This one’s a bit controversial.

It’s only 37 seconds and while it makes a great point, I find it intriguing that the “dislikes” are running 2-1 over the “likes” on YouTube. Truth hurts? Any questions?

One thing we can’t question is the fact that as of Sunday the United States had the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world. But the Republican Study Committee makes a good point:

Of course, volumes and volumes of special credits, deductions, and loopholes mean similar companies often pay very dissimilar tax bills. It’s natural for people and businesses to use every means available to hang onto the money they earn. We wouldn’t be an entrepreneurial nation if we didn’t. But the more time and money we spend navigating our ridiculously complex tax code, the less we produce of real value.

And that was part of the point in the Cain video. Not only is the tax rate high, but those who can afford lobbyists and campaign contributions tend to be the ones who pay the least in taxes – meanwhile, the mom and pop operation takes it in the shorts again. (That’s why 9-9-9 appealed to me. Any questions?)

The state of Maryland doesn’t get this either, according to Kimberly Burns of Maryland Business for Responsive Government.

As the Governor said himself, all this proposal does is delete the word ‘gas’ from ‘tax.’ A sales tax increase is an easy, unacceptable short-term fix to the longer term problem of business competitiveness. Just like the gas tax, it hits every Maryland working family and business right in the wallet.

Say hello to more factory outlet stores near Maryland’s borders in Delaware and Virginia. When you’re a small state like Maryland, sandwiched between two low-tax states, it’s foolish to think increasing the sales tax won’t effect Maryland’s competitiveness and the behavior of consumers.

If the 7% sales tax is passed – and remember, anything is possible in these desperate last days of the session – Maryland would have one of the highest sales taxes in the country and Delaware merchants will be licking their chops as their price advantage jumps to seven percent.

Maryland Republicans in the Senate point out another misconception on the offshore wind boondoggle by citing a Sun letter from Teresa Zent which makes an interesting charge: that $1.50 per month price is only “a cap on what a developer can plug into its proposal. It is not a cap on what a ratepayer might actually have to pay.” And that’s a tremendous point, because if your electric bill is figured on a price of perhaps 11 cents per kilowatt hour and wind energy will cost a quarter per, someone has to pay and the utilities (which, remember, have a monopoly on servicing a particular area) aren’t in it to lose money. By necessity, Maryland would be stricken with a further competitive disadvantage in electrical costs.

And while the election is over, I have to commend the participants in the U.S. Senate nomination battle for the campaign which was waged. They differed on issues, but when it came to attacking the opponent that was reserved for the real opponent, Ben Cardin. And even those weren’t personal but focused on how Cardin is out of touch and lacking in leadership in fighting for Maryland’s working families.

So it wasn’t unexpected that the two leading contenders released statements in this vein after the counting was done. Rich Douglas conceded thusly:

I want to congratulate my opponent on a hard-fought race in the Republican primary. Republicans and Democrats challenging Ben Cardin know that defeating elite royal family rule in Annapolis and incompetence on Capitol Hill is an enormous undertaking. I urge like-minded Democrats and Independent voters to close ranks with Mr. Bongino to replace Ben Cardin in November. It is time for a strong Maryland voice to be heard in the U.S. Senate. Today was the first step toward that goal.

Meanwhile, Bongino praised his opposition for the races they ran:

I am grateful to the voters of Maryland who have given me this amazing opportunity. I would also like to thank the other Republican challengers. We all share the same concerns about the direction of this country and agree it is time Maryland had new representation in Washington. I hope they will join my campaign to bring an outsider’s perspective to the US Senate.

Dan also set himself up for November, promising a campaign devoted to “the economy, national security, energy and government accountability.” He also added:

The people of Maryland deserve a Senator who will fight for them, and not the Washington establishment. We need leadership in the Senate that will work to increase opportunity for middle-class Americans, that will provide a path for those in poverty to advance and ensure this nation will once again be a place where jobs are created and people are willing to invest.

Part of doing that will be encouraging entrepreneurs and small business by making the tax code simpler and fairer instead of what the Cain video depicted.

Lastly, some laughed when Newt Gingrich spoke about bold initiatives in the space program, as he did last week. But the Competitive Enterprise Institute posited a step even beyond mere space travel: private ownership of other celestial bodies?

A proposed law requiring the United States to recognize land claims off planet under specified conditions offers the possibility of legal, tradable land titles, allowing the land to be used as loan collateral or an asset to be sold to raise funds needed to develop it.

Such a law would vitiate the 1979 Moon Treaty, which does outlaw private property claims in space, but to which the U.S. is not a signatory. This should be viewed as a feature, rather than a bug. The law would not impose any new costs on the federal government, and would likely generate significant tax revenue through title transaction fees and economic growth from new space ventures carried out by U.S. individuals and corporations. It would have great potential to kick the development of extraterrestrial resources—and perhaps even the human settlement of space—into high gear.

It’s quite a fascinating report, and it points out the difference between development in similar areas deemed off-limits to private property (Simberg cites Antarctica as an example of government-controlled property) where little development is occurring, as opposed to the far northern reaches of the planet where several companies are exercising mineral rights. He theorizes that billions of dollars could be made if private property rights were granted in space, and I can’t disagree.

I’m not going to be the first in line to be a space tourist or worker, but if opening up space can help the economy and promote future prosperity for succeeding generations, what are we waiting for?

The two flyers pictured here are part of a barrage of mailings and robocalls that Pipkin is using in Cecil County against Robert Hodge, a candidate for County Council, and Tari Moore, who’s running for the newly-created County Executive position.

