Campaign 2010 – Page 30

WCRC meeting – March 2009

With no speaker this time, business was the rule of the evening at our monthly affair.

Pleasingly there was no real drop in attendance though and once we dispensed with the usual business of the Lord’s Prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance, club president Marc Kilmer took a moment to thank the two officers who chose not to seek re-election this year (George Ossman and Helen Shockley), then joined his fellow officers in being sworn in for a new term by Wicomico County GOP Chair Dr. John Bartkovich.

We then heard the minutes and received the treasurer’s report.

Because we had no guest speaker a number of reports and items of business were placed on the agenda. First up was Mark Biehl giving the Lower Shore Young Republicans report and clarifying the purpose of an upcoming fundraiser. The May 23rd affair will be for the benefit of the LSYR club but the hope is that State Senator and Congressional hopeful Andy Harris will be the keynote speaker. Prior to that their next meeting will be on April 9th at the Flavors of Italy on East Main Street in Salisbury.

Bartkovich then moved to the podium to give a Central Committee report. Referring to a decision last month to help fund a local student’ s trip to the Teenage Republican convention, he called it money well spent on the possible future growth of the party.

Another upcoming event John alluded to was the annual Tawes Clam Bake in Crisfield July 15th. As always we’ll assist in sponsoring a tent with other local Republican entities. We’ll also begin a new effort to communicate with new Republican registrants with more details to be ironed out at the April WCRC meeting. It was part of a bid to “think of terms of 2010” and about getting a message out which reflects Republican principles.

Continue reading “WCRC meeting – March 2009”

Salary drive

On Thursday last we found out that our newly-minted Congressman, who’s sworn to uphold the law, isn’t above shaping it to punish those he deems unworthy of the money they’ve legally become entitled to.

With this vote on H.R. 1586 Frank Kratovil (along with 87 Republicans who should be hanging their heads in shame) decided that contractual obligations completed long before the TARP money was given to AIG (who in turn laundered it to dozens of other recipients) – and which comprised less than 1% of the total payout – mean nothing when the federal government takes over a large chunk of the company.

Certainly the bonuses seem excessive and one can argue that the legislation is an incentive not to take the federal bailout money in the first place. Truthfully the federal government should not have bailed out AIG in the first place but unfortunately they already cast that die some time ago.

But Thursday’s vote also signified another step in the continuing attitude change among Congress that they’re just damn well entitled to make decisions for the rest of us when it comes to how a business should be run; never mind that their sole expertise seems to come from accepting campaign contributions from many of these same outfits.

Moreover, the hypocricy of screaming about this less than 1 percent of the AIG money devoted to bonuses intended to insure an employee stays put as long as the company needs him yet forgiving the pork-laden stimulus bill because the earmarks “only” comprised 1 percent of the total is nearly beyond belief until you look at who’s in charge of the place.

It’s more unfortunate that Congress is becoming interested in selecting the winners and losers in American business. Those in the financial sector being counted on at one time to save the venerable AIG ship were instead tossed overboard in a fit of rage because what Congress and both the Obama and Bush administrations have attempted as a fix hasn’t worked very well if at all. On the other hand, Congress received its annual raise and they’re not moving swiftly to enact a 90% tax on that which they were legally entitled to (because of legislation written in such a manner to make raises automatic without a recorded vote for them) but didn’t earn based on lousy performance.

Given the results of what has come to pass in recent days Congress shouldn’t have earned a penny over the last two sessions and it’s dubious that much in the two to three previous ones is worthy of compensation either.

A referendum on March 31

Depending on who wins the race, pundits will view an upcoming Congressional election on March 31 as either an endorsement or a repudiation of Barack Obama’s economic policies.

The election in question is in New York’s 20th Congressional District, which snakes along as a sideways “T” along the state’s eastern border. The race became necessary when Congressman Kirsten Gillibrand was named to replace Hillary Clinton in the Senate seat she vacated when President Obama named her as Secretary of State. The battle pits Republican Jim Tedisco against Democrat Scott Murphy, with the winner serving out the remainder of Gillibrand’s House term.

So this race is a little unusual in that national attention has been bestowed upon this upstate district that lies within reach of both the minor media market of the Albany area and the huge New York City metro market. It’s somewhat analogous to our Congressional district in that it’s peripheral to a large media center but more served by a smaller one.

