20071010 NewsBusters: Baltimore Sun Smears Conservative Bloggers Over SCHIP Scrutiny

20071010 NewsBusters: Baltimore Sun Smears Conservative Bloggers Over SCHIP Scrutiny

Newsbusters: Baltimore Sun Smears Conservative Bloggers Over SCHIP Scrutiny

How dare anyone question the moral authority of the Baltimore Sun? I’m shocked. Shocked I say.

By Ken Shepherd | October 10, 2007

On September 29, 2007, Baltimore 12-year old Graeme Frost became the Democratic poster child, literally, for SCHIP. Frost read the Democratic Party's official response to the president's weekly radio address, attacking President Bush for his veto of a Democratic-sponsored bill to balloon federal spending on the 10-year old program.

The Baltimore Sun ran a story that morning noting young Graeme Frost's brush with political football history, and two days earlier ran a gauzy profile on Graeme's mom and dad and their push for the Democratic SCHIP expansion here. But now that conservative bloggers have been raising questions about the portrayal by Democrats and the Baltimore Sun of the family's financial plight, the Sun is hitting back by attacking conservatives bloggers as heartless and obsessive, Michelle Malkin noted on her blog.

[…]

Yet following blogger inquiries and the subsequent liberal blog outlash, the Sun is sharpening its knives for conservative bloggers who dared to question the Frost photo-op, complained Michelle Malkin in an update to her October 9 post, "Democrat poster-child abuse, the nutroots’ pushback, and the continued campaign to silence the Right" (emphasis mine):

Update 11:50am Eastern 10/10. Here’s the Baltimore Sun’s nutroots-approved follow-up piece on the Frost family, using a single, rotten comment by a stupid RedState commenter to tar all conservative bloggers as hatemongers.

Read the entire post here: Baltimore Sun Smears Conservative Bloggers Over SCHIP Scrutiny

The State Children's Health Insurance Program, developed by the Republican-led Congress in 1997 is a worthy program.

It’s the expansion of the program into the economic demographic that many feel “ought to” be able to prioritize their finances in such a manner to provide their family with health insurance that is the rub.

Rolling out the 12-year-old to advocate for the program was cringe worthy – and ill advised. It smacked of manipulative exploitation. The line: "I don't know why President Bush wants to stop kids who really need help from getting CHIP…,” in particular stuck in the crawl of many folks.

That being said, it was a brilliant move by the liberals. A child’s compelling story illustrating the benefits of a social welfare program was an inspired strategy. Perhaps the smartest thing folks could’ve done would have been to ignore the child and the family and stuck with the merits of the issue. Concede that the liberals out-maneuvered conservatives in that inning – and concentrate on the next inning.

Indeed, my view is to leave the family alone and concentrate on the merits of the issue. Do we as a nation really want to expand a social welfare program to underwrite folks who otherwise may very well be in a position to pay for the service on their own? And is it one more step in the direction of socialized government-run health care?

As for the Baltimore Sun, the paper practically invented character assassination and drive-by mayhem with any position for which the paper disagrees. So the sanctimonious dismay over folks challenging the paper’s position is well accepted as disingenuous.

Can you imagine what the paper would have done to the family of a 12 –year-old who would have taken a national position advocating a conservative cause?

I have no problem with the paper taking a position. My problem is that the paper contends that it is not biased and the view of many is that it is a newsletter for liberal causes and the Maryland and National Democratic Parties.

The approach of the Baltimore Sun has equally been brilliant.

OMG – please take a look at the “Dorothea Lange – Walter Evans” genre picture taken by (one of the best photographers in the business) Barbara Haddock Taylor to accompany the Matthew Hay Brown, October 10, 2007 Baltimore Sun article, “Frost family draws ire of conservatives.”

The only improvement that could’ve happened is perhaps the Baltimore Sun should’ve printed the picture in black and white – and one could have not been able to tell the difference between the Ms. Taylor photo and a Dorothea Lange classic depression era photo-documentary.

