The forum was recorded in two parts, and the videos run just about two hours total. In order from left to right, the candidates are Bongino, Hoover, Vaughn, Broadus, Jones, and Douglas.

I’m going to allow you to make up your own mind on who won; some comported themselves well and made a solid presentation and others seemed a little ill at ease. At this time I like three candidates better than the others, but I would like to study a little bit more before I make a formal endorsement down the road.

Thanks to Jacklyn Gregory for putting the videos together and uploading them. The Cecil County Patriots and AFP Maryland have done a service to Republican voters. Just for fun I did a quick search for a similar event on the Democratic side, but it was no surprise I found nothing. It’s doubtful Ben Cardin would stoop so low as to honor his opponents with his consent to debate – a common trait I’ve found among incumbent Democrats.

Because this is a Presidential election year, Republicans and Democrats in most of Maryland will only have a few choices to make when primary voting arrives in late March. (Some will also have local races to consider.) In seven out of eight districts for both parties voters will have a choice for Congress, while all Maryland voters who participate in the primary will select their party’s standardbearer for the U.S. Senate seat. Only Republicans will have a choice for President as no one stepped forth to challenge Barack Obama on the primary ballot. There is also only one Republican running in the First Congressional District – incumbent Andy Harris – while Dutch Ruppersberger enjoys a similar free ride in his Second District Democratic primary. Convention delegates are also at stake for both parties in each Congressional district.

Now that the stage is set, it’s very likely that only two or three GOP presidential candidates will be left standing by the time the race reaches Maryland on April 3. The good news is that Maryland and the District of Columbia may be pretty much the only game in town that day. Wisconsin voters will be much more mindful of the effort to recall Governor Scott Walker and, depending on whether the Texas legislative districts go to court or not, their scheduled April 3 primary is likely to be pushed back.

But the Presidential sweepstakes will likely not be the most exciting race. Rather, the key races will be:

• The Second District Republican primary, where Delegate Rick Impallaria and State Senator Nancy Jacobs are leading the field of five contestants. Political newcomer Larry Smith is also running a spirited campaign.
• Both sides in the Sixth District. While Democratic State Senator Rob “Gas Tax” Garagiola had the district drawn to his advantage, challenger Milad Pooran has shown some fundraising prowess as well. Meanwhile, State Senator David Brinkley and Delegate Kathy Afzali are challenging incumbent Republican Congressman Roscoe Bartlett, joining 2010 challenger Joseph Krysztoforski and four other GOP hopefuls in the Congressional side’s most crowded field.
• It looked like Democratic incumbent U.S. Senator Ben Cardin would face the usual cadre of perennial candidates until State Senator C. Anthony Muse jumped into the race. While Cardin is expected to handle this challenge, it will show just how many Democrats – particularly the black population they depend so heavily on – are backing the incumbent. If Cardin doesn’t carry areas like Prince George’s County or Baltimore City Cardin will have some fence-mending to do over the summer months to shore up the base.
• Meanwhile, the Republicans have their usual crowded field of ten candidates, who I’ll discuss in the next few paragraphs.

If you break down that race you’ll find that, just like the Democrats, there are several who are seemingly on the ballot just to see their name there. John Kimble is on his ninth straight federal ballot dating back to 1996, Corrogan Vaughn is on his fourth try for statewide office, Robert Broadus and Rick Hoover are on their third electoral run, and Joseph Alexander was third in the 2010 Senate race. William Capps also ran for state office in 2010. That’s not to say they have no shot at winning, but generally there’s a reason for their lack of previous success. Of that group, Vaughn and Broadus have probably been the most active at getting around the state and promoting their campaigns.

But in terms of money and backing, the two frontrunners have to be pegged as Rich Douglas and Dan Bongino. Bongino has raised the most money, and both have received a series of dueling endorsements from state and federal officeholders and other well-known figures. Both Bongino and Douglas have spoken before small groups (of which I was a part) here in Wicomico County as well.

I’ve pointed out before that the pair have a somewhat different focus in their respective campaigns.

Douglas seems to be more of the “establishment” candidate whose specialty lies more in the aspect of foreign affairs. He also plays up his experience in the Senate as a staffer for Senator Jesse Helms and his military experience. Conversely, Bongino resides more on the side of addressing economic issues and the role of government and doesn’t seem to be averse to mixing it up with his Democratic opponent. He’s also been more successful at getting national interest in his campaign. To me, it doesn’t matter so much who wins the Republican side – I’m looking for the guy who will finally represent this state as it should be represented, not a career politician building up his pension via 46 years in public office. (Yes, Ben Cardin was first elected to public office in 1966 – winning a House of Delegates seat held previously by his uncle. He was first elected when I was 2 years old!)

Although there could be a primary upset, I’d prefer that the retirement party for Ben Cardin be held on November 6. While most of the ten on the GOP side would be an improvement (I have my doubts on a couple) I would suspect the best chance of attaining that goal would rest with Rich Douglas or Dan Bongino.

Up in the Second Congressional District, GOP candidate Larry Smith is challenging his four rivals to eight hour-long debates on various issues. But considering he has more to gain than two of his rivals (who serve in the Maryland General Assembly) that’s probably a pipe dream – not to mention they would likely be in session several nights a week.

But the key complaint Smith has is simpler: “This election should not be decided on who has the most insider endorsements, but rather who would be the best representative of the voters of the district.” All that is true, but if these debates were to come to pass I would hope that a conservative runs them, rather than the debacles we have seen with the GOP Presidential debates and their “gotcha” questions.

