And well-timed it is, to coincide with the state GOP convention to be held in Ocean City over the weekend.
[gview file=”http://www.monoblogue.us/files/2011May7OCEANCITYHarris.pdf” width=480 height=606]
So if you have an extra $100 laying around and wish to support a Congressman who’s doing the work of the Eastern Shore, feel free to attend.
A sampling of local and national political reaction to the untimely demise of America’s ‘Public Enemy Number 1.’
Let’s start with Congressman Andy Harris:
Last night, President Obama announced that American forces had killed terrorist and 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden. This is great news for the security of America, as well as for our troops at home and overseas who continue to protect us from terrorism every day. I want to thank and congratulate all of our men and women in the Armed Forces – their hard work and bravery made this possible. This is a great day for the United States of America.
As opposed to President Obama, who nearly broke his arm patting himself on the back in his statement, Harris was very restrained despite his actual military background as a reservist.
Senator Ben Cardin was a little more verbose, calling bin Laden a ‘murderer.’
The death of Osama bin Laden is an important milestone in the fight against terrorism and a relief to millions of Americans and others around the world who have felt his murderous destruction. Osama bin Laden was a murderer who devoted his life to the destruction of freedom, democracy and our way of life. Tonight all Americans can feel safer knowing that bin Laden is dead, but we must remain vigilant in the continued fight against al-Qaeda and any terrorists who seek to harm our nation. I join the President and all Americans in thanking the military professionals who carried out this mission. We depend on them and owe them our gratitude and our prayers.
Interestingly enough, as I write this at 11 in the morning, Senator Mikulski has no statement. Are things a bit slow around Barb’s office this A.M.?
Turning to some of the Presidential contenders, here’s what one of the frontrunners, Mitt Romney, had to say on his Facebook page:
This is a great victory for lovers of freedom and justice everywhere. Congratulations to our intelligence community, our military and the president. My thoughts are with the families of Osama bin Laden’s many thousands of victims, and the brave servicemen and women who have laid down their lives in pursuit of this murderous terrorist.
Score two for a variant of “murderer.”
Sarah Palin had this to say, also on Facebook:
Americans tonight are united in celebration and gratitude. God bless all the brave men and women in our military and our intelligence services who contributed to carrying out the successful mission to bring Bin Laden to justice and who laid the groundwork over the years to make this victory possible. It’s a testament to the hard work and dedication of these brave Americans who relentlessly hunted down our enemy.
This is a victory for the American people, for the victims who were heartlessly murdered on September 11 and in Al Qaeda’s other numerous attacks, and for all the peace-loving people of the world.
May God bless our troops and our intelligence services, and God bless America!
Perhaps it’s a matter of wearing one’s heart on their sleeve, but you can see the contrast in styles quite clearly between the cool, collected Mitt Romney and the passionate Sarah Palin. In either case, bin Laden isn’t an issue that will be on their plate anymore should either be the Republican nominee.
I have one more reaction to share, from Lt. Col. Allen West, who now serves in Congress as a Representative from Florida.
Congratulations to President Obama and his National Security Team for the capture and killing of the world’s most dangerous and evil criminal mastermind, Osama bin Laden.
Our appreciation and gratitude goes out to General Petreaus and the brave men and women in theater. Our Special Operations team executed a flawless, cross border operation, proving once again, our American Armed Forces are the most skilled, organized and highly trained forces in the world.
Although this is a time of exuberance, rejoicing and healing, America, as well as our allies, must be vigilant and on guard for retaliatory attacks from the extreme Islamic world. What strongly concerns me is that bin Laden was not found hiding in a remote cave, but in an urban area of Pakistan where the Pakistan Army’s premier training institution operates. This is a war that is no where close to being over.
That note of caution seems appropriate from someone who’s been there, as West served both in Iraq and as a civilian advisor to Afghan troops before returning to Florida and running for Congress in both 2008 (unsuccessfully) and 2010.
My take on this? Well, you’ll have to wait as I have an op-ed in with one of my national writing outlets. If it goes up in the next few days I’ll link to the post.
Update: I should have included former President George W. Bush:
Earlier this evening, President Obama called to inform me that American forces killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of the al Qaeda network that attacked America on September 11, 2001. I congratulated him and the men and women of our military and intelligence communities who devoted their lives to this mission. They have our everlasting gratitude. This momentous achievement marks a victory for America, for people who seek peace around the world, and for all those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001. The fight against terror goes on, but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message: No matter how long it takes, justice will be done.
Very classy gentleman.
In part, because the job was supposed to be done well beforehand. Here’s his statement on the matter:
“We shouldn’t need a government shutdown. At the same time, Marylanders sent me to Congress this year to end Washington’s spending spree in order to get the economy moving and build an environment for positive job growth.
