NOvember arrived today in Fruitland
…and so did an interesting protest. But more on that later.
And despite having to bring the party indoors due to today’s inclement weather, the nationwide bus tour brought along information and enlisted speakers Andrew Langer from the Institute for Liberty and talk radio host Duke Brooks from WGMD-FM.
The bus had already arrived when I did.
I spoke briefly to the driver and was interested to find out that he’s been all over the country with the bus since mid-July. The tour continues with stops in New Jersey and Pennsylvania tomorrow.
After the brief interruption, Joe Collins noted that it was “sad that people are so misguided and so negative.” He apparently also introduced the first speaker, Duke Brooks. I missed the first few minutes of his speech investigating things outside.
I did video of the latter half of his talk, but Duke noted that “no government can avoid a recession.” However, they always seemed to use economic hard times as an excuse to take more control over people’s lives, and “that’s the problem in the first place.” Brooks also exhorted us to “redouble our efforts” as November approached.
Here’s the video of Duke Brooks.
Andrew Langer came up next and reminded us that “AFP gets it.” While the runup to the election is crucial, “after November is most important” because we had to hold the victors’ feet to the fire, whether Republican or Democrat. While the Blue Dogs won the 2006 and 2008 elections by portraying themselves as conservatives, voting with Nancy Pelosi 85% of the time was “unacceptable.”
“Our focus will be on accountability,” he continued, and described the worst parts of government were coming through the regulatory process. For example, regulations which were costing employers $7,700 per employee in 2005 (according to the Small Business Administration) were now costing $10,600 per employee. All told, the “regulatory state” was costing us $1.7 trillion a year, compared to $1.1 trillion just two short years ago. In short, this was the message of the day.
I like how that sign was autographed, too – the picture doesn’t do it justice.
One thing which surprised me was that so few local conservative officeseekers were there. Now I wouldn’t expect Frank Kratovil to show but I thought we’d have a number of candidates and current politicians in the house. To her credit, District 38B Delegate candidate Marty Pusey was at the event solidifying her support.
Two of those yard signs in the back of her car have been transplanted into my yard, and I encourage those of you who live in District 38B to do the same.
And there was a bit of a hullabaloo early on.
As for the chicken and his flock who came over to roost – see if you can make sense out of what they were trying to say since I took a couple minutes’ worth of video.
As near as I could tell, their babbling was about Andy Harris supporting tax breaks for companies to move offshore. But the irony for me (as I pointed out in the video to Chuck Cook, who is the tall, bearded person taping generally to my right) is that being seen in a chicken suit points up their support of overly punitive environmental measures which are driving the poultry industry away from Delmarva. Talk about offshore birds, that’s where they’re going!
Later I joked with them about their support of offshore drilling – hey, if they want to talk about really offshoring jobs here was their chance. But they turned a deaf ear to the logic.
Now, I suppose in the next day or so I’ll voluntarily lower my IQ about a half-dozen points and check out Progressive Delmarva to see how they crow about this latest stunt of theirs. But once this motley crew slinked out of the affair after being mildly disruptive for the first ten minutes or so they went back across the street to the Food Lion parking lot and piled into their cars, festooned generously with stickers supporting Martin O’Malley, Frank Kratovil, and Rick Pollitt, among other liberals. So much for their feigned support of Andy Harris.
At least they were environmentally conscious enough to carpool, I’ll give them that.
Unfortunately, my video of Andrew Langer’s speech is about 4 minutes too long for YouTube and I made the mistake of taking my camera (which does QuickTime format) rather than Kim’s, so I couldn’t edit the video. If I can figure out a way to boil it down I’ll have it for a future installment of FNV.
In the meantime, you can enjoy desperate liberals making utter fools of themselves. We did.
Oh, and the “Now or Never Maryland” tour will be in Salisbury October 22. Let’s see what these guys have for that.
NOvember is coming…to Salisbury
While details are still being worked out (and the date might change a bit) the breaking news is that the national “NOvember is Coming” tour sponsored by Americans for Prosperity is scheduled to visit Salisbury on Thursday, September 30 from 1-3 p.m. I would anticipate something similar to this recent rally in Dover, Ohio as part of the festivities.
Salisbury will be a stop on the NiC tour swing along the east coast, with events planned beforehand in New Hampshire and New York before the bus travels to Florida. This is currently the only Maryland stop planned.
Do you think Jim Ireton will be giving them the key to the city?
This is a breaking story, with more details sure to follow. Mark your calendars (in pencil.)
AFP meeting features seven candidates
It was a crowded agenda and pair of banquet areas at Brew River last night. Over 100 people jammed in to hear District 38 Senate hopeful Michael James, House of Delegates District 37A challenger Dustin Mills, and the five candidates who are seeking to take over the Elmore seat in the House of Delegates (District 38A.)
There were a few items of local club business to take care of first, though, and chair Joe Collins bemoaned the loss of his former cohort Julie Brewington, saying ”I lost my right arm.” (Brewington was present, though, as a candidate for Delegate in District 38A.) Missing was the usual PowerPoint presentation club members were treated to as Collins said, “learning time is over.” It was time to put what we’d learned in about a year into action.
Barry Oehl of the Worcester County AFP filled us in on a proposed television commercial, which would be produced for free – donations were being solicited to secure airtime locally. T-shirts were also available, with proceeds going toward the effort. (The Eastern Shore TEA Party Patriots also have shirts for sale.)
Dave Schwartz of the state AFP opined that early voting is “really going to be helpful for the conservative cause.” (I beg to differ, but…) He stated his case by asking how many of us would vote in the next hour if the option were there – most raised their hands, including me. Dave continued by pointing out that early voting allows conservatives to get the word out, frees up campaigns to reach out to other voters, and would reveal in rough numbers how turnout was going – for example, it would be big news if Republicans and Democrats had similar total turnout given the GOP’s 2:1 registration disadvantage.
