

What an editorial. If I didn't know better I'd say it was written by someone in the Duncan campaign! Not that it matters, the points are very good. A lot of us activist types have started to become worried about the fact that the Republicans seem to have completely backed off the O'Malley campaign as if desperately trying to make sure he wins. And anytime you have Republicans cheering for a particular Democrat to win then you've got a matter for grave concern. Republicans are vile and ruthless campaigners, they plot and plan in ways that would make normal people cringe. They only know smear, they have no positive aspect to themselves or their records to draw from, so all they have to fall back on is attack and innuendo. Which makes me worry that they've got enough mud to throw that they feel they can skew the results close enough and confuse people enough, with their state run voter suppression plans to allow them to steal the election. Maybe it is time to get these two candidates out in the open together and see who the better man really is before the Republicans get a chance to trap us in a bad choice. We must never forget the levels of evil and corruption that define the Republican party, we must never make the mistake of trying to humanize a group of people who are vile and dishonest. It's time to get all the cards on the table for every Marylander to see, so we can mitigate the mud of the overloaded Ehrlich campaign war chest from all his corrupt Republican campaign contributors.

Comments

April 20, 2006

Progressive Advocacy group backs Duncan for governor

Interesting development here...Progressive Maryland has backed Duncan. On the surface this is an extremely big victory for Duncan. Progressive Maryland is a conglomerate of Progressive religious and political organizations. One thing that doesn't help is that O'Malley didn't bother to fill out the form as nearly as I can tell. That definitely doesn't speak well of his campaign. Even a lot of the more conservative candidates that share little in common with Progressives filled out the questionnaire. And it looks like my favorite for Maryland's New Comptroller Peter Franchot also was the only one to fill out the form in that race and he's been endorsed by the Progressive Maryland folks before. So I'm exciting to know that he's going to likely get it again. I really want to see his state wide name recognition get up there. Especially among Democrats.

Anyway, I'm including link below for the questionnaires if you're interested in seeing people's actual answers. Interestingly they don't mention they've endorsed anyone yet on their website. Moving at the speed of politics again, slow.

Read more over at Baltimore Sun and Progressive Maryland.

Posted by ManDrake at 11:43 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

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April 18, 2006

MD: Democrats Lead in Senate and Governor Races

No big surprise here really. The Republicans have proven themselves to be duplicitous criminals, unlike in the Red States this is not a common value shared by the people of Maryland so it's not surprising to see. Cardin has a massive lead over Steele and even Mfume crushes him in the vast majority of the polling. So the Republican dreams of a Steele victory are just that...dreams. Cardin still looks like he's going to defeat Mfume in the primary with a 9 point lead in the polls. Cardin has a 14 point lead over Steele in the election, so I figure he only needs to gain another percentage point or two in the polling and Steele will be a distant nightmare for the great people of Maryland.

The Governor's race is turning out almost exactly the same. About 9 points between the two Democrats and they are both leading the Republican. The numbers aren't as good considering how dishonest and corrupt that Ehrlich is, but the campaign season hasn't really started on Ehrlich, so people don't know what kind of scumbag he really is. I'm still worried that the race between Duncan and O'Malley will hurt one or both of them. I'd rather they would find some civilized way to handle the race and start working on the dishonest Republican governor now. Somehow I don't think that's going to happen.

Finally the race that I'm going to become a Democrat over...in the Maryland Comptroller race Franchot has pulled within 7 points of that DINO Schaefer. Schaefer is barely able to get 40% of the vote in the Primary. He won reelection last time with 66% of the vote to just give you some perspective on his situation. Mind you that was probably with 100% of the Republican vote, because he's one of their good buddies. Franchot is doing very well at this point. I think with a bit more effort he can close and surpass Schaefer well before the primary. Schaefer's defeat will definitely signal a new age for the Democrats of Maryland. And I plan on making that happen.

[via Taegan Goddard's Political Wire]

Read more over at Gonzales Research & Marketing Strategies.

Posted by ManDrake at 12:58 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

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April 15, 2006

Maryland Joins States Breaking With Bush on CO2

Whoa! I have to say this one stuns me. Our worthless Republican governor has made no secret he would rather we all die than to risk a campaign contribution from his big business anti-America Republican buddies. It appears with him being crushed in the polls and with little chance of reelection to any post higher than dog catcher, he's decided to suddenly pretend he's a "moderate". Which we all know, when a Republican tells you that they are a moderate or liberal, that's code for election years. The rest of time that are party patsies until they think that they have no choice but to start representing the people that voted for them. I don't think this will help Ehrlich, but it's definitely good news for the residents of Maryland. And when we get a decent Democrat as Governor we can go about implementing it in a proper way that won't end up hurting the state more than helping it.