Nearly 50 days ago, the House of Representatives passed a reasonable budget that would reduce the federal spending this year by a mere two percent. I believe those in charge, the Senate and the President, must work with the House of Representatives to control spending. The American people expect us to solve this problem, and we must deliver.”
If you listen to Senator Harry Reid – not that I really do – he pits the blame on Republicans who don’t want to fund Planned Parenthood. But why should we fund Planned Parenthood anyway? Of course, one could logically ask that about a lot of federal spending: we subsidize everyone from farmers to radio personalities to so-called starving artists. We get involved in a Libyan civil war, backed by the same people complained we were involved in an Iraqi civil war. (So why not Sudan or Iran? They have unrest as well.) The spending cuts proposed by the GOP weren’t all that large in the vast scheme of things, and the government employees affected by the slowdown will most likely be made whole when it’s all over.
But compare Harris’s statement to the declarations by District of Columbia Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton that the District should “(tell) the Congress to go straight to hell” and called the slowdown “the functional equivalent to bombing civilians” on local television station WTTG. As you can see below, yeah, that’s toning down the rhetoric.
Again, this problem should have been addressed this time last year, and there was no reason the Democrats couldn’t have passed the budget back then – they had ample majorities in both the House and Senate. Perhaps they were afraid of creating more potential Election Day losses but, then again, they pretty much had their collective asses handed to them anyway.
So Eleanor Holmes Norton is complaining about a problem she helped to create – let me repeat myself, the Democrats could have rammed through pretty much whatever they wanted, even with 59 votes in the Senate. They didn’t do their job, and now their favored constituency group will pay the consequences.
Me, I probably won’t miss them.
Finally, I get a chance to reflect on Monday’s townhall meeting with a suitable multimedia presentation.
On Monday our Congressman, Andy Harris, culminated a day spent on the Lower Shore with a public townhall meeting at Chef Fred’s in Salisbury. Several dozen constituents took advantage of the opportunity to ask questions of Andy and otherwise say their piece.
His presentation began with a PowerPoint show which illustrated his main point of the evening: we have been “misled” for 20 to 30 years financially. Slides that showed the “reckless spending spree,” “tidal wave of debt,” “what drives our debt?,” and a comparison between the state we currently find ourselves in and the one in Greece before the EU bailout dominated his early remarks. One particularly interesting (and troubling) statistic: the foreign ownership that was just 5% back in 1970 is now 47 percent, with China the largest holder.
Against that stark backdrop, Harris told the group the aim of the House was to bring that debt under control. We “can’t be competitive with that amount of foreign debt,” he added. Their three-pronged approach was to trim spending without raising taxes – “increasing taxes is not the solution,” Andy said – and cutting regulation to “common sense” levels.
However, those cuts couldn’t just slash entitlement programs. “We have to establish a Social Security and Medicare system that’s viable,” stated Andy.
This took about the first fifteen to twenty minutes of the meeting. Most of the next two hours were spent answering questions on a number of subjects: among them the Federal Reserve, jobs and the economy, education, the PATRIOT Act, the Fourteenth Amendment, energy policy, and Medicare.
Perhaps my favorite question of the group was the one on education, which was asked as part of a soliloquy from a local teacher. It was a story from the front lines that lamented the amount of regulation placed on teachers, and Harris agreed that there was no federal role necessary in education.
I also thought Andy’s view on foreign aid was valid – we should require a country-by-country vote on foreign aid. This was friendly allies would be rewarded while those who oppose us would be first in line for cuts. Among those Harris favored retaining at least the present amount of aid for was Israel, our “staunchest ally” in the Middle East.
Andy also had a long explanation of his beliefs on the PATRIOT Act, a question asked by fellow blogger Julie Brewington of Right Coast. The process of resolving the act was “complicated” because of provisions which expired at different times and being of the belief that some parts of the PATRIOT Act were useful.
Of course, I asked a question, too. In short, what is wrong with the leadership?
Andy also revealed he’s a co-sponsor of a bill to clarify the Fourteenth Amendment doesn’t apply to “anchor babies,” which makes sense because the parents aren’t under our jurisdiction as non-citizens.
Quite a bit of the discussion focused on government health care.
As a medical practicioner, Andy eaasily explained some of the factors which allowed drug companies to sell drugs cheaply to Canadians as opposed to here in America. Technically, purchasing drugs from Canada enables drug companies to flout Canadian law, but the reason drugs are cheaper there is the formulary they use – in other words, their selection is far less than ours. Later, there was a question about Medicare doctor reimbursements where Andy made the point that cutting the payments to doctors was a form of “backdoor rationing” because limiting Medicare payments to doctors forced them to stop accepting Medicare patients. (How many people would willingly take a 30 percent pay cut for doing the same amount of work? That’s what they are asking doctors to do, as I understand it.) A more desirable effect could be had by increasing competition between insurance companies, Andy concluded.
There was a questioner who asked about the cuts to job services, but Andy reminded her that there were 47 programs out there which still had $1.5 billion to spend this fiscal year. Meanwhile, due to overregulation, the poultry industry was “on the brink of leaving the country.” We have the workforce to bring light manufacturing to the area, but needed to have a government which would allow businesses to thrive.
Term limits? Andy is a co-sponsor of a term limits bill. I also recall in 2008 he said he’d serve no more than 12 years.
NASA was a good program, but in a time of limited budget flexibility they needed to prioritize their missions.
“Energy independence has to be one of our top priorities,” opined Andy. I couldn’t agree more. He pointed out the Marcellus Shale formation under portions of Maryland and other neighboring states as a key untapped resource.
But, it can’t be an Andy Harris event without somebody protesting, whether in a chicken suit or not.
Mike Calpino, the Libertarian candidate for a County Council seat last year, mildly protested the direction the two principal parties had led the country by holding this sign out front before the event. However, no one disrupted the proceedings inside. Aside from an admitted RINO who thought the Republican Party needed to jettison its right wing, the dialogue was relatively friendly.
Two final quotes from the meeting:
Referring to our financial situation: “(There is) an unwillingness in Washington to face the music.”
“My philosophy is, that if we reduce the size of government, we free up capital and our American entrepreneurship to create jobs and business, to be the best in the world.” That was a reply to the self-described RINO.
Needless to say, the Congressman encourages input from constituents. His district office is downtown at 212 W. Main Street, right inside the Gallery Building.
Well, the people at The Hard Times should be pleased with their extra half-day atop my site. My intention was to do a post about the Andy Harris townhall meeting today, but I was called away by other duties.
So that will appear sometime tomorrow afternoon or evening (nope, probably Friday) along with an update on the Wicomico elected school board issue. It happens to the best of us, but I didn’t want people to think I had ignored the Harris town hall meeting since I was there.
This found its way to my inbox yesterday from the office of our Congressman:
(Yesterday,) as a member of the Natural Resources Committee Rep. Andy Harris participated in a hearing focused on America’s rising energy prices. Oil prices have recently passed $100 per barrel for the first time since 2008. Gasoline prices have increased 77 cents since this time last year. According to an analyst from Cameron Hanover, there is an additional cost to consumers of $4 million dollars per day for every penny increase in fuel costs. Last week, Rep. Andy Harris sent a letter to Secretary of Energy Steven Chu requesting immediate action on rising fuel costs.
“Too many times during past energy crises we have failed to act definitively,” said Rep. Andy Harris. “I support an ‘all-of-the-above’ energy approach that emphasizes American-produced oil, natural gas, clean coal, and nuclear, and renewable sources such as solar, wind, hydropower and geothermal. This approach will lower prices, create new American jobs, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, strengthen our national security and raise revenue to help tackle the $14 trillion debt.”
A recent Congressional Research report indicated that our combined recoverable coal, oil and natural gas reserves total 1.3 trillion barrels of oil equivalent – the largest in the world. In addition to these resources, the U.S. Geological Survey estimates oil shale reserves could be greater than 1.5 trillion barrels of oil. These numbers indicate that we have the resources to produce our own energy and the latest technology to do it safely. We should strengthen our national security by ending our dependence on foreign energy and create American jobs while doing it.
So that’s what he said; here’s what I have to say.
Unfortunately, Andy, you can send a truckload of these letters to Steven Chu’s office and all you’ll get is a forest’s worth of dead trees. He’s truly gulped a large pitcher of the global warming Kool-Aid. For all his talk about embracing nuclear power despite the Japan crisis, for example, we haven’t seen much action toward building new plants in the last two years – or the last fifteen, for that matter (the last new U.S. nuclear power plant came online in 1996.) Instead, the Obama administration is hot and heavy into forcing our nation to adopt solar and wind as renewable energy sources. They only prefer ‘some of the above,’ ignoring the fact that we have a mature market in fossil fuels and supplies, as you point out, are still plentiful. (They’re the government’s own estimates, for gosh sakes!)
Would it be possible to be completely energy independent? Perhaps, but I think the more realistic goal would be to depend only on one or two outside sources. Just cutting out the need to ship oil across the ocean would be a boost, and that may be doable since Canada and Mexico export a large percentage of the oil we use across their borders with us.
But it’s interesting to note that much of the advancement and infrastructure in the oil and natural gas industry is funded by the industry itself as opposed to the government, while the inverse seems to be true for wind and solar power. After all, what market would the offshore wind farms proposed off Ocean City have if it weren’t for government putting a fat finger on the scale?
So Harris is relatively correct in his assessment, although I’d love to have some followup on what he sees as government’s proper role. Certainly he has solid facts and figures, but Andy needs to share what specific solutions he would advocate in each area in order to address this crisis. The more it depends on the private-sector market, the better I’ll probably like it.
I know, this meeting was so last month. But when you have an election to cover and like to keep people informed on what’s up on the state level this event coverage wasn’t going anywhere.
This meeting was one of transition. After our usual recitation of the Lord’s Prayer and Pledge of Allegiance, longtime Secretary Dave Parker read the minutes one last time and we recieved the Treasurer’s Report from Tom Hughes, who is staying on.
Ann Suthowski asked a question about membership and wasn’t pleased with the answer. “We should have at least 200 members,” she asserted, and perhaps she’s correct. Having said that, though, I’d rather have 50 good, active members than 200 who simply send in a dues check and do nothing else. Although most don’t attend the meetings, the core membership has stagnated or dwindled over the years so maybe the change in leadership will make a difference. (Personally I’d like to see more of a TEA Party influence.)
For the second month in a row, our featured speaker was a County Council member – this time it was District 2’s Stevie Prettyman. Outgoing President Marc Kilmer introduced her by reminding us “the county taxpayers have a friend in her.”
Stevie stated the obvious in her opening – “the last several years have been difficult.” In the next few weeks we’ll get the County Executive’s budget plan for FY2012, which begins July 1, 2011. While the numbers for this fiscal year can change at any time thanks to moves by state government, Prettyman briefly went through the process for passing the budget. The County Council can only decrease the budget or move money around (aside from increasing money for educational needs) but if they can’t pass an alternative by June 15 the Executive’s budget stands.
Digging into a bit of history, Stevie noted that FY2009 was the first time in a decade revenues fell short of the budget, and FY2010 brought us a $10.1 million gap between revenues and expenses – revenues that were shorter still this fiscal year and were threatening to be even shorter next year as the state made cuts and shifted expenses to the county level – she then recited a litany of proposed state cuts. “The low-hanging fruit is gone” for FY2012, she said, adding the budget will have to undergo “significant, permanent structural changes.”
“This is the time when leaders make real choices,” Stevie went on to say. “We need your help and support.” She was “very anxious to receive (the) budget.”
When asked about the capital budget, specifically the proposed Bennett Middle School, she noted that construction funds would indeed come out of the capital budget but bond repayment comes out of the operating budget. Previous Councils “would only borrow what they paid off” but larger projects have changed that approach. Still, our indebtedness is well under what the county’s charter allows, added Stevie.
A questioner asked why the existing Bennett Middle School can’t be renovated – it’s slated for demolition so the high school project can be completed in Phase 4 so that option isn’t really on the table as a permanent solution. (The next night, County Council voted to delay the Bennett Middle School project for a year, citing its cost and the county’s debt level.)
Dave Parker gave the Central Committee report, calling the Lincoln Day Dinner a “fantastic time.” While it was good to hear from our new Congressman Andy Harris, second banana Eric Grannon, the MDGOP’s Third Vice-Chair also made “an excellent impression.” Dave awarded the Republican of the Year plaque to Ed Nelson, who missed the Lincoln Day Dinner, and recounted the story of our Republican Youth of the Year, Margaret Gaetano.
Our next Central Committee meeting is Monday at 7 p.m. with a speaker to be announced. It will be a postmortem on the LDD as well – we are looking to make it bigger and better for 2012.
With an Andy Harris report, Mark McIver excitedly spoke about the new office at 212 W. Main Street and the “good media coverage” the opening received. In Washington the talk was about budget cuts, McIver continued, and while Andy wanted the full $100 billion promised we would get around $61 billion, with $4 billion included in a two-week continuing resolution extension.
Woody Willing chimed in that the club should be more active in pushing for an elected school board.
Joel Dixon, who is still in the running for Salisbury City Council pending Friday’s absentee ballot count, claimed “I didn’t come here to politick” but asked for our vote at the meeting.
Cathy Keim gave us an update on the same-sex marriage bill in Maryland, which has passed the Senate but – as it turned out later – ran into a snag in the House of Delegates.
After nominations were closed, the 2011 officers were elected by acclamation (there were no contested races.)
The new officers are:
Yes, I’m now the chief notetaker for both the Central Committee and Republican Club. Makes sense, doesn’t it?
After Marc Kilmer asked the club to “please treat (Larry) gently,” Dodd thanked us for the support and reminded us that the upcoming city elections affected the county as well.
Our next meeting will be March 28.
The message was: he won’t be a stranger.
A crowd of perhaps 50 people crammed into (and spilled outside) the new district office, which takes over a space in the Gallery Building vacated by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
Eventually the Congressman arrived to greet wellwishers and speak to other media. I happened to be the only blogger there but WMDT-TV came down the street to check things out, as did the Daily Times.
The newly-elected Congressman had a few remarks for those who waited to speak with him, noting that this was a scheduled off week by leadership as they exhorted their charges to “talk to the people more.” As a practice they will have at least one week a month off.
But he was “really excited to get back to Washington next week” and begin discussions on how to tackle the budgetary process for both the remainder of this fiscal year and next year. Andy called the debt and deficit “frightening” and warned that he’s “not sure we can get out of this.”
“The time for talk is way gone,” he continued.
After holding two townhall meetings earlier this week, Harris told those assembled he was surprised by the sentiment. Expecting a backlash on cuts, he was instead told, “how come we didn’t cut more?” and that those attending generally “appreciate finally being told the truth.”
And when people come up to complain about cuts, as they surely will, Andy vowed to ask them two questions: is the program worth borrowing from your grandchildren for, and, where else on the budget should the restored cuts come from?
He then opened it up to questions, and among them I asked how much he’s saving from the new office. I was told $500 per month, which equates to $6,000 per year (or, as I joked, about 1/10 of a job saved or created.) Then again, it could help to hire an extra part-time person to help with constituent service and that’s more important than a physical office.
I also learned through a conversation with a longtime observer that the former office had been a Congressional office for at least 30 years, to the era of former Congressman Roy Dyson. But this office has the advantages of better security and a more convenient location (it’s across the hall from the local IRS office and in the same building as Senator Mikulski – her office is on the other side down the hall.)
Staff, local elected officials, and Central Committee members gathered at the doorway for the formal ribbon cutting. (I took the picture instead.) One other announcement made at the event was there will be a local townhall meeting the week of March 21, with more details announced a few days prior to the event.
The new district office is located at 212 West Main Street, Suite 204B.
Well, the reviews are in – this may have topped last year’s effort as a great Lincoln Day dinner. We had our fair share of red meat, complements of our newly sworn-in Congressman who was featured speaker and we received valuable input on the direction our state party should take from another special guest.
But first we heard from the birthday honoree, who brought a few friends.
Honest Abe was actually flanked by three Union troops, but I could only get two in the picture.
Since my picture of county party Chair and event host Dave Parker didn’t turn out, his standing in the background while Lincoln spoke will have to suffice.
Abe spoke of many things during his remarks: his battles against Black Hawk in the Indian uprisings that plagued the state of Illinois in its early days, the advancement of the tools of war (which far outstripped the tools of healing the soldiers affected by this mechanization of mayhem), and his trip from Springfield to Washington in the winter of 1861. His inauguration occurred amidst a nation undergoing a perilous division, with states openly in revolt.
Yet I’m getting ahead of myself, for even the invocation had something of a political tone. Delegate Mike McDermott was pressed into service by the absence of my Central Committee cohort who usually handles these things, and Mike remarked “this is the one thing we can’t do in the House of Delegates.”
College Republican President Tim Riley did the Pledge of Allegiance, which was a change since I had handled the job previously. I didn’t mind giving up the slot to our event co-hosts, who were a significant portion of the attendees.
If you’ve never come to a Lincoln Day Dinner, the usual format is to have a featured speaker or two. Last year, this was ably handled by the tag team of Bob and Kendal Ehrlich. But in his introduction for guest speaker Eric Grannon, Joe Collins asked what Martin Luther King and those involved in women’s suffrage would say about the state of our party now? The way I see it, obviously were aren’t a monochrome, single-gender organization, nor should we be.
Perhaps with an eye on that, back in December the state party selected a female First Vice-Chair and black Third Vice-Chair. Both were in attendance last night, as Diana Waterman is a frequent guest of ours anyway and Grannon gave us a clear message about the “straightforward but difficult task” of getting Republicans elected in Maryland.
He pointed out that Lincoln had the moral courage to wage a war and end slavery while Ronald Reagan had the moral courage to say the Soviet Union was the “Evil Empire.” Eric also recalled as a young boy – from a welfare family in Brooklyn, no less – hearing Reagan’s message of optimism and self-reliance and being inspired.
That Republican message, continued Eric, was one we needed to convey to what Grannon called “non-traditional” groups. By population, Maryland is nearly 30% black and we can’t win if we concede 30% of the voters to the other side. We have to go to them, but we need not change our principles. We need a plan, not a platitude – he called this a Republican Agenda for Working Families.
Introduced by former SU College Republican president Matt Teffeau, the featured speaker was a familiar face now playing a new role. I’m only disappointed that the voters of the First District realized two years later than they needed to that Andy Harris would be a dynamic voice for conservatism; then again, he plays a much bigger role in the majority than he would have as a minority party backbencher.
Right out of the gate, Andy alerted us: the revolution of 2011 is coming to Washington, D.C. While the Democrats pounded on the message of job creation over their four-year run in the majority, “they don’t get it,” claimed Andy. The “harsh reality” for them is that the private sector creates the jobs.
But Harris also warned us of a “sobering” fiscal future, one where we have a $75 TRILLION “fiscal gap” over the next 75 years. All that we have been promised is $75 trillion more than the revenue we can expect – undoubtedly, this has to change. As he said, “the path back will be difficult.”
Yet there are a number of obstacles in the way of regaining prosperity. Harris divided them into three main areas – regulatory, taxation, and the debt itself.
Andy gave us the example of regulation run amok by pointing out the lengthy process of having dairy farmers exempted from an EPA regulation on oil tanks. Yes, milkfat is considered an oil and if you have a large enough tank preventive measures need to be in place to avoid contaminating the waterways. (Talk about crying over spilt milk!) Even after two years where the EPA promised the exemption, dairy farmers are still waiting for something that should have taken weeks, even with the required public comment period.
On taxes, our Congressman believed we need to give entrepreneurs “an edge” by lowering the corporate tax rate, and, more importantly, eliminating the estate tax entirely.
Harris brought a prop to talk about spending, a copy of The Hill with a headline that blared “Tea Party yanks GOP leash on spending cuts” and a message of not compromising the promised $100 billion in cuts despite the fact the fiscal year is nearly half-over. “100 is 100,” Andy said. He predicted “this week will be rough for Republicans” as Democrats trot out so-called victims of budget cuts. Many of these cuts will come from defunding Obamacare and zeroing out the “czars”, a comment which drew applause from the packed house.
Andy had a little time after his remarks to answer questions, but only received one regarding the PATRIOT Act. Harris revealed that only three provisions of the whole had come up for discussion – the Democrats connivingly had those expire months prior to the full reauthorization to promote a divisive vote. “We will look at the PATRIOT Act” in full come December, including hearings, promised Andy.
After Andy concluded his remarks, we took a few moment to recognize a number of elected officials and honored guests, a group which included those who ran for office in 2010 but didn’t succeed. We also commended both our 2010 Republican of the Year and a new, special category created for the recipient: the 2010 Republican Youth of the Year. Unfortunately, neither were there to collect our accolades.
Ed Nelson was our choice for Republican of the Year thanks to his tireless behind-the-scenes work, while Katherine Gaetano, who was a fixture at the Victory Center making phone calls despite her tender age of 11 at the time, was honored as the Republican Youth of the Year.
Since Delegate McDermott had opened the proceedings with his invocation, it fell to him as well to do the benediction. But he couldn’t resist making a few other remarks about the General Assembly, reminding us that President Lincoln jailed the body so Maryland wouldn’t secede from the Union. “We are fighting the good fight” in the General Assembly, said McDermott, but “there’s an insanity run amok in this state.” Eventually Mike did get to the defined purpose of a closing prayer and the 2011 Wicomico County Lincoln Day Dinner was history.
Yet many participants lingered afterward, and I had the pleasure of meeting Robert Broadus of Protect Marriage Maryland – he’s also throwing his hat into the ring to challenge Ben Cardin in 2012. (He unsuccessfully ran for Congress in the Fourth District in 2010, taking on Donna Edwards.) Broadus will be back in the area for a gathering to discuss the same-sex marriage proposal in Maryland at 7 p.m. on February 22nd at Adam’s Ribs in Fruitland. (The event is being sponsored by the Wicomico Maryland Society of Patriots.)
Speaking of the MSP, Julie Brewington at Right Coast has more pictures of the event as well as remarks on video, including from Andy Harris. Between us, we pretty much have the full coverage.
I’ll leave you with the wisdom of “Maxine.”
It’s a new year, but many of the same cast of characters met at the Salisbury Chamber of Commerce building to kick off the beginning of a new election cycle.
We first did the usual recitation of the Lord’s Prayer and Pledge of Allegiance, then went over minutes from both the October and November meetings. Following that was the Treasurer’s Report, although the treasury was increasing by the minute as members paid their 2011 dues.
Our speaker for the evening was County Council Vice-President Joe Holloway, who wanted to speak about the capital improvement budget but was prodded by questions and comments into a more general discussion. After being a skeptic about the concept when he first came into office, Joe now believes the recent MACo conference was “very informative.” A lot of interesting things were uttered there as well, said Joe. (I’m not at liberty to repeat them.)
Joe also told us that the latter half of 2010 was sparse as far as legislation went, but this year promised to be different. He cited a number of issues County Council may address: residential sprinklers for new single-family dwellings (which Joe was leaning against requiring,) speed cameras, which Joe stated had “a lot of work to do on them,” the prospect of an elected school board, the comprehensive plan, and the monetary issues of our operating and capital budgets.
The capital budget drew attention from the group as the prospect of taking $14 million in principal and interest from the operating budget usually does, particularly when the County Executive wants to borrow $16 million more. Also on the radar screen is the possible adoption of “special taxing districts” to replace revenue – as Joe said, “you can special tax district anything.” For example, a volunteer fire department could have the benefits of a special taxing district but would risk a loss in donations since it would be assumed the tax would cover all their expenses.
With the asking of a question regarding the wisdom of building the new Bennett Middle School now, the tenor of Holloway’s presentation changed. For him, that would be a “tough call” as he’d have to weigh the current low interest and construction costs vs. the declining revenues we’re receiving. (In fact, the newest batch of assessments are running about 25% lower than the last cycle three years ago.)
Another question regarding school construction which came up was the status of intersection improvements near the new Bennett High School, which was a case of the city perhaps not being ready for the school to be finished a year ahead of schedule. But the questioner called the situation there “a fatal accident waiting to happen.”
Yet a different quandary piqued the interest of a number of people – could the county do without the inventory tax? (This is also referred to as the personal property tax, and apparently we are the lone county in the state charging one.) Obviously the question would be that of how to replace the revenue gained, but quite honestly the onus would be on the County Executive to make do should that barrier be removed. (In the FY2011 budget, the total revenue from the personal property tax is estimated at about $9.7 million.) Meanwhile, Holloway brought up the fact that the county’s budget had increased by $34 million between 2002 and 2008 – they spent plenty during the boom times.
A question of a different sort awaited the group after Holloway finished – did any of them wish to step up and become club officers for 2011? Hearing no willing volunteers, it appears the slate will be as follows:
Of the group, most are already officers. Larry Dodd starts at the top, with Kilmer taking my old spot as 2nd Vice-President. I’m stepping into Dave Parker’s longtime job as Secretary – if I do half as well as he, I would do a decent job. Dave will be a challenge to top.
The aforementioned Parker gave the Central Committee report, putting out the welcome mat for visitors. He went over our advocation of an elected school board, adventures at the Martin Luther King dinner, and the upcoming Lincoln Day Dinner where Congressman Andy Harris and state Party 3rd Vice-Chair Eric Grannon would be featured speakers.
Mark Biehl gave a short Lower Shore Young Republican report, a group where he’d turned leadership over to Shawn Jester. They were taking a bit of a hiatus after a busy election season, not meeting again until April 13. But they would do their annual canned food drive during the late spring.
“I’m having a ball.” Those were the words of newly appointed lower Eastern Shore liaison Mark McIver, so designated by Congressman Andy Harris. “We’ll really be strong on constituent services,” promised Mark, who also revealed that Harris will serve on three House committees: Natural Resources, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Space, Science, and Technology. (But I still want to know if Andy will be on both the Republican Study Committee and TEA Party Caucus.)
Greg Belcher made mention of an upcoming Senate TEA Party caucus event on Thursday, with an effort to carpool to the event from here. (I’ll have more on this tomorrow.)
Joe Collins announced the AFP would meet Wednesday, and they were looking for new leadership as he had to step aside for various reasons.
Upcoming speakers and guests were the subject of suggestions by both John Palmer and Cynthia Williams. Palmer suggested we hear from the County’s internal auditor, Steve Roser, while Williams believed that we should allow Salisbury City Council candidates to speak their piece. (I noted our next meeting was on the eve of the primary, though.)
That next meeting will be February 28, with our speaker scheduled to be County Councilwoman Stevie Prettyman.
Well, at least one observer thinks the TEA Party will be awful mad about a recent statement by the group’s president.
Writing at the Green Hell Blog (h/t Blue Ridge Forum), Steve Milloy posits that a Wall Street Journal op-ed by Rep. Fred Upton, incoming head of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Americans for Prosperity head Tim Phillips charts a course toward capitulation to the Democrats and Obama Administration through a “sensible bipartisan compromise” on delaying the EPA regulations until the courts can determine their fate.
Obviously each individual chapter of AFP need not follow the dictates of the group’s president, but at a time where the group has been criticized locally (by a onetime AFP head) and around the state for being too co-opted by “establishment” Republicans who wanted to take advantage of the TEA Party and its energy, this is probably not the way for the organization to go.
Conservatives and TEA Partiers were already upset that it was Upton’s turn to be head of that committee, preferring instead that Rep. Joe Barton reassume the job he lost when Republicans were ousted from the majority in 2006. He would have needed a waiver of a six-year term limit on the chairmanship, but argued that his term effectively was wasted for four of those years by being simply the ranking member.
The problem with “sensible bipartisan compromise” is that one man’s ‘sensible’ is another man’s ‘surrender’ and it seems to me we have the mandate on our side. (Never mind that one side also has the tendency to lie through its teeth when it comes to cutting spending or the size of government. Their idea of government cuts? How about the ‘peace dividend’ and other ways of gutting the military?)
Furthermore, we’ve just come out of a ‘lame duck’ Congressional session where bipartisan compromise in the Senate gave us gays serving openly in the military, a bad nuclear treaty, another round of unemployment benefit extensions, and restoration of the death tax in exchange for a puny two-year extension of current income tax rates. Perhaps some of these shortcomings can be addressed in the upcoming 112th Congress (which will, among other things, replace our local ‘Blue Dog’ Democrat Frank Kratovil with conservative Andy Harris) but if this piece by Upton reflects the tenor of House leadership toward Democrats the TEA Party will be sorely disappointed.
At risk is a group which already has a serious strike against it by being, as they state on their website, “a section 501(c)(4) organization under the Internal Revenue Code… AFP can advocate for and against specific legislation at the state and federal levels.” But they can’t advocate for or against particular candidates, which becomes a problem in the cases where a conservative squares off against an “establishment” party member in the primary. While other TEA Party organizations scored successes in that area (like electing Marco Rubio in Florida) AFP had to remain silent and watch as other TEA Party conservatives like Joe Miller in Alaska or Sharron Angle in Nevada lost close races, in part because of the reluctance of ‘establishment’ Republicans to back the upstarts.
On a more local scale, imagine if AFP could have openly backed Michael James for a Maryland Senate seat or Joe Ollinger for County Executive. It could have made the difference, particularly in the Senate race where Democrat Jim Mathias all but portrayed himself as Ronald Reagan reincarnated.
Locally, the AFP chapter has waned since one co-founder left after her ill-fated run for office and the other, ironically enough, vacated to take an elected position in the local Republican Party. The former has shifted her involvement into the Wicomico Society of Patriots, an offshoot of the state group.
And she’ll be the one who might be saying “I told you so.”
Obviously, unless they decide to seek office and win, the amount of fealty an officeholder has to someone’s set of principles will almost never be 100 percent. (Witness the results of the ongoing monoblogue Accountability Project, which will return next summer.) But in the political arena, where making law is akin to making sausage, compromising the broad set of principles most in the TEA Party stand for should be a last resort and not an opening parlay. That’s a gambit which will never pay off in dividends for freedom-loving Americans like those in the TEA Party and may lead to a damaging third-party effort come 2012.
In three weeks, we may be seeing the beginnings of the TEA Party moving into its rightful place at the head of the Maryland political table. Yes, we have to wait until 2014 for the next statewide election but the process is moving in the right direction with a meeting of the minds coming up on Saturday, January 8th. Instead of being outside looking in (as they were at the recent GOP convention, where the picture is from) they are the organizers of the event – ironically set in the same locale of the Doubletree Hotel in Annapolis.
Organizers believe it will be the catalyst for future gains.
“To our knowledge, nothing like this has been done before in Maryland,” said Ann Corcoran, Washington County blogger and one of the organizers. “We expect like-minded activists to share ideas and talents, forge alliances, sound the call for action, and give rise to conservative voices so that political competition can thrive in Maryland.”
Added Howard County activist Tonya Tiffany, “We’ll be talking about 2010 campaign lessons, precinct organization, voter fraud, media outreach, running for office as a citizen legislator, and federal pressures bearing down on the state of Maryland. We’re not forming another political ‘group’ (but) trying to network people.”
With a roster of speakers well-known to conservative activists statewide, this daylong event was set up to give TEA Party faithful and their allies around the state the opportunity to converse and plan a strategy for future political gains. The speakers include:
All this (and more) packed into eight hours for a cost of $40, which includes a box lunch. A registration form can be found here, or by contacting Tonya Tiffany at marylandcan@yahoo.com.
