Month: May 2009

Odds and ends no. 19

It’s been a couple months since I went through my “blog ideas” folder and checked out what’s in the grab bag of interesting stuff so tonight seems like a good occasion to look there once again. So let me open up my mailboxes and see what pops out at me…

I haven’t touched on the issue of energy in awhile, in part because our gas prices haven’t gone quite as sky-high as they did this time last year – even with recent price increases we’re only paying about half as much at the pump as we were at this point in 2008. But that doesn’t mean the issue has gone away and I keep in touch with my source in the energy industry. She sent me a primer on rhetoric vs. reality and I may gather more information later this week as I’ve been invited to another blogger conference call on the subject.

Now, let’s look at those who would deign to create law on the subject of energy as well as a thousand and one other aspects of life. How this escaped a full post I don’t know – perhaps it was because our current legislator wasn’t included as part of the survey. Regardless, the National Taxpayers Union last month released its list of big spenders in Congress, and out of the Maryland and Delaware contingent only Roscoe Bartlett had a decent grade (his 72% was a B) while Mike Castle was fortunate to “earn” a D. While there’s certainly room for argument about fiscal friendliness and the weight the NTU assigns to particular votes, in 2008 the trend was not one toward smaller government and I can but imagine what the 2009 report will show.

But even if Congress held the line, what happens if they’re not the ones who hold the purse strings anymore? It’s an argument postulated in a recent op-ed by the Center for Individual Freedom, which asks the question:

(W)hat if the GOP is proven right … the voting public once again demands change … and America discovers that a Congress full of resurgent Republicans is powerless to stop the bleeding?

That scenario is all too plausible given the breathtaking rate at which the legislative branch is losing its power to determine the nation’s economic future to unelected bureaucrats.

This trend began late last year, when the Bush Administration used fears of a nationwide financial meltdown to smooth passage of its Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP), promoted as a panacea for the nation’s financial ills.

TARP, unfortunately, did not unfold as advertised.  Even its name proved to be a lie. Rather than buying up the “troubled assets” that were supposedly prolonging the credit crunch, TARP morphed into a plan for injecting liquidity into the nation’s banking system (a move, it should be noted, that has done little to increase lending rates).   Because Congress had practically given the money away at gunpoint, the mandarins at the Treasury Department were free to change the program’s aims at will – despite the fact that they had claimed only weeks before that the original plan was the only thing standing between the nation and economic oblivion. (Emphasis mine.)

Multiply that by the dozens of bureaucratic fiefdoms entrenched in Washington and it’s clear we need a sea change in attitude among Americans, too.

Let’s start with our Congressman. This was the response I received a few weeks ago regarding my concerns with the stimulus package:

Thank you for contacting my office to share your thoughts on the economic stimulus legislation. As your Representative, I am guided by the perspectives of my constituents and our common goals of restoring fiscal responsibility to our nation’s federal government, revitalizing our economy, protecting the Chesapeake Bay and preserving the agricultural heritage of our communities.

Our economy is in crisis and the American people are hurting. Since the current recession began in December 2007 over 3.6 million Americans have lost their jobs. Employment fell in every month of 2008, and over 600,000 jobs were lost in January 2009 alone. In Maryland unemployment has reached a 15 year high. There is a consensus among economists that drastic action is needed to rejuvenate the economy.

In an attempt to address the nation’s worsening financial situation, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, H.R. 1, was introduced in the House of Representatives on January 26, 2009.  This legislation contained $819 billion in infrastructure spending, revenue sharing with the states, middle class tax cuts, business tax cuts, unemployment benefits, and food stamps.

While this initial package contained well-intentioned efforts to strengthen our economy, the bill also contained billions in spending that I was not convinced would go directly to stimulating the economy. Considering the fact that our nation is already over $10 trillion in debt, we cannot afford a fiscally reckless stimulus bill.  Consequently, I voted against the proposal and expressed my belief that Congress could and must do better. As the bill moved to the Senate and then the Conference Committee between the chambers, I worked with like-minded colleagues on both sides of the aisle, particularly members of the Blue Dog Coalition, to remove billions of dollars of spending that was not timely or targeted, including eliminating $200 million for the National Mall, $75 million for smoking cessation activities, and $16 billion in permanent changes to Medicaid. In the end we succeeded in cutting over $60 billion in misguided spending from the legislation while adding significant tax relief for Maryland families. Ultimately, the package included $288 billion of tax cuts for working families, including $70 billion to protect middle-class families from the Alternative Minimum Tax.

