20071012 News Clips

News Clips

Oct. 12, 2007

STATE NEWS

O'Malley says he'll call next week for session
Republican Brinkley says he is willing to debate the governor on his budget proposals
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bal-md.governor12oct12,0,2023573.story?coll=bal_tab01_layout
Gov. Martin O'Malley said yesterday that he expects to call a special session of the General Assembly and to introduce bills outlining his budget proposals early next week. During an interview on WAMU's The Kojo Nnamdi Show, the governor also criticized Republican lawmakers for obstructing his efforts to solve the state's $1.7 billion budget shortfall. Senate GOP leaders have said they would not support O'Malley's slot machine gambling proposal, expected to raise $550 mill ion annually, during a special session.
Senate Minority Leader David R. Brinkley, a Frederick County Republican, said the governor "is being intellectually dishonest when he makes accusations of that type, and he knows it." Brinkley offered to debate O'Malley on the budget.
"He wants a special session so he can ramrod a massive tax increase. He knows he is delinquent in sharing details with anybody. If anything, we are certainly exercising our responsibility and diligence to the taxpayers of the state," Brinkley said.
Given the GOP's unwillingness to cooperate during a special session, O'Malley said he would consider putting the issue to a statewide referendum in 2008.

Waterways fee is shaky
Leopold restoration proposal facing opposition from council
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/annearundel/bal-ar.smartfund12oct12,0,61288.story
A proposal by Anne Arundel's chief executive to create a fee to repair damaged waterways might be headed for legislative purgatory, with Republicans and Democrats alike arguing that it would overburden taxpayers, curb affordable housing and put new retail centers at a competitive disadvantage. An alternative has emerged, from Republican council Chairman Ronald C. Dillon Jr., who during election season last year opposed a broad-based storm-water restoration fee on all property owners.
At Tuesday's work session on the topic, however, he said that Leopold's plan to levy a fee only on future development doesn't go far enough because it fails to address the disparate environmental impact of older development.
Anne Arundel officials said this week that the county faces a $5 billion price tag to restore waterways and install controls to curb runo ff - a figure several times higher than previously estimated. They called County Executive John R. Leopold's plan to create a $5.3 million fund "a good start." Leopold said he would "entertain" placing charges on existing development if there's enough council support.

Wind farm idea is floated
Offshore turbines would be visible from Ocean City
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bay_environment/bal-te.md.wind12oct12,0,1599641.story
A New Jersey-based company wants to build about 150 wind turbines, each more than 40 stories tall, in the Atlantic Ocean 12 miles from the tourist-packed beaches of Ocean City. The developers presented the broad outlines of their concept for Maryland's coast yesterday during a closed-door meeting with members of the state Public Service Commission. No written proposal has been submitted, but company officials said a wind farm would cost about $1.6 billion. The firm has also met with Gov. Martin O'Malley's office and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, which has started studying the potential impact on birds and fish.
The project would be subject to approval by the U.S. Department of the Interior because the turbines would be in federal waters. And approval would be needed from Maryland agencies to bring power cables ashore.

O'Malley promises word on special session soon
http://www.examiner.com/a-985189~O_Malley_promises_word_on_special_session_soon.html
Gov. Martin O'Malley said Thursday that "early next week" he'll have an announcement about calling a special session of the Gener al Assembly to deal with his deficit-reducing package, and that "early next week you'll see the legislation rolling out" with details on his slot machines proposal. Rumors were thick in Annapolis on Wednesday that the governor would announce the next day that he was calling the legislature back on Oct. 29. But O'Malley's staffers insisted they did not know the date, and the governor did not give a date at a closed Cabinet meeting Thursday morning. Staff of the House speaker and Senate president also said they hadn't been given a date. All he would say about the slots proposal is that it would be "a combination of locations at racetracks and some other destination locations." O'Malley also slammed Republicans for not supporting "any tax reform measures" and for pulling back their support on slots, "and they won't be advancing any cuts that they would be willing to vote for."
House Republican Leader Anthony O'Donnell repeated his willingness to share his party's pro posed cuts with O'Malley privately, but "clearly this governor has no desire to rein in spending in state government."
"We have a solid plan," O'Donnell said. It includes slots but no tax increases.