I wish Mr. Smith the best of luck in going to Washington.

Another Congressman wanted to make sure that there are no excuses to halt the exploration for natural gas in Maryland.

Last week Andy Harris held a hearing regarding the EPA’s findings in groundwater research in an area where fracking (hydraulic fracturing) is being performed. The EPA study is being questioned by experts who contend the study is being biased to show groundwater contamination which isn’t there.

“This hearing exposes how the EPA is willing to use junk science to promote unnecessary fear about the safety of hydraulic fracturing in an attempt to carry out the President’s climate change agenda,” said Harris. “The testimony was clear that this study is not applicable to Marcellus Shale, so hopefully Governor O’Malley won’t use this flawed study as an excuse to advance his own climate change agenda.”

Both Harris’s opening statement and the webcast are available for inspection. You may recall this was the hearing where a documentary filmmaker (not friendly to the oil and gas industry) was ejected for not seeking the proper credentials beforehand.

Speaking of oil and gas, the prospect of a gasoline tax strikes fear into Maryland drivers. I’ve already covered this at some length, but I wanted to point out a quote from a release I received from Maryland Business for Responsive Government concerning the Purple Line, a proposed light-rail system between New Carrollton and Bethesda. MBRG states:

The governor claims the increase is necessary to fund transportation projects, including the Purple Line, a $2 billion light-rail boondoggle meant to run between Bethesda and New Carrollton. This unpopular scheme could result in more than 300 families being tossed out of their homes through eminent domain.

This project is typical of leftist transportation policies that seek to redistribute wealth from automobile commuters – the vast majority – to the handful who prefer a government-subsidized ride. According to the latest Census Bureau data, only 5.2 percent of Marylanders take public transit. The absurdly optimistic forecast that 60,000 will use the purple trolley means the subsidy will be $33,000 per daily rider. It would be cheaper just to hand each of them a free car. (Emphasis mine.)

Isn’t that what liberals want to do anyway? Traffic will be just as bad, and the subsidy worse because the train will go from suburb to suburb. Unless someone has done the traffic study to prove this is a popular route not directly served by highways, I suspect this will indeed be a colossal waste of money. On the other hand, at $5 million per lane mile we could build a 4-lane expressway from Salisbury to Dover to connect to the existing improved section of Delaware Route 1 and have money left over for building a few needed interchanges at major highways. That would do a lot more good for Delmarva’s economy.

Instead, Martin O’Malley wants to build a slew of wind turbines around the state and off Ocean City. Maybe he should go watch this before he spends our tax dollars tilting at windmills:

I would imagine that a number of people who live out in Western Maryland and can’t cash in on the Marcellus Shale natural gas underneath their property have fallen for this racket – and I mean that in a literal sense. Just wait until they build these offshore and another Hurricane Irene lumbers by just off the coast. You don’t need to worry about that with fracking.

Last week I pointed out some of the GOP reaction to Martin O’Malley’s State of the State address. But I missed this one, and it’s pretty cute. Delegates Susan Aumann and Kathy Szeliga had their own take:

However, I have one objection – I hope they’re not playing ‘Angry Birds’ while they’re supposed to be taking votes or attending a hearing. Aside from that, they are right on target. And as others have pointed out, losing the Amazon sales via the ‘app tax’ could really hurt their bottom lines. Not so much here, but I like having the option open – at least for my friends.

Now let’s talk a little bit of activism. At the last WCRC meeting speaker Cathy Keim described what Election Integrity Maryland is doing, but in passing remarked about efforts in Wisconsin to verify recall signatures – a process rife with fraud thanks to multiple signatures from selected signers and obviously fake names like ‘Mickey Mouse’ or ‘Adolf Hitler.’ Regardless, these were supposed to be counted unless the validity of the signatures is challenged.

Verify the Recall is looking for volunteers to help with the effort of checking for duplicate signatures and against the database of existing voters. It would be utterly hilarious if the petition effort was found to have come up short because of the absolute and insidious fraud perpetrated by Big Labor and other anti-Scott Walker liberal groups.

Voter integrity will be one of the subjects of the next Worcester County TEA Party meeting at 6:15 p.m. on Friday, February 17 in the Ocean Pines Community Hall. They’ll also receive a legislative update from Delegate Mike McDermott. Hopefully I’ll get on-the-spot coverage from my correspondent over Worcester County way.

As I have the last two times, I’ll go through the sites I’ve added on my sidebar. Both of these are national sites which many of you have already heard of, but I had heretofore overlooked Instapundit and The Right Scoop. Not anymore. You may also notice I enhanced my link to the Maryland Democratic Party with a new widget in order to be fair and balanced.

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t wish a happy 101st birthday to our late fortieth President, who was the first  President I cast a vote for in 1984 and for my money hasn’t been equaled in my lifetime before or since. Rest in peace, President Reagan, for you are sorely missed. The centennial hoopla may be coming to a close but the legacy remains.

We are closing in on the 1/3 point of the annual “90 Days of Terror” which we conservatives call the Maryland General Assembly session. As of Friday, Senate bills introduced afterward have to go through the Rules Committee, with the similar deadline for House bills this coming Friday. Currently there are over 1,250 bills under some sort of consideration whether it’s first reading, committee votes, or select floor votes.