Let me be clear, the final version of the stimulus bill was not perfect.  However, given the depths of the financial crisis, we could not afford to let the perfect be the enemy of the necessary. The bipartisan compromise contained critical job-creating infrastructure investments in areas like transportation and broadband development. It included needed aid to states and localities to stave off layoffs and cuts to essential services. Meanwhile, the $288 billion worth of tax relief will help grow our economy by providing over 95% of working families with a tax cut. And, most importantly, it is projected that the package will create or save approximately 8,200 jobs in the 1st District and over 66,000 across the state of Maryland.

The stimulus bill enjoyed the strong support of a diverse range of coalitions, including conservative pro-business organizations like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, the Association of General Contractors and the National Restaurant Association. The package is projected to create or save over 3.5 million jobs, and even conservative economists like Mark Zandi, an economic advisor for John McCain’s presidential campaign, noted “that the jobless rate will be more than 2 percentage points lower by the end of 2010 than without any fiscal stimulus.”  Although I am under no illusion that the stimulus bill alone can bring us out of the current recession, I believe that it is an essential first step.

Like you, I am concerned about our nation’s fiscal policies.  Consequently, I voted against the release of an additional $350 billion to bailout Wall Street and the $410 billion FY09 Appropriations Omnibus, two costly measures that I did not believe were the most responsible expenditures of taxpayer dollars. My first official act as a Member of Congress was to sign on as an original co-sponsor of legislation to stop the automatic 2010 Member pay raise and I was pleased to later join my colleagues in successfully rejecting the pay increase when it came to a vote before the full House of Representatives.

Please know that I will work to ensure rigorous oversight over the stimulus and I encourage you to do so as well by visiting the www.recovery.gov website, where you can track the bill’s impact.

Please do not hesitate to contact me again in the future regarding issues that concern you.  I believe that continuous communication with the residents of the First District is essential to helping me be an effective advocate for you in Congress. To stay informed, please visit my website at www.house.gov/kratovil.

Thank you again for contacting me and I look forward to hearing from you.

While the jury is still out, Frank’s not as bad as I feared thus far but certainly we can do better in Congress.

Continuing on the subject of legislative business, there are some who feel we Republicans can do better as a party here in Maryland. While the subject didn’t openly come up in our recent convention, there’s a few in the General Assembly who don’t care for party leadership, as evidenced by this letter (h/t Blue Ridge Forum).

They’re the same folks who complain that the party is missing a fundraising opportunity by pricing its VIP gathering with Newt Gingrich too low, at least if you believe this Alan Brody piece in the Gazette newspaper. (Again, h/t to Blue Ridge Forum).

Yeah guys, just keep alienating your grassroots. While it’s true that Gingrich should be a good draw, I don’t think many GOP activists in Maryland have $250 in pocket change lying around to get a chance to meet with Newt Gingrich, let alone twice that much. Honestly, the party brass should be pleased with getting the onetime Speaker to be a speaker as opposed to the little-known person the event featured last year.

Just bring on an establishment candidate next year or try a coup at the Fall Convention and watch the Eastern Shore and Western Maryland contingents walk out – then see how successful 2010 is without us.

Finally, you may recall that the group Our Country Deserves Better did a bus tour last fall to promote the McCain/Palin ticket (well, mostly Sarah Palin). They’re going to do it again, this time as part of the Tea Party movement.

From August 28 to September 12, a host of folks will cross the nation with daily rallies. The Tea Party Express will wrap up in Washington D.C. for a gathering to show support for fiscal conservatism in our nation’s capital. Methinks the tour needs to make a slight detour southward! Delaware and Maryland have liberal big-spenders in Congress too.

So that’s a cleaning of my mailbox. Hope you enjoyed it!

It’s suckcastic!

While my site wasn’t offline, I have to throw some jeers at Comcast for being offline for a good chunk of the afternoon and evening. Frankly, I’m surprised my readership wasn’t affected too badly.