Daryl Ann Dunigan introduced herself as a representative of Conservatives for Maryland and will be working with college students and other youth in the region.
While a large number of candidates were in attendance (for example, all four GOP candidates from House of Delegates District 38B and County Executive hopeful Joe Ollinger were there along with a sprinkling of other local hopefuls) the bulk of the time was spent listening to District 38 Senate candidate Michael James.
To James, the “race really is about experience,” but his experiences were different than his opponent’s. Key issues for him were to reduce our state’s debt, cut spending and taxes, and create jobs. He blasted the millionaire’s tax as “a complete failure” and suggested that “incumbents tend to be reactive.” As examples he used the fight to get Jessica’s Law passed and the lack of effort toward job creation in 2006 through 2009. Once this election year rolled around these and other items suddenly became priorities.
Since the meeting was billed as a “job interview” there were plenty of questions.
Michael took a question on deregulation of utilities and turned it into a treatise on overregulation itself, which he claimed “is trying to drive out jobs.”
But on a Second Amendment question, he stumbled slightly when he claimed he was for the right to carry with the proper license but the questioner followed with the point that any such restriction could be construed as an infringement. Michael conceded that was a valid point.
More palatable to the gathering was his answer on an immigration question – James does not support amnesty and believes Arizona Governor Jan Brewer “has done a great job” fighting for SB1070. “Maryland needs a similar…or tougher law,” said Michael.
Other questions dealt with bread and butter economic issues like taxation (“I will work my butt off to lower tax rates,”) free market principles, and government waste (there is “tons of room for consolidation” in the state budget.)
In short, he stated, “My campaign is about making Maryland more friendly to business (and we need to) elect people who have actually created jobs.” Under his leadership, the Carousel Hotel in Ocean City has gone from receivership and 8 employees to a thriving enterprise with over 300 workers.
A shorter session was held for Dustin Mills, who told those attending that “I’ve had enough…sick of being taken for granted.”
Among his key points was having a state government which was too laden with state employees; the large number of unfunded positions in the budget is a slush fund that’s “criminal” and “wrong.” Our sales tax was “killing” the Eastern Shore because of the large differential between Maryland and sales tax-free Delaware. And the state was taking too much from local government for their own needs – 95% of the gas tax which was supposed to revert to county government was instead confiscated by the state and a funding mechanism from fire insurance policies to local volunteer fire departments was almost all taken to help the balance the budget.
Since he currently works in the education field, Mills had sharp criticism for the school system – “what’s going on is outright criminal.” Mills would work to establish more local control and eliminate maintenance of effort requirements. Dustin also equated agriculture with small business, and questioned the amount of impact environmental regulations on Maryland farmers would have when just 15% of the Chesapeake watershed lay in Maryland.
“My faith lies in you” and not government, Dustin concluded.
I had the first question out of the chute, asking Dustin what issues were resonating with the large minority community in his district. He cited education and taxation as the two key issues, as minority-owned small businesses are also affected by the poor business climate. Also, Dustin is a “strong supporter” of the Second Amendment with “limited licensure.”
But the best question came from a constituent who asked how he’d be better than incumbent Delegate Rudy Cane? Mills cited his bad voting record and no dialogue with the voters in the district as areas Dustin would improve upon.
The five candidates from District 38A took the spotlight next. But since the hour was growing late, the format was limited to an opening statement and one question on how the candidates would work with being part of a minority. (Most likely, this wouldn’t apply to Mike McCready, but he is portraying himself as a conservative Democrat so would presumably vote often with Republicans.)
Julie Brewington got into the race at the last minute because, “what I saw wasn’t anything I could vote for.” As the former AFP co-chair, she called the group “my inspiration” and played up her outsider status by noting the House of Delegates was, “supposed to be for the common working person.” We could “take back our government,” said Brewington, and there are “too many ‘go along to get along’ people” in Annapolis. As for working in the minority, Julie believed “in my heart we are sitting on an abyss of change” and asked citizens to “work with me.”
Touting his experience, John Cannon was concerned “this (Eastern Shore) livelihood will be threatened” and called Annapolis leadership “cavalier” as they continued “ripping the guts out of local government.” To him, we were dealing with an issue of “taxation without compensation.” Among his attributes, he called himself conservative, pragmatic, and results-oriented – “I am a representative.”
Answering the question about working with the majority, Cannon suggested he had “no problem working across party lines” but wouldn’t compromise on principles. He would think out of the box and take initiatives where needed, and model his approach on the successes of the Eastern Shore delegation already there.
A born-again Christian and NRA member, Mike McCready also spoke about his experience in agriculture as a member of Delmarva Poultry Industry and operator of eight chicken houses. He’s also served two terms on the Somerset County Commission and touted that body’s financial success – in eight years the property tax rate had declined from $1.01 per $100 to 88.3 cents. “That is fiscal responsibility,” said Mike. Part of the belt-tightening was instituting a hiring freeze; on the other hand, they didn’t need a maintenance of effort waiver for county schools.
But he didn’t forget from where he came, stating “farmers are the backbone of the Eastern Shore,” and that “we cannot afford to put the watermen out of business.” McCready thought the best way to work with his fellow Democrats on certain issues was to “have a proposal in your own mind, too” and seek out allies to a rural point of view.
Charles Otto is also a farmer; in fact he has served as the president of the Somerset and Wicomico Farm Bureaus. That experience working on the outside of the political process to “create things we can live with” fueled his desire to get on the inside and become an advocate for land use issues and respecting private property rights. Otto answered the question about being in the minority by citing the need for finding allies in the General Assembly which hail from rural areas. But “the biggest issue we’ll face is monetary,” concluded Otto.
John Phoebus is “very happy AFP is playing a role in politics.” He “never imagined” he’d run for the House of Delegates but the loss of Delegate Page Elmore “left a huge void.”