Much of what Mike writes about this week regards committee hearings and other bills being considered by his Judiciary Committee. Testimony was heard on everything from flash mobs to background checks to bison.

The background check bill (HB63) is a local bill which extends the authorization enjoyed by several other Maryland counties to Wicomico County, permitting them to do criminal background checks for prospective or current county employees. As projected, enactment of this law would cost the county approximately $55 per new hire, with the anticipated usage being for temporary parks and recreation employees. Wicomico County predicts about $7,300 would be spent based on 134 new hires.

I don’t have a problem with this and neither did the Judiciary Committee, since they moved the bill to the floor on a nearly unanimous vote (one Delegate was absent.)

The other committee vote taken was on a bill (HB4) to require Baltimore County Orphan’s Court judges to be members of the Maryland Bar. It passed committee with only Delegate Neil Parrott objecting, and I think he was in the right. Granted, the bill only places the question to a public vote this fall but most will reflexively vote for it. (This may or may not affect the in-state tuition for illegal aliens bill overturn, depending on how that question is worded.)

As I understand it, Orphans Court judges have the opportunity to consult with attorneys on legal matters regarding probate if they have any questions; otherwise, it’s generally a question of common sense in dealing with one particular facet of state law. I’d rather not artificially limit the pool of people who can do the job by requiring Bar membership, so I disagree with McDermott’s favorable vote. I highly doubt this will reach the level of one of the three committee votes I’ll use for the 2012 monoblogue Accountability Project but I thought the objection was worth registering.

Two other bills which McDermott introduced are undergoing further scrutiny after testimony last week. The hearings for HB112 and HB119 occurred on Tuesday, with the former getting a six-hour interrogation. As McDermott writes:

For over 40 years the Maryland system of Commissioner review followed by a Bond Review by a judge the next day has served us well. The Commissioner screening results in the release of about 65% of those arrested on Personal Recognizance or Unsecured Bonds and those folks never see the inside of the county jail. The next morning, a Bond Review by the District Court Judge insures that defendants have the opportunity to argue why they should be released if the commissioner determined they should have a bond. Involving defense attorneys and States Attorneys at the Commissioner level will change the nature of these hearings and add longer wait times. This will mean keeping police tied up with prisoners for extended periods. The bill seeks to answer the problem and could save the state and county governments tens of millions of dollars if passed.

Technically HB112 would enable the state and local governments to not spend the money since the new rules are only now taking effect, and it appears an amended version may be considered where the public defender needs to be present for bond reviews before a judge but not for appearances before a Commissioner – sort of a half-a-loaf approach. On the other hand, McDermott believed HB119 would get through the committee hurdle and make it to the floor for consideration.

And unlike HB4, the votes on these two bills (HB112 and HB119) may well end up on the monoblogue Accountability Project because they make a lot of sense; with that we invariably get opposition from those members of the General Assembly who seem to lack that attribute.

The weekly Eastern Shore delegate meeting focused on two economic drivers: agriculture and tourism. McDermott describes the meeting with Secretary of Agriculture Buddy Hance like this:

After listening to the Secretary for a few minutes discussing the new or proposed regulations, I thought I was in a meeting with the Secretary of the Environment. It would appear to me that the Department of Agriculture has succumbed to being an apologist for the governor’s office instead of being an advocate to the governor for the farmers (as we have always had in the past).

Mike also had this observation on a meeting with Delamrva Poultry Industry (DPI):

I thought the most interesting comment was made by DPI President Andrew McLain when he indicated that farmers use to have plans drafted to address improving agronomics of a farming operation, but now the plans are drawn up to satisfy regulations and mandates by the government.

Ain’t that the truth. Never mind that driving the poultry industry away would only ruin most of the Shore’s economy. Having a Delmarva Chicken Day is a good idea as well – wonder why those who were in office before didn’t think of this?

The tourism industry also had its due, with Mike being quite impressed by the variety of tourism experiences available. Let’s hope they are still able to thrive after our Governor and his Democratic allies raise the gasoline tax! That could be a rather uncomfortable vote for the local Democrats – of the three I predict Norm Conway and Rudy Cane will go for it and Jim Mathias will vote no. Norm is sort of a swing vote and could go either way, but I think the real Democratic leadership in Annapolis which allows him to claim some sort of pull from chairing Appropriations will remind him who’s boss.

Finally, Mike announced he’s been chosen to lead an effort to promote good government practices. I’ll be interested to see where that leads.

We’ll see what Week 5 brings. Apparently there’s been no action on the other bills Mike sponsored, since he didn’t update us as promised. There is a hearing on a bill he and Delegate Conway are pushing (HB251) regarding Ocean City taxi drivers in two weeks, while the other bill (HB257) involves video slot machines and hasn’t had a hearing scheduled. It wouldn’t surprise me to find a Democrat-sponsored bill introduced afterward with essentially the same aim being pushed because of the Delegate sponsoring it.

That’s the way business is often done in Annapolis – sad but true.

The race for the Republican National Committeewoman seat which opened up when Joyce Terhes opted not to seek another term has already made news around these parts, but there was no counterpart on the National Committeeman side, where Louis Pope is presumably seeking another term. Until today.