But I had meant to write a much longer post this afternoon and didn’t really have a chance to put it up because I had no idea Comcast was out (my TV worked) and was fiddling around with my computer trying to see what was the matter. So I’m even farther behind the 8-ball posting-wise.

I do want to make some observations about the Chamber of Commerce hullabaloo. Sounds like a case of feed the ego to me. I’ll grant that the gentleman in question has some influence but that comes more from butting into the conversation than actually dictating policy.

Most of you don’t know this but back in October of 2007 I spoke at a luncheon in front of the C of C on a similar topic – in that case it was a subcommittee who asked me to speak on the subject of blogging for business purposes and how to get started in the blogging world. So instead of a full room I spoke to perhaps a dozen or so people. My point is that the Chamber has visited the blogging subject before but on a much smaller scale.

I read the online version of the Daily Times story and the associated commentary regarding the upcoming event. Obviously he’s a lightning rod so if the Chamber is looking for attention and publicity they’ve got it. However, my question is simple: will his appearance generate more light on the subject or simply spread more heat around? Given the cool weather we’ve had for the most part I’d take some heat but I doubt it’s what the Chamber of Commerce wants.

Maybe the best observation comes from an out-of-town blogger. I recommend you read Tim’s post regarding the event on Gunpowder Chronicle and then judge accordingly.

Personally, I don’t know if I’m an invited guest and honestly I have an appointment that morning anyway, so it’s likely I’ll have to pass on the festivities. But certainly a number of views of the event will emerge and they should make for interesting reading. Sometimes personality can go a long way even without a lot of substance to back it up.

The market basket, April 2009

If you’re like me (most aren’t, which may be a good thing – but I think many of us share this particular trait), chances are you’re probably getting together your grocery list for the next few days on this Saturday. My common practice the few years I’ve lived on Delmarva is to make the list on Saturday and do my shopping on Sunday.

On two Sundays a year, though, I expand my shopping time in an effort to track how the price of food is affecting my budget. Using items commonly found on store shelves and pretty much constant year after year, a couple weeks back I completed my seventh semi-annual survey of grocery prices. What I found was a significant trend that’s accelerating and falls in with what some Wal-Mart naysayers commonly predict.

While Sam Walton’s brainchild continues to lead the grocery pack for the seventh survey in a row (dating back to the Fair Share Health Care Act days of April, 2006), their margin is considerably thinner than it once was. Consider the reduction between Wal-Mart and the second-place store in each survey:

Of the four stores, Wal-Mart has jumped the most (by far) since the market basket’s inception. It lends credence to the argument that Wal-Mart lowballs initially to wipe out any competition before slowly raising prices to ensure profitability. However, it’s worthy of noting that often the second-place store has the highest number of sale items or loss leaders among its items. (Super Fresh seems to be the king of this locally.)

It also bears study that Food Lion rebounded well from its previous last-place performance and in doing so pushed Super Fresh back to its traditional basement position. Truthfully the Super Fresh store has a niche market in that it’s the closest grocery store to the university (it’s easily walkable) and thus has a somewhat more captive clientele.

While my shopping habits have changed (I based the selection on items I bought most at the time but rarely buy such staples as pasta and sauce, peanut butter, or bread anymore) I really don’t want to deviate much from the list as it was created but may have to soon because of store buying preference. One example is salsa, where I may have to switch to Pace as the study brand because Chi-Chi’s isn’t as readily found. The same goes for Breyer’s yogurt because I don’t see it at Giant anymore. (Luckily I don’t mind their store brand yogurt but I still prefer Breyer’s.)

Regardless, the result is still that Wal-Mart remains king of the local grocery store jungle – but for how long? While I don’t foresee Food Lion ever matching Wal-Mart price for price on everyday items, there may come a time where the extra drive isn’t worthwhile anymore. The trend will be a focus of mine in future shopping visits.

Two-sided politics

Half of this will be an announcement and confirmation of an upcoming event and the other half news involving the subject’s probable opponent next year.

Let’s start out with confirmation that Andy Harris will indeed serve as the keynote speaker at a fundraiser for the Lower Shore Young Republicans on Saturday, May 23rd at noon. It will be located at the McIver residence, 26144 Nanticoke Road in Salisbury and the cost for the pig roast, fried chicken, beer, and entertainment (provided by The Occasionals) is just $15 – cheap!