Yet John also said he was “fed up” with what he saw coming from Annapolis, describing it as a “wholesale assault on Eastern Shore values.” The General Assembly is “out of touch,” Phoebus said, and 2010 was a “great opportunity to make a change.” Referring to the 2005 Fair Share bill that affected Walmart and may have cost Somerset County a distribution center, that “red-headed Eskimo” measure was proof we “need people who believe government isn’t the answer” in the General Assembly. Since it’s “not likely the GOP will take over” in the General Assembly, we need to work with like-minded members from other rural areas. (Otto cited Phoebus’s previous answer in his own, as the panelists answered in reverse alphabetical order.)
Michael James and Dustin Mills were also allowed to answer the question posed to District 38A hopefuls, with James stating the need to be proactive and “intelligently bring people to our side,” while Mills echoed Brewington’s earlier statement to not “go along to get along.” Instead, he would be a vocal advocate even if it means being a minority of one.
Needless to say, it was a lengthy meeting, taking over two hours to wrap. But those who stayed became much more informed about their alternatives in this election.
Impressions on the Mid-Shore AFP Senate forum
I’ve already done a down-and-dirty factual story (with pictures) on my Examiner page, so if you want to read there for some of the particulars feel free to do so…I’ll wait.
Here I wanted to review the statements and performance of each of the participants and make a few other general observations. I don’t have to be fair and unbiased at this site. In alphabetical order, Stephens Dempsey comes first.
Stephens Dempsey came across as a man who truly wants to restore the government to its Constitutional case, and for that some may call him harsh. In a question about illegal immigration, Dempsey noted, “First, they’re not ‘illegal immigrants,’ they’re illegal aliens…that is the definition we should use.” Indeed, that’s how the federal government actually defines them.
Regarding the jobs issue, Stephens points out that, “it’s not my job (as a Senator)…that’s the job of the state and local level (governments.) Obviously he has a clear definition of what the federal role must be.
But the problem I see with his approach is, while the message is clear, his explanations may be too clever by half. For example, his campaign literature features a three-triangle logo that baffles the average person as to its meaning. Being an “American Constitutionalist” is one thing, but making that have meaning to the average voter who will ask what that does for him is quite another.
It was nice to see his family and friends support him, but I fear that’s all the support he’ll get if he doesn’t simplify his message a little bit.
Democrat Chris Garner was perhaps the most pessimistic of the batch, gloomily noting, “what’s happening right now, we’re in a deep depression. It’s gonna get deeper.” Garner also bemoaned the lack of industrial might – “No industry, no economy.” He added, “we’re turning our country into a Third World country.”
His solutions may not be the best for free marketeers, though – among others he proposed a maximum 15% trade imbalance to keep the value of imports and exports in balance. “Right now we’re sending a half-trillion dollars overseas.” But would that work in a real world where we import a vast amount of oil, for example? Certainly we could use some fairer trade, but that cap doesn’t seem anything but arbitrary.
I also couldn’t believe he didn’t know what EFCA was. The way I look at it, passage of EFCA would do more harm to our trade imbalance because unionization would drive up the cost of business.
Samuel Graham was a curious sort of Republican. One of his platform planks was a “radical idea…let’s just give (the unemployed) a job.” And that extended to illegal immigrants as well – Graham supports a policy to stop immigrants at the border and ask them why they are seeking entry. “Give them an opportunity to register themselves,” he said. Needless to say, he was the lone Republican not to favor the Arizona SB1070 law.
But then he joined the chorus of those candidates who said, “let’s cut the taxes.” Samuel ticked off a list of possible tax cuts for groceries, department stores, and gasoline. Yes, those are good ideas but I think a better solution would be to eliminate taxes on the income side and maintain a low, one-time rate on the consumption side.
On the whole, something didn’t jibe with Graham’s presentation. I’m not sure he’s thought through the impact of simply creating make-work jobs – wasn’t that the point of the stimulus? And how would that work with the straight 25% cut in government he advocated?
Being in the middle of three consecutive Republicans, Daniel McAndrew was at something of a disdvantage. He just doesn’t seem to stick out well in a crowd as it is and always being the fourth to respond made the problem worse. In answering one question, he sighed, “well, it’s repeating time.”
And asked why he wanted to be Senator, he expressed that, “I’ve had enough, and I think you have too…quite frankly, they’re not listening to us.”
But he did make some good points in an otherwise mainstream conservative presentation, talking about the aspect of “birth tourism” when the question of anchor babies was brought up. His ideas for creating incentives for manufacturing and privatizing portions of government have plenty of merit.
Also placing him at a disadvantage was being the only hopeful to not have any literature there (at least that I noticed.) He does have a website, though.
Of all the candidates present, Jim Rutledge is probably the best known and leader of this pack. In terms of presentation, he had the smoothest and most eloquent answers which likely stems from his avocation as a ”conservative” attorney. That would also come in handy if he were elected, as he could “translate those bills for you and give you the straight story on them.”
He was also unafraid to bring up the incumbent, labeling Barb Mikulski as the “chief culprit” of the largest expansion of government and attack on individual liberties this Republic had ever seen.
Yet he had a couple key issues which may have seemed a bit out there if you don’t understand the logic behind them. For example, one method of helping to sell Eastern Shore products would be to dredge the waterways in order for easier ship passage, since shipping by barge is very cost-effective. His (perhaps draconian) solution for illegal immigration involved jailing employer scofflaws and having visa holders post a bond when they entered the country – if they skipped bond, a bounty hunter could track them down. And why not a tax cut for homeschoolers? Yet these do make sense and at least represent a different manner of looking at problems not found inside the Beltway.
One observer afterward thought Rutledge had sort of an “angry” tone about him, and perhaps his passion can be taken that way. He had the largest group of supporters in the room, though.
And Jim’s ideas had some merit with Sanquetta Taylor as well. “I kinda don’t like sitting next to (Jim),” she said, “because we think alike and he’s a Republican and I’m a Democrat.” But some things are subject to bipartisan agreement and Sanquetta came across as a relatively moderate Democrat who thought “it’s time for the torch to be handed” to a new generation. She even explained that, “we have to go into government with good intentions.”