Needless to say, media is a large part of the effort. Here’s two ads from my old friends at Our Country Deserves Better, a PAC who’s made this race one of its major causes. They’re both attack ads, with this one hammering Scott Murphy’s disdain of the military:

This one talks about taxes:

In both cases we have a battle that sounds like our local Harris vs. Kratovil slugfest. Hopefully 20th District voters will vote in a somewhat more conservative manner than we did.

Having said that, let’s look at what the political pundits will say depending on who wins – at least the pundits who occupy the Sunday morning shows.

If Scott Murphy wins, it will be seen as an endorsement of Barack Obama’s policies and yet another blow to Reagan conservatism. Americans will be seen as more confident that the bailouts will soon work and the stimulus will indeed stimulate the economy – otherwise wouldn’t the Republican have won?

But if Jim Tedisco wins these pundits will dismiss it as a meaningless local race won by a politician with more style than substance who won based on the dirtiest ads. Of course it won’t be a referendum on Obama’s economic plans.

As I see it, if the voters of upstate New York – a state with primarily Democrats in charge and suffering from some of the highest tax rates in the nation along with the fallout from the disaster which befell the financial industry over the last year or so – replace the Democrat Gillibrand with a GOP Congressman, one would have to conclude that there are pockets of America which indeed want change, and that change doesn’t include those items President Obama has placed high on his list of priorities.

Putting Hillary Clinton in as Secretary of State may do more far-reaching damage to an Obama presidency than the threat she presented residing in the Senate if her replacement’s Congressional seat switches parties. It will be another in a recent string of GOP victories which has been little noticed since the 2008 elections (in Louisiana and Georgia), and the first in a “blue” state.

Let’s hope we wake up on April Fool’s Day to the news that a trick’s been played on Barack Obama.

Free thuggery

We all knew it was coming, the question was how long it would take to become a reality. The misnamed “Employee Free Choice Act of 2009” was introduced earlier this week. And my only surprise at H.R. 1409 is that Frank Kratovil’s name isn’t on it as a co-sponsor (at least not yet. The unions do have to get what they paid for last year.)

In a nutshell, what EFCA2009 provides is the opportunity for unions to twist the arms of workers so they sign a card claiming their support for a union shop. Once the union gets 50% plus 1 of the eligible employees the union is allowed in. For their part, the unions claim that management attempts the same sort of dirty tricks but in neither case should a secret ballot be influenced. Apparently unions want to reduce their chances of losing since they only win these elections about 2/3 of the time.

Because the bill has 222 co-sponsors, there’s little chance of it being stopped in the House – in truth, there’s little chance Frank Kratovil will be strongarmed into going into the record as voting for it unless there’s a procedural need to do so. Certainly he knows that the First District would probably rather see good right-to-work legislation than live by the EFCA2009.

Where this bill may be killed is in the Senate – that is if the GOP sticks together and sells its case to the American people. In all honesty we’re probably not ever going to get a significant portion of the hardcore union vote anyway so there’s little to lose by stopping H.R. 1409 dead in its tracks.

On the other hand, by allowing the plunder of small businesses by union locals thirsty for new sources of revenue from the dues they collect (much of which is immediately funneled into the coffers of the Democrats) the GOP puts itself at a severe monetary disadvantage by not stopping this bill. With President Obama already overturning a number of business-friendly provisions enacted under the Bush Administration there’s little doubt that EFCA2009 is yet another payback to Big Labor – one that could yield an even greater dividend than bailing out the United Auto Workers provided.

The group Americans for Job Security has set up a Facebook site to oppose the EFCA2009 initiative, and I encourage those Facebook members who believe that a worker’s right to a secret ballot should remain in place to join. Otherwise you may arrive at work one day to find Guido and Lefty waiting at the time clock with a paper for you to sign.

The 2012 campaign continues

And if you don’t believe me, just check out this video from the Obama front group “Organizing for America”:

You’ll notice about 2/3 of the way through that Mitch Stewart solicits e-mail addresses – again, a clever way to build up and expand the database originally started way back in Howard Dean’s abortive 2004 Presidential campaign and enhanced with Obama’s 2008 run.