I would have liked a longer press release but I need to talk about format with the LSYR folks.

Anyway, it brings me to a vote that was taken in the House the other day. Once again, Frank Kratovil sides with the special interests and not the people. Sure, let’s allow ACORN more federal money!

Here’s an explanation from Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota.

Was Frank (our Frank, not the Barney of Massachusetts) for it before he was against it, or vice versa, or just plain voting the way the party bosses told him to? Heck if I know, but why should ACORN get a dime of federal funding given their track record of corruption?

Shorebird of the Week – May 7, 2009

It wasn't quite time for the ballgame yet, but Eddie Gamboa had his game face already on before a recent contest.
Eddie Gamboa on the hill during a recent game against Lake County.

As successful as the Shorebirds’ pitching staff has been this season (for the most part), I could have picked almost any member for this week’s SotW honor. Maybe it’s the fact he wears the number I did when I played in Little League, but Eddie Gamboa has put up some impressive numbers thus far in 2009.

While he wasn’t picked until the 21st round of last year’s amateur draft out of the University of California-Davis, Eddie put up decent enough numbers at Bluefield (despite just a 1-7 record) to merit the promotion to a full-season club. Perhaps the saving grace for the 24-year-old Californian was his allowing just 14 walks in 62 innings pitched, which gave him a solid WHIP of 1.26 – about average for a good pitcher. Regardless, this may be the full-season tryout for Eddie as he bids to move up the Orioles ladder.

So far in 2009 Eddie’s performed well in the SAL. Performing primarily in long relief, Gamboa is 2-0 with a 1.35 ERA and has a WHIP of 0.90. Both runs he’s given up so far have come from solo home runs; otherwise Eddie has managed to keep the Shorebirds in those games he’s pitched in. Top among those was an outing where he allowed just 1 hit in 4 innings against Lakewood on April 27th.

As pitchers move up and down the system, don’t be surprised if Eddie gets another chance to be a starter before the season is out, regaining a role he had last season in Bluefield.

A new new Saturn?

Normally I don’t delve into auto news, but the recent closing of the local Saturn dealership made me think of this.

According to a Wall Street Journal report by John D. Stoll and Norihiko Shirouzu, the newest suitor for Saturn could the French automaker Renault. However, the Journal article questions the wisdom of that takeover when Renault already owns a large share of Nissan, a company which competes with Saturn in the small-car market.

In the local case, though, this could restore 30 jobs lost when the dealership pulled the plug on local operations. I was concerned because I used to deal with the dealership when I owned a Saturn, and I never had an issue with them with the exception of their not having a model which appealed to me when I was looking for the one I eventually bought.

So let’s hope that this merger or takeover works out better than the last time Renault became involved with an American carmaker. Before Chrysler took over the former American Motors, Renault was the automaker who paired up with AMC in its final days, bringing us the not-so-memorable Alliance and Le Car. Given the relative success of Nissan, maybe Renault can be just what Saturn needs – we’ll just have to see.

Muzzled for liking tea?

This is a fairly disturbing piece, and it made me think of another local blogger to boot. It comes from my blogging friend Bob McCarty, who tells the tale of a tea party organizer in Quincy, Illinois being denied the right to speak at a Quincy City Council meeting. I presume the passage on his blog is missing a word, since the key sentence reads:

“In a 7-6 vote down party lines, members of the Quincy City Council voted to (deny) him his right to speak, despite the fact that  he had taken all of the proper steps required of a citizen to appear on the council’s agenda.”

I think my slightly edited version is correct. The other possible error is in the chart McCarty uses, the party affiliations are either reversed or incorrect since both he and Steve McQueen (the organizer) say that the 6 Republicans voted in his favor yet the chart shows a 7-6 GOP majority.

In either case, the question is whether these tactics are going to spread to other jurisdictions, particularly ones where Republicans do not have a majority such as Salisbury City Council. I worry less about the Wicomico County Council since as currently composed it’s 4-3 GOP and the three Democrats generally seem amenable to honest debate.

We all know that there are local bloggers who swarm like flies to these meetings, particularly those involving the Salisbury City Council. Certainly I’m sure that many would love to see such a rule applied to one in particular because his camera is ever-present.