But the Cecil County Patriots group objects to Pipkin’s interference, charging that the candidates he and Delegate Michael Smigiel are backing – Jim Millin for County Council and Diane Broomell for County Executive – were handpicked by the state officials as puppets for their agenda. One local observer added “this all goes back to the unionization issue that he tried to force on our local government, and the teacher pension shift…(Pipkin’s) attacking two candidates who he despises because they are very popular, very conservative, and very independent of him.”

The Pipkin tactics remind me of how he conducted the 2008 primary battle between he, Andy Harris, and then-Congressman Wayne Gilchrest. In that race, Pipkin spent over a million dollars – almost all his own money – on glossy mailings and flyers which promoted his conservative record while calling opponent Andy Harris a “dishonest Baltimore politician.” Harris has returned the favor in this race by endorsing Hodge and Moore.

Hodge has taken to the media to respond to Pipkin’s negative attack, while Moore is apparently above the fray.

But there is one area where I can agree with the Cecil County Patriots. For example, in Mullin’s case he’s a proponent of “sav(ing) literally thousands of acres of our Eastern Shore from sprawl and development.” As I’ve often pointed out, if an area doesn’t grow it shrivels and dies so Mullin seems to be throwing his lot in with the zealots who would tell people where they can live and work, knowing that’s just the start of government control.

On the other hand, it’s interesting that the Cecil County Patriots object to a candidate who “organized the first two TEA Parties in Cecil County” and was the impetus behind an elected school board as Broomell claims. They’ve managed to get through the Byzantine process of getting an elected school board for their county as opposed to our efforts here in Wicomico, which seem to have run into a brick wall.

But the real question is why Pipkin is using such scorched-earth tactics in a primary, a strategy which could damage Hodge and Moore should they survive to the general election. The GOP contest for Executive is already a seven-person scrum, with three running on the Democratic side; meanwhile, the council district Hodge is running for already has a Democratic opponent in place for November who’s unopposed in the primary. While I’ll grant there’s not the strong Republicans serving in the General Assembly from Wicomico County that Cecil County can boast, I would be floored if any of our local Republican elected officials carried on in this manner in a contested GOP race here – of course, none have the means that Pipkin does.

There’s probably something to like about most of the GOP hopefuls in Cecil County, and this year is a key election in their history because they’re electing their first County Executive. Yet this interference in the Cecil race may mean both Senator Pipkin and Delegate Smigiel draw primary opposition in 2014. (Pipkin got 72% of the vote in his 2010 primary against one opponent, Smigiel was unopposed.)

I think in closing it’s worth noting something E.J. Pipkin wrote back in 2007, a paragraph in a lengthy e-mail I used for a post:

The “right” to put oneself forward for office, to be judged by voters, and to represent your friends and neighbors is a basic fundamental component of our representative government. This system relies upon individuals being willing to discuss their ideas, their backgrounds, their strengths and weaknesses as leaders, and their vision for how to improve the lives of those they wish to represent.

It seemed like the Cecil County race was doing just fine until Pipkin decided to put his thumb on the scale and alienate a number of voters for no good reason. Senator Pipkin, you should let these individuals have the necessary discussion, back the winner against the Democratic challenger, and save your money for your own next race.

We’re now at the point in session where the hearings have pretty much ended and the House is now taking up a number of bills which have passed through the Senate. But as Mike wrote at the top of his Week 11 notes, “The news I bring you this week from Annapolis is not good.”

Some of the lowlights included the passage of a bill to further hinder Maryland’s opportunity to join in on the Marcellus Shale bonanza. “There was a significant amount of propaganda put forward by Chairman McIntosh citing many ground water contamination concerns”, wrote McDermott. “Although none of these instances has shown to have been caused by hydraulic fracturing in the process described, the chairman is a believer and is not swayed by many known facts.” But as he describes in week 12, there’s no problem with rushing offshore wind.

The beat went on, as McDermott included a list of defeated Republican amendments to the budget bills and tax increase bill which went through the House, all failing because enough majority Democrats are slaves to the party line. And he noted HB1412 because that affects a large part of his current constituency (I still consider him “my” Delegate despite the fact redistricting took me out of his district. I voted for the guy.) He chided Norm “14 Million Dollar” Conway for being a co-sponsor:

Democrats, including Del. Norm Conway, sponsored this bill which will effectively destroy a Tax Revenue Cap put into effect by the voters in counties such as Wicomico. Not only does it allow for an override of the cap (but if Maintenance of Effort isn’t met) it requires the Comptroller to withhold tax money due the county. Further, it requires the Comptroller to take the money and divert it to the local Board of Education to make up any money the county withheld from the budget. This is one incredible overreach by the state and may only serve to force some of our counties into a state of bankruptcy or never ending tax increases.

Yet Mike considered HB987 to be “perhaps the most potentially damaging legislation to the taxpayer this session.” And it will be quite a chunk of change, as the fiscal note cites the city of Salisbury (where I live) as incurring an additional $217,500 in costs yearly for this stormwater management measure. Given there are just over 11,000 households in Salisbury (although nearly half are part of multi-family units) it’s likely the city will dig another $20 to $40 annually out of our wallets. That will be a large expenditure, but will pale in comparison to what we in Wicomico County will have to face thanks to Norm “14 Million Dollar” Conway and his fellow Democrats who see counties as mere lines on a map, not distinct units of government, and voters as hicks who really don’t know better, especially when it comes to fooling them into re-election every four years.

But McDermott was just as enthused about a measure (HB576) which smacks of the cronyism in Maryland politics:

It was said to be turning the state into a “Banana Republic” where the one with the money buys the justice they desire. While many were offended by the debate, they were only offended by the truth. This bill was amended to help one particular party with a case already before the court, and, no matter how you slice it, that is just plain wrong. I was so glad to be ending my week on such high note.

That “case already before the court” would likely be the State Center project in downtown Baltimore. As the fiscal note points out, “work on State Center has largely come to a halt pending the outcome of that litigation,” which centers on whether the state followed proper competitive bidding procedures. Obviously it would be interesting to know who’s behind the LLCs involved, but that’s beyond the scope of this summary.