Anne Arundel County Central Committee member Scott Schaffer is taking on the challenge of unseating the incumbent. In a statement on the newly created Facebook page for his campaign, Schaffer said in part:

“Like the movie Groundhog Day, the Maryland Republican Party keeps repeating itself over and over:  same strategies, same tactics, same candidates, same results,” said Shaffer.  ”If we want a different outcome, then we need new ideas and new blood.”  Shaffer’s vision for the Republican Party includes a strategic focus on younger generations of voters, which he believes are essential to the party’s long term survival.  Shaffer was also critical of the incumbent’s endorsement of a candidate during the 2010 gubernatorial primary election, including steering RNC funds to the candidate before his nomination was secured.  ”We need a leader who embraces the primary process, not one who sabotages it.  Contested primaries make our party stronger.  Voters should be the ones deciding elections – not party officers.

So it’s obvious Scott agrees with me on the Rule 11 controversy from two years ago; however, Louis also expressed his support for our resolution last November to address this. I think that’s sort of a wash at this point.

The last time we had this exercise four years ago, the elections for this post were walkovers, as neither Pope nor Terhes were opposed to continue in their positions.

Obviously Pope is a known quantity to me, but while I’ve certainly had the opportunity to interact with Scott I don’t really know anything about him. So it was interesting to me to find that which he wrote in seeking his current Central Committee position in 2010. Again, a short excerpt:

The inept leadership in the Maryland Republican Party cannot continue. We need a new state party chairman. We need new Central Committee chairmen. And most of all, we need Central Committee members who will work hard to make our party competitive again in Maryland.

And something else he said at the time could make a potential working relationship interesting. The comment he was responding to said, “Don’t forget that our Party Chairman claimed it was Party over Principle. The MDGOP needs new leadership that understands that without principles we have no party or we are the Democrats.”

Schaffer responded:

Audrey Scott has never put Party before anything. She became chairman only because her predecessor was forced to step down amid party infighting, and she’s done nothing to mend the rift and unite the party. Principles are important, yes, but conservatives and moderates need to realize we have much more in common with each other than with the Democrats. The only way we win is by working together. Let’s build our party’s membership among both voters and elected officials…all the bickering over who’s more conservative than whom detracts from the work we should be doing. It’s much harder to defend our principles from the sidelines, while the Democrats govern our state without us.

I definitely agree that there is still some simmering bitterness over the whole Pelura situation, especially when the former Chair bucked the party orthodoxy to endorse upstart Brian Murphy in the governor’s race.

But while it’s true that conservatives and moderates have quite a bit in common, it seems to me that we on the conservative side are always told to sit down, shut up, and let the experts who know these things anoint the proper candidate – who is almost always the more centrist one. A prime example: Bob Ehrlich, and we see how well he did in 2010. Honestly, I suspect Brian Murphy would have gotten 40 percent and at least he would have stood up for a more clearly defined conservatism. I suspect the votes Murphy would have lost from the center – at least according to conventional wisdom, anyway – would have been made up by those who stayed home because they were uninspired by Ehrlich. So we lose by 16 or 18 points instead of 14 as we did – big deal! Maybe those who stayed home because Ehrlich wasn’t conservative enough would have put a few more GOP Delegates and Senators over the top had they voted.

At least we would have known where true conservative principles stood in this state and how much education we really need to succeed. But instead the MDGOP put a weighty finger on the scale and gave its backing to Ehrlich.

On the whole, though, I’m pleased that Schaffer entered the race and now we have a choice in the matter. Maybe this can start a trend inside the Maryland Republican Party since we vote on the other party leadership after the election later this fall.

Besides, I didn’t vote for O’Malley anyway. There’s much more below the jump.

Some other interesting Republican and business leader quotes on the SOTS:

Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio (Minority Whip):

(Marylanders) have made tough choices and they are living within their means.  They have a reasonable expectation that their State government do the same.

(snip)

The Administration’s continual overspending and inability to manage their own budgets is hardly an adequate excuse to increase taxes, take away tax exemptions and burden the taxpayers even more. His budget proposal and his tax proposals go way too far and again demonstrate how out of touch he is with the citizens of our State.

2014 candidate (perhaps for Governor?) and Harford County Executive David Craig (h/t The Dagger):

As County Executive I have had to make very tough decisions that keeps government living within a balanced budget each year, with no one to pass on my costs to. The State of Maryland should do the same and live within their means.

Maryland Young Republican Chairman Brian Griffiths:

This Governor talks about choices. However, his choices to date have determined a strong lack of sound judgment… Governor O’Malley could have built the new schools and bridges he talks about if he had not raided the transportation and capital funds to cover general fund spending. Instead he has replaced those funds with bond debt, meaning we’ve already been taxed twice for schools and bridges that have not been built.

The people of Maryland need common sense solutions to our spending problems and job creation. But this Governor fiddles while the middle and working classes suffer. Martin O’Malley time and time again proves that he is not serious about fixing our state’s woes as he continues to focus not on his day job, but on his national profile.

And from the business community, Maryland Business for Responsive Government:

“The Governor’s State-of-the-State address places too much emphasis on job creation through the public sector,”  said Maryland Business for Responsive Government President Kimberly M. Burns. “Every dollar of budget growth has to first be taken out of private sector pockets.”

Last year’s general fund budget grew 11.4% and the total budget has grown $28.8 billion to $35.8 billion since 2007.  It is a myth to assert the budget has been cut by $7.5 billion as the governor did today.

So what did Michael Swartz, political junkie from Wicomico County, think of the address?

I guess first of all the Governor really needs to get out of Government House once in awhile. Follow me for a day and I’ll show you what the State of the State is really like.

