20070907 News Clips

News Clips

September 7, 2007

STATE NEWS

Sales tax solution

O'Malley expects higher, wider levy to fight crisis

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-te.md.omalley07sep07,0,6396240.story

Gov. Martin O'Malley said yesterday that he expects the state will increase the sales tax and expand it to cover services as part of a solution to Maryland's $1.5 billion budget shortfall. Underscoring the politically painful decisions the budget crisis will entail, the governor also said he might not include the full amount required by the Thornton education funding law in next year's budget. That would effectively cut $137 million in aid planned for local schools.

"All of this is going to require a lot of courage, a lot of fortitude and a lot of foresight on behalf of al l of our leaders in the General Assembly in order to make votes that are unpopular today but are the right thing to do for tomorrow and the next generation," O'Malley said in an interview on WYPR-FM's Marc Steiner Show.

BRAC requires marketing Md.

Officials try to persuade defense workers reluctant to move here

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.ar.marketing07sep07,0,7188483.story

State officials, trying to persuade military families to move to Maryland when their jobs are transferred here over the next few years, plan to open an office near Fort Monmouth, N.J., that will offer information on real estate, attractions and other vital facts about the Free State.

The plan is part of efforts to market the state to thousands of employees in Virginia and New Jersey who are being re located to Fort Meade, Aberdeen Proving Ground and elsewhere in Maryland as part of the base realignment and closure process known as BRAC.

"We are going to do everything in our power to make the transition as easy as possible," Gov. Martin O'Malley said yesterday in Crownsville before a council overseeing the state's military installations. "We want to look at this as a big positive."

Bond rating falls a notch

Aquarium's marks lowered by Moody's over cash concerns

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-md.ci.aquarium07sep07,0,1662905,print.story

The National Aquarium took a hit yesterday when Moody's Investors Service downgraded its bond rating, voicing concerns about the attraction's depleted cash reserves - particularly as a multimillion-dollar aquatic cent er project looms on the horizon.

Moody's knocked the aquarium from an "A2" rating to an "A3," a move that would make it more expensive to borrow money. Aquarium officials played down Moody's assessment, saying that the attraction remains in a solid financial situation.

"Nobody wants to have their rating downgraded, but the fact is this is still a good rating," said David M. Pittinger, the aquarium's executive director. "The important thing is to put it in perspective. We are operating in the black."

O'Malley blasts schools superintendent

http://www.examiner.com/a-921137~O_Malley_blasts_schools_superintendent.html

State School Superintendent Nancy Grasmick must step down. Gov. Martin O'Malley expressed his displeasure in the state's top education official Thursday during a radio show in which he called her leadership abilities into question.

O'Malley also wants the authority to select the superintendent himself, rather than rely on the appointed state board of education, which now names the superintendent.

"We need greater alignment between the governor and the superintendent of schools," O'Malley said on the Mark Steiner show on WYPR radio. "That trust does not exist between Dr. Grasmick and myself."

Grasmick spokesman Bill Reinhard said, "We really don't have any interest in commenting on the governor's remarks."

Voters say mayor's race ignores critical issues

http://www.examiner.com/a-921121~Voters_say_mayor_s_race_ignores_critical_issues.html

Crime, crime and more crime. That's been the primary topic in Baltimore's mayoral contest, and some say with good reason. A rising homicide rate and a spate of high-profile violent crime mean that public safety should be the No. 1 topic of the campaign.

But other residents and advocates say quality-of-life issues - the city's penchant for writing parking tickets, high auto insurance rates and a vexing pubic transportation system - are rarely raised but are just as important.

Colleges adopt student-loan rules in wake of national probe of industry

http://www.examiner.com/a-921126~Colleges_adopt_student_loan_rules_in_wake_of_national_probe_of_industry.html

All of Maryland's 60-some universities have adopted student loan regulations after a national investigation of the industry revealed some financial aid of ficers - including one at The Johns Hopkins University - received kickbacks from lenders.

University officials are prohibited from receiving anything of value from lending institutions in exchange for steering students toward those lenders, according to the new code of conduct established by Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler established.

County GOP gives boot to chairman

http://www.examiner.com/a-921136~County_GOP_gives_boot_to_chairman.html

The Anne Arundel Republican Central Committee ousted its chairman in a move that many county GOP members called a black eye for the party.

Committee members said Collins failed as a leader by not pushing for voter registration, delaying subcommittee assignment and not quelling internal disputes. He has been the chairman since November. Many GOP members called the committee's action disgraceful. Although others agreed Collins had to go, they disapproved of the committee's methods.