Week 12 got underway with more bad news, as the General Assembly perpetrated “a real waste of effort and tax dollars” by setting up a health insurance exchange” to comply with a bill which may be unconstitutional (Obamacare.) But there was a rare victory as an effort to increase hunting license fees (HB1419) died on the House floor. So the state won’t gouge hunters out of $3 million per year; unfortunately they’ll take it in the shorts along with the rest of us in the other myriad ways the state extracts its pound of flesh.

As I wrote above, the state doesn’t want to get in on the proven economic benefits (in terms of job creation and revenue, as evidenced by the results in Pennsylvania) of the Marcellus Shale formation, but is in a stampede to slap up offshore wind which can’t compete with the price per kWh that natural gas or coal can provide by creating an artificial market. McDermott concedes the bill has been amended and writes:

In fact, the industry folks say that it is financially improbable that a company would be willing to enter into an agreement with Maryland under these terms. The fact is, without significant government and ratepayer subsidies, Off Shore Big Wind is too costly. If you consider wind produced kilowatts coming in at .24 cents and natural gas generation at .07 cents, this is not rocket science. On the floor, I argued that we should join with Virginia and their announced project to allow Dominion Energy to build one such tower three miles off the coast of Cape Charles and a monitoring station so they can determine if the technology will produce the results needed to make it a viable option. They put a three year moratorium on natural gas drilling that would net billions, yet they rush forward on an unproven technology that would bind our people to higher utility rates in the future. In a word, unbelievable!

Welcome to O’Malleyland, Mike. Throw in the fact that we’ll have to pay a labor premium for the job as a sop to Martin O’Malley’s union buddies and Mike’s assessment that this is a “‘green’ shingle” to hang on O’Malley’s 2016 Presidential resume is likely correct.

Yet there is one bill I somewhat disagree with McDermott’s assessment on, and that’s the medical marijuana bill (HB15.) As he states:

I think this is a terrible idea and the bill has so many holes in it legally, I do not think it can be repaired. The big problem in the General Assembly is that we have some who want to legalize marijuana or, at least, decriminalize possession, yet they use medical marijuana for cover to try and relax laws. Well, if they want the debate on legalization, let’s have it…but let’s stop trying to come in the back door behind this ruse of medicinal marijuana. I do not want Maryland to look like California when it comes to marijuana. We already look like them when it comes to taxes and environmental laws. We did not vote on the bill, but I doubt it receives a favorable report from Judiciary next week.

Do I think such a bill is rife for abuse? Of course I do, I’m not stupid. I’ve become more and more convinced over the years though that marijuana is, in many respects, the alcohol you inhale. People get stoned and do stupid things just like they do when they get drunk, but you can go to a bar and have a couple drinks and as long as you stay below a prescribed blood alcohol limit (and/or don’t drive a vehicle) in the eyes of the law you are fine. But if you were smoking a single joint, that’s illegal?

And I know both substances have limits for tolerance, just as I know there are people addicted to both. But I can also pretty much guarantee you that you’d be surprised by how many people in all walks of life partake in Mary Jane. I don’t think it should be illegal to grow your own supply, much like some choose to brew their own beer.

I have no plans to grow my own pot, and aside from secondhand because I was in environments where it was smoked (pick any early ’80′s indoor rock concert I attended) I haven’t tried the stuff. If offered, I refused – I’m asthmatic in the first place so why would I inhale more smoke than I already am? But it makes no sense to me that one group is being singled out, particularly when government is so hypocritical as to encourage people to not drink alcohol or smoke tobacco by using the tax money they collect from people who do.

I think we should go ahead and have that debate. Mike is probably correct in saying that medical marijuana bill won’t pass because it’s been pushed a number of times over the years. Maybe this is the type of thing where we need to study how other states have fared on a number of levels. The state studies almost everything else to death, so why not this?

There are two more weeks to go in the “90 days of terror” we call the session, and a lot of damage has already occurred. We will see if there’s any good news (like somehow passing the Wicomico elected school board bill) which can be salvaged out of this disaster of a General Assembly session.

It’s unfortunate that the timing of particular events didn’t lend itself to a fairly proper local celebration of Human Achievement Hour, but that report will have to wait until next week I suppose. Petting Hendrix cranking out tunes with bright lights and several hundred watts of amplification seemed a fitting way to celebrate the time period since they were the ones on stage at that time, but alas that all happened last week. However, I’m sure a number of local venues are hosting live music tonight and that will do just fine just so long as it’s not unplugged acoustic.

In fact, it just so happened that I did a bang-up job of celebrating this four years ago, before I even knew about Human Achievement Hour. That celebration didn’t come along until 2009, when I noted the event’s first rendition. I also made mention of this in 2010 and last year when I rolled it into a Weekend of local rock post. The point is, we live in a society which depends on those things we have created to make our lives better, and sitting in the dark to celebrate Earth Hour – which just happens to coincide – believing it makes a difference only places a bold “S” on your forehead, meaning “sucker.”

Do I believe we should strive for energy efficiency? Absolutely, when it makes sense to do so based on a solid cost vs. benefit analysis. (I liked to use a payback period of five years or less in mine.) Problem is the same people who believe we should sit in the dark for an hour would eventually love to make us do so by fiat, or else creating the conditions where we will be forced into such a situation.

Unlike previous years, it does not appear that Maryland state government will participate; however, the National Cathedral in Washington and National Aquarium in Baltimore will participate. To be honest, the National Aquarium will be more of a symbolic effort because I can guarantee you the aquatic life they’re supporting needs some power to maintain their respective environments. If they completely went black you’d have a lot of dead fish. (They are also closed to the public during that time frame anyway so it’s not like they’re losing business.)