So what are those intentions? Well, Sanquetta does like lower taxes but she is protectionist, advocating “heavy fines” for companies which outsource jobs. She’s against the Arizona SB1070 law, believing “the President should step in and mandate something that should help them.” Yet she’s against anyone being here illegally. She wouldn’t come out and support Elena Kagan to be on the Supreme Court, but wouldn’t say no either.
Perhaps her and Rutledge do think alike on a number of fiscal issues, but the issues I pointed out suggest they’d have some strong differences as well. Certainly she brought an attractive presence to the forum as the most telegenic and youngest candidate.
For Lih Young, being on (and sometimes off) the ballot is a way of life.
In 2008 she ran as a Democrat in the 8th District Congressional primary and received 2.9% of the vote. Undaunted, she filed after the primary as a write-in and got 28 votes.
In 2006 Young ran for U.S. Senate as a Democrat and picked up 0.3% of the vote in a statewide race. Filing as a write-in for the general election ballot she got 120 votes.
In 2004, 8th District Congress, 2.4% of the vote in the primary, 79 votes as a write-in for the general election.
In 2002, it was Comptroller. She actually got 4% of the Democratic vote in the primary, so she figured a write-in candidacy was a lock – and got 1,375 votes.
This record, her reluctance to give a ‘yes or no’ answer on simple issues, and saying during the forum that, “law enforcement is a robbery machine” basically tells you what you need to know. If not, there is this gem from my archives.
As I mentioned, there were a number of “yes or no” questions during the forum which are helpful in assessing a candidate as well. Here’s how they went.
A ban on offshore oil drilling? Taylor and Young said yes, the others no.
Passing cap and trade? All said no, but Young wanted to study the issue.
Supporting Arizona’s SB1070? Dempsey, Garner, McAndrew and Rutledge all said yes; Graham, Taylor, and Young no.
Eliminating the death tax? All favored it, and all support the Second Amendment.
Would you sign a ‘no climate tax’ pledge? All but Young said yes and all did.
All seven favored term limits to varying degrees – all but Garner endorsed two terms for Senators (Garner just one.) Garner, Graham, Taylor, and Young said two House terms; Dempsey and Rutledge three, and McAndrew six.
All would favor not repealing the Bush tax cuts, although Garner, “didn’t like the phrasing” of the question.
Repealing or replacing Obamacare was favored by Dempsey, Graham, McAndrew, Rutledge, and Taylor. Young wanted a single-payer system while Garner would not answer.
While most cited a lack of information, only Young was certain she’d vote to appoint Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court. Taylor was unsure, the others gave her a thumbs-down.
Only Young was in favor of taxpayer-funded abortions.
Tax cuts for homeschoolers? Graham and Rutledge said no, the others yes.
Employee Free Choice Act (card check)? Taylor and Young favored it, Dempsey, Graham, McAndrew, and Rutledge were opposed, and Garner was unsure.
All thought NAFTA had a negative impact.
Finally, all were asked when they last read the Constitution.
- For Stephens Dempsey, it was the day before.
- Chris Garner said 4 or 5 years ago.
- Samuel Graham said in high school.
- Daniel McAndrew replied last week.
- Jim Rutledge said a month ago.
- Sanquetta Taylor told us two weeks.
- Finally, Lih Young said two years ago.
It was a pretty long forum, taking nearly two hours to wrap up. But those in attendance are certainly more well-informed about the candidates who could be bothered to show up and face the public they aim to serve.
Odds and ends number 22
With the sheer frenzy of candidates filing earlier this week, my e-mail box was filled with other news. But instead of making a long series of posts, a good editor can pick out the relevant points in a paragraph or two and that’s what I’ll do here.
Needless to say, I receive frequent dispatches from a number of candidates. In the race for U.S. Senate, Eric Wargotz was proud he won a ballot to be the featured candidate for “Ten-Buck Fridays” as he explains:
Ten congressional candidates are nominated each week. Whoever receives the most votes is announced Friday. All of the web site and blog sponsors spread the word on the winner across the web to conservative sites and encourage all visitors to the sites to donate. In essence, they promote a $10 per donation money bomb for the winning candidate of that particular week.
I checked it out last evening and Eric won with 673 votes. I’m not sure how that will translate into actual donations, so I suppose this goes in the category of “every little bit helps.”
Oddly enough, Eric’s opponent Jim Rutledge used something Senator Scott Brown (who had assistance in getting elected from Wargotz) said in blasting incumbent Democrat Barb Mikulski:
Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts summed up the philosophical differences in Washington regarding how Congress should provide solutions. Sen. Brown said, “It’s the checking account versus the credit card.” Democrats like Barbara Mikulski want to spend and tax their way out of a recession while conservatives like Jim Rutledge believe we need to lower taxes, cut spending, and reduce the deficit. Rutledge said, “President Reagan showed us that America can grow and prosper by reducing the size of government and lowering taxes.”
One thing Rutledge forgot to add was that Reagan did it with a Congress controlled by Democrats, at least in the House. But Jim didn’t forget to let me know he was endorsed by Delegate Pat McDonough.
Endorsements are a funny thing – sometimes they are useful and sometimes they bite you in the behind. Given President Obama’s track record on campaigning for other candidates, perhaps Martin O’Malley may regret this statement from the One:
Since being elected Governor in 2006, Martin O’Malley has been a true champion for the people of Maryland.
He has restored a sense of fiscal responsibility and helped the state grow sustainably, expanding access to health care coverage and continuing to improve Maryland’s schools, while also restoring the Chesapeake Bay. His four-year freeze on college tuition brought the cost of higher education within reach of middle-class families.
Governor O’Malley has a lot more to contribute to your state — and I hope you will do your part to ensure he has four more years to continue his work.
