Just Say “NO” to Slots

Just Say “NO” to Slots

by Kevin E. Dayhoff October 31, 2008 The Tentacle

There are two constitutional questions on the ballot next Tuesday. I will be voting “NO” on both. Question 2 will amend the state constitution to allow slots. Question 1 would amend the Maryland Constitution to allow early voting in Maryland.

In an earlier column I explained why I feel strongly that early voting in Maryland is not such a hot idea.

Question 2 is not nearly so black and white. I have a good number of well-intentioned and thoughtful friends and colleagues who are voting for slots, and almost an equal number of people who are just as responsible and well informed and are voting against slots.

After a great deal of thought, study, and research, I will be voting “NO.”

[…]

Maryland state government already has a pathological spending addiction and the current slots referendum only fuels the problem.

And there’s the rub. I cannot say it better than The Cecil Whig: “The people (who) are now trying to sell you slots are the same people (who) passed the largest tax increase in Maryland's history and said that it would solve our fiscal problems. They are the same people who said that there wouldn't be a BG&E rate hike…

[…]

20060000 OMalley BGE Ad

[…]

“If you believe the General Assembly will use the revenue generated from slots wisely, to lower taxes and control further spending, then we recommend you vote for it.

“But if you are concerned that legislators will waste the revenue from slots and citizens will not benefit with tax decreases and spending will again outpace tax revenues, then we recommend you vote against the referendum.”

[…]

Read the entire column here: Just Say “NO” to Slots

20081031 The Tentacle: Just Say NO to Slots

Statement from Governor Martin O'Malley on the Board of Revenue

Statement from Governor Martin O'Malley on the Board of Revenue Estimates

http://www.governor.maryland.gov/pressreleases/080909e.asp

BALTIMORE, MD (September 9, 2008) – Governor Martin O’Malley today issued the following statement following the Board of Revenue Estimates:

“Today, the Board of Revenue Estimates announced a budget shortfall for the current fiscal year and 2010. Given the national economic downturn, national foreclosure crisis, and the increased price of energy, gasoline and food, these revenue estimates are not unexpected; and we are preparing to bring hundreds of millions in cuts before the Board of Public Works in the coming weeks to address this challenge.”

“Given the national economy, other states are facing the same or significantly worse budget pictures. In fact, the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that at least 29 states are facing a total budget shortfall of $48 billion in FY 2009.”

“In Maryland, because of the tough decisions we made to protect public education, public heath and public safety, and expand opportunity for our middle class families, we are ahead of the game. Working with the General Assembly, we have already reduced spending by $1.8 billion and taken actions to address the structural deficit that we inherited.”

“Without these actions and tough decisions, our State would be facing an estimated $2.5 billion shortfall in FY 2010. Instead, Maryland is a facing a shortfall that is significantly less that is the result of a downturn in the national economy, not structural in nature.”

“We have worked hard to restore fiscal responsibility and accountability in Maryland over these last two years.”

“In 2008 and 2009, our state budget grew by less than 4 percent annually – less than the Spending Affordability Guidelines set by the General Assembly – compared to 22 percent in the last two years of our Republican predecessors.”

“We have already cut $1.8 billion from state spending, eliminated over 700 state positions, and yes, we have asked the people of Maryland to play a role in this solution by increasing the sales tax by a penny and enacting a more progressive income tax structure. The people of Maryland will also have an opportunity to vote on a slots referendum in November that is expected to provide an additional $650 million for public education in our State.”

“As we have worked together to address the structural deficit that we inherited, we will come together in the weeks ahead to address this latest budget challenge presented to us by our national economy; and we will do so in a way that recognizes the burden and challenges faced by our middle-class families as the cost of everything continues to rise even as wages remain stagnant.”

“The investments we have fought so hard to preserve in public education, public safety, and public health are intended for one purpose only – to strengthen and grow our middle class over the long-term and create a more sustainable future for our children.”

“This has been our goal from the beginning, and it will continue to guide the actions of this Administration as we work to address this latest challenge.”

20080909 St from O’Malley on the Brd of Revenue Estimates

Wally Edge at Politico: Gov. O’Malley one of three 2006 govs to have net negative approval scores

Wally Edge at Politico: Gov. O’Malley one of three 2006 govs to have net negative approval scores

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin one of the country’s most popular.

Would be third lowest if Eliot Spitzer had stayed in office

August 22, 2008

By Wally Edge

Category: GovernorTags: Ted Strickland, Sarah Palin, Mike Beebe, Martin O'Malley, Jim Gibbons, Deval Patrick, Chet Culver, Butch Otter, Bill Ritter

Gov. Martin O'Malley is one of only three governors from the class of 2006 to have net negative approval scores.

[…]

The most popular governors appear to be Mike Beebe (D-Ark.) and Sarah Palin (R-Alaska), who both have favorable ratings of at least 80 percent.

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland (D) and Florida governor Charlie Crist (R) are in the middle of the pack, both with high approval ratings. In June, Crist had a 61 percent to 23 percent approval according to a Quinnipiac poll, while a recent Quinnipiac poll placed Strickland a 60 percent to 25 percent approval rating.

According to a recent Rocky Mountain News poll, Bill Ritter, the Democratic governor of Colorado, has a 50 percent to 26 percent favorability rating and a SurveyUSA poll in May found that Gov. Chet Culver (D) has a positive 51 percent to 43 percent approval in Iowa.

Little recent polling is available in Idaho, though a December 2007 survey showed governor Butch Otter (R) with an approval rating of 65 percent to 19 percent.

Read Mr. Edge’s entire article here: Would be third lowest if Eliot Spitzer had stayed in office

http://www.politickermd.com/wallyedgemd/3238/would-be-third-lowest-if-eliot-spitzer-had-stayed-office

20080822 OMalley one of three 2006 govs to have net negative approval scores

Governor Martin O'Malley Delivers Address on Fiscal Responsibility

Governor Martin O'Malley Delivers Address on Fiscal Responsibility

[ View Video / Read Remarks ]

WASHINGTON, DC (July 31, 2008) – Governor Martin O’Malley delivered a major address before the Center for American Progress today, focusing on the restoration of fiscal responsibility in Maryland. As states work to balance their budgets in the midst of a rising federal deficit, a faltering national economy and mortgage crisis, Governor O’Malley addressed how to restore fiscal responsibility while making critical investments in our shared priorities, like public education, infrastructure, energy and affordable, quality health care.