O'Malley rips slots opponents, Grasmick

http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20070907/METRO/109070041/1004

Gov. Martin O'Malley yesterday criticized opponents of legalizing slot machines and Maryland schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick, saying he would like to replace her as soon as possible.

When asked by a caller on a radio show why he supports slots after having called them "morally bankrupt" while serving as mayor of Baltimore, Mr. O'Malley said that he is ready to compromise and that state lawmakers should be too.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., a slots supporter, said Mr. O'Malley has yet to use his gubernatorial power to force Mr. Busch's hand.

"The governor's going to have to use the hammer of his office to deliver the final product," said Mr. Miller, adding his office will become a second home to the governor in the coming months as they work to close the shortfall.
Mr. O'Malley said he would like to replace Mrs. Grasmick because he does not trust her.

"It's not so much a matter of like as a matter of trust," he said. "That trust does not exist between Dr. Grasmick and myself."

"I think overall in our state, we've made a mistake in insulating [superintendents] from the... accountability that comes with a direct appointment from the elected executive," he said.

Subsidized Projects Struggling, Audit Finds

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/06/AR2007090602559.html

Several projects subsidized by Maryland's economic development agency are in financial trouble, legislative auditors reported yesterday, citing, in particular, a resort in Western Maryland and a golf course in Calvert County.

Rocky Gap Lodge & Golf Resort, the state-subsidized retreat built for $45 million a decade ago to revive an economically depressed area, has operated in the red for years and is $27 million in debt, the auditors said.

Also, two Baltimore nursing homes defaulted on payments to bondholders last year.

Although Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) has said he favors granting gambling licenses to horse-racing tracks, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert), a strong backer of slots, said yesterday that an additional venue at Rocky Gap could put the hotel in the black and help the state budget by drawing customers from neighboring West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

The audit also criticized the economic development agency's accounting controls. About $30 million in checks for leases and other payments that the headquarters received last year were not immediately deposited in the bank, leaving the agency open to fraud.

EDITORIALS/OP-EDS

What's the rush?

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/editorial/bal-ed.vote07sep07,0,1739918.story

We applaud the effort under way in Congress to increase confidence in the integrity of voting machines used around the country, but draw no comfort from a mandate that Maryland and five other states would have a year or less to replace the expensive equipment just recently purchased.

The very worthy goal of legislation expected to be taken up shortly by the House is to ensure that electronic or computerized voting equipment provide a paper backup system that can be used to verify that votes were cast as intended and to double-check tallies in the event of a recount.

But the November 2008 timetable for buying and installing such equipment - plus training elections board staff and volunteer judges - is a recipe for more of the human-error-inspired chaos that has proved the greatest bane of the current voting equipment.

Again, we understand the importance of ensuring confidence in balloting that often these days decides elections by the barest of margins. But no model of voting machine is utterly tamper-free, and certainly none is worth acquiring so quickly that the odds of simple human error are increased exponentially.

Free advice

http://www.gazette.net/stories/090707/polilee223736_32365.shtml

There's no free lunch. But know-it-all columnists are full of free advice.

Here's some for various Maryland elected officials.

Governors are humans, too.

They need ways to relax and unwind from their stress-filled jobs. Bob Ehrlich played golf. Harry Hughes played the trumpet. Parris Glendening played the field. Martin O'Malley likes to knock back a few Guinesses and play in his Celtic rock band, O'Malley's March. He's even cut a few CDs.

If I were O'Malley's political advisor, an unlikely scenario, I'd tell him to drop the band and take up stamp collecting. If he thinks last year's press of events demanded his full attention, wait until he sees 2008. Trust me, Governor O'Malley, now is not the time for a guitar-playing governor. The looming hard times need a Caesar, not a Nero.

No, if Democratic lawmakers must make the tough vote for taxes and slots they want their leader, Governor O'Malley, right in the middle of it. They want O'Malley's fingerprints all over the tax?

Slots package and the best way to do this is by making him submit a state budget showing exactly which taxes he supports and exactly which slots plan he favors. Once his political fate is tied to the package he'll be forced to pull out the stops to get it passed.

Budget, ballot, bounty and more

http://www.gazette.net/stories/090707/poliras223738_32366.shtml

While watching to see if the General Assembly's much-anticipated special session evaporates like a mirage, House Speaker Mike Busch once again is the central character. He's out to subvert Gov. Martin O'Malley's plan to use slots money to help balance the budget and he thinks he can do that by avoiding a special session. So he's playing keep-away. The longer he avoids talking specifics, the harder it is for O'Malley to work out the myriad details to increase taxes and legalize s lots.