Actually, if he’s re-elected Governor O’Malley will likely make sure We the People of the Free State are forced to contribute a lot more. It’s funny that President Obama left out the increased tax burden and job losses Maryland has endured under O’Malley’s watch. It seems the only sustainable growth we have is in the unemployment rate.
And as Dave Schwartz of Americans for Prosperity reminds us:
Earlier this week, Gov. Martin O’Malley announced a plan to spend $1 billion for school construction. Even though we still have a $389 million hole left in this year’s budget and a projected $8.3 billion long term structural deficit, O’Malley believes that more spending is the answer. This unhinged appetite for spending our dollars is exactly why Maryland is in trouble.
Yes, President Obama, Martin O’Malley has a lot to contribute – a lot of deficit spending and budgets balanced on the backs of the counties and working people of Maryland.
Tomorrow I pick on O’Malley’s television ad. It should be fun.
Political season heats up like the weather
Last night I made it to two events which prove the passion is already there for a heated electoral campaign.
A number of candidates made it out to the local AFP meeting last night, which benefitted from not having Salisbury’s answer to “Sideshow Bob” drawing attention to himself and his well-publicized feud with one of the local AFP co-chairs.
We had sort of an unusual start, as Joe Collins talked about and played the Martin O’Malley radio advertisement which accused Bob Ehrlich of being a friend of Big Oil. He then played Ehrlich’s video response and also introduced the audience to fellow GOP hopeful Brian Murphy through another video.
Joe also addressed one critic as he said, “I’m not going to tell you who to vote for.” Instead we should do our own research and come up with our own comclusions.
A number of candidates then were asked to come up and introduce themselves briefly.
While Mike Brewington told us briefly his campaign was about taxes, Rob Fisher took a couple minutes to introduce himself and tell us he was “outraged” by the scope of government. He definitely took advantage of the “few seconds” asked of hopefuls.
Dustin Mills noted the “state of the state is deplorable” and that Rudy Cane has “nothing to show” for 12 years of service. Fellow Delegate candidate Mike McDermott told us “you deserve better” in Annapolis, while Mike Calpino explained we “need a philosopical change in the government.”
I also found out Orphans Court Judge Bill Smith was seeking another term, which surprised me since I was under the impression he was retiring.
Giving brief reports on Wicomico County and Salisbury City Councils were Matt Trenka and S.J. Disharoon, respectively.
While Trenka spoke about the “success” of getting one night meeting per month for County Council, there was also the disappointment that Council’s budget amendments failed to pass so the County Executive’s budget proposal stood as the FY2011 spending plan for Wicomico County. Trenka also called a letter from Delegate Rudy Cane regarding the Council’s cuts as “inappropriate” because it cast the cuts in a race-based light. “(We’re) not racist, not hateful, just no longer silent,” concluded Trenka.
Disharoon spent much of his time lamenting the spending at the city’s wastewater treatment plant, which may end up costing taxpayers as much as $130 million to repair as promised – the newly-hired engineers were “pretty sure” this would work, explained a dismayed Disharoon. He also stated that annexation “has got to stop,” at least for residential areas.
The featured speakers were Bill Satterfield of Delmarva Poultry Industry and Joe Ollinger, who’s running for County Executive.
Satterfield made two key points during his remarks.
First he explained the economic impact of the poultry industry on Delmarva – the 14,700 jobs which are directly created by poultry producers lead to 100,000 jobs indirectly. Just the feed bill for these birds is $850 million, noted Bill.
Yet legislation which singles out the poultry industry seems to be all the rage in Annapolis and Washington. Laboring under “nutrient management plans” and a “pollution diet” already, the growers in the Chesapeake Bay watershed may find life even harder due to special regulations affecting only them (as compared to other regions like the Carolinas.) But agriculture was the only sector making progress toward the goal of cleaning up Chesapeake Bay – urban and suburban areas were lagging behind.
Ollinger went through a brief biography, some history of his community involvement, and the five planks in his platform (being a taxpayer advocate, pay for performance, safer and more disciplined schools, appointing the Board of Education, and combining the county’s law enforcement agencies.) One thing I didn’t know is that he’d worked in the mid-1990′s on a study to consolidate various county functions, including law enforcement. Joe has also spent nearly a quarter-century on the Mayor’s Roundtable discussion group.
He answered a number of audience questions, with the most contentious being the prospect of a school board being appointed by the County Executive vs. elected by the voters. Ollinger saw it as an extension of his function of creating the overall budget, but when John Palmer asked for a show of hands on the issue supporters of an elected school board far outnumbered those in favor of Joe’s approach.
With regard to a “hands-on role”, Ollinger said the incumbent, “missed the boat on what the County Executive’s job is,” using the job to be an administrator rather than as a leadership role.
As far as combined law enforcement, Joe believed that the debate would have to occur as a community; for example, Salisbury Mayor Jim Ireton is against the idea because Salisbury prefers its own police force. “I think one law enforcement agency would better serve and better protect the citizens of this county,” said Ollinger.
The key to getting jobs in this county, answered Ollinger to another question, is improving certain areas of our infrastructure (electricity, natural gas, fiber optics, and wireless accessibility) and our school system. While he doesn’t have control over jobs, he does have control over those aspects which attract businesses.
Ollinger also promised to attend more County Council meetings than the incumbent, particularly when the budget was being discussed.
Afterward, those candidates who had attended held an impromptu meet-and-greet. Included in that group were Ollinger along with Congressional candidates Rob Fisher and Andy Harris, Delegate hopefuls Mike McDermott and Dustin Mills, Maryland Senate hopeful Michael James, and County Council aspirants Mike Brewington, Joe Holloway, Mike Calpino, and John Cannon. Karla Graham, who represented Brian Murphy, was also there.
Harris and James were a little late because previous to the AFP meeting was a fundraiser for Maryland Senate candidate Michael James, which featured Senate Minority Leader Allan Kittleman.
Allan stressed the importance of getting 19 Senators – “we fight hard, but it’s just not doable sometimes (with 14 Senators)…(Bob Ehrlich) doesn’t want to be Governor with less than 19 Senators.” It was a case of either being at the table or on the menu.