“Many States have had to deal with budget shortfalls by carving into priorities like public safety, public education and healthcare,” said Governor O’Malley. “None of the options are popular, but while some of these choices pull us backwards, other choices can and will move us forward – even in the toughest of times.”

Governor O’Malley, facing an inherited $1.7 billion structural deficit upon taking office, worked with leaders in the General Assembly to virtually close the budget shortfall through a series of reforms, including nearly $1.8 billion in spending cuts and reductions, the elimination of over 700 State positions, and the implementation of a progressive tax structure that allows 95% of Marylanders to pay the same or less in income taxes as they did in the prior year.

“Nothing that we accomplished in the three week Special Session was easy. But, throughout the difficult consensus-forging work, we continued to proclaim the goals that unite us: to strengthen and grow our middle class, and family owned businesses and farms; to improve public safety and public education in every region of our State; and to expand opportunity – the opportunity to learn and earn, the opportunity to enjoy the health of the people we love and the environment we love to more people rather than fewer.”

The Governor continued. “We eliminated government positions and implemented performance based management practices that helped eliminate nearly $20 million in overtime costs, and saved our State more than $20 million in Medicaid fraud recoveries. We closed the arcane, violent House of Corrections, which not only turned out to be the right thing to do morally, it also saved taxpayers $10 million. We replaced well-intentioned funding indexes that had fueled unsustainable spending in the past and threatened to accelerate spending in the immediate future. And we passed a package of legislation that modernized our tax code while lowering the income tax rate for 90 percent of Marylanders, and increasing the State Earned Income Tax Credit for hard-working families and our aspiring middle class.”

“When faced with a crippling structural deficit, we asked our neighbors in Maryland to embrace, once again, the politics of posterity. The politics which embraces the duty we have, not only to our neighbors, but to the next generation,” Governor O’Malley said. “The politics that believes tomorrow can be better than today, and that each of us has a personal freedom and moral responsibility, by our own actions and by our own investments, to make it so. Just as our parents and grandparents built our roads, our schools, and our hospitals with their blood, their sweat, their tears, and yes, with their hard earned dollars, we asked our fellow Marylanders to join us in choosing a better future for our own posterity.”

Governor O’Malley discussed the circumstances surrounding the inherited $1.7 billion structural deficit as context for the reforms the O’Malley-Brown Administration implemented to correct it.

“While a slowing economy exacerbated our circumstances, the primary cause was of our own making. In a flash of bi-partisan irresponsibility we had locked in nearly two billion dollars in increased expenditures, primarily in public education, while at the same time cutting income taxes for millionaires and everyone else by a billion dollars. And despite the $3 billion in backhanded stealthy property tax increases, fee and toll increases, and 40 percent increases in college tuition of our predecessor, the chickens of our bad math were coming home to roost. In the words of the great Abraham Lincoln, we could no longer ‘escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.’”

Outlining the strong, sustainable fiscal environment in which these reforms now place the State of Maryland, Governor O’Malley recognized the challenge that all states face in difficult economic times and the opportunities for progress fiscal responsibility can present.

“By taking these actions we were able to address a huge structural deficit that was years in the making. Two weeks ago the rating agencies affirmed Maryland’s Triple A Bond Rating, meaning that we’re still one of only seven states to hold the highest rating of credit worthiness from all three major bond agencies. But the true value of restoring fiscal responsibility is found in the progress that we are now able to make for the common good and stronger future that all of us would prefer.”

Former White House Chief of Staff John Podesta founded the Center for American Progress, the think tank that hosted Governor O’Malley for his address today, in 2003. The Center’s experts cover a wide range of issue areas, and often work across disciplines to tackle complex, interrelated issues such as national security, energy, and climate change. The Center is designed to shape national debate through dialogue with leaders, thinkers, and citizens, affecting positive change and developing a position of long-term leadership for America.

[ Watch Video ]

Additional Press Releases

http://www.gov.state.md.us/pressreleases/080731.asp

20080731 Gov O’Malley Delivers Address on Fiscal Responsibility

July 31 Center for American Progress: Fiscal Responsibility July 21 Signing of Evergreen Marine Agreement Transcript July 25 Infants and Toddlers Program Announcement July 24 Testimony Before Senate Subcommittee on Government Efficiency July 17 Leonardtown Capital for a Day July 10 Announcement of Statewide Interoperability Strategy July 8 DNA and Bearcat Announcement

20080511 The Gunpowder Chronicles

The Gunpowder Chronicles

Sunday, May 11, 2008

The folks over at The Gunpowder Chronicle are thinking out loud that maybe Ed Hale Should Stop Talking?: Eddie Hale -- robust supporter of O'Guvnah and would be land-baron of Baltimore -- spoke up at the annual 1st Mariner Stockholder's Meeting and prognosticated that the stock had reached its lowest point, and was poised for a rebound. More – click here.

While you are over there graze several other posts that are worthwhile:

Happy Birthday Israel: Thursday, May 8, 2008 was the 60th Anniversary of the founding of Israel.

Way to Go Steve Larsen and O'Guvnah!: Remember how O'Guvnah promised us in his 2006 campaign how the O'Guvnah era in Maryland Politics would usher in a brand new Public Service Commission... one not "so connected" with power utilities that they regulated? How rate increases would be rolled back? How electricity would be made affordable again?

The Road to Hell Is Paved with Good Intentions: Of course, the ACLU and the liberal lawyers are leading the way. Just ask the victims of former Guantanamo detainee Abdullah Salih Al Ajmi.

20080415 The Newest Maryland State Highway Sign

The Newest Maryland State Highway Sign

April 15, 2008

Hat Tip: CJ

20080415 The Newest Maryland State Highway Sign

20080331 "Session set for hectic ending" by the Baltimore Sun

"Session set for hectic ending" by the Baltimore Sun

March 31, 2008

When I first read this in the wee hours of the morning while desperately in need of a cup of coffee, I did a double take and had to confirm the source.