This brings up an interesting legal question. Let’s not look at this particular person as the press representative he purports to be and instead see him as a private citizen. Do free speech rights cover photography, a form which isn’t in words but does express thoughts and ideas, along with the possibility of finding a subject in an unflattering pose?

Or, to use another example, would the Tea Party organizers need to undergo this treatment if they wanted to express their disgust with our government’s free-spending ways? Here in Maryland, aside from a protest in front of Government House for Governor O’Malley’s edification, there’s not the opportunity for influencing the wheels of state government since the Maryland General Assembly isn’t in session again for another 8 months.

To be perfectly frank, I’m not completely convinced that our current Administration will continue to have a hands-off approach to internet writers like myself. Perhaps I’m a little bit too small-time to pay attention to, but what could happen to larger investor-owned sites like Red County if government leans on them as they apparently are making an impression on Chrysler bondholders?

Seeing this example in Illinois should remind us that government does not always attempt to be of, by, and for the people but rather dictated to the people, who simply exist to be worker bees for maintaining their hives. If you extend the analogy to what the producers of society pay for taxes (hint: theirs aren’t going down) you can see why many of us won’t go quietly.

Observations on the 2009 Maryland GOP Spring Convention

This post ended up with fewer pictures in it because I didn’t take a large number (about 15 total).

I signed the petition, you should too.

I arrived at the Clarion in Hagerstown too late to cover the Executive Committee meeting, but was told by Justin Ready of the Maryland GOP that little of consequence occurred aside from the pledge to support a petition effort to rid the state of speed cameras. (By the way I signed the petition.)

It wasn’t a bad number of people still about for the social milling around 11:00 or so when I arrived. One thing that was sort of nice about the hotel was that suites were primarily placed around a central bar and gathering place. And no one was thrown into the pool, at least not while I was present.

The bar was indeed open after 11 when I arrived and there still was a goodly gathering down by the pool.

The Mike Pappas hospitality room wasn't nearly as crowded but had a steady flow between his and adjacent interconnected suites.

I did manage to get a nice shot of most of the Wicomico contingent present. As you read on you’ll find that’s a story unto itself.

From left to right, some of my fellow Central Committee members with one other elected official: Blan Harcum, Dr. John Bartkovich, Gail Bartkovich, M.J. Caldwell, and Bob Laun. Gail isn't on the Central Committee but is on our County Council.

So we all went to bed, thinking about some of the agenda items which were on the docket for the next day. In our packets we had three resolutions to consider; additional items on the slate were a number of reports and an election to fill the party’s vacant Third Vice-Chair position.

Our breakfast host and speaker was Hagerstown Mayor Robert Bruchey. On the whole his remarks were the sort I liked: short, sweet, and to the point. He briefly explained how he got to the position he was in, noted his accomplishments came despite a City Council controlled by Democrats, and spoke about some of Hagerstown’s assets like its arts and entertainment district and a soon-to-be opened School for the Arts in downtown Hagerstown – achieving this while rolling back the city’s property tax by a penny. It was a nice contrast to some of the more long-winded remarks we’ve been subjected to on previous occasions.

There were still quite a few empty seats once we got started. You may notice we didn't have the county signposts; those were left in someone's living room.

Politics rarely runs on time and we didn’t get the room in order until about 10 or 15 minutes after the scheduled 9 a.m. starting time for the convention. However, we managed to blow through many of the reports and other party business in fairly short order. All that was left was a review and debate of the three resolutions on the agenda – and that’s where the trouble began.

This was the seventh state convention I’ve attended, dating back to the one just prior to my election to the Central Committee in 2006. At one point we had established the concept of regional chairs in lieu of the three vice-chairs we now have but found out later that an error in having this conform with convention rules made its adoption null and void. Thus, several attempts had subsequently been made in bringing back this idea but none had met with success because opponents continually stated various items needed to be addressed.

So the adoption was pushed back to after the 2010 elections (to address the concern of shortening the terms of the existing vice-chairs), the proposal was recodified to match the new by-laws, regions were changed, and so on and so forth. Finally it seemed we had something that could make it over the 3/5 hurdle needed for by-law changes – we were barely short in the Fall Convention last December.