Current Senator Lowell Stoltzfus, who is retiring, broke his silence on endorsing his successor until after the July 6th filing deadline – “I’m here.” He also related a story Jim Mathias told about himself and his first vote, leading to a question of whether Mathias would follow his principles based on his thought process prior to that initial vote. (It’s nothing new, I’ve heard the story from Mathias too.)
James himself felt the seat needed to be filled by someone “who had created jobs,” noting that under his management the Carousel Hotel had gone from 10 employees to 300. He also harped on a regular theme of being proactive rather than reactive. As for measures to help local business, “one thing we ought to focus on is knocking that sales tax to where it belongs – or lower.”
Friday night videos – episode 34
This oughta be an interesting one, kids. Let’s see what trouble I can dredge up this weekend as we ease into summer.
I’ll begin with an issue which is sure to be contentious this summer – the lack of fiscal responsibility in Washington, D.C. The group is called “Bankrupting America” and the process of doing so is what Congress seems to be ignoring in favor of these pressing issues detailed. Call it fiddling while Rome burns.
But Newt Gingrich has some solutions to what ails us, does he not? Or is he just pimping his new book? You decide.
Yet there are others profiting on the other side. We had no idea public service could be so, well, self-serving. Check this out from Americans for Limited Government.
Then again, there are many in Maryland who would be happy just to have a job. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to have a very business-friendly government as Americans for Prosperity points out.
Yeah, we lost that fight. But another is brewing over illegal immigration. As one example, check out the Center for Individual Freedom’s take on the Arizona immigration law, SB1070.
Yet illegal immigration is a battleground for Maryland voters as well, as a 17 year old videographer suggests by her coverage of a rally of those who want the borders secured.
This time I’m going to wrap up, not with a song, but with a video Bob McCarty (a veteran himself) did about the preparations for Memorial Day at a cemetery not far from his Missouri home.
As for me, I’ll probably be at the Wicomico County observance Monday morning. Hopefully neither our aging veterans (nor the JROTC regulars who tend the flags) won’t wilt in the predicted heat.
With that, I’ll be back with more videos in a week or so.
The Andy Harris ‘job interview’
…was cleverly disguised as an Americans for Prosperity meeting.
Last night over 100 people jammed into the back rooms of Brew River to have an opportunity to ask questions of the man who wants to be our next Congressman and avenge his close defeat by current Rep. Frank Kratovil.
But first, we had to sit through some brief remarks by both AFP Wicomico co-chair Julie Brewington and chapter historian Eileen Lenehan to bring the newcomers (about 15 to 20) up to speed. In particular, Julie told those gathered that “2010 was game time” for those of us who believe in Constitutional, limited government. Eileen wanted us to ponder whether, “does (a candidate) believe God is in charge or man is in charge?” Those who believed in a higher power were more likely to favor limited government.
Steve Lind of the Worcester chapter of AFP alerted us to a new billboard which Wicomico members helped to support. This will be located just west of the intersection of U.S. 50 and State Route 589 for those traveling westbound, away from Ocean City. Nothing like putting those already leaving a fun-filled vacation in a more serious state of mind.
The chapter is also holding a street party on July 3rd at the corner of U.S. 50 and State Route 611, with more details to follow.
As a warm-up to State Senator Harris, we heard from the newly filed for re-election Joe Holloway.
In recalling his 3-plus years on County Council, Holloway likened it to a “secret society” at times, but revealed that the people are his key source of information – his job was to determine how accurate the information was and act accordingly. Holloway vowed to continue to “work for the people of Wicomico County.”
Asked about the fate of the new library, Holloway said it was “dead” and was concerned that, “when something new is needed, something old is neglected.” (Perhaps Joe read the post I cited above.)
“We’re gonna get that done,” said Joe in response to a question about night meetings. And when asked about the relationship between the County Executive and County Council, Joe conceded, “there’s been some tension” but overall having a County Executive was, “good if we have the right one.” What we in Wicomico County, “need (is) a good dose of conservatism.”
Andy Harris was given about 15 minutes to make opening remarks before the volley of questions began. In that time he chose to briefly touch on foreign policy, including the strife between the Koreas, the broken promise of a missile shield for Eastern Europe, and our allies in Brazil and Turkey assisting Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
Turning to domestic issues, Andy noted that his parents escaped communism in postwar Europe but have noticed some of the same things happening here. Washington has, “systematically dismantled in American Dream” in the last year and a half, but also noted that “if they (the 50% with no tax liability) work harder in this election, they win.”
Naturally, Andy derided the stimulus as an “incredibly bad move” since unemployment zoomed beyond the promised 8 percent total even with $500 billion or so spent. Andy proposed the remainder go toward an across-the-board tax cut to help the economy. It would allow average Americans to pick the winners and losers of our economy instead of the government doing so.
The format had Andy speed through a number of upcoming issues such as cap-and-trade (“job creation for India and China”), Obamacare (a bill which “will eliminate private health insurance” and already influences capital decisions by hospitals), and pending financial regulations (“‘too big to fail’ should not be in our vocabulary.”) Andy concluded, “‘America the bankrupt’ is absolutely correct.”
A dozen people were fortunate enough to ask questions, and some of the best are detailed below. First out of the chute was a question on border security and illegal immigration.
Andy didn’t think they’d be crazy enough to take up amnesty in this edition of Congress, but noted that our system is “the worst of all systems” by limiting people who would be productive but rewarding those who were a net drain. States should be following Arizona’s lead.
Which agencies would Andy work to abolish? The Department of Education, Andy emphatically stated, and it might not be a bad thing to eliminate it at the state level, either. His point: education guidance should be local since it’s closest to the parent and student. Perhaps the Department of Energy could go, too, or at least be downsized.