And that’s the rub. There are people and entities who know they can do Earth Hour to look politically correct yet not pay for it in the long run. Notice as well this falls on the weekend, when many are home enjoying their lifestyle. This wouldn’t fly if they tried it on a weekday evening when kids are doing homework or parents are running late-evening errands. Saturday is that day many people relax, perhaps by visiting the National Aquarium.

In particular, I’m sure their staff has probably fallen for this global climate change garbage hook, line, and sinker. They forget that it’s progress and abundant, reasonably-priced energy created from fossil fuels which aids in making the lifestyle where people can afford to pony up $25 to $30 to visit. Have you ever wondered why there’s not such a facility in places like Rwanda or Bangladesh? It’s because most people in those wretched places are worrying about where their next meal will come from and can only dream of having disposable income to spend.

And it’s in the vein of knowing we live in the greatest society the planet has ever known that we celebrate Human Achievement Hour. I’m not sure just what I’ll be doing, but I doubt that it will involve sitting in the dark being environmentally correct.

As the energy industry has arrived in our state in hopes of extracting the natural gas which lies underneath in the Marcellus Shale formation, the term fracking has become part of our vocabulary. As a Maryland resident who has no stake in the energy industry, aside from my role as a consumer of those elements used to create the gasoline and electricity I need for my various jobs and the heating oil I use to heat my hot water and household, my main concerns are twofold: reliable energy which doesn’t cost me an arm and a leg. I suspect those concerns are shared by a vast majority of us.

The cost competitiveness and abundant supply of natural gas gives Americans a great asset, but only if we choose to take advantage of it. This choice, though, is one environmentalists want to frighten us away from because natural gas is not a renewable source. And it’s obvious that some people just can’t stand prosperity as a recent op-ed by Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune demonstrates.

In his piece Brune disparages the entire natural gas industry with a palette of half-truths and wild assumptions. But the bad news for Marylanders is that Brune seems to have the ear of Governor O’Malley. It’s obvious that both are only too happy to impact the coastal environment of the Atlantic as well as areas of western Maryland by building noisy, unreliable, and unsightly windmill farms because they’re perceived as the politically correct thing to do, but those tried and true methods of getting the energy and job creation our state desperately needs are unappealing to them.

And the allegations that Brune makes don’t stand up to scrutiny. For example, hydraulic fracturing has been used in more than one million oil and natural gas wells in the United States since the 1940s, and despite Brune’s strictly anecdotal reports to the contrary not one confirmed case of groundwater contamination stemming from fracturing has been documented, according to a recent University of Texas study. And regarding his shrill warnings about the dangers of piping the natural gas he fails to mention that natural gas is already piped to points across the country via a network spanning well over 300,000 miles nationwide – including almost 1,000 miles lying under Maryland and Washington, D.C. An existing pipeline already services the Cove Point LNG terminal!

One has to wonder why Brune isn’t telling you those facts I easily found with a little bit of research. Perhaps it’s because he wants us to “invest in” (read: subsidize with taxpayer dollars) sources like wind, solar, and geothermal, as well as emphasize energy efficiency. Most of us realize taxpayers can pump all the money we want into these sources but we can’t spend our way into making the wind blow just the right speed to make turbines work effectively all the time, nor can we compel the sun to shine 24 hours a day. Geothermal energy is more promising, but has a limited amount of effectiveness and also requires hazardous pipeline fluid chemicals to handle the wide temperature swings.

And while we should strive for cost-effective energy efficiency, it shouldn’t come with a price tag of reducing our standard of living. A shuttered coal plant is neither efficient nor a job producer, but it’s a badge of honor to a radical like Brune. For those placed out of work by the closure, though, it’s only their economic livelihood they’re losing. No doubt Brune and O’Malley would gladly “invest” government dollars into teaching them the skills needed for a non-existent “green” job.

Environmentalists could be taken more seriously and provide a better service to residents by not obfuscating their argument with scare tactics. Most people have the sense to know that fossil fuels won’t be around forever, but for the foreseeable future the market favors reliable sources of energy including natural gas. If you’re enjoying the current decline in natural gas prices and the resulting extra money in your pocket, you can thank hydraulic fracturing because it’s that decades-old “new” technology increasing supplies, driving down prices, and actually bringing back a discussion about helping our nation’s balance of trade by exporting natural gas.

Who would have ever thought we could beat OPEC at its own game? Let’s put Maryland to work building for the prosperity of tomorrow by making use of that which we have in abundance.

I’ll begin with Andy Harris:

(On Tuesday), Rep. Andy Harris (MD-01) joined Rep. Scott Rigell (VA-02) to pass legislation through the House that could create hundreds of jobs at an expanded Wallops Research Park, which is located near NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility. The bill removes restrictive federal government deed provisions that hinder job creation on the Delmarva. The legislation creates these jobs at no cost to hard-working taxpayers. Additionally, up to half of the potential high-paying jobs could be filled by Maryland’s Eastern Shore residents.

“We need to work to reduce undue burdens that the Federal Government is placing on the ability of local communities to create jobs,” said Rep. Andy Harris. “I will support any bill like this that helps foster an environment for job creation while costing hard-working taxpayers nothing.”

And then there’s former Harris opponent Senator E.J. Pipkin, working on the state side:

Senator E.J. Pipkin…announced that the Senate Finance Committee has approved his bill – SB 818 – to begin the process required to consider building a third span of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

Pipkin said, “I am elated that the Committee has taken the first step in the long journey toward what must happen – construction of another Bay Bridge span. No one who uses the Bay Bridge on a daily commute or on a weekend to visit Ocean City will debate the necessity for a third span.”