These addresses generally follow a few basic points, and it usually doesn’t matter which side makes the speech, Republican or Democrat. I use the first person vernacular here for effect:

• The state of the (fill in the blank: city, county, state, union) is strong because a, b, and c was accomplished the last year because I, the Chief Executive, wanted it to be so. (Don’t forget to put the emphasis on strong.)
• Now I want the state to accomplish x,y, and z in the next year because it will enhance my image, or brighten my re-election prospects, or just make me feel like I, the Chief Executive, accomplished something.
• Those who stand in the way of my progress should be blamed for all my failures. It doesn’t matter that they were actually right and people should have listened to them.

Of course, Governor O’Malley does all this in spades. It’s actually pretty damn easy for him to stand there with a straight face, piss on our leg, and tell us it’s raining. (Of course, his wife calls political opponents “cowards” so I guess it’s a choice of being lied to or insulted from that family.) I can guarantee you will never hear a passage like this from him or his ilk:

“Three months ago, the XYZ Widget Company opened a new, $150 million factory in Salisbury, a plant which is creating 1,000 good, high-paying jobs for that Eastern Shore community. I wish I could stand here and tell you that we had everything to do with that plant opening, but that would be a bald-faced lie.”

“Instead, I suppose all we did as a state government was get out of their way and allow them to maximize their investment with the minimum of red tape being placed in front of them. On their own, they came to the conclusion that Maryland was the best place for them to prosper and we simply agreed. We had already put the prudent amount of necessary infrastructure in place, but when the county decided to do its part we allowed them to take charge because they knew best what to do and how they wanted to work with XYZ Widget. We knew that Salisbury should take the lead, not Annapolis.”

“We appreciate XYZ Widget coming to Salisbury, and our job now is to both continue the conditions which enticed them to come to Maryland and try to replicate it everywhere else in our Free State. We won’t suddenly decide they are a cash cow to be milked or an evil polluter which will come in, create sprawl, and destroy the landscape. All these tactics were tried before and we found them to be an utter failure. It was time to declare the state was open for business, and to borrow an old phrase from the great state of Ohio, emphasize that ‘profit is not a dirty word.’”

If the rest of the speech were in that vein, THAT would be a State of the _____ worth hearing. It would be even better if delivered in a form which was common for the State of the Union up until a century ago (briefly resurrected with Presidents Coolidge and Hoover.) But it’s not happening any time before 2015 with the State of the State thanks to the foolish choices Maryland voters on all sides of the political spectrum made.

We can do so much, much better.

His latest (of many) tax proposals would extend the state’s 6% sales tax to purchases of gasoline, on top of the current 23.5 cents per gallon surcharge the state takes. If adopted, Maryland would join a handful of other states which use this nebulous practice of profiting off high gasoline prices.

The other states which do this are California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and New York. To see what impact this proposed tax would have on our wallets, we need to use three methods of comparison. First, here are the per-gallon gasoline taxes charged by each of these states and Maryland, ranked lowest to highest, not including sales taxes or various fees added by each state: (Source)

• Florida, 4 cents per gallon
• Georgia, 7.5 cents per gallon
• New York, 8.1 cents per gallon
• Indiana, 18 cents per gallon
• Illinois, 19 cents per gallon
• Michigan, 19 cents per gallon
• Maryland, 23.5 cents per gallon
• California, 35.7 cents per gallon

And now the sales tax rates which are (or would presumably be) applied to gasoline, also listed lowest to highest:

• California, 2.25%
• Georgia, 4%
• Maryland, 6%
• Michigan, 6%
• Illinois, 6.25%
• Indiana, 7%
• New York, 8%
• Florida, 12%

Finally, the combined bite between all taxes (federal, state, and local) impacting gasoline in the states which charge sales tax, which includes where Maryland would eventually rank. To do their calculations, API uses the average cost per gallon in each state according to AAA as of 1/1/12. For Maryland, I couldn’t find the price on the specific 1/1 date but according to the latest AAA figures, the average price one month ago from today was $3.26 and that should suffice for being roughly the price on January 1st. Again, this is lowest to highest.

• Georgia, 47.8 cents per gallon
• Florida, 53.4 cents per gallon
• Illinois, 57.3 cents per gallon
• Indiana, 57.3 cents per gallon
• Michigan, 57.8 cents per gallon
• Maryland, 61.5 58.9 cents per gallon*
• California, 67 cents per gallon
• New York, 67.4 cents per gallon

If this is passed, Maryland would have the fifth-highest total gasoline tax in the country, trailing New York, California, Connecticut (also 67 cents per gallon) and Hawaii (65.5 cents per gallon.) Maryland drivers would be ceding a much higher bite out of their wallets than their neighbors in West Virginia (51.8 cents per gallon), Pennsylvania (50.7 cents per gallon), Washington D.C. (41.9 cents per gallon), Delaware (41.4 cents per gallon), and Virginia (38.2 cents per gallon.) Retailers in those states who are fortunate enough to be close to the Maryland line are probably licking their chops about now.

Of course, this doesn’t factor in the addition of some of MOM’s other trial balloons like a separate 15 cent per-gallon increase in the gasoline tax or increasing the sales tax to 7 percent. And as Todd Eberly points out at The FreeStater Blog, this could all be a feint to make a direct 15 cent additional surcharge more palatable.