That is until someone whose name I missed but who hails from Montgomery County came up and whined that we had much more important business as a party to do than talk about this issue, and we’d done so ever since she was elected in 2006 (the same election I was voted in.) Well, we do have many important issues but obviously no one had asked their inclusion on the agenda! Part of the reason we gather is to conduct the business of the party, and the regional chairs idea would help the party do its business in a more sensible way. Anyway, she made the motion to table the regional chairs question until after 2010.

My narrative is going to skip ahead somewhat, because the same fate also befell a different proposal which would establish each county’s voting strength based not on the number of registered Republicans in each county (the current method) but on the number of votes cast for GOP top-ticket candidates in the previous General Election. Again, I believe it was somebody from Montgomery County who asked the issue be tabled.

Now, Jim Pelura can talk all he wants about how “every voice is important” in the Maryland Republican Party and how we’re “gaining momentum” as he did last Saturday. He can also speak to how we “may be a minority but we’re not irrelevant” in Annapolis. But those of us from the rural counties who provide the backbone of the party’s support and a good deal of its “bench” sure feel like the red-headed stepchildren when it comes convention time.

We have been promised the concerns will be addressed though and I look forward to a solution which satisfies those who make up the grassroots of the party. With that I can get back to a narrative.

Many of the other speakers delivered their usual reports to the convention on national and state doings. Joyce Terhes went through a laundry list of how our freedom had been eroded over the last 100+ days and Louis Pope chimed in with the need to fight a “600 front” war with Democrats, referring to the approximate number of county elected officials in the state.

District 2 Senator Donald Munson had the honor of giving a rundown of the General Assembly session, noting that while each session of the body has its charm and peculiarity, this one was “short on charm but big on peculiar.” We got to Annapolis broke and we left there the same way. Maybe that’s why we had these signs around the hall.

This was one of about eight different signs bearing a theme of we will not forget in 2010. Soon I'll be helping that effort as I compile 188 voting records.

It was at this point that the resolutions were placed on the floor and subsequently tabled. For the record, the counties which voted to table both resolutions were Anne Arundel, Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Carroll, and Montgomery. Between the five they control 70.711 LCD votes, which is a majority of the 141 available.

On the other hand, those counties who voted not to table either proposal (Cecil, Dorchester, Frederick, Harford, Queen Anne’s, Somerset, Talbot, Washington, and Wicomico) control a scant 35.716 LCD votes – mostly from Harford and Frederick counties. Tellingly, there were no representatives from three Eastern Shore counties: Kent, Caroline, and Worcester. (Although, they combine for less than 4 LCD votes.)

Yet those counties on the Shore generally elect Republicans.

We also needed to fill a vacant Third Vice-Chair position, with the two candidates being Brandon Butler of Garrett County and Kelly Schulz of Frederick County. Schulz was an easy winner in this election, carrying all but four county delegations.

With the uproar about the resolutions being tabled, one piece of new business was suggested: a Convention Committee to look at several items including siting and voting. It was an effort to end the “rearranging of deck chairs on the Titanic.”

Finally, we had a nice lunch with guest speaker Congressman Roscoe Bartlett. After explaining why he ran in the first place – because he didn’t believe his kids and grandkids would grow up in the same America he did – the Congressman started out by blaming the housing crisis on “overregulation” and admitting to be somewhat ambivalent about total Democrat control, as the more dumb things they do the better Republicans look.

Roscoe also noted that he agreed in part with Rush Limbaugh about wanting Obama’s policies to fail, but certainly wants the country to come back strong despite them. Don’t confuse the two, he warned. Bartlett also called on the tea parties to become an “enduring” movement and explained that the Democrats were good people – just wrong on ideas.

One concept he spent some length on was health care; or, as he put it, the “best sick care in the world.” Some items he wanted to see as a counter to socialized medicine were total portability in health insurance (in other words, not tied to an employer), eliminating the cap on pre-existing conditions, and a growth in health savings accounts. Most of these were solid conservative approaches to the issue, which means they’re not going to be adopted anytime soon.

Finally, Bartlett waxed eloquent on “needing a cultural change”. Instead of celebrating the athletes of the world, we need to show more appreciation to the nerds. Why should smart people have to play dumb to be accepted?

Actually, that’s a good question to wrap this piece up with. In general, the GOP has a good share of intelligent folk so it shouldn’t be that hard to place the power struggle aside and come up with a system for running the party everyone can live with. I look forward to finding out what changes are made come fall.