Senator Pipkin pointed out that the bridge carries an average of 68,000 vehicles each day. Five mile backups are not unusual at any time, but are common in the summer when an average of 100,000 vehicles cross the bay each day. “The bridge has the dubious distinction of having the worst traffic delays on the northeast coast,” he said. The Bay Bridge Transportation Needs Report revealed that 402 accidents occurred during its 3-year study period; a significantly higher volume than for similar highways.

(snip)

Before any large project can commence, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires an Environmental Impact Statement. The process includes a public scoping process, data collection, analysis of policy alternatives and preparation of draft and final documents, all of which takes 6.1 years, as estimated in 2003. “Putting Maryland into the NEPA process would finally address the issue of a third span and enable us to make policy decisions to move forward,” declared Senator Pipkin.

Using the cost of NEPA studies for the ICC as a base and adjusting for inflation, the Department of Legislative Services projects a cost of $35 million between 2013-2017 for the NEPA study. The MdTA would pay for the cost of the study out of its operating expenses. “Last summer, the MdTA approved the largest toll increase in the State’s history, so it comes as a surprise that it now claims that this process would be too expensive.”

Pipkin stressed that SB 818 does not require that a third Bay Bridge be built, but enables us to move forward to the next step in considering our transportation needs. It will take 15 to 20 years to build a new Bay Bridge.

The role of government is not to provide a vehicle for crony capitalism, but work on those areas which benefit the public at large. It seems like the Harris/Rigell measure does just that. Knowing Wallops Island is a federal installation which is vital for the national defense (a legitimate Constitutional function) I see no problem with private enterprise having a share in that success. To be quite honest, I never knew there was a Wallops Research Park, but that’s in part because it’s a little off the beaten path. Maybe that was part of their problem as well.

Of course, the local infrastructure may need improvement as the main highway to Wallops Island is the same two-lane artery which takes tourist traffic beyond Wallops Island to Chincoteague. At some point if the new venture is successful we may have to see Virginia Route 175 dualized – but that’s probably at least a decade off.

Transportation woes are hopefully being addressed with Pipkin’s proposal as well. But I believe a third span would be much more practical several miles south of the existing Bay Bridge. Geographically it makes a lot of sense to have a span from Dorchester County to Calvert County at a point where the Bay is relatively narrow, but I could already imagine the hue and cry from environmentalists and NIMBY types, particularly on the Eastern Shore. This would also require Maryland Route 16 to be seriously upgraded, at least to Cambridge.

But there would be advantages as well, particularly on the tourism and accessibility front. Opening a southern route may encourage more commerce between the fast-growing counties of Southern Maryland and the Eastern Shore. Why should the mid-Shore reap all the benefits from a Bay crossing?

As Pipkin says, though, we are probably a couple decades away from a third span and by then there may not be anything left of the Lower Shore to connect with except for Ocean City. A state which is doing its best to strangle rural development in the War on Rural Maryland isn’t going to care whether we receive help or not, just as long as the tax dollars arrive.

So how about I start with an item involving him?

You probably don’t know the name Mia Love, but perhaps you should. The Utah Congressional candidate endorsed Dan with this statement:

“I first learned about Dan when he was being covered for a segment on Fox News.  I was amazed by his story and the passion he has for the state of Maryland,” said Mia Love.  “If we are going to change the way Washington operates, we need to start by electing folks like Dan Bongino.”

So I’m sure you’re thinking, well, that’s nice. But take a look at her website and read this piece of her life she shares therein:

On the day of Mia’s college orientation, her father said something to her that would become the ethos for her life:

“Mia, your mother and I never took a handout. You will not be a burden to society. You will give back.”

Consider that she’s born of Haitian parents and is a minority conservative Republican with a sound track record in her home state, and the strategy of this endorsement makes much more sense.

But there’s other endorsement news out there as well. This particular one shakes up the Sixth District race a bit, as former Senatorial hopeful Jim Rutledge eschewed endorsing one of the better-known candidates in the race and instead backs the underdog Robert Coblentz, calling him “a concrete conservative who understands the core principles and values that make America great.”

Perhaps that’s not a complete surprise, though, as Coblentz was the coordinator of Jim’s campaign in Washington County in 2010. Still, it gives him a little bit of gravitas in his uphill battle against more well-known candidates, and politicians have to start somewhere.

Returning to the Senate race, candidate Rich Douglas has been scoring media points with a couple appearances over in western Maryland. He called out Ben Cardin for not taking a stance on the gas tax during Alex Mooney’s WFMD-AM radio show Sunday evening, saying “I haven’t heard a peep from Ben Cardin (on the gas tax). There’s one simple way he can make his position known – go to a microphone and say what it is.” It also gave Mooney a free shot at Rob “Gas Tax” Garagiola, who’s changed his stance on the issue since he decided to run for Congress in the Sixth District. “These politicians all look out for each other,” added Douglas.

Rich was also featured in a Cumberland Times-News story by Matthew Bieniek on Friday where he echoed some of his job creation arguments presented Saturday at our Lincoln Day Dinner:

Job growth is Douglas’ priority and he doesn’t think the current administration in Washington, and U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin, are doing enough to bring new jobs to Maryland and the nation.

“The unfavorable business climate is a major factor. … Congress has a duty to remove obstacles to success,” Douglas said. A senator should be out there promoting Maryland as a business destination, he said.

A strategic, comprehensive vision for the nation’s economic future is needed, he said. The current “salami slice approach” isn’t working, Douglas said.

Obviously Douglas is covering the state quite well, and the strategy of using local media may pay off come April.

Nine of the Senate hopefuls are slated to be back in this end of the state for a candidate forum this Friday evening, moderated by former State Senate hopeful Michael James. It will be held in the Assateague Room of the Ocean Pines Community Center at 6:30 p.m. and seating is limited. For more information call Joan Gentile (443) 465-2400 or e-mail to joanierags (at) verizon.net.