Then again there’s nothing wrong with activism and involvement; it just needs to have a push from the correct direction. It’s interesting that Stewart blames “special interests” for standing in Obama’s way when it’s the special interests who have the most to gain from Obama’s agenda – that is if you consider Big Labor, supporters of a rewarmed HillaryCare, the teachers’ unions, radical environmentalists, and corporations who have gained from the massive government involvement in their affairs and are now rent-seeking as special interests – most right-thinking Americans who inhabit the producer class do believe those groups are special interests.

President Obama submitted the largest budget in American history with the largest projected deficit in American history at a time when the government is actually being run via continuing resolutions because the current budget is still being ironed out. Something about that just doesn’t make sense, particularly when it’s his party running Congress.

Seven weeks into an Obama presidency it almost appears that he’s already running the country in perpetual campaign mode much as President Clinton did during the first four years of his run. (The second term was more damage control mode thanks to the Monica Lewinsky scandal and accompanying impeachment drive. In Obama’s case the scandals seem to be falling amongst his underlings, though.)

It goes without saying that little of Obama’s agenda can be stopped in the House of Representatives and given the tendency of a small group of Senate RINO’s to place what they consider political expediency above principle it’s not likely that body will be much of a speedbump either.

But the one thing both House and Senate are afraid of is a large-scale backlash from constituents – witness the firestorm conservatives caused on immigration or the Harriet Miers Supreme Court nomination.

I’m considering this video an effort to short-circuit the prospect of a conservative grassroots rebellion by isolating those on the left who would be most likely to be active and sending out their competing propaganda to a list of activists all their own, one backed by much of the mainstream media. This is particularly true in our Congressional district, where a freshman Democrat who barely won election (and flip-flopped on the stimulus bill) will most likely face a strongly conservative challenger next year.

So I bring this video to your attention even though it’s from a source that would normally not attract my notice as much. It proves a point that we on the right need to stay on our toes and not let the intraparty squabbles such as Limbaugh vs. Steele or Limbaugh vs. Newt distract us from the main goal of squelching the socialist Obamanation agenda.

WCRC meeting – February 2009

Once again we had another dynamic speaker to address our group at the latest Wicomico County Republican Club meeting this evening. Tonight it was Pocomoke City mayor and legislative candidate Michael McDermott.

First we had the usual formalities, this month led by outgoing First VP George Ossman who subbed for club President Marc Kilmer. After the Lord’s Prayer, Pledge of Allegiance, minutes from January and treasurer’s report, we next heard a letter from our January speaker, Wicomico County Sheriff Mike Lewis. In it, Lewis saluted the Republican Club and thanked us for our support. It was a pleasant surprise; normally our speakers don’t take a few moments out of their day to thank us for our support.

Next up came the monthly report from the Young Republicans and their President Mark Biehl. Their February 7th food drive was termed as a “huge success” and they’re in the beginning stages of putting together a fundraiser for Andy Harris and his 2010 run. Mark also announced the March meeting would return to the Flavors of Italy restaurant on East Main Street on Thursday, March 12th.

Dr. John Bartkovich then asked to defer his Central Committee report to later in the agenda so we could hear from our scheduled speaker. Continue reading “WCRC meeting – February 2009”

Objectivity

In reviewing comments last night, I found where frequent commentor “Final Frontier” rather pithily dismissed John Leo Walter’s citation of a Heritage Foundation piece about President Ronald Reagan because of the source, one she considered somewhat biased.

At the same time, I received my usual weekly assignment item from the Patriot Post; this week they asked me to write a short piece about the controversy regarding politicization of next year’s census by the White House, particularly once they picked a Republican to head the Commerce Department.

It got me to thinking about how someone can see a scholarly look at the legacy of a President she dislikes as so biased, yet presumably belong to a party which has no problem with taking an educated guess regarding how many Americans live here and where exactly their domicile lies.

According to Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution, it’s up to Congress how the Census is completed:

“The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as (Congress) shall by Law direct.”

The problem occurs when Congress uses that count to distribute over $300 billion in funding based on those figures. For every person not counted or placed in a different jurisdiction, that’s $1,000 in federal funding one could call misallocated. Forget that there’s homeless people who may not wish to be counted and many millions here illegally who shouldn’t be.