As it is currently proposed, the gasoline sales tax would be phased in 2% at a time so drivers wouldn’t be hit all at once. But when they’re projecting $613 million in new annual revenue at a time when the state is over $1 billion in the hole, it will be a surprise if they don’t rush the process. It may get passed this way for now, but wait for the new, improved bill to accelerate the increase next session when money is still tight.

We’re also being told that a gas tax increase is about infrastructure jobs in fixing bridges and roads. But the Maryland Public Policy Institute does a magnificent job of not only blowing that argument out of the water but also pointing out the folly of public transportation while they’re at it. Simply put, it’s another component of the War on Rural Maryland as those of us who drive greater distances because we choose to live away from urban woes will be subsidizing those who ride the buses or light rail in more-developed areas. That group doesn’t quite comprise the 1% but they’re pretty darn close, and they don’t come close to paying their own way.

Putting private transport out of reach to the average family through higher prices also fits neatly into the goals of so-called “Smart Growth” and “sustainable development”, which strives to increase the usage of mass transit. Perhaps this is a line of thought more suited to the tinfoil hat crowd, but one can’t deny it’s much easier to control the population if their movements are controlled.

In any event, the first step in rebuilding Maryland’s crumbling transportation infrastructure needs to come from locking away the Transportation Trust Fund from greedy governors who can’t shake their spending addiction. And if we take back the half of transportation spending we waste on a tiny percentage of commuters and instead gave them a more appropriate share of a nickel per dollar, there are a lot of bridges, road widening projects, and traffic control measures which could be completed for the rest of us who get tired of sitting in traffic.

On the Eastern Shore, we already will bear a significant burden from the newly increased tolls on the Bay Bridge, so we should get a break when it comes to gasoline taxes. The state should quit using the knee-jerk reaction it always seems to have about raising taxes and instead consider spending the vast amounts already collected more wisely.

* I was also taxing the existing tax, not the actual price. Subtract out the 41.9 cents we currently pay in taxes and the sales tax is actually on $2.84 of the $3.26 per gallon.

Things must be getting a little more hectic in the General Assembly as Mike abandoned his day-by-day descriptions in favor of a general overview of the week’s proceedings.

The first topic was a quick look at judicial electronic filing, updating the progress and determining how to pay for it. I’m guessing the trial attorneys and others involved in the legal system are going to balk at additional user fees just as those of us in rural areas have no desire to pay a higher “flush tax.” But in their case, I think the benefits would be more tangible.

Second in line is probably the most important thing the General Assembly is entrusted with each year – the passage of the Governor’s budget. It’s the only item the legislature can pass and enact into law without the Governor’s formal approval.

And Mike is definitely a critic of this year’s spending bill, noting the “significant proposals that would affect every family in Maryland if they are adopted”: changes to income tax deduction, a variety of fee increases, a rise in college tuition, and the expansion of sales tax to a multitude of services, including the internet. We call that the “app tax.”

Mike also noted on Wednesday the fifteen House Republican freshmen, a group of which he’s a member, held a press conference to reveal that a majority of Maryland residents were convinced (to turn a phrase) the taxes are too damn high. In fact, 96% believe they are Taxed Enough Already – so I guess 96% belong to the TEA Party. Now if they only voted that way we wouldn’t have these problems.

Another update McDermott added to the notes was the fact both Wicomico County State’s Attorney Matt Maciarello and his Somerset County counterpart Dan Powell came to Annapolis to share their thoughts on the subject of a bill Mike is sponsoring (HB112), which would eliminate the requirement for a public defender at certain court hearings.

Something which really should be carefully read in McDermott’s original notes are his accounts of the Eastern Shore Delegation meetings. Obviously we have a mixed group, with three moderate-to-liberal Democrats interspersed among the 12 members of the General Assembly who hail from this part of the state (Districts 36, 37, and 38.) Most of the others are conservative Republicans, although some tend to stray from the party line from time to time.

My sense – and in looking at the monoblogue Accountability Project I can bear this out – is that McDermott is the most conservative of the group. In fact, the four freshmen Delegates we have from the Shore (all Republicans) rank among the five highest (most conservative) out of the 12-member Eastern Shore Delegation, at least by my measure. Senator E.J. Pipkin breaks that group up; otherwise the freshmen are the ones who most agree with how I would vote.

But McDermott also states that there may be a couple Department of Natural Resources projects in the pipeline; an upgrade to the bathhouses on Assateague Island and a proposed boat ramp on 64th Street in Ocean City. Perhaps that would be money well spent, although I’d be curious to know if any property acquisition is needed for the 64th Street project.

Finally, Mike promises an update in next week’s field notes on the bills he’s sponsored (there are now four where he is lead sponsor, while he’s a co-sponsor of 38 others) and restates his promise not to introduce any bond bills this session. So far, the local Republicans in the House have made good on not introducing any bond bills; however, both Shore Republicans in the Senate seem to want to go their own way on this. (Needless to say, Democrats will introduce these debt creators with impunity, since it’s only our children’s money they’re spending.)

This was a somewhat shorter summary than we had the first two weeks, probably because the routine is now setting in and there’s a lot of ground to cover – so far there are nearly 700 bills in the hopper.

But there is one omission, a bill I haven’t seen yet in the House. Last year Delegate McDermott promised to move our bill on an elected school board early in the session, but to date there is no House version. In the Senate, though, Senators Mathias and Colburn introduced SB99, which is a clean up-or-down vote, on January 17. A hearing slated for January 25 was cancelled, which may mean trouble for our cause. (Remember, a similar bill passed the Senate last year only to be bogged down by Delegate Norm Conway in the House.) Perhaps the Delegate can inquire as to why this cancellation occurred and get this bill moving in the House.