With the Maryland General Assembly session continuing to chug along, I have a lot of state-related stuff to get to.

Senator E.J. Pipkin sent along a laundry list of objections to SB237, which is the governor’s latest bid to jump-start the offshore wind industry.  Before I get to his list, it’s worth pointing out that none of the co-sponsors of the bill (or its cross-filed House counterpart) come from the Eastern Shore.

But Pipkin notes:

Governor O’Malley paints wonderful pictures about a Maryland Offshore Wind Farm and the jobs it will create and the economy it will enrich.  However, he never tells you about what has happened with offshore wind in NEW JERSEY, MASSACHUSETTS, VIRGINIA AND DELAWARE.   He never discusses that the cost of wind is nearly double that of today’s electric rates.  And he never talks about the impossibility of offshore wind without federal loan guarantees and tax credits.

In New Jersey’s case, a study found that, “if approved and developed, (offshore wind) could lead to a loss of nearly 30,000 jobs and a loss of $1 billion in negative net economic impacts to the New Jersey economy.” Delaware and Virginia can’t find takers for their offshore wind schemes due to high costs per kilowatt-hour and a lack of guaranteed federal loans and tax credits (read: subsidies) and Cape Wind Associates of Massachusetts has only sold half its output because costs are too high.

In short, offshore wind is a terrible idea, particularly when we have better, cheaper, and more reliable alternatives available.

On a similar Radical Green note, I wrote awhile back about the prospect of a bag tax. Well, they are at it again, wishing to slap a nickel per bag fee on your grocery bill. One bag manufacturer is naturally up in arms too, but while they support an alternative measure I say just leave well enough alone and bag the whole thing. If I happen to think about it, I’ll take a batch of bags to the recycling bin stores already have but I’ve also found the grocery bags work fine as garbage bags in some of my low-usage garbage cans (like in our bedroom or office.) So why muck up the law books and encourage the state to take yet another fee?

I also wanted to make sure I got in another reminder about the upcoming Wicomico County elected school board hearing on Thursday, March 15 at 1 p.m. As one County Council member noted, “last year (the) NAACP had persons present for the hearing, I expect they will have again.” I say make them the minority they are, especially in that hearing room.

On the tax front, the two BRFA (Budget Reconciliation and Financing) bills are being heard Wednesday and Thursday this week. SB152 has tax deduction reductions for working Marylanders, increases in fees for various records, the shift of teachers’ pensions to counties, and the dreaded “app tax” included as parts of this bill. SB249 is also being heard, which makes the “millionaire’s tax” permanent.

If that’s not bad enough, SB523 increases taxes on (almost) EVERYONE. (If you make less than $3,000 in Maryland taxable income you’re spared. Woohoo.)

So let me end with some good news for a change, before I get into my new websites.

While the Good Beer Festival is a close second, I would say my favorite local festival is Pork in the Park. Recently they received some national attention:

The Pork in the Park BBQ Festival, sponsored by Wicomico County Recreation, Parks & Tourism, has been selected by Smithfield Foods to host the Smithfield Rib Shootout. To launch their new barbeque competition, Smithfield approached the Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) and requested the top festivals in their major markets. Pork in the Park was amongst the top three in the nation and the only festival in the state of Maryland selected for this opportunity.

Pork in the Park will be the first barbeque festival to hold this new event. Hosting the Smithfield Rib Shootout will put Pork in the Park in the national spotlight, providing the festival with over 50 million traditional and social media impressions through local and national public relations efforts revolving around the event. Pork in the Park will also receive additional exposure on the barbeque circuit as KCBS competitors across the country will be notified of the event. In addition, Smithfield will provide additional prize money for the Grand Champion, Reserve Grand Champion and third place category winners at Pork in the Park.

It’s simply amazing that our little city hosts the SECOND LARGEST barbeque festival in the country, and it’s not all that expensive to go and enjoy an afternoon there. I’m excited to see what this will do for the event.

New links for you to check out: the “information pollination” of Dr. Melissa Clouthier under my “News and Commentary” section, “A Citizen’s View” from American Thinker contributor Scott Strzelczyk under Maryland sites, and the revamped Maryland Business for Responsive Government website within my Political Links – My Side subheading.

I think that’s plenty of odds and ends for now, don’t you?

Update: Late addition, since I didn’t want to wait until next time: Robert Stacy McCain is trying for echoes of both my Weekend of Local Rock and Friday Night Video series. But he does it from Hell.

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.

Polling is in the news these days – sometimes as a real reflection of the political scene, and sometimes just to make news and push a particular agenda. There are two recent polls which I believe reflect the latter.

I’m usually not too trusting of polls in which I can’t find a political or geographical breakdown, and a recent Washington Post poll fits this bill. Taken simply as a sample of 1,064 adults in Maryland, the Post poll gives Martin O’Malley a 55% approval vs. 36% disapproval – compare that to the 53-40 split in the recent Gonzales Poll, which I can easily ascertain subgroups and methodology in. Other disagreements: a 50-44 split in favor of gay marriage on the Post poll vs. a 49-47 split in favor on Gonzales and the “key issue” question: the economy was the top choice of 49% in Gonzales but only 32% on the Post poll.

Without seeing the methodology besides the sample size, my guess is that the local Washington D.C. area was oversampled by the Post. Obviously the economy is better there than in some other portions of the state, and since the area is more liberal than the rest of the state (hard to believe, but true) the other numbers seem to point in that direction as well.

And in another poll covering part of the same region, Sixth District Congressional candidate David Brinkley’s campaign released their opinion that incumbent Roscoe Bartlett has a Mitt Romney problem of sorts: his numbers can’t get over 43 percent in the polls. But the news comes with unanswered questions that gave me pause. (And as I have said in the past, I have no dog in the fight.)