In the runup to the last Census, there was a bid to allow for statistical sampling to determine the population in particular areas. Fortunately the Supreme Court decided that was improper insofar as Congressional districts are concerned, but they left the door open for states to redraw their legislative districts in that manner. If you look at how Wicomico County is drawn legislatively by the state of Maryland, one has to ponder whether there was sampling used or just a mad attempt to run our county’s map through a jigsaw.

To me, it seems like the Democrats want to do a census in the same manner they want to count votes – just like in a close political race, they want to magically “find” a few extra residents in areas they control. If a count is to be done, it needs to be done accurately by counting as many willing residents as possible. It’s a citizen’s civic duty to stand and be counted – but just once.

Showing his true (blue) colors

Oh, the tangled webs politicians weave. You know, for a guy who’d only had one elected post prior to becoming Congressman – a post which wasn’t by its nature political (as a State’s Attorney, he should have been concerned with enforcement of the law, not creating it), Frank Kratovil has shown that he can play the political games like a ten-term veteran.

Let’s take yesterday’s stimulus package votes as an example. First, though, I want to back up and repeat what Frank released when he voted against the original House version of the stimulus package:

Today, Congressman Frank Kratovil voted against a proposed economic stimulus package saying that not enough of its spending was focused on immediate, short-term stimulus measures.

“We’re already facing the largest budget deficit in our nation’s history. That means we can’t afford to get this wrong. We need to make some tough choices about where we can and can’t afford to be spending taxpayer money, and I’m not convinced that this package focused enough of its spending on the programs most likely to have a short-term economic impact.”

While the stimulus package does include needed investments in infrastructure and education, the short-term stimulative effect of these projects are watered down by discretionary spending on other programs with less potential for short-term economic impact. Kratovil indicated that he would like to see more of the focus shifted back toward shovel-ready projects most likely to create jobs and improve our transportation, energy, and information technology infrastructure in the short term. Although many of these programs are admirable causes, they certainly are not emergencies and should not be lumped in with legitimate efforts to strengthen our economy and get people back to work.

“Clearly Congress needs to act, but we have to act prudently,” said Kratovil. “Moving forward, I’m going to work with like-minded colleagues on both sides of the aisle to advocate for more disciplined, focused spending in hopes of producing a better bill during conference with the Senate” said Kratovil.

(Emphasis in original)

Well, given the fact that Frank only had a short amount of time to consider the revised bill you wonder what was added into or subtracted from it for him to change his mind from one passage vote in late January to the next yesterday.

But perhaps a better question is what changed his mind in just a few minutes. Continue reading “Showing his true (blue) colors”

Not too stimulating

Well, as we expected, the so-called stimulus package passed the Senate by a 61-37 vote. All 58 Democrats voted yes (even the ailing Senator Ted Kennedy) while 37 of the 40 Republicans present voted no. GOP Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire did not vote, presumably pending his confirmation as Secretary of Commerce, and the disputed Minnesota Senate seat is still vacant.

The three RINO’s who voted with the Democrats were Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and both of Maine’s Senators – Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe. Collins was wavering at one point but obviously decided the bill was worth voting for.

So now it will be up to a conference committee to decide where to iron out the differences between the House and Senate versions; unfortunately since the GOP is slightly complicit as far as the Senate version goes I’ll bet that’s the version which will be closer to the final one. This will be so in order to maintain those three precious (to BHO) votes which give the bill the imprimatur of bipartisanship. It sort of wasted that nice stand the House Republicans made. Continue reading “Not too stimulating”

Asserting independence?

As of this writing, our newly-elected Congressman Frank Kratovil has voted 53 times in his elected capacity as our representative. During his campaign, he assured the voting public that he would be an independent voice in Washington.

Well, thus far Frank has voted with the majority of Democrats 86.8% of the time, or 46 votes out of 53. Certainly I know that my friends to my left will argue that not all votes are created equal, and they are right. Let’s see where Frank has shown his independence and where he’s toed the party line to the district’s detriment.