On the union pension bailout, Andy would vote no even as part of a larger bill. But the bill may not have enough votes to pass anyway. Harris decried it as another effort to have the government pick winners and losers, and revealed that only 5% of the families in the First District were union families – they just happen to be among the most politically active.
Is the government governing against the will of the people? The framers of the Constitution understood human nature perfectly, so they allowed the people to have their say on a frequent basis. Andy did say that, “once we get to July 4th we can breathe a sigh of relief” because of the nearness of the election. But he also warned us to watch out for the lame-duck session after the election.
When asked about the decline of America, Andy retorted that we’re “still the best country on the planet” and we just “need to return to our blueprint.” Again, the “Constitution was about human nature.”
Perhaps the biggest “trap” question was one Andy answered neatly. When asked “why can’t we get Obama out” Andy simply said, “we made a mistake” but we can “change the country the old-fashioned way – at the ballot box.”
We also found out that Andy would’ve voted to audit the Federal Reserve, would “absolutely support a flat tax” and back the FairTax if the 16th Amendment were repealed first – with a sales tax “everyone has skin in the game” and, the questioner added, it encourages savings.
One interesting Constitutional query: is a social safety net legitimate under the Constitution? Andy didn’t answer the question directly but advocated ways to make them “actuarily sound.” Perhaps Social Security could be made a defined contribution system at some later date; otherwise Andy’s 26-year-old son is convinced he’ll get no Social Security. (I’m 45 and convinced I won’t either.) Harris related how he tried to get the state’s General Assembly pension system switched from defined benefit to defined contribution and was called to Mike Miller’s office about it. (The amendment failed on a party-line vote.)
After Harris finished (and actually pretty close to schedule), we were briefed on next month’s meeting. Bill Satterfield of Delmarva Poultry Industry will speak on (what else?) the poultry industry.
We were also alerted to a national event, the Defending the Dream Summit, to be held in Washington, D.C. August 27 and 28.
Another rising phenomenon is the number of candidates coming to the meetings, attempting to entice the conservative vote. Besides the two candidates who spoke, seen were Council hopefuls Gail Bartkovich and Ryan Hohman, County Executive aspirant Joe Ollinger, and District 37A candidate Bob McCarroll.
And perhaps I found out why we have the meetings at Brew River now. The next one is June 23rd.
Friday night videos – episode 33
Since I didn’t do this last week, I have a lot to choose from among what the internet has offered me – an abundance of stuff. Let’s begin with this one, which features the script GM should’ve really followed in its recent commercial.
Now this is a real commercial. If Maryland elected a Secretary of Agriculture I would hope he’d do a commercial half as good.
Speaking of Maryland, Montgomery County guaranteed itself more hard times by enacting a carbon tax. Watch this county councilman call the opponents ‘astroturf.’ But wouldn’t astroturf then be taxed because of its carbon footprint? Doesn’t matter, we’re all going to get it.
Perhaps the next scenario will soon occur in Montgomery County (and probably serve them right.) In the meantime, it’s yet another witty campaign spot from Vermont.
After last Tuesday’s big Kentucky win, Rand Paul was feeling pretty good about himself. Check out this call out.
I’ll say the same thing about Frank Kratovil – please, please, President Obama, come down here to the Lower Shore and campaign for flip-flop Frank. That oughta be a good time.
On a more serious note, one Maryland businesswoman detailed her struggles for a Bob Ehrlich campaign spot.
Just let her do the talking, Bob.
Hey, do you see a pattern here? Must be an election year, huh? Here’s a guy who doesn’t have to worry about that anymore – he can live on his generous pension and endorse Democrats now. Thanks Wayne.
Okay, enough politics. I wanted to find something to crank up so this should fit the bill. 13:1 does ‘Judgement Day’ at a show in Philly.
I’ll leave you with that, see you next week.
Friday night videos – episode 31
Back to politics again after my foray into local music. Let’s see what I can dig up here, all right?
The other day it was Earth Day and needless to say I don’t go in for the hype – neither does Mario Lewis of the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
Three guys who were too much into Earth Day are Senators John Kerry, Lindsey Graham, and Joe Lieberman. They are a creative bunch, though, as they spin cap and tax. Again, from CEI:
Speaking of big government, the Environmental Protection Agency has a video contest going to explain why government regulations are a good thing. Needless to say, someone had to poke fun at it – why not the gang at Americans for Prosperity?
This spotlight is on a group which wants government regulation (in the form of higher taxes) to fatten their coffers.
Perhaps the Maryland GOP can borrow this from their California brethren?
Instead, our state is faced with too many voters like this group Bob McCarty found at an Illinois rally.
This is the same rally where TEA Partiers were greeted by a riot squad.
A protest of a different sort occurred right here in Maryland. Disaffected workers in the film industry aren’t too happy with our present governor – WBAL reports.
Newt Gingrich always has something to say as well. Here he talks about President Obama’s “secular socialist machine.”
I wrote about Daniel “The Whig Man” Vovak earlier this week as he proposed to legalize pot. Nick Gillespie of the Reason Foundation agrees.
But I didn’t forget local music! Here’s the hard-rocking Christian group Not My Own recorded live (not by me) at Circles in Milford, Delaware.
Until next time, that’s a wrap.
AFP continues to build momentum
Despite the naysayers who criticize how the meetings are conducted, the local Americans for Prosperity chapter continues to grow and even attracted its biggest critic last night. He just can’t stay away.
After poking fun at Julie for her previous rendition of the Pledge of Allegiance, we got the meeting underway by looking at Wicomico County voter data. It’s interesting to note that, unlike the state at large, Democrats do not have an absolute majority in registration here, and independents, minor parties, and unaffiliated voters comprise about 1/6 of the electorate. These are the swing voters everyone craves and many lean conservative. “We must drag politicians back from the brink,’ noted WCAFP co-chair Joe Collins, “…tell them what you want.” This coming from a former two-time Perot voter who thought Obama would govern from the center – obviously recent events have made him wiser. (Hey, I voted for Perot once too.)