GOP primary challenger reporting cash surge
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/displayUpdate.htm?StoryID=66267
The challenger in the upcoming Republican primary in the 1st Congressional District is reporting a surge in contributions.
State Sen. Andy Harris' campaign is reporting $352,000 in third quarter contributions - a total that could be a record for the district.
Incumbent Congressman Wayne Gilchrest's campaign has until midnight Monday to report its numbers. Gilchrest raised $82,000 in the second quarter.
Harris told The (Salisbury) Daily Times he couldn't have raised th at amount if people weren't confident in his record and disappointed in incumbent Wayne Gilchrest.


EDITORIALS/OP-EDS

Settling accounts
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/editorial/bal-ed.franchot12oct12,0,3316214.story
Cracking down on state tax evaders ought to be a top priority, particularly when Maryland is facing a $1.7 billion budget deficit. After all, every dollar collected from an unpaid tax bill is a dollar less in new taxes or budget cuts. So Comptroller Peter Franchot's recent announcement that his office could clear as much as $200 million within the next four years - if he can expand his staff, pay them a bit more, and upgrade technology - deserves serious consideration.
So why is the O'Malley administration acting so cool to the idea ?
In recent weeks, Maryland has been collecting about $2 million more each month from businesses thanks to a pilot program with the IRS that allows the state to attach payments to federal vendors. Improved technology could allow many more such programs. The agency could tap a veritable warehouse of data to check and crosscheck financial transactions against tax returns.
Mr. Franchot's job is chiefly to collect taxes. Mr. O'Malley's is to run state government. They don't have to be best friends, but voters expect them to do their jobs and not use public policy to settle accounts - other than unpaid tax bills.

SCHIP on the merits
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/editorial/bal-ed.schip11oct11,0,380908.story
From a Maryland perspective, the campaign to override President Bush's veto of legislation expand ing access to health insurance for working-class children isn't going well. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid started out by leveling a thinly veiled threat at Republican Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett, the only Marylander to vote against the measure. But Mr. Bartlett has reveled in the attention, saying he was pleased to be identified as the only one who got it right.
No one likes being bullied. But we urge Mr. Bartlett to reconsider the various options for SCHIP on the merits. This is a program designed primarily by Senate Republicans to help the growing ranks of working people who can't get insurance through employers and can't afford the full cost of buying it on their own. It's been a great success.
Mr. Bartlett is rooting for a compromise that would help less-needy folks buy insurance with refundable tax credits. He says he wants to maintain their control over health care choices.

We don't need a referendum on slots
http://www.examiner.com/a-985192~Editorial__We_don_t_need_a_referendum_on_slots.html
If fixing the $1.7 billion structural deficit is O'Malley's top priority, sending slots to the people won't help the process. He suggested that idea earlier this week because: "We would finally let the people decide, in a way, what their representatives have been incapable of deciding for the last four years."
We agree with his sentiment. But this is from a man who wants to call a special session this fall to speed the passage of a host of new taxes. Any referendum would have to wait until next fall, assuming three-fifths of state legislators in both chambers agree to send it to the voters.
The state cannot afford to wait another year while surrounding states bank the hundreds of millions of dollars Marylanders spend playing slots across the bo rder.We've chronicled hundreds of millions of dollars the state spent on public schools, golf courses and other projects that achieved no measurable - and sometimes a negative - return on investment for Maryland taxpayers. Cutting that waste could cancel a large chunk of the state's debt and eliminate the need to raise taxes.
Debating how to do so is our legislators' duty. They should take those issues up - and slots - on return to Annapolis in January.

By O'Malley's own hand
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071012/EDITORIAL/110120001
Call it Martin O'Malley's $1.7 billion problem.Eleven months ago, Marylanders voted a Republican governor out of office and gave General Assembly Democrats majorities of more than 2-1 in the House of Delegates and the state Senate. So, who would be to b lame if Mr. O'Malley, a Democrat, fails to get legislation authorizing tax increases and slot machines through the legislature at a special session next month?
The fact is that Mr. O'Malley's plan is in trouble in part because: 1) He has failed to convince many of his liberal Democratic political allies that slots are a good idea; and 2) the tax increases that the governor is pushing have also alienated some of his prominent liberal supporters, including House Speaker Mike Busch, Anne Arundel Democrat, who is no fan of slots. So partisan politics is not the problem.
Mr. O'Malley's political problems are self-made - the result of a combination of extremely liberal politics and a heavyhanded personal style that grates on people. If he continues to insist on a special session, then it is his job to pull a bipartisan coalition together. After that heavylifting is done, Mr. O'Malley will have to reveal to Marylanders his plan to get the state out of its $1.7 billion fiscal hole. They want to know whether his plan goes beyond reaching into their wallets.