The seven votes where Frank broke with the majority of Democrats are as follows:

Roll Call #17, Providing for consideration of H.R. 384, to reform the Troubled Assets Relief Program of the Secretary of the Treasury and ensure accounability (sic) under such program
Roll Call #25, On Motion to Recommit with Instructions, TARP Reform and Accountability Act
Roll Call #27, Relating to the disapproval of obligations under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008
Roll Call #35, Rule providing for consideration of the bill H.R. 1
Roll Call #38, On Question of Consideration of Bill, Making supplemental appropriations for fiscal year ending 2009 (H.R. 1)
Roll Call #45, On Motion to Recommit with Instructions, Making supplemental appropriations for fiscal year ending 2009 (H.R. 1)
Roll Call #46, On Passage, Making supplemental appropriations for fiscal year ending 2009 (H.R. 1)

So Frank can be considered somewhat of a maverick on the stimulus bill and TARP reform. But there were other opportunities Frank could have stood with other thoughtful Democrats on both of these bills.

He could have voted for the Camp Amendment, which stripped the appropriations from the stimulus package, leaving just tax relief (Roll Call #44).
Even though he voted to recommit in vote #25, Frank voted to pass the TARP reform bill on the very next vote (Roll Call #26). Was he for it before he was against it, or vice versa?

And there were other places where Kratovil could have voted in the better interests of the district.

For example, why should we subsidize Amtrak? Frank voted against stripping an appropriation for the railroad from the stimulus bill (Roll Call #43). He also voted against stripping appropriations from the stimulus bill on another roll call vote (#42).

He gave a gift to one of his largest contributor groups by voting for the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 – not just once (Roll Call #9), but twice (Roll Call #37). This eliminated the statute of limitations on pay discrimination lawsuits, which means look out for a slew of new lawsuits over alleged unfairness which happened years or even decades ago, after businesses have destroyed their records.

Finally, while this wasn’t a surprise given his early campaign rhetoric, Frank voted to reauthorize and expand the SCHIP program (Roll Call #16), ensuring the continued existence of that budget-busting entitlement.

Later this week I’ll look at our state’s two senators, who tend to vote like peas in a pod, and see just what they are voting for the government to do.

2009 Wicomico County Lincoln Day Dinner

For an off-election year gathering we had a great turnout. That was the unanimous opinion of our Central Committee after we hosted our annual Lincoln Day Dinner at Salisbury University last evening.

Wicomico County GOP Chair Dr. John Bartkovich served as master of ceremonies. He got us finished on time, too.

After Dr. John Bartkovich brought the proceedings to order, we began the program. Dave Goslee Jr. provided the Invocation, I led the Pledge of Allegiance, and we heard brief remarks from the guest of honor.

The man looks pretty good for someone going on 200, don't you think?

Yes, you’ll notice I did not say guest speaker. It’s a pretty mean feat to be 200 and not need reading glasses. Honest Abe mused political on a story called “The Preacher and the Lizard”.

We also had greetings from afar, as newly-installed National GOP Chair Michael Steele sent along his thanks to us, and expressed the “belief in conservative values is still strong…our cause is just.”

At that point it was time for dinner, and let me tell you SU puts out a nice spread. After an introduction from Jim’s wife and best friend, Marianne, we then heard from our invited guest speaker.

State GOP Chair Dr. Jim Pelura gave us an assessment of the Maryland Republican Party's past, present, and future.

Jim called Michael Steele’s election to National Chairman “exciting”, but cautioned we need to look at where we’ve been. He noted that the GOP had been reliably 40% of the vote in Maryland until 1994, when Ellen Sauerbrey ran a great campaign with a message that was a fine selling point. As we know, that election came down to Baltimore City and it’s funny how those votes Parris Glendening needed magically appeared there, huh?

But, continued Jim, Sauerbrey’s loss “set the party on the path of moderation”, and that “drove a wedge into the state party.”

When Michael Steele took over as the state party Chairman in 2000, he initiated a 10 year plan which energized the base and helped lead to Bob Ehrlich’s win in 2002. It was a “pure Republican message” which won, stated Dr. Pelura.

Unfortunately, Ehrlich’s term was mired in the slots debate and partisan bickering, and as we all know he lost his re-election bid. However, Jim said that he “was not convinced that all was lost” so he decided to step up and run for Chair.

Recounting the dire financial straits our party was in, he assured the gathered that our party was “better off” financially and although there still was some reluctance from corporate donors, the small contributions were at an “all-time high.” The “GOP message can succeed in Maryland” said Jim, and he exhorted our Central Committee and those other party leaders to help spread the message and reach out to the youth.