The articles by Mr. Brown have been extraordinarily well written.

More when I get a chance…

_____

20071009 Thomas W Rimrodt dead at 41

Thomas W Rimrodt dead at 41

October 10, 2007

I was sad to read that Tom Rimrodt has passed away at age 41 years young.

I thought I had a few good pictures of Tom and for the life of me, I can’t put my hands on them right now…

I first met Mr. Rimrodt at the GOPAC training on December 9, 2000 in Easton, MD, where I learned the concept of "Flying Upside Down" by Joseph Gaylord and of GOPAC's "Flying Upside Down, How to run a successful low-cost, high-impact campaign.”

This was shortly after Tom had arrived in Maryland and the first of a number of great experiences with him.

And I would run across him at the oddest places – such as on March 16, 2002 when my wife and I attended the Carroll County Democratic Party’s Carroll County Jefferson Jackson dinner.

In spite of the number of great folks in Carroll County – who happen to be Democrats; I think that was the last time I attended the dinner. We’ve had friends invite us back, but I always managed to politely plead busy that evening…

Years ago in Carroll County the different parties would attend each others’ functions – and say, for another example, we would have election night vigils together.

We just did not care about party affiliation.

If it were not for the Baltimore Sun these days, I still would not be aware of the political affiliation of many folks in community leadership.

That august paper will frequently analyze Carroll County public policy and community dynamics in the context of what party whomever belongs. Democrats – good. Republicans – bad.

One great friend, with whom I disagree about everything in national politics – and I always agree upon the level of silliness this dynamic has been carried in recent years.

It was at the March 16, 2002 dinner that my wife and I left at the end of the evening quite impressed as to how we felt quite unwelcome and it made us sad.

Tom remarked about the same thing.

Tom worked for many campaigns - including Congressman Bartlett, and he was always good for a meaningful conversation about political theory and keeping things in a broad context.

If I am not mistaken, it was Tom who reinforced that there are two things you do with power: give it away to a responsible leader and name your successors.

In a number of conversations he would emphasize matters of succession and keeping an eye out for the next generation of up and coming leaders and recognizing younger community leaders with extraordinary talent.

Mr. Rimrodt’s passing at such a young age is a loss and he will be greatly missed.

We will keep his family and friends in our prayers.

Thomas W. Rimrodt

[ Age 41 ] Republican campaign manager

Thomas Wayne Rimrodt, a Republican campaign manager who had been an assistant secretary in the Maryland Department of Planning until early this year, died of brain cancer Sunday at St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson. The Parkville resident was 41.

After serving as the city manager of Atherton, Calif., he moved to Maryland in 2000 and managed Republican Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett's re-election campaign. He then began grass-roots organizing work for Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s successful campaign for governor in 2002.

"He lived life to the fullest," said his friend Casi Tomarchio of Forest Hill. "He loved being around people.

"He was very interested in what grass-roots Republicans had to say and made sure the upper levels of the party heard that," said his wife of 17 years, the former Sheryl Hurston.

A Mass of Christian burial will be offered at 9 a.m. Saturday at St. Gabriel Roman Catholic Church, 6950 Dogwood Road, Windsor Mill, where he was a member.

I am scheduled to be out of town this Saturday. Would someone please convey our condolences to the family?