A lawsuit against Governor O'Malley alleging that a veteran state employee was fired because he was (a) a Republican or (b) white could make for interesting court testimony.

O'Malley had as much right to fire Reichart as former Gov. Bob Ehrlich had to fire those at-will employees he let go. It's known as politics. Candidate O'Malley angrily denounced Ehrlich for his actions during last year's campaign but now the shoe is on the other foot.

When the General Assembly meets, rest assured the ''richest state" line with be dragged into countless debates to prove Maryland taxpayers can afford virtually any proposal to aid the state's underclass. I can hear it now: ''For the richest state to allow this condition to continue is outrageous ... ''For a state with so much wealth, we can afford (fill in the blank)."

Will state's primaries matter?

Not with so many states scheduled to vote by Feb. 12, but state leaders hoping to make noise

http://www.gazette.net/stories/090707/polinew03639_32359.shtml

By the time Maryland's primary election day arrives Feb. 12, voters in more than 30 states will already have cast their ballots, prompting questions about the effort earlier this year to advance the state's primary date by three weeks. An earlier spot on the calendar would give Maryland a stronger voice in the party nominating process, Democratic leaders reasoned when they proposed the change.

Since then, numerous states have leapfrogged Maryland - 23 will hold their primaries or party caucuses Feb. 5 alone - bumping it to almost the end of the line.

The state party's top legislative leaders, Del. Anthony J. O'Donnell (R-Dist. 29C) of Lusby and Sen. David R. Brinkley (R-Dist. 4) of New Market, are expected to head up Thompson's Maryland campaign, putting them at odds with the GOP's golden boy, former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., who is backing former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani.

Their presidential loyalties shouldn't be mistaken for disunity among the party faithful, O'Donnell said.

Other Republicans said the GOP is not in turmoil. And in the end, the real election takes place in November, O'Donnell said. ''To me, it's not a matter of whether or not a certain temperament is alive and well in the Republican Party, but how far off the scale left the Democratic Party has gone."

''The Republican Party has always said we're the big-tent party," said Del. Adelaide C. Eckardt (R-Dist. 37B) of Cambridge, who has yet to settle on a presidential candidate. ''There's room for a lot of individual opinions."

NATIONAL NEWS

FEC fines group critical of Gilchrest

Pork labelers fail to register as political committee

http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070907/NEWS01/709070312/1002

A conservative, free market group that worked on behalf of Republican candidates in the 2000 and 2004 elections has agreed to pay $350,000 in civil penalties this week for failing to register as a political committee.

The Federal Election Commission said the Citizens Club for Growth spent $1.28 million during the two election cycles advocating the election or defeat of federal candidates.

The FEC said the committee acted as a political committee that should have publicly reported its contributions and expenditures.

This is the same group that chastised U.S. Rep. Wayne Gilchrest, R-Md., last month for voting for 50 amendments it considered excessive spending, and endorsed his main primary challenger, Maryland Sen. Andrew Harris, R-7-Baltimore County. Gilchrest's office has called the report a biased political stunt meant to frame him in a poor light.

"This 'analysis' was put together by the very same New York-based special interest group that has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to defeat Congressman Gilchrest in the past," according to a statement from his office. "The Club for Growth analysis is based on a series of votes that were staged ... You could vote for each of these amendments to the spending bills and claim to be a fiscal conservative."

A Harris spokesperson said he still accepts the endorsement despite the settlement. "They've restructured themselves with the FEC. They paid the fine," said Harris Political Director Chris Meekins. "We accept an endorsement as long as they abide by FEC rules."

Nethken Drops Out Of Congressional Race

http://wjz.com/local/local_story_250101422.html

Former Cumberland mayor Frank Nethken says he is no longer a candidate for Congress in Maryland's 6th District. He had announced in May that he would challenge incumbent MD Republican Congressman Roscoe Bartlett in the upcoming GOP primary.

Senate OKs $963 million for Md. bases

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.money07sep07,0,7913765.story

The Senate voted yesterday to approve $963 million for construction at the state's military facilities, including $698.6 million for the base realignment and closure work that is expected to bring tens of thousands of jobs to Maryland.

"Today's vote brings us one step closer to helping Maryland's military bases implement the 2005 BRAC recommendations," Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski said. "We fought to win BRAC as Team Maryland, and I will continue to fight to make sure Maryland has what it needs in the federal checkbook to strengthen and upgrade military facilities."

"This funding will help provide the nation's military organizations with the facilities they require to meet their mission in defense of our nation," Mikulski said.

Maryland's two senators, Democrats Mikulski and Benjamin L. Cardin, voted for the package. Cardin called it "critical to our current and future military mission."