First, the Brinkley campaign cites an opposition poll:

Garagiola’s poll, commissioned by Democratic House Majority PAC, found that the incumbent received just 39% approval rating, with…only 37% of voters believing Bartlett deserves another term. Just as concerning, 60% would prefer someone different.

Approval rating doesn’t always translate into votes; moreover, we don’t know if Brinkley would have a higher approval rating because nothing is mentioned about him. This is likely because both he and Bartlett are somewhat unknown quantities in much of the Sixth District – particularly Brinkley, who actually lives within the newly-redrawn Eighth District (but in an area formerly in the Sixth.) Nor do we know what the approval rating was for Rob “Gas Tax” Garagiola, perhaps he’s only in the 20s or 30s because he’s not as well known outside Montgomery County. (Just let me and a few of my blogging friends have at it – we’ll make sure he’s known for what he does best.) Long story short – these numbers are irrelevant at this point, with the trick being to define the opponent before he defines you.

The same goes for this line:

The Congressman’s poll showed a majority of Republican primary voters were supporting someone else.

Well, considering Roscoe is in an eight-person primary with a lot of new territory, that’s not a complete surprise. The obvious question is whether he’s leading the pack or not. With that much of a field, 40 percent should win – maybe even 25-30 percent. It won’t be a majority but it will be effective.

Finally, Brinkley’s campaign makes a argument which could be effective but may be counterintuitive:

“We didn’t need polls to tell us what we have been hearing from constituents for months,” offered Senator Chris Shank, Brinkley’s Washington County Chair. “This is why so many elected officials are supporting Brinkley.”

Historical results indicate that a Republican can win, but both polls suggest that the incumbent cannot. If the GOP believes it can capture the White House because President Obama is polling in the high 40s, they can’t say they will keep this seat with Bartlett polling in the low 40s. “You can’t have it both ways,” Shank said of the inconsistency.

That’s sort of true, but there’s a little bit of an apples vs. oranges comparison there. We obviously know Obama will be the Democratic standardbearer for the White House, but don’t know how the Sixth District primary will shake out. If we had a direct comparison (i.e. Bartlett vs. Garagiola) that may be more illustrative of the candidates’ strengths and weaknesses.

Speaking of picking winners and losers, I was glad Congressman Andy Harris mentioned this little tidbit about the failed Ener1 the other day. Nice to see another $118 million down the rathole:

“In May I held a subcommittee hearing questioning the lack of transparency regarding how Stimulus funds are distributed,” said Rep. Andy Harris. “Now we have yet another company that received hard-working taxpayers’ dollars that declared bankruptcy after wasting $118 million. Ener1 is just the latest in a growing and disturbing trend of Obama Administration decisions that have wasted hundreds of millions of hard-working taxpayers’ dollars to benefit politically connected Obama donors. Picking winners and losers based on crony capitalism is wrong and must come to an end.”

It’s obvious to me that President Obama is a roulette player – but not a very good one. After all, he keeps putting big money on green and we see how often the wheel settles there. Ener1 joins Solyndra and Beacon Power as expensive losers. More troubling, of course, is that some private Solyndra investors are repaid first from whatever proceeds the company recoups.

Finally, tomorrow could be the beginning of the end of a curious election law which set Baltimore County Republicans apart from the rest of the state.

SB85 and HB90 would repeal a law which provides the Chair of the Baltimore County Republican Party is elected by a vote of the people. It’s the only instance in either party where this is so; Baltimore County Democrats and both parties in the remaining 23 municipalities elect their respective Chairs internally – this is how we in Wicomico County elected Dave Parker as our Chair.

Delegate Susan Aumann, who’s lead sponsor of the House bill, noted that:

“Deliberative bodies comprised of elected representatives and political parties throughout Maryland, and even throughout our nation, have the right of selecting their own speaker. What I want for the people of our county is parity with these other democracies.  This legislation also makes sense because it empowers the committee members to select a leader they trust and respect and in return makes the Chairman accountable to his or her committee.”

Since the last elected Chair of that county’s Central Committee resigned only months into his term, I think this is a good idea. I would love to know that the rationale was behind making the move in the first place because the rest of us have a pretty good system whether the individual members are elected by subdistricts as a few counties do or at-large like Wicomico County and other smaller counties. They, in turn, elect a chair and other officers.

As I did last time, I want to also review the new blogs on my bloglist, and point out I revamped the categories slightly. Blogs which provide new content daily go in the “Daily News and Commentary” category while those which don’t fit as local, Delaware, or Maryland sites go in “Other Great Blogs.”

For Maryland blogs, I’ve added The Quinton Report, which is Jeff Quinton’s other project besides Inside Charm City.

Out among the rest of the country, Datechguy’s Blog is a Massachusetts-based site which covers national issues. The operator is a radio talk show host and blogger who I’ve come to know through some of my other new connections.

And while it’s not a blog per se, I thought it prudent to give a shout out to my friends up the Shore and link to the Cecil County Patriots site. I may have a need for them soon since I’d like to use some of their video from a recent event if they make it available.

And seeing Da Tech Guy on my screen makes me think about doing a new poll, which will be up shortly. Check for it.

The population of the District of Columbia is growing faster than that of any state in the country, according to a new U.S. Census report that shows an acceleration of a trend in which largely skilled and educated workers have flocked to the city’s resilient local economy and its well-paying jobs connected to the federal government.

I don’t begrudge people getting jobs, but shouldn’t we be trying to lessen the influence of the federal government?

And a reason for the growth Hill cites in the story strikes me as ironic:

Former Mayor Anthony A. Williams, who served from 1999 to 2007, is credited with starting the trend with a pro-development, business-friendly agenda that helped revive the downtown commercial districts and neglected neighborhoods while improving schools and public safety.

So are we to assume that a conservative agenda would create growth? That’s the way I read this, as the Radical Green platform can’t stand development and wants to punish business aside from a few certain favored industries. Lord knows our federal government doesn’t have a “pro-development, business-friendly agenda” with the guy in charge now, not by a long shot. Yet that approach turns out to be a boon for Washington; unfortunately their gain is our pain.

Obviously there will always be a group of people who work in government, even if it is rightsized. There are legitimate functions which need to be performed and can only be done through that arena. But I wouldn’t mind seeing the population of the District of Columbia decline, or simply grow only because Washington is a nice city with plenty of tourism possibilities because of its history. Those who thrive because of the ever-increasing size and scope of the nanny state are the ones I’d love to see get real jobs – after all, the world needs ditch diggers too.

I have found it interesting over the last few days that our “beloved” Governor seems to be operating from the shadows. First of all, his hand-picked redistricting committee dumps out the General Assembly redistricting plan on a Friday evening, when many have tuned out for the weekend, and now this move a week before Christmas. It seems to me that he could have gotten the same thing by making it part of his legislative package for the 2012 session and legitimized PlanMaryland more in the eyes of the public. Instead, Martin O’Malley rams it into law via executive order. Maybe he has learned a lesson or two from Barack Obama and certainly eyes the 2016 Democratic nomination.

And while the Executive Order claims that “PlanMaryland is not a substitute for local comprehensive plans and it will not supplant local planning and zoning authority,” let’s see what happens if a local jurisdiction doesn’t “identify proposed Planning Areas by reviewing their existing comprehensive plans and regulations to see where and how they align with Planning Area Guidelines.” Of course, those will be commanded from on high at the Maryland Department of Planning – the same people who gave us our redistricting.

The biggest problem I have with PlanMaryland is my belief that those who already have growth and development will be allowed to keep going, while areas like ours which need something to spur job creation and attract growth will be starved. There’s no question that the Radical Green idea of maintaining our rural heritage isn’t one of agriculture, but restoring our land back to a state of wilderness. Sadly, we have a Governor who’s pretty much in allegiance to Radical Green – hence the War on Rural Maryland.

Moreover, it’s a question of autonomy. Similar to the argument for supporting an elected school board over one appointed by the Governor, generally the closer government is to the people the more responsive and proper it becomes. Our interests may not be those of some Annapolis bureaucrat in his cubicle, but with PlanMaryland what that faceless and feckless automaton says will dictate our policies regardless of how we would prefer to proceed.

Now that the process is underway, a group called the Smart Growth Subcabinet will have the task of receiving reports over the next 180 days from various state agencies on how they will implement PlanMaryland, then another 60 days to come up with a summary report. Thus, by the end of next summer we will have some idea of PlanMaryland’s effects on our way of life.

Speaking for the other side, Delegate Justin Ready noted that ”(t)he O’Malley Administration has said that PlanMaryland is nothing new.  However, they have also said that it is a ‘first step’. My view is if this is a ‘first step’ towards any change in how we deal with land use in our state – that first step should be vetted by the General Assembly,” Ready concluded.   “This discussion will definitely continue in the 2012 Legislative Session.”

However, the problem with Ready’s approach is that it’s almost certainly doomed to fail. Even if legislation which curtails some or all of PlanMaryland manages to pass the General Assembly it’s likely to be vetoed by Governor O’Malley. Then the question would obviously be whether the General Assembly could muster the votes to override next year and I don’t think the majority party really wants to cross the governor. They can conveniently let him take the blame since he’s not up for re-election in 2014 – but they are. And given the short attention span of many Maryland voters who don’t notice their freedoms being eroded drop by drop, they just might get away with it.

PHI, the holding company that owns and operates Delmarva Power, notes in their 2010 Annual Environmental Sustainability Report that “development of (advanced metering infrastructure) is nearing completion in Delaware…In total, PHI is installing about 1.2 million smart meters across its jurisdictions.” In that same report, they boast about receiving a $168 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to “support the rollout of our smart grid initiatives.” In other words, they used our tax dollars to get this ball rolling and now expect ratepayers to make up the difference. Now that’s chutzpah.

Before I go on, I feel I should remind you that I’m all in favor of energy efficiency. But you won’t catch me willingly putting one of these smart meters on my domicile, and the reason is simple. A smart meter is set for two-way operation, and while the utility will tell you all about the benefits of being able to save money by tracking your energy usage and eventually adopting the option of dynamic pricing, they are more hesitant to add that they also can control your thermostat and cycle your heat or central air system on or off remotely. Perhaps you prefer 70 degrees year-round in your home, but the utility would have the power to enforce a setting of 65 in the winter and 78 in the summer. Sorry, I prefer maintaining controls and determining whether the extra expense is worth it on my own.

For its part, PHI just says “this huge undertaking (of installing smart meters) will take considerable time and investment, and will provide benefits to customers and all those interested in reducing regional and national energy use.” (Emphasis mine.) My problem is that those interested in reducing energy use seem to align far too often with those who would like to reduce our standard of living.

And those who would reduce our standard of living by flat-out lying about the need to turn away from fossil fuels before we run out will probably have a collective heart attack when they read – by the federal government’s own figures – that we have generations’ worth of recoverable fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, and coal) under our own landmass and beneath waters we control. It’s only because the government doesn’t have the will to allow its extraction that we go without. (h/t: Steve Maley.)

So the only limit to our energy usage should be that enforced by our bottom line, not the one envisioned by do-gooders in Dover, Annapolis, or Washington, D.C. And if we got cracking on using our own resources for a change we might be able to lower our electrical rates much more than forcing us to shiver in a 65 degree house in midwinter would ever do.