####

20071009 News Clips

News Clips

Oct. 9, 2007

STATE NEWS

O'Malley faces his first test in office
Lawmakers say he must reach out for tax plan
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-md.governor07oct07,0,2496502.story
When Gov. Martin O'Malley took his oath in January, he spoke of "One Maryland," celebrating an end to the partisan feuding that had beset Annapolis under his Republican predecessor, Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. With O'Malley at the helm and strong Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, state business would be less contentious, lawmakers said, even pleasantly efficient.
Last week, the governor heard the first rumblings of discontent over his proposal for solving the state's $1.7 billion budget crisis and his call for a November special legislative session to consider his plan. The criticisms aren't coming from Republicans alone. House Speaker Michael E. Busch bucked the governor by questioning the wisdom of a special session, and the Anne Arundel Democrat has also said that legalized slot machine gambling, a core component of O'Malley's proposal, is not the way to go.O'Malley's quick-fix mentality reveals the pluck that made him appealing to voters during the 2006 gubernatorial campaign, but it is an attitude, some say, that requires that everyone get in lock step behind him.
Republican leaders, who had showered praise on O'Malley this year for reaching out to them when he took office, hammered him last week for taking their support for slots for granted. Usually reliable and critical votes for slots, the GOP's Senate leaders threatened to sink any gambling proposal brought to a vote during a special session on taxes. "The whole package has been crafted without our input," said Senate Minority Leader David R. Brinkley, a Frederick County Republican who has voted for slots in the past.

State resists firing ruling
Md. to ask judge to reconsider order reinstating worker in real estate office
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-md.reinstate09oct09,0,2242422.story
The Maryland attorney general's office plans to ask a Baltimore County judge today to reconsider his ruling that a longtime state employee, who was fired a day after he was quoted in The Sun discussing a Queen Anne's County land deal, should be "restored to his employment position with all its rights and privileges."
Nelson E. Reichart, who had served as the Department of General Services' assistant secretary for real estate, was fired by Gov. Martin O'Malley's administration in June . His attorney, Kathleen J. Masterton, said the judge's order means Reichart's dismissal is wiped out.
A Department of General Services spokesman has said Reichart's remarks to The Sun had no role in his dismissal, saying that Secretary Alvin C. Collins had told Reichart that he wanted a new direction in the office of real estate. A 29-year state employee, Reichart was a year away from qualifying for retirement with full benefits, Masterton said.

GOP senators fight 'nonfactor' label by standing firm against slots
http://www.examiner.com/a-977327~GOP_senators_fight__nonfactor__label_by_standing_firm_against_slots.html
Excluded from private discussions between Gov. Martin O'Malley and Democratic lawmakers about how to erase a $1.7 billion deficit, Republican senators employed the one point of political leverage they had left: slots. Republicans have been key to the passage of every slot machine proposal in the past four years, but they declared they would not back such a plan during a special session. Senate President Thomas Mike Miller said the Republicans' new stance "makes them such a nonfactor in any of the decision-making process," and he could get the needed 24 votes for slots with the GOP, something he has been unable to do so far.
The four slots proposals Miller muscled through the Senate in the last five years got only 15 to 19 Democratic votes, five to nine votes shy of a majority. Republicans such as Senate Republican Leader David Brinkley and Whip Allan Kittleman, along with six other Republicans, made the winning difference every time.
Brinkley made clear that he was willing to support slots again, but only during the regular session, when all the fiscal cards were on the table, including the state budget, in which he wants to see more cuts.
In other words, the Democratic Party charged that Republicans' short-term opposition to slots - not the long-standing principled opposition of many Democrats or the governor's nine-month delay in crafting a plan - somehow undermines the entire O'Malley solution to the deficit.
Not bad for a day's work by "nonfactors" in the decision-making process.

O'Malley, Franchot, Brown donor fined
http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20071006/METRO/110060036/1004/METRO
A movie producer known for chiding actress Lindsay Lohan for acting like "a spoiled child" during the filming of one of his productions last year has landed in hot water himself for violating Maryland campaign finance law. James G. Robinson has been fined $119,000 after making excessive contributions to the campaigns of Gov. Martin O'Malley, Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown and Comptroller Peter Franchot last year, authorities said yesterday. Mr. O'Malley, a Democrat, said yesterday the contributions came in during "a crunch of volume" of other contributions during the last couple of weeks of the campaign. He said the campaign vetting process should have caught them. Mr. Robinson, 71, made $125,000 in illegal contributions between Oct. 6 and Oct. 23, just before statewide elections, according to the state prosecutor's office. Mr. O'Malley's campaign received $34,000; Mr. Robinson gave $58,000 to Mr. Brown's campaign; Mr. Franchot's campaign received $37,000.