Political Notes - Debate on debates
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/reporters_notebooks_display.htm?StoryID=66252
Fans of politics love a good debate, but is it too early for one about the 2008 Congressional race?
Democratic Congressional candidate Andrew Duck challenged Republican Roscoe Bartlett to a debate this week, but the incumbent said the request was premature.
"I look forward to debates with the Democratic nominee after Democratic voters make their choice from a field of candidates," Bartlett said in a statement.
Duck challenged Bartlett through a press release calling for a public debate where Bartlett would be asked to defend his votes against extending the State Child Health Insurance Program. Duck asked for it to take place before Oct. 18, the date Congress is scheduled to vote on an override of President Bush's veto of the bill.


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Four years ago, slots would have fixed everything
http://www.examiner.com/a-985191~Letters__October_12__2007.html
The Democratic party has a lot of guts putting blame on the GOP for stopping slots during a special session, (GOP senators fight 'nonfactor' label by standing firm against slots plan, Oct. 8). They had four regular sessions with Republicans to form a consensus about bringing slots to Maryland during the Ehrlich administration. In the final year of Ehrlich's administration, House Speaker Michael Busch failed to have a meeting of the minds between the House and Senate to work out the slots issue with Senate President Thomas V. "M ike" Miller.
Michael Busch and then Baltimore City Mayor Martin O'Malley stood in the way of Marylanders making their own choice about how to spend their hard-earned money. Now Gov. O'Malley and the Democrats want to blame Republicans for what Republicans have been telling them for the past four years. Slots generate revenue and if we had slots four years ago we wouldn't need any special session or tax increases.
J. Michael Collins
Reisterstown

NATIONAL NEWS

Md. delegation backs BRAC costs
http://www.capitalonline.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/10_11-49/TOP
Maryland's congressional delegation yesterday defended the process that will move thousands of military jobs to the state as cost effective and good for the country, after criticism from other states that spawned an ove rsight hearing.
The federal base realignment and closure plan will ultimately save the military millions of dollars, eliminating duplication of services, improving national defense and improving efficiency, said Heather Moeder Molino, deputy chief of staff for Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Cockeysville. Spokeswomen for Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Mechanicsville, and Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, D-Md., said they are confident the hearing won't change anything.
"At the end of the day, it's going to make sense for these facilities to be at Aberdeen," said Stephanie Lundgren, a Hoyer spokeswoman. Melissa Schwartz, Ms. Mikulski's spokeswoman, said the New Jersey delegation is doing "exactly what the Maryland delegation would be doing if we lost one of our most valuable bases," but that the BRAC Commission's recommendations have already been signed into law.

Subject: FROSTBURG STATE ON SATURDAY "Protest O'Malley Tax Hikes on October 13 at FSU"
"Press Release - October 10, 2007

Protest O'Malley Tax Hikes on October 13 at FSU

This Saturday, October 13, Governor Martin O'Malley will be stopping by Frostburg State University in an attempt to sell his proposal to increase Maryland taxes. The stop will be apart of what Wall Street Journal editors have labeled, O'Malley's "tax-increase-a-day tour". The Governor has been introducing tax increases at several events across the state. At some of the Governor's recent stops he has revealed his plans to increase the sales tax 20% from 5 cents to six cents on the dollar, to double the cigarette tax to $2 per pack, and to increase the gas tax 12 cents per gallon. All these taxes add up from hundreds to thousands of dollars of new taxes on Maryland families and small businesses.

Wall Street Jour nal editors also noted that almost two-thirds of the people targeted by the Governor's burdensome tax increases are small business owners, and that they are Maryland's major employers.

The Frostburg State University chapter of College Republicans will be leading a protest of the Governor when he visits the university in order to raise awareness of his these heavy increases. The FSU College Republicans invite all other concerned citizens, Republicans, Independents, and Democrats alike, to join them as Governor O'Malley tries to 'sell' his taxes.

Only citizens' opposition and action will stop the Governor's oppressive taxes.

These are the facts and if you are interested in stopping these tax hikes please join us. Everyone is instructed to meet at the Clock Tower in front of the FSU Lane Center at 10:30 am on Saturday, October 13.

For more information please contact Mike Martel at (443) 474-6384. Participants' respectful protest is appreciated. Thank you.

Jeff Bailey
Maryland Federation of College Republicans
Western Maryland Vice-Chair"