Dustin Mills spoke briefly for one of our scheduled speakers, Maryland Senate candidate Michael James – James needed to postpone his appearance. Mills noted that Michael was active in the Worcester AFP chapter and is a “strong, strong, strong fiscal conservative” while repeating James’s mantra of being proactive rather than reactive.
Our other featured speaker did appear. District 38B Delegate hopeful Mike McDermott went over his background and family before bringing up the fact that he was elected mayor of Pocomoke City in a non-partisan race and had to build a coalition with Democrats to get things done – it was a “well fought first year and a half.”
Having spent a brief period of time running a chicken farm, Mike thought the lack of support for the agricultural industry from Annapolis was “outrageous” and perhaps MDE needed a budget cut “to get their attention.”
He asked what the country has done with Reagan’s legacy and reminded us that there’s been two generations who haven’t had such leadership – Reagan grew up in the era of our grandparents. As for the roiling, passionate debate we’ve had over a number of topics nationally, McDermott counseled us to “simmer over the summer” and hold on to that passion until closer to election time.
When I asked him about the prospect of working with Norm Conway, he said “I can work with him.” Norm’s a nice guy, but he’s a tax and spend liberal too.
We also need conservatives in the General Assembly to help change the tax system, opined Mike, and told us that “Maryland needs to sell some land” rather than continue to spend Program Open Space money (hear hear!)
Julie returned to the rostrum to go over some ideas for an organizational structure and seek out leadership volunteers. “We are the engine driving change,” she said, but it was getting to be too much for just a few people to handle.
We then had a series of speakers briefly go over being an election judge or poll watcher as well as reports on county and city government and a brief wrapup of state activities by Nick Loffer.
Kim Trenka called the county’s budget problem “a spending problem” and said we need “to challenge our county leadership.” While Rick Pollitt equated our low tax rate with reduced services, Trenka had some ideas on positions which could be eliminated, such as the two at-large County Council members and Pollitt’s public information officer.
S.J. Disharoon saw the city’s freshly revealed budget as having some “strange numbers” and called it “a big sieve…money’s being wasted.” He also criticized Mayor Jim Ireton for leaving the fire chief position unfilled so long and reminded us that Ireton said to him, “I’m going to make government smaller.” Apparently this is more by chance than by choice.
With the absence of Council member Gary Comegys due to illness, Disharoon saw this as an opportunity for members Terry Cohen and Debbie Campbell to “exert their power” – a 2-2 tie vote means measures do not pass. S.J. ended by warning, “if you don’t pay attention…(the government) will fool you.”
Loffer did alert us to an upcoming grassroots training on May 12 at our Brew River location.
As always, the meeting ended with what’s called “vent and purge,” and one observer made the point that we don’t need a family history as much as we need issue-based discussion from candidates – after all, no one is going to stand in front of us and tell us he or she is a scoundrel. However, character is a trait we should know about, yet it also has to be about keeping one’s word. Our job is to keep those in office flying right and place their feet to the fire if they stray.
I’m not sure who will be speaking next time around, but we are trying to get another U.S. Senate hopeful for June.
WCRC meeting – April 2010
After some of the craziness of March’s meeting, things returned to a fairly normal pace and routine this month.
We did the Lord’s Prayer and Pledge of Allegiance, then the minutes of both February and March were read. Following that, it was revealed that our efforts at the Salisbury Festival only netted a meager profit thanks to the “small crowd,” with the lack of steamed corn on the cob also making an impact.
A series of reports followed, beginning with the Lower Shore Young Republicans presented by Dustin Mills. Several of their members braved the poor weather to help at the Salisbury Festival and they were putting the “final touches” on the state convention, where they expected somewhere between 125 and 150 to attend.
The LSYR food drive will occur May 8th at three of the four Salisbury area Food Lion stores – confirmed are the Nanticoke Road and Snow Hill Road locations, with the other being either Tilghman Road or Fruitland.
Dustin and I split the Central Committee report; he remarked on the upcoming GOP Spring Convention in Ocean City and I on the success of the Lincoln Day Dinner with Bob Ehrlich.
We then had a number of campaign updates.
Ed Nelson commented on the Salisbury stop on Andy’s bus tour on Friday. While 30 people showed up on an early Friday morning, Nelson said the candidate was “satisfied” with the press coverage as his campaign is “gelling together.”
Dustin Mills (again) referenced the Michael James campaign for State Senate, telling us Michael was “extremely active” compared to his 2006 effort and lauding the “positive reception” Michael received at the Salisbury Festival.
Don Coffin spoke up and announced he was holding a fundraiser for U.S. Senate candidate Jim Rutledge on Saturday, May 22 at his farm. A recent fundraiser for Rutledge in Salisbury raised about $3,000 so there’s support here on the Eastern Shore for the candidate.
Bonnie Luna spoke on behalf of Bob Ehrlich’s campaign, recounting his kick off tour which stopped in Parsonsburg and Ocean City.
Bob McCarroll also gave us an update on his bid for office.
In other news, Dustin Mills pointed out some of the numbers behind the recent Rasmussen Poll on Maryland’s race for governor. We know that Ehrlich trails O’Malley 44-47 in his race, but Maryland is a state which gives President Obama more support than the average state and is more supportive of Obamacare. Yet Martin O’Malley has a 22 strongly approve/29 strongly disapprove, or a factor of (-7) compared to a national average for President Obama running in the negative teens. But tellingly, about half of Free Staters have a “throw the bums out” mentality when it comes to their own delegate.
We also learned that the AFP meeting Wednesday may have Delegate candidate Mike McDermott as a speaker but Michael James had to drop out – he’ll have a surrogate for the meeting.
The bulk of the meeting’s discussion centered on the club’s financial plan for the upcoming election, which eventually passed without objection. Once we finalize the slate of candidates come September the WCRC can be a huge help to local Republican candidates.
Our next meeting is May 24 and still on the docket despite her change in office sought is Carmen Amedori.
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