Pelura also posited some key issues he thought we could win on, including education and immigration, where the perception needs to shift from being anti-immigrant to just anti-illegal immigrant.

The state chair returned to praising Steele’s idea of a 50 state strategy and lamented the past ignorance of the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions by the national party. And our agenda needed to come from the grassroots.

Jim took two questions before he concluded. One was on the party’s financial status, and he assured the 60 or so present that the line of credit our party took out in 2007 was still being whittled down and would be paid off “soon.”

I asked Jim what he would consider a successful 2010 election, aside from knocking off Governor O’Malley. A “net gain” in General Assembly seats would be a success, and there were no shortage of Republicans willing to run – an uncontested Democratic seat would be “unacceptable.”

At this point, we selected our Republicans of the Year. Like last year, we had two. Unfortunately, Cynthia Williams, who helped run our county headquarters in 2008, couldn’t be present to receive her award. But we had another special guest to help honor the other recipient.

State Senator and likely 2010 Congressional candidate Andy Harris (right) delivers the Wicomico County Republican of the Year award to co-recipient Mark McIver.

Mark McIver was the other honoree, as he (and his wife Hala) tirelessly spearheaded the local effort for Andy Harris as the campaign co-chairman.

We then heard from a number of local politicans and candidates, beginning with Salisbury mayoral hopeful Michael Della Penna.

Salisbury mayoral candidate Mike Della Penna voiced a simple message in brief remarks.

Mike didn’t mince words; he simply told the room that Salisbury “needs change” and he would deliver it.

An “unannounced candidate” for House of Delegates in 2010, 2006 candidate Michael James came next.

Former (and future?) House of Delegates District 38B candidate Michael James had his turn to speak.

James decried the idea of slots as economics and wanted to work for a more pro-business economic solution.

Andy Harris then returned to the podium and noted that the Republican Party, which to him bringing together last year was “like herding cats”, was now united and its message was clear, particularly on opposing the economic “stimulus” in the House. He also vowed to introduce the Taxpayer Protection Act this coming week, which would require a 3/5 supermajority for tax increases in Maryland. Harris noted he had paid for a Gonzales Poll question regarding the subject and that state voters favored it by a 67-29 margin which cut across party lines.

We also got a report and recognition of other local elected officials present from Delegate Page Elmore.

Delegate Page Elmore acknowledged many of the local elected officials present.

Elmore asserted that, despite the yelling and screaming that can be heard from their caucus meetings, the Democrats were united so we need to be as well. Republicans simply need to “take care of their core values” and they could succeed.

We got an official announcement from our next speaker.

Pocomoke City Mayor Michael McDermott talked about inheriting a 'lackluster' city and thoughts about our country's direction.

Pocomoke City Mayor Michael McDermott talked about trying to slow down a fast-moving train toward bigger, more intrusive government and stated, “if you keep your hands off the tiller and let the country do what it does best” we can prosper, in reference to a story he told about his grandfather flying a Cessna airplane.

He then clearly stated that he “will be a candidate for District 38B in 2010.” (As a resident of that district, that works for me!)

Finally, we recognized yesterday’s efforts by the Lower Shore Young Republicans.

Dustin Mills (at podium) introduced fellow LSYR's (left to right) Chris Eccleston, Marc Kilmer, Nick Loffer, and Sean Fahey.

The food drive they conducted yesterday netted over 300 pounds of food (with another several hundred upcoming from Food Lion) and over $150 raised for the Christian Shelter here in Salisbury.

Reverend Bill Wilson closed out the proceedings with his Benediction.

All told, this was a successful event and it certainly fired up the troops, particularly by ending on such a good note with the Lower Shore Young Republicans and their news.

The state of Maryland

As he is bound to do, Governor O’Malley delivered the State of the State Address earlier this week. While the state has challenges, Martin was optimistic for our future because a new Sheriff was in town a few miles down the road in Washington, D.C.

But I think the state of the state is much more accurately assessed in the rebuttal, presented by Delegate Anthony O’Donnell – who happens to be my 2008 Legislator of the Year based on his monoblogue Accountability Project score. If you go to the Maryland Public Television site, you’ll see and hear both speeches.

It’s also worthwhile to see the response from the Maryland Republican Party, which comes on the other side of my break. Continue reading “The state of Maryland”