I skipped last week, but this edition of the General Assembly session seems to be settling into a familiar routine: a few bill introductions and hearings, with Mike sitting in on the Judiciary Committee hearings. Tonight I’ll do a review of week 2 based on Mike’s observations and tomorrow afternoon I’ll catch up with week 3.

To begin week 2, Mike commented on the celebration of Martin Luther King Day and remarks from former football player and Delegate Jay Walker, but concluded by reminding readers that MLK was a Republican and the civil rights movement seems to have both forgotten this and the fact Republicans helped get civil rights legislation passed despite the efforts of southern Democrats.

On Tuesday of that week, Mike helped to pass the very first bill to make it through the whole legislative process this year. SB46, which changed Somerset County’s legislative districts, passed as an emergency bill with the only dissenting vote cast by Anne Arundel County Delegate Don Dwyer.

But there’s an interesting sidelight to this particular bill. SB46, sponsored by Democrat Senator Jim Mathias of Worcester County, was passed through the legislative process. The crossfiled bill in the House, HB50, was sponsored by Republican Delegate Charles Otto of Somerset County but didn’t proceed past first reading. So who do you think will get credit and who will be cast as not doing his job?

The remaining time that Tuesday was spent reviewing bills on elder abuse, increasing penalties for malicious destruction of property by graffiti, and the release of mental patients found not criminally responsible. Obviously this can make you an expert on a lot of mundane, picayune items. But the Judiciary Committee only hears its portion of the bills before the entire General Assembly so one has to assume Mike does a lot of talking with fellow Republicans on other committees to hear their take on other bills which will be voted on later this session.

On Wednesday Mike spent the day in a hearing on out-of-court settlements, which brings me to the point above. It’s not clear whether this is germane to a bill already in the hopper or one being considered.

Thursday brought the Israeli Ambassador to the United States before the General Assembly as well as hearings on bills mandating the members of the Baltimore County Orphans’ Court be members of the Maryland Bar, abolishing some of the immunity enjoyed by members of the General Assembly, and expanding the harassment statute to add in items like text messaging and social media.

I suspect the Baltimore County bill is a trial balloon by the Maryland Bar Association to eliminate the possible competition for Orphans Court judge around the state. It’s the only judicial position a lay person can hold, and reducing the pool of people who can run allows attorneys a crack at another cushy judgeship.

Week 2 ended on Friday with the meeting of the Eastern Shore Delegation. Mike describes the speakers they heard from: Department of the Environment Secretary Robert Summers, Susquehanna River Basin Commission Director Paul Swartz (no relation), and the nine school superintendents on the Shore. Obviously he had many more questions than they could answer, but Mike brought up salient points regarding all three.

I happen to agree with Mike that the Eastern Shore takes an inordinate share of the blame for the Bay’s problems. We only contribute a small amount of the nitrogen that finds its way into the Chesapeake, but our farmers have to jump through hoops regardless. Soon they’ll be joined by those who will see the “flush tax” doubled if Governor O’Malley and Annapolis liberals have their way. Meanwhile, we can’t do much about the pollution which comes to the bay via the Susquehanna River – Mike uses the analogy of having a swimming pool with a hose connection to the neighbor’s septic tank. Obviously that would mean Pennsylvania and New York have to help us out, but they don’t really have to deal with the problem.

And as for the third meeting with the superintendents, it seems to me that any time Memo Diriker is brought into the conversation taxpayers need to watch their wallets. Somehow he always seems to advocate the most expensive solution, and I’d love to see the calculations that Diriker uses to claim each dollar spent on public education creates $1.90 in return. If that’s true, building Bennett Middle School should make next year’s Wicomico County budget a snap.

I’m not holding my breath.

Also on Friday of week 2, Mike introduced bills dealing with the criminal justice system, HB112 and HB119. Both will have a hearing Tuesday afternoon. Compared with some of the other bills I’ve read, these are very simple changes in the law. I’m not sure what fate HB112 will have, since I’m betting the ACLU and other similar groups will press hard against the measure, but HB119 has a fighting chance for success: it allows law enforcement officers in the field greater latitude to use their judgement on whether a misdemeanor offense deserves a simple citation or more intrusive action and has a small but bipartisan roster of co-sponsors.

During week 2 Mike also penned his thoughts on Martin O’Malley’s budget, where he chastises the governor who “lifts his eyes to Pennsylvania Avenue.” I agree with Mike: the 2016 campaign is already underway for Martin O’Malley, and my guess is that state Democrats have already been given their marching orders to try and make that happen.

I’ll look at Week 3 tomorrow, and try to get back to a Sunday evening routine afterward.

However, the timing of this perhaps shows Cain’s lack of political savvy – or, to play devil’s advocate, means he marches to his own drummer and eschews standards which would place him within the political norm. Your choice. The latter seems especially true when you consider Cain had already made his “unconventional endorsement” of “the people.”

Honestly, as a former Cain supporter, I think Herman’s post-campaign decisions have been quite disappointing. His TEA Party response to the State of the Union address was all right, but it seemed to me he pulled his punches somewhat; of course one could also argue that had he endorsed Newt earlier he would not have received the slot. As I said up top, it wasn’t unexpected that he endorsed Gingrich but doing so at this time, when Newt’s campaign is otherwise imploding in Florida, smacks of desperation on the part of both – but moreso Gingrich, who’s trying to corral onetime Cain supporters into his camp.