Session Would Be Risky for O'Malley
Governor Wants Deficit Solution But Needs Votes
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/200 7/10/06/AR2007100601324.html
Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D), who has shown an abundance of caution during his first year in office, is now facing the biggest gamble of his governorship: whether to summon the legislature to Annapolis for a special session on his $1.7 billion deficit-reduction plan. But as O'Malley met privately with lawmakers last week, it became clear that he has yet to bring enough legislators on board to ensure a special session would be a success.
Pulling the plug on a special session would be a political setback for O'Malley. But some lawmakers interviewed last week suggested his leadership would be tarnished far more by a session that ended in a stalemate or dragged on until mid-January, when the legislature is scheduled to convene for its annual 90-day session.
If O'Malley convenes a special session, its success will ultimately rest largely on the ability of Democrats, who dominate both chambers, to pull together as a party, Mil ler predicted. "The Democrats in the General Assembly need to step up and deliver for him, which means voting for things you don't like," he said.

Immigrant Proposal Divides Frederick
Official Suggests Denying Services
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/07/AR2007100701400.html
The immigrant community in Frederick County grew quickly and quietly in the first half of this decade. Priced out of such places as Adams Morgan, Silver Spring and Manassas, many Latinos migrated up Interstate 270, drawn by Frederick's booming construction and retail service industries. But still, people kept quiet -- until a county commissioner suggested in August that Frederick deny public services, including schooling, to immigrants in the United States illegally. Commissioner Charles A. Jenkin s's proposal to follow the lead of Prince William and Loudoun counties in targeting illegal immigrants sparked a firestorm in Frederick, whose foreign-born population has nearly tripled this decade and is the fastest-growing in Maryland.
As the county board prepares to vote tomorrow whether to advance Jenkins's proposal to the state legislature, Frederick is a community deeply divided. Jenkins and his backers say illegal immigrants are sucking up public dollars, especially in the schools, where the cost to teach English has soared. "My proposal was that if you're going to avail yourself of benefits that are provided by taxpayer dollars that you at least demonstrate that you belong in this country legally," said Jenkins, a Republican. It is uncertain whether the proposal will win support from a majority of the commissioners. If it does, the bill will stand little chance before the state's liberal legislature. Even Jenkins acknowledges this m uch.
Jenkins said he was persuaded to introduce his proposal after a series of summer budget meetings in which county officials said they needed more money for interpreters who speak Spanish. The school system asked for $2.9 million for interpreters, up from $2.2 million the year before.
Ultimately, what Jenkins's proposal has accomplished is that community leaders are talking about the demographic changes in Frederick. "We need to embrace it and discuss it as opposed to sweep it under the rug and hope it goes away," said Del. Richard B. Weldon Jr. (R), chairman of the Frederick delegation. "It isn't going to go away."



EDITORIALS/OP-EDS

Upping the ante on slots once again in Annapolis
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.fraser07oct07,0,2104316.column
Looks like Gov. Martin O'Malley's slot machines proposal is in trouble, but what else is new? This slots issue is the legislative version of eternal life. It's always on life support, but it never dies. So here's a question: Are slots the big tease of the governor's plan for raising $1.7 billion? Does he really need slots this year?
The answer is no - and yes. So here's a question: Are slots the big tease of the governor's plan for raising $1.7 billion? Does he really need slots this year? The answer is no - and yes.
First, the "no." Projections show the slots money arriving slowly at first, a year or so down the pike. The big money the governor really needs would come from sales an d income tax increases. That would start to flow Jan. 1 if the General Assembly convenes in special session and passes the governor's legislation. Here's the "yes" part of the answer, the part that explains why he's offering the bill: He's doing it for Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller. Mr. Miller has made himself into Maryland's biggest slots advocate.

We don't need a special session
http://www.examiner.com/a-977299~We_don_t_need_a_special_session.html
Touchi Senate Republicans! They last week told Gov. Martin O'Malley they would not support any slots proposals in a legislative special session. That all but derails one from the agenda this fall and means Marylