DC Examiner – Page 2

First obstacle overcome for redistricting vote

It was closer than organizers would like, but the effort to bring Congressional redistricting to referendum will move on after turning in 25,000 signatures to the state Board of Elections Thursday. That eclipsed the 18,579 needed and saved the Maryland Republican Party from a bitter and public defeat. Now they have 30 more days to collect another 37,157 valid signatures to place Maryland’s newly-drawn Congressional districts on the November ballot.

While there are elements within the Maryland GOP which prefer the new districts, the party as a whole is backing the effort to erase the lines that party Chair Alex Mooney called a “direct attack by power-hungry Democrats in Annapolis” in a message to supporters. Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dan Bongino echoed that sentiment, calling the map”absolutely ridiculous” because his home county of Anne Arundel has been shredded into four different Congressional districts.

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Marriage petition all but assured of success

Needing to turn in 18,579 valid petition signatures, those who support traditional marriage smashed previous records by submitting 113,505 signatures to the Maryland Board of Elections earlier today. It’s likely that enough will be valid to place the measure on the November ballot without the need to worry about the final June 30 deadline.

Citing an inclusive effort by both community organizations and faith-based entities, Maryland Marriage Alliance president Derek McCoy announced that regardless of the number of signatures validated from today’s submission, they will continue to collect signatures through June to “give more voters the opportunity to formally join the effort.”

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Field for 2014 Maryland Governor expands

In the race to succeed Martin O’Malley as Maryland’s governor, one contender thought to be likely made it official while a second is setting himself up for his own run.

After a couple months of exploring, Frederick County Commissioner Blaine Young has confirmed that he is indeed making a 2014 effort. While he won’t officially file for some time, the Republican filed organizational papers with the state Board of Elections in order to begin the fund raising he feels is necessary to compete with well-heeled Democrats. “You have to raise money to get your message out there,” Young said in an interview. Key among his issues will be fiscal responsibility and rightsizing state government.

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Redistricting petition could fall short

While I wrote yesterday on the optimism of same-sex marriage opponents regarding their drive to bring that bill to referendum, the same cannot be said of those who would like a reconsideration of our Congressional districts. Going into the final weekend of signature gathering before a May 31 deadline to collect 1/3 of the signatures eventually needed, the campaign explicitly states “we don’t yet have the signatures we need in hand.”

Unlike the same-sex marriage proposal, which arouses the ire of religious groups and others who support traditional marriage, redistricting doesn’t seem to have much of a passionate base in opposition. In an era where shockingly few even know who represents them in Congress and others are resigned to politics as usual, it could be too much to ask to get the “Marymandering” to the ballot this November.

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Same-sex marriage opponents closing in on signature goal

The first hurdle in the effort to bring Maryland’s proposed same-sex marriage law to referendum appears to be cleared. Opponents claim they are well past the required number of signatures to proceed into a final month of signature-gathering in June – with over 35,000 signatures and more being processed daily it’s almost assured the broad coalition of religious- and family-based groups will have more than the 18,579 valid signatures needed by May 31 to continue the process. Under Maryland law, those who wish to petition a proposed law to referendum at the next general election needed to gather the number of valid signatures equal to 3 percent of the total number of voters in the preceding gubernatorial election – in all, 55,736 signatures are required.

The number of signatures gathered by same-sex marriage opponents so far compares favorably with the initial total gathered by opponents of in-state tuition for illegal aliens in 2011. Last year’s effort ended up with well over 100,000 valid signatures, roughly twice the number required.

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McDonough challenges Baltimore mayor to improve safety or resign

Increasing the ante from a previous call to create a “no travel zone” around the Inner Harbor area of Baltimore, Delegate Pat McDonough is now demanding Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake convene a “solutions summit” to address the crime issue or resign.

McDonough has sparked a wildfire of controversy since his comments last week about “black youth mobs” and the violence they allegedly cause. Reaction to McDonough’s remarks has run the gamut from calling for his removal from the House of Delegates, casting them as “racially charged” or “brain-dead“, or agreeing with him by saying he’s absolutely right. The Delegate himself notes that “some may call (his remarks) a ‘publicity stunt’, but publicity is what is needed to solve this problem. Baltimore will overcome crime or crime will overcome Baltimore.”

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A chance to meet two Presidents

For several months Barack Obama has attempted to jumpstart his fundraising by creating several contests. Whether three guests won an exclusive dinner with the President or you received the red carpet treatment at a fundraiser with actor George Clooney, the promise was that all this was available with a donation of as little as $3.

But buried at the bottom of the e-mail of this and all his other contest announcements is a proviso which reads something like this:

No purchase, payment, or contribution necessary to enter or win. Contributing will not improve chances of winning. Void where prohibited. Entries must be received by May 29, 2012. You may enter by contributing to Sponsor (or) enter without contributing.

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Union picketers engage in ‘shame’ campaign

Picketers protest in front of the Target store here in Salisbury on May 15, 2012. The Eastern Shore of Maryland isn’t known as a union hotbed, but members of Carpenters Local 2012 of Seaford, Delaware were recently spotted at an intersection close by the Target store in Salisbury.

A banner held up by a small group of union members read “Shame On Target For Lowering Area Standards In Our Community.” Since the Salisbury store is several years old, it was not clear if this was in reaction to proposed renovation work there or if the picketers were critical of Target in general. Like most department stores in the value-price retail segment, Target is a non-union store, but the chain is in the midst of a long-term program of renovations to existing stores.

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Does Ben Cardin have to worry?

For some time, the conventional wisdom among national political observers has been that Maryland’s U.S. Senate race this November will be no contest and that Senator Ben Cardin will cruise to re-election. Since I’m not privy to the internal polling surely being done on behalf of either Ben Cardin or Republican hopeful Dan Bongino, I would tend to conclude based on the lack of news from the Bongino camp – which would surely trumpet any polling that shows his effort is within striking distance statewide – that the gap is still fairly wide.

However, there are several factors which may manifest themselves in a Bongino upset come November.

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Moving forward in the wrong direction

When Governor O’Malley formally called the recently-completed Special Session back on May 3rd, he did so because there was “too much at stake not to move forward.” Unfortunately, after passing $260 million of tax increases and shifting the state’s teacher pension burden to its counties, it doesn’t appear Maryland workers will be able to respond accordingly. In fact, 6,000 fewer Maryland workers were contributing to the economy at the end of April than at the beginning, according to Labor Department figures released today – a statewide job loss which was the highest in the nation. Moreover, the March numbers were readjusted in a manner which gave the state a net job loss in that month, too.

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Maryland budget fixed – for now

At the estimated cost of $20,000 per day, the just-completed three-day Maryland General Assembly special session enabled Governor Martin O’Malley and his liberal Democratic allies in the state legislature to wrap up their work on the FY2013 budget. Through a combination of a $263.8 million tax hike which mainly falls on middle- to upper-class wage earners and a complex budget reconciliation, including the passing of the teacher pension burden down to the county level, the state has successfully framed the fiscal picture O’Malley wanted to paint for Maryland.

But for those of us who have observed Martin O’Malley’s five-year reign over Maryland, the result of this special session simply seems like deja vu all over again.

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Maryland Delegate: Baltimore harbor should be ‘no travel zone’

In a diverse state like Maryland, sometimes people walk on eggshells when the conversation turns to race. And then there’s Delegate Pat McDonough, a Republican from Baltimore County, who may have upset the apple cart with a release sent out today announcing an upcoming press conference Friday.

In the news release, titled ‘Black Youth Mobs Terrorize Baltimore on Holidays,’ McDonough recounts a number of recent incidents where “innocent tourists and others” were attacked and beaten, including one where the video went viral on YouTube. These attacks seriously tarnish Baltimore’s image, says McDonough.

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