Too bad that, for many, the horse has already left that barn – Newt isn’t going to get much of a bounce from an endorsement eight weeks after the candidate’s withdrawal. Obviously it wasn’t needed for Newt to win South Carolina, so to do so now indeed seems like flailing from a candidate who vows to “go all the way to the convention.” That movie has played before, and usually that sort of declaration comes just before the closing credits roll on the campaign.

Unfortunately, the GOP voters and caucus participants who have come before me have seen to eliminate most of my top selections from the race. It will leave me a choice – as too often seems to be the case in Presidential politics – of:

• voting my conscience (even if he dropped out before the primary), or
• voting for my third- or fourth-favorite choice who’s still there, or
• voting against the guy I don’t want to win with his strongest remaining opponent.

A combination of the second and third options was the approach I took in 2008, basically voting against John McCain rather than for Mike Huckabee. Huckabee was pretty much my fourth option after Duncan Hunter, Fred Thompson, and Rudy Giuliani withdrew. (As I recall, Florida was Giuliani’s Waterloo, too.) In 2012 I’ve already lost Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann, and Rick Perry (although Perry is on the ballot here.)

But we’ll see if Cain’s backing for Gingrich is too little, too late. If it ends up I vote for Newt Gingrich, it won’t be because Herman Cain endorsed him. Instead, see bullet point #3 above and you’ll find my reason.

It didn’t take the House long to do its job, but the title of the “do-nothing” Congress belongs to the Senate. While gridlock can be a good thing in a lot of instances, not performing their Constitutional duty is inexcusable.

The House did their job, so tell the Senate to do theirs. We’re always being asked to compromise so now it’s their turn.

And if they don’t, perhaps it’s time to elect some new Senators who would work more closely with a Republican house. A few good candidates come to mind, none of them named Ben Cardin.

To review, last month current state National Committeewoman (and onetime MDGOP Chair) Joyce Lyons Terhes announced she would not seek another four-year term in the post. To date two contenders have announced their intention to seek election – former YRNF Chairwoman Nicolee Ambrose and former state party Chair Audrey Scott. Anyone who’s paid attention to this space has seen me rake Audrey Scott over the coals for her participation in a rally supporting an increase in the state’s gasoline tax and, secondarily, for locking up the Transportation Trust Fund to prevent it from being raided every time Martin O’Malley needs to balance his budget. (The latter I’m fine with, but not the gas tax increase. Correctly prioritize what we have first.)

Audrey Scott, though, has a lot of backers who don’t mind that misstep with six members of the MDGOP’s executive board, six of the 24 local county Chairs, 24 of 43 Delegates, and 5 of 12 Senators on a list of endorsers Audrey has on her Facebook site devoted to the race. On the other hand, Ambrose has fewer elected officials supporting her (only Delegates Donna Stifler and LeRoy Myers, Senator J.B. Jennings, and U.S. Senate candidate Dan Bongino have expressed their support for Ambrose) but far more “likes” on her campaign’s Facebook page (143 vs. 17 for Scott.) Perhaps that’s a generational thing, but in any case the votes which will count are coming at the party’s Spring Convention April 27-28 – over three months from now.

(This upcoming state convention will also feature the election of ten Delegates and ten Alternate Delegates to the Republican National Convention. I unsuccessfully ran for this in 2008 but will take a pass in 2012 since I have something far more important to attend to that month and money enough for just one trip. We also elect a National Committeeman but thus far I’m unaware of anyone who will challenge current officeholder Louis Pope.)

So again we have a situation where a group of party regulars and insiders favor one candidate, while those on the periphery of power tend to favor someone else. Since the advent of the TEA Party in 2009, those on the inside have won each time so far (Bob Ehrlich over Brian Murphy is one example) but the margin seems to be getting closer as time goes on. At the last convention, Heather Olsen and I had the majority in challenging the insiders’ usage of Rule 11 in the 2010 campaign but it wasn’t quite enough of a majority to change the bylaws. We haven’t decided yet whether to try again this time.

That’s not to necessarily say that Nicolee Ambrose is the choice of the TEA Party faction of the MDGOP but she has been cast to represent those who aren’t happy with the party’s direction, particularly at a national level. For example, she feels an open primary would be a good idea but has the sense to know it should be an internal decision made by the Central Committee. I happen to think the primary should remain closed, a position which Scott agrees with.

So the narrow target audience now has those pieces of information to work with. But those who think the Maryland Republican Party needs to step up its game should be active, too. The members who sit on the county Central Committees are those you elected to represent your interests at the state level and if you think either Ambrose or Scott would be better suited for the job, by all means have your say in the matter. Personally I can see assets and liabilities with both contenders, but there are a number of factors I’m considering and how they handle key issues matters to me. And I wouldn’t be opposed to additional people jumping into the race, just like I think Louis Pope should have a challenger or two to keep him honest as well.

If activists want to push the party in a more conservative, pro-liberty direction, this convention and the upcoming April 3 primary election will be the times to have your say. After that, you’ll have to wait until this fall when we elect a new slate of party officers – that comes courtesy of a 2011 rule change which shortened the terms of the officers from four to two years, reflecting what the national party does.

So let’s get to work.