And sure enough, it was written by the Baltimore Sun. When I first began reading it, I could have sworn it was a press release from the Maryland Democratic Party.

The contrast between the coverage of the current administration and the previous administration is profound. One could teach a college class in the difference in slant and bias.

In this case, as is the case with most of the Baltimore Sun writers, they write quite well, if they would only be as equally capable and competent with reporting the news “straight down the middle.”

Oh, I love the take that this governor is swooned over as he rides in to take care of problems that his administration essentially created…

Ay caramba.

****

Session set for hectic ending - O'Malley on way to 2 key victories

By Laura Smitherman | Sun reporter

March 31, 2008

One week ago it appeared that Gov. Martin O'Malley's second legislative session would conclude with few victories and plenty of unresolved problems.

The Democratic governor was mired in a fight with the state's largest utility over high electricity rates that have dogged him since his inauguration, and computer companies were threatening to leave the state over a new tax he signed into law late last year. His poll numbers were down, and he faced opposition from his own party on several of his legislative initiatives.

But in 24 hours, the logjam of bad news broke. In that time, O'Malley struck a rate- relief settlement with BGE's parent company, Constellation Energy Group, that includes a one-time $170 rebate to each customer. And he floated a proposal to repeal the unpopular computer services tax that is likely to dominate debate in the final week before the General Assembly adjourns for the year.

Finalizing the computer tax repeal and the BGE settlement - both of which must be done through legislation - would give O'Malley political victories after a cantankerous special session in November that raised taxes by $1.3 billion to help balance the state's budget.

Read the rest of the article here: Session set for hectic ending - O'Malley on way to 2 key victories

Related links

The Session: News and notes from Annapolis

Photo gallery

View photos from the 2008 General Assembly session

Blog: The Session

Video: Daily updates

State of the State: Text | Video

Issues: What to watch for during the session

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20080327 This week in The Tentacle

This week in The Tentacle

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Dems Campaign Won’t End In Desired Result

Chris Cavey

A week or so ago, while chatting up Maryland politics with a yellow dog Democrat friend of mine, our topic shifted to presidential politics. He lamented to me about not knowing what he would do come November. He might even stay home in disgust! Unable to remain silent my comment was: “Glad I’m not a Democrat.”

Consequences of Irresponsibility

Joan McIntyre

Before it's too late and you and I are left holding the entire bag, do something for me, please. Start screaming; make it so loud that the local, state and federal governments finally hear you.

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Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Preaching to the Choir

Kevin E. Dayhoff

As April 7, the final day of the 2008 Maryland General Assembly session, looms on the horizon, a great deal of conversation is focused on the fate of many of the “social initiatives” of the administration of Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley.

The outlook for the administration isn’t bright. The second floor of the State House has failed to get its message out on why we need such broad sweeping social change.

The choir gets it. The congregation is bewildered.

Of course, for those who are pre-occupied with studying the big-picture political theory of Governor O’Malley’s approach to governance, it is not the two weeks remaining that fascinate us. The curiosity is what will be the fate of the next two years of the O’Malley Administration.

There’s a new political paradigm in town and – by all accounts – the O’Malley Administration appears to be the last to know.

[…]

Part of the answer is that the days of a lack of accountability for populist-liberals are gone. Sure, to be certain, the sycophant press that exonerated past liberal regimes is still in place, but its creditability is increasingly questioned and its effectiveness is waning.

The advent of the Internet-based information dissemination age has led to a blogosphere with increasing clout. And not to be overlooked is the fact that – in today’s world – constituents are kept abreast of current events as quickly as they can read their emails.

Add to this a heightened status of other newspapers in the state whose readership is rising as a result of its more credible approach to news reporting.

Simply put, a well-informed constituency is demanding a level of accountability for which the old populist leadership paradigm has not adjusted.

People who know the high level of Governor O’Malley’s technologically proficiency have been left totally bewildered at this administration’s inability to (technologically) get out its message.

[…]

Read the entire column here: Preaching to the Choir

(Author’s note: As an aside… In one example close to home; after being on the information distribution list for the previous two or three administrations – and after the current administration has been in office for over a year, all requests by this writer to be placed on the current press secretary’s e-mail distribution list have been ignored.)

Piner Whiners

Tom McLaughlin

The people in Ocean Pines are so old! That’s what I discovered when I returned to Middletown after a month’s absence. It is so nice to see young people and families. Strong vibrant individuals walking purposefully onward in their lives.

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Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Joyful Noises

Roy Meachum

If you still wonder what the Psalm meant by "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the world," you obviously didn't visit Walkersville's Calvary Assembly of God church this Easter weekend.

You Can’t Get There from Here

Farrell Keough

Recent articles on the Transportation Planning Board for the National Capital Region studies indicate that solutions to our road congestion are still very much in limbo. Ideas like Private Toll Roads, (HOT Lanes and such) may not offer the solutions people were hoping to see.

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Monday, March 24, 2008

General Assembly Journal 2008 – Volume 5

Richard B. Weldon Jr.

Crossing Over

Okay, I’m not talking about that show where they talk to dead people. This is Cross Over Week, the constitutional deadline for bill passage in the House and Senate so bills can “cross over” to the other chamber by Sine Die.

The Dilution of our Citizenship and Branding of America

Steven R. Berryman

Membership has its rewards! Just ask major credit card providers. Citizenship in America is much the same way. When we “brand” America, in the demographic sense, citizenship should be the upgrade, and it should not be provided with no strings attached!

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Friday, March 21, 2008

Bears Dance and Bulls Weep

Roy Meachum

The bulls generally linger out of sight. Wall Street bears lord it over the markets these days, especially for the Bear Stearns kind of traders, as you know.

The Importance of Being Obama

Steven R. Berryman

The media fanfare trumpeted the coming of candidate Barack Obama’s urgent speech on race relations. Surely he could turn the audacious comments of his own Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright to make political hay, or at least defray the intense criticism of him and mitigate the close connection.

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Thursday, March 20, 2008

Must be Something in the Water

Edward Lulie III

March Madness doesn’t mean taxpayers getting into a fevered frenzy over the coming of April 15th and tax time…well not yet anyway. It means a nationwide obsession with college basketball and the NCAA tournament that starts today with 64 teams and eventually winds down to the final four, and then the championship game.

A Model Failure

Tony Soltero

When the Bolsheviks overthrew Czar Nicholas II and, after a civil war, established the USSR, they launched the first large-scale practical application of Karl Marx's economic theories. His worldview had its share of appeal to many Russians on paper, especially after centuries of oppressive monarchic rule.

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Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Channeling the Kingfish

Kevin E. Dayhoff

On Monday, New York Gov. Eliot “Mr. Clean” Spitzer’s resignation took affect. To be sure, the country has been in a deep funk ever since the fall 2006 elections, but the last 10 days was not good for the weak-kneed political observer.

Have a Happy Recession

Tom McLaughlin

Hanging around a redneck bar gives one a certain window on the economy. I have spoken to painters, dry wallers, contractors, roofers and others. I discovered that the ones who have done quality work in the past and have a good reputation have more business than they can handle.

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Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Pushkin's Prime Promenades

Roy Meachum

Farmers once took as an article of their agricultural faith that dogs and cats should not be permitted in the house but left to hassle the outdoors cats and other varmints.

Taking Up The Banner …

Farrell Keough

My computer has been trashed; I allowed someone else to use it and a program was downloaded that hacked my system. For me, this is a painful process as I use my computer regularly to communicate with folks, look up information, post my viewpoints on issues, etc. But, it also gave me an opportunity to view some of the issues of illegal immigration in a new light.

Understanding the Problem

Nick Diaz

“Make sure you take Algebra II!” So goes the typical admonishment by teachers, counselors, parents, directed at middle-school students in the act of planning their future high school program.

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20080130 Constellation Threatens To Halt Plans For Reactor In Md

20080130 Constellation Threatens To Halt Plans For Reactor In Md

Hat Tip: Delusional Duck Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Constellation Energy Threatens To Halt Plans For Reactor In Md.

http://delusionalduck.com/index.php/site/constellation_energy_threatens_to_halt_plans_for_reactor_in_md/

Constellation Energy Group has threatened to build a new nuclear reactor in New York instead of Maryland if the state’s political and regulatory environment doesn’t improve. [WRC-TV]

Hat Tip: nbc4.com

Constellation Energy Threatens To Halt Plans For Reactor In Md.

http://www.nbc4.com/news/15175143/detail.html

POSTED: 11:23 am EST January 30, 2008

UPDATED: 11:36 am EST January 30, 2008

BALTIMORE -- Constellation Energy Group has threatened to build a new nuclear reactor in New York instead of Maryland if the state's political and regulatory environment doesn't improve.

In a statement released on Tuesday, executive vice president Michael Wallace said the company hopes to break ground on a new reactor at Calvert Cliffs this year but would proceed instead with plans for a reactor at New York's Nine Mile Point if the company encounters delays in Maryland.

The statement appears to be Constellation's latest effort to challenge efforts by Maryland regulators and lawmakers to revisit deregulation.

Gov. Martin O'Malley said he's committed to the nuclear project in Maryland and will work to make sure it gets a timely review.

_____

NRC Action on UniStar's Partial Combined License Application Sets Stage for Detailed Review of Potential New Reactor in Southern Maryland

http://ir.constellation.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=112182&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1101485&highlight=

UniStar Also Preparing New York Site for First U.S. Evolutionary Power Reactor

BALTIMORE, Jan. 29, 2008 -- UniStar Nuclear Energy, a strategic joint venture between Constellation Energy and the EDF Group, today announced that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has docketed UniStar's partial Combined License Application (COLA) for an advanced design reactor adjacent to Constellation Energy's Calvert Cliffs site in southern Maryland.

Michael J. Wallace, chairman of UniStar and executive vice president of Constellation Energy, said the NRC action confirms that the environmental portion of the application, as well as other critical information in the partial application, are technically complete and ready for detailed NRC review.

"The NRC decision is a major milestone in UniStar's plans to potentially develop and construct a fleet of new nuclear plants in the United States," Wallace said. "This regulatory step forward also supports Constellation Energy's efforts to provide economic and environmentally sound electricity to meet anticipated demand in the Mid-Atlantic region, and in particular the state of Maryland."

Wallace said UniStar expects to make a final decision in the next 12-18 months on whether to proceed with a third reactor at the Calvert Cliffs site. He noted the company also is pursuing a new reactor in upstate New York as part of its strategy to build at least four U.S. Evolutionary Power Reactors (EPRs) in the United States. He said any decision to build a new nuclear plant will take into consideration a number of factors, including project economics, ability to finance and the political and regulatory climate in the state where the plant will be built.

"Ideally, we would like to break ground for a new reactor in southern Maryland in late 2008 so this carbon-free, base-load source of electricity can be in operation by 2015," Wallace said. "However, if we encounter delays in Maryland, we are prepared to proceed with the first EPR at our Nine Mile Point nuclear plant location in New York."

Wallace said the NRC decision to docket UniStar's partial Combined License Application begins a comprehensive, detailed review process that includes requests for additional information, site visits, public scoping meetings, the development of a draft environmental impact statement, and safety reviews.

UniStar plans to submit the remaining portion of its COLA -- which includes the Final Safety Analysis Report -- to the NRC in March. NRC regulations permit an applicant to submit one part of a COLA up to 18 months before submitting the remainder. Additional reviews and public meetings and hearings will occur following NRC review and acceptance of the remainder of the COLA.

The NRC decision, announced Jan. 25, continues to build momentum for UniStar, which is working with Constellation Energy, EDF, PPL, AmerenUE and emerging energy companies such as AEHI and Amarillo Power. U.S. EPRs have been proposed at existing nuclear sites in Pennsylvania and Missouri, as well as greenfield sites in Idaho and Texas. UniStar's full COLA will serve as the reference document for all additional UniStar COLAs.

In December 2007, UniStar's partner in the U.S. nuclear renaissance, reactor manufacturer AREVA, submitted its design certification application for the 1,600-megawatt U.S. EPR to the NRC. In November 2007, UniStar submitted a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) to the Maryland Public Service Commission for the potential plant at Calvert Cliffs and also announced an agreement with turbine-generator supplier Alstom for the turbine- generator systems for the first four U.S. EPRs.

UniStar Nuclear Energy, a strategic joint venture between Constellation Energy and EDF, is powering the nuclear renaissance in North America through industry leadership, disciplined business practices and effective risk-management. Based in Baltimore, Md., UniStar Nuclear Energy provides the licensing, construction and operating services needed to support the expansion of clean, safe and sustainable nuclear energy in the United States.

Constellation Energy (http://www.constellation.com), a FORTUNE 125 company with 2006 revenues of $19.3 billion, is the nation's largest competitive supplier of electricity to large commercial and industrial customers and the nation's largest wholesale power seller. Constellation Energy also manages fuels and energy services on behalf of energy intensive industries and utilities. It owns a diversified fleet of 78 generating units located throughout the United States, totaling approximately 8,700 megawatts of generating capacity. The company delivers electricity and natural gas through the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE), its regulated utility in Central Maryland.

An energy market leader in Europe, the EDF Group is an integrated energy company operating in all branches of the industry: generation, transmission, distribution, and the trading and sale of energy. The top electricity producer in Europe, the Group has predominantly nuclear and hydroelectric power plants in France, supplying electricity that is 95 percent CO2-free. Its transmission and distribution subsidiaries operate 1,246,000 km of medium and low voltage overhead and underground electricity lines and around 100,000 km of high and very high voltage networks. The Group is involved in the supply of energy and services to more than 38 million customers worldwide with more than 28 million of them in France. The Group's consolidated sales stood at euro 58.9 Billion in 2006 of which 42 percent was in Europe excluding France. EDF, which is listed on the Paris Bourse, is a member of the CAC 40 index.

20080123 MPT’s “State Circle”: MD Senator David Brinkley’s response to the State of the State address by MD Governor Martin O’Malley

MPT’s “State Circle”: MD Senator David Brinkley’s response to the State of the State address by MD Governor Martin O’Malley

January 23, 2008

State Circle’s Jeff Salkin, the host of Maryland Public Television’s “State Circle” and State Circle’s correspondent Charles Robinson interview Senator David Brinkley (R) and get his thoughtful and wide-ranging response to Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley’s State of the State Address

Some of the best reporting on Maryland General Assembly matters is on Maryland Public Television’s “State Circle.” Lots of great content in their video archives, which can be found here: State Circle Video Content

http://www.mpt.org/publicsquare/statecircle/video.cfm

Click here for more information about the MPT “State Circle” news correspondents: About State Circle http://www.mpt.org/publicsquare/statecircle/about.cfm

For more coverage of the Maryland General Assembly go to: “State Circle” http://www.mpt.org/publicsquare/statecircle/

20080123 MD Sen Brinkley resp to MD SOTS address

Kevin Dayhoff www.kevindayhoff.net

_____

Response to the State of the State Address: Senator David Brinkley (R).

20080123 Press Release: Governor O'Malley Delivers 2008 State of the State Address

20080123 January 23rd, 2008 State of the State Address by Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley

20080123 Speeches by Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley January 17 2007 to date

Speeches by Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley January 17 2007 to date

January 23, 2008

January 23 Governor O'Malley's State of the State Address

January 9 Opening Remarks to the Maryland General Assembly

January 8 Maryland Crime Victims’ Rights and Compliance First Annual Conference

December 22 Commencement Address, Bowie State University

December 5 Chesapeake Bay Executive Council Meeting, Government House

October 29 Opening Remarks - Special Session

October 9 Maryland League of Conservation Voters 7th Annual John V. Kabler Award Event

September 26 Congressional Testimony – Climate Change

August 18 Maryland Association of Counties

July 30 Democratic Leadership Council National Conversation

July 19 10th Annual Irish America Magazine Wall Street 50 Awards Dinner

July 14 National Historic Trail

June 28 Washington Board of Trade: Buildling Maryland's Transportation Infrastructure

June 27 Maryland Municipal League 2007 Convention

June 21 BioAgenda Summit Taping

June 8 Washington Minority Contractors’ Association

May 27 Anne Arundel Community College Forty-Fifth Commencement

May 4 Honoring Fallen Heroes

April 27 Maryland State Trooper Graduation Ceremony

April 24 Bill Signing Ceremony

April 23 Center for American Progress - "Governing by the Numbers: The Promise of Data-Driven Policymaking in the Information Age"

April 14 Irish Institute

April 12 Baltimore County Legislative Wrap-Up

April 10 Bill Signing Ceremony

March 29 Governor's Leadership Award at World Trade Center Institute

March 28 First Citizen Award

March 19 Closing Jessup House of Correction

February 28 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Rededication

February 8 National Labor College, Lane Kirkland Dedication

February 1 Agricultural Council Annual Dinner

January 31 Governor O'Malley's State of the State Address

January 26 Mountain Maryland PACE 2007 Legislative Breakfast

January 18 The FY 2008 Budget

January 17 Inauguration Address

http://www.governor.maryland.gov/speeches.asp

20080123 January 23rd, 2008 State of the State Address by Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley

January 23^rd, 2008 State of the State Address by Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley

Speeches by Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley:

January 23^rd, 2008 State of the State Address by Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley

Related: [ Read the press release - Listen to audio mp3 ]

Additional Speeches

20080123 Press Release: Governor O'Malley Delivers 2008 State of the State Address

January 23, 2008

Introduction

Thank you. If you all would remain standing for just one second -- before I begin our talk here about the urgent business of building a better future for our State, there's some really important people here in the gallery and in the audience with us. I ran into the family of Officer Christopher Nicholson, the Smithburg officer who died in the line of duty protecting us. And in addition to that, we're joined by the family of Maryland Transportation Authority Police Corporal Courtney Brooks, who was tragically taken from us and we thank you for being here as well. Our hearts go out to you, and we'll never be able to repay the debt of gratitude we owe you, but we thank you for being here.

My friends, over the last year four State and local law enforcement officers and one firefighter gave their lives in the line of duty. And twenty of our sons and daughters gave their lives for us fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

So I ask you to just join me, before we talk here, in a moment of silence in their honor.

Thank you very much.

Thank you. Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, Mr. Chief Judge, Mr. Attorney General, Mr. Comptroller, Madam Treasurer, Mayor of the District of Columbia Adrian Fenty, former Governors, former Attorney General Joseph Curran, Judge Katie O'Malley, Ambassador Collins, Ambassador Bruton, my colleagues in local Government, men and women of the Maryland General Assembly, my fellow citizens.

We gather today in the very building where, since Revolutionary times, generation after generation, the people of our State have come to assess our strength and our weaknesses as a community and to decide how we will overcome the challenges of our times.

The most important days are not always the easy days, but time and time again we have overcome challenges because of our respect for the dignity of every individual, because of our commitment to the common good, and because we have had the courage to protect our priorities especially when we are faced with times of great adversity.

For these reasons Maryland has been a strong State and, in many respects, we're stronger today than we were at this same time last year. But the future of our State is very much determined by the strength and the security of the families of Maryland, the hardworking and loving families that we have the honor and the responsibility to represent in this place.

And today the vast majority of Maryland's families, like families throughout our country, are finding it harder and harder just to pay their bills and maintain the quality of life that they have worked so very, very hard to achieve.

And this is not just a Maryland problem, this is a national problem. For the sad truth of our shared reality is that over the last seven years, real wages in our country have risen by just about 1 percent. And, unfortunately, as all of us know, all of the other essential things that a family needs to survive have grown by a lot more than just 1 percent, haven't they?

Over the last seven years the price of a gallon of milk is up 30 percent, the price of a loaf of bread is up 20 percent, and yet real wages have only increased by 1 percent. The price of a gallon of gasoline, up 100 percent over those last several years. The price of health insurance is up 78 percent and yet real wages have increased in our nation by only about 1 percent.

Our families are struggling to get ahead, our parents are working harder and harder as national forces and trends keep pulling them back. A dollar that's being devalued by huge mounting national debt, rising unemployment in the nation, and look at the foreclosures -- unprecedented in modern times.

Home foreclosures in our State alone are up 600 percent since last year. And, of course, we didn't need those numbers to tell us that, did we? We can see it in the eyes of the people that we serve, we can hear it in their voices. People are concerned, and rightly so.

No wonder then that so many of us were frustrated when in the midst of this national economic downturn we were also forced to confront a long neglected structural deficit. The frustration is totally understandable and there is good reason for all of us to be concerned and worried about our economic future.

But I submit to you that the way that we get through this, the way that we get through these tough times together and the way that we get through them more quickly than other States in the union is not by abandoning our priorities, but by protecting our priorities.

The Priorities That Unite Us in Maryland

The most important things in life are not always the easy days, but our State has weathered difficult times before and we're going to weather these difficult times now.

And we're going to come through this more quickly than other States, but only if we can continue to protect the priorities of our people, to protect and strengthen our middle class, our family owned businesses and our family farms. To protect our communities so that we can improve public safety and public education in every part of our State and to protect opportunity; the opportunity to learn, to earn, to enjoy the health of the people we love, as well as the health of the environment that we love, the Bay that we love -- for more people rather than fewer.

Yes, to get through these tough times, my friends, the people of our State are working as hard as they can to protect their families and defend their quality of life. And in their hearts they expect us to do the same, even when it's not easy and even when it's not politically popular.

Restoring Fiscal Responsibility

At this same time last year you will recall that days after officially inheriting a crushing deficit, this new administration presented a budget to you that had been cut by $400 million. Months later we cut another $280 million out of that budget. And over the last few months of important work we were able to reduce spending growth by another $552 million.

The budget that we have now presented to you for consideration for this upcoming year actually comes in, for the second year in a row, under spending affordability. And because of the $1.2 billion in cuts and spending reductions and because of the other difficult choices on revenues, we are able now to protect the priorities of our people. The priority of public education and school construction, the priority of public safety, the priority of more affordable health care.

And because you had the courage to restrain spending and restore fiscal responsibility, we can stand up and we can stand up this year to end the fast track to foreclosure that has been allowed to exist in the law in Maryland and we can also help thousands of families slipping into foreclosure. (Applause)

We can also hold the line against the rising cost of college tuition. Hardworking families in Maryland should be able to send their kids to schools in Maryland. Don't you think?
(Applause)

Joining us in the gallery is a young man, returning Marine, proud son of our State, and he's going to be able to attend the University of Maryland College Park and he's going to be using the Veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq Scholarship Program that you created. He has returned home, completing his third tour of duty for us in Iraq and he's with us. I'd like you to acknowledge his presence here and the service of United States Marine Lance Corporal Will Amos. (Applause)

It's all about protecting the priorities of our people and we have now the ability to do that. And we also have the ability to make our Government work again. And to make our Government work on behalf of the best interest of the people of our State and that's what we're going to do.

The people of our State deserve a State Government that works as hard as they do.

Working For a Stronger Maryland

Last year we implemented performance measured management and accountability on a level never before attempted in any other State, with the creation of StateStat. Today, 13 different departments or agencies are now participating in performance measured Government in order to improve efficiency and service delivery for the people of our State.

One year ago I came before you and pledged to make our port, the Port of Baltimore, a leader in Homeland Security, rather than a subject of ridicule on security. We're not there yet, but one year later I can tell you that our port, the closest deep-water port to our nation's capital, is more secure, is better prepared and also better equipped to deal with threats than we were at this same time last year. And I ask for your continued support as we bring in the best minds from around the country to take us to that next level of preparedness.

Last year we announced the formation of the BRAC subcabinet, led by Lt. Governor Anthony Brown. And since that time, after countless meetings and collaborations with businesses and military leaders, with our Congressional delegations and leaders of our towns and our cities and our counties, Lt. Governor Brown has allowed us not only to come together to publish a BRAC Action Plan for harnessing the opportunity of the thousands of jobs that are going to be coming to Maryland in the years ahead, but because of your help in restoring fiscal responsibility, we're now going to be able to make substantial progress towards implementing that plan.

Last year this administration pledged to develop a State-wide vision for transportation and because of the tough choices that you made, we are actually going to be able to move forward with making that vision happen. Moving forward with action. Action like resurfacing portions of I-58 and I-81 in Western Maryland.

Forward with the next phase of widening U.S. 113 on the Eastern Shore and the planning study to improve traffic flow and safety near Ocean Pines. And in Southern Maryland we're moving forward with major improvements in the Waldorf area.

We will also move forward with a more balanced plan of action for the next generation of mass transit in Maryland.
(Applause)

Like expanded MARC service, dedicated funding for Metro and also the next steps in creating the purple line and the corridor city transit roads. (Applause)

And in Baltimore, Mayor Dixon will be moving forward with the red and green lines in Baltimore. (Applause)

Last year we also pledged to roll up our sleeves together to find ways to bring the rising costs of health care under control, while improving access for our people. And the Health Care Reform Act, which you passed two months ago, will ultimately allow us to cover more than 100,000 Marylanders who currently don't have insurance. (Applause)

And why is that important? Well, it's important on a whole number of levels. Certainly important for those 100,000 Marylanders and their families, but it's also important because it allows us to expand access to preventive care, which will, in turn, allow us to stabilize costs and provide incentives for many small family-owned businesses for the first time who want to join the ranks of the insured in our State. Thank you, Delegate Hammond and Senator Middleton for your hard work on that. (Applause)

Last year we also vowed to use open space dollars for the purchase of open space. But we started to do some other things as well. We start to apply performance measured management to the huge challenge of cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay with BayStat. Hundreds of years ago John Smith made the first map of the Chesapeake Bay, we're constructing the second one. And this one will be a map that's parcelized, it allows GPS and that sort of coordination to bring together all of the efforts of agriculture, DNR, Department of Environment, Planning, and County Governments in order to see what we are doing in this critical Bay watershed and how we can do a better job of restoring her health.

We have more cover crop enrollments than ever before, while continuing oyster restoration efforts to help the Bay and our watermen. And with your creation of the Chesapeake Bay Trust Fund, we can do even more in the upcoming year.

Public Safety and Violent Crime

But as we look to the year ahead, I'd like to go back, too, and begin really again with the most fundamental priority and responsibility that any Government has to its people. And that is to safeguard the lives of our citizens, the safety of our citizens, our neighborhoods and our communities.

Public safety is the foundation of any civilized society and in Maryland we have the opportunity to make our State the safest State in the union, instead of allowing ourselves year after year to be ranked as one of the most violent States in the union.

For too long we've allowed ourselves to look at violent crime as a socioeconomic problem or some sort of thorny cultural problem or something that just defies solution because that's just the way it is.

And most sadly of all, that sort of defeatist, low expectation attitude is too often rooted in the opinions that we hold consciously and subconsciously of our fellow neighbors, because of differences of race or class or place.

But this problem of ours, this problem in Maryland, is not the concern of one race or one city or one county, it is everyone's problem. As Robert Kennedy told us 40 years ago, and I quote, "The victims of violence are black and white, rich and poor, young and old, famous and unknown, they are, most important of all, human beings, whom other human beings loved and needed.

Whenever any American life is take by another American unnecessarily, whether it is done in the name of the law or in defiance of the law, by one man or a gang, in cold blood or in passion, in an attack of violence or in response to violence, whenever we tear at the fabric of a life, which another man has painfully and clumsily woven for himself and his children, the whole nation is degraded."

My fellow citizens, we've allowed our one Maryland to be degraded by violence for far too long. One of our highest priorities this year will be to fight back against violent crime -- whenever and wherever it occurs in the State of Maryland. (Applause)

One year ago I shared with you, you may recall, how deeply concerned I was about how troubled so many of our departments that are involved in public safety were. Well, over the course of this year we have begun to make progress, we really have.

Working hard every single day to turn the situation around, so that our State gets back into the business of supporting local police departments and communities everywhere in our State in the fight against violent crime.

Over the course of this last year we closed the House of Correction and we opened a safer and more modern facility. (Applause)

We also overhauled, at long last, Parole & Probation and the way that they had in the past of figuring out who should be at the highest level of supervision. We are now in a much better position and have already zeroed in on the most violent predators with far more intensive supervision.

We have better diagnostic tools also in place at Juvenile Services, so that we can prevent violence, heal families, and prevent the loss of young lives to homicide.

We have created a Violence Prevention Unit at Parole & Probation to partner with local police and prosecutors so that we can legally and quickly remove the most violent offenders from our streets before they can murder again. (Applause)

We have also created two Regional Gun Task Forces with local governments, including our neighbors in the District of Columbia, to take guns off our streets. Thank you, Mayor Fenty, for helping us do that. (Applause)

Led by General Maynard and also by Colonel Sheriden, we are systematizing the collection, the analysis and the relaying of gang intelligence to local police departments so they can act on it to save lives.

And finally, last year we were able to knock out what had become a really shameful backlog of 24,000 DNA fingerprints, if you will, that had been taken from those convicted of violent crimes, but had never been analyzed by our State crime lab. Can you imagine that?

Cases are now being solved, I’m glad to tell you. They’re being solved, violence prevented, as Maryland finally makes better use of DNA fingerprinting and its potential to solve and prevent violent crimes.

And in the year ahead I want to ask for your support for several important things on this front. Number one, to add 50 additional officers to more closely and intensely supervise those who are released back into our communities on parole and probation.

Number two, to embark on a long overdue rebuilding of the minimal number of modern, regional facilities for our long, long ignored Juvenile Services system. (Applause)

Number three, to expand the utilization of modern GPS tracking technology so that we can save the lives of our most at-risk young offenders in some of our most challenged and violence-plagued neighborhoods, to save their lives and rescue them from the clutches of the hitmen and drug dealers.

Number four, I need your help to increase the availability of drug treatment programs, as well as community based programs like Operation Safe Kids. (Applause)

So that we can do a much better job of partnering with our county health departments in order to save young lives.

But most importantly I urge your support for legislation that is supported by virtually every police chief in every town and county in our State. It is supported by virtually every prosecutor, every State’s Attorney in the State of Maryland. And that is an expansion of our State’s DNA fingerprinting efforts so that we can solve more violent crimes more quickly and put murderers and rapists behind bars before they murder or rape again. (Applause)

If you look at the evolution of this technology, it follows almost exactly the evolution that happened after the advent of fingerprinting. Eleven other States now, including Virginia, collect DNA prints from those that are charged with violent crimes. And given the level of violence that we have in our State, there really is no justifiable reason that Maryland should not be in the forefront of using this modern crime solving tool, rather than lagging behind.

Protecting the Priorities of our People

Yes, to come through these tough times as quickly as possible, we must protect the priorities of our families. And we have tremendous challenges ahead of us.

On health care we need, in the coming year, to advance health care IT and to extend dental care for children so that no child in any county ever dies because of an inability to get dental treatment for a tooth ache. (Applause)

There are also thousands of Marylanders returning from service in Iraq and in Afghanistan. The modern day Maryland 400, if you will. And they were there for us. They went there for us, and we need to be there for them. And that’s why I ask for your support and engagement on a series of bills, that the Lt. Governor has also been working on, to ensure that their health and well-being is protected when they come home to Maryland. We owe that to them. (Applause)

On improving Maryland’s Homeland Security and preparedness many efforts are underway to better integrate emergency preparedness, emergency information sharing, and finally, to bring into service for the first time a truly statewide – that’s a small S on statewide -- a truly statewide system of interoperable communications so that all of our first responders will be able to talk to each other in the event of a large emergency.

I ask for your support as we bring former FEMA Director James Lee Witt, who I understand is with us today, to Maryland to assess our level of preparedness and make recommendations for making Maryland safer and better prepared in the face of natural and manmade threats.

On the health of the Bay, we have to continue to search for ways to make farming more profitable, we have to move as quickly as we can to upgrade our water treatment facilities and treatment plants. We also have to move quickly to fulfill our obligations with the District of Columbia and our other neighbors in the Bay watershed, importantly on this score, Pennsylvania and Virginia, in order to preserve and ultimately expand forest cover.

Last year you passed the Stormwater Management Act and you also passed the Clean Cars Act. This year I will ask for your support and for your ideas as we search for ways to update our Critical Area Law, so that massive developments like the Four Seasons project on Kent Island, are prohibited at the first step in the process and not at the last step. Right, Governor Hughes? (Applause)

On education we must find better ways to recruit great principals to our most challenged schools, to improve outcomes in science, technology and engineering and math. Right, Chancellor Kerwin?

And we must do a better job of listening to our teachers in a regular systematic way, so that we are constantly improving the learning process and improving the working conditions in our classrooms that are so very essential to recruiting and retaining the highest quality teachers we possibly can for our kids.

And we also have to rededicate ourselves to reducing our drop-out rate with better career and technical programs available to high schools in every district where kids want them. (Applause)

On workforce creation I also ask for your support on proposals that will reduce the nursing shortage that exists throughout our State, and on our broader efforts to equip the 750,000 chronically under-educated adults in Maryland with the skills that they need to compete and to win and to care for their families in this new economy. We can and we must do better on this score. Workforce is critically important to Maryland’s economic future. We have to build a new system for educating our adults and harnessing the potential of our entire workforce. Every single person matters.

There are Marylanders with disabilities who are talented and hardworking and want to get into the workforce with just a little bit of help and training.

Also, there are new Americans who remind us every day, in the words of Maryland’s Harriet Tubman, that we were all once strangers in a strange land. And they have brought their talents here to build a better Maryland.

We must also better align the education needs of our adults with the workforce needs of our employers and I urge you to support our proposal to bring our adult education system into the 21st Century. (Applause)

In terms of our pursuit of a more sustainable future for the land, the air, the water that we share, I urge your support for new legislation to promote transit-oriented development. (Applause)

I also look forward to working with you in the development of science, technology and public education that it will take to combat climate change and improve energy conservation and energy efficiency and to make Maryland a leader in the development of renewable energy and green building techniques of all kinds.

Our country needs us and we’ve got to be there in the forefront. (Applause)

And of course, in order to protect Maryland’s future, we must address Maryland’s energy needs.

The task before us, as you so well know, is to develop a long-term plan for energy generation, distribution, and conservation. And it will not be easy. It will take a sustained commitment from our political leadership to turn that vision over time into reality. The days of cheap abundant energy are past, but that does not mean that our only options are crippling energy bills and rolling brown-outs.

In the coming weeks, in the coming months, and in the coming years, we are going to be undertaking a number of efforts -- legislative, regulatory -- and, if need be, legal -- to secure fair and reasonable energy rates while also ensuring an adequate supply for our future. Deregulation has failed us in Maryland and we cannot allow our future to be determined by that mistake. We have to move forward. (Applause)

Conclusion

In conclusion, my friends, the most important days in life are not always the easy days.

As we work our way through the important and difficult days ahead, let’s not forget the good that God has given us in our lives, of our families, of our friends, of our neighbors, and all of the people in this State, where our diversity is our strength, that we call home, our fellow Marylanders.

Let’s stay focused on the fact that people are counting on us to make these tough times more bearable. Let’s work together -- regardless of personality, regardless of party or place -- to face the challenges ahead.

We know that Maryland is a stronger State than most. We can get through these tough economic times more quickly than other parts of our country, but only if we continue to come together to protect the priorities that make us strong.

We come here to make a positive difference for our neighbors; that’s why we come here. That’s what Senator Britt did and that’s what Delegate Lawton did. And that’s what we are going to continue to do. We must take it from here, Bishop Muse, striving to do all that we can for the working people we have the privilege to serve and the one Maryland we carry in our hearts.

God bless you all and thank you. (Applause)

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Additional Speeches

20080123 Press Release: Governor O'Malley Delivers 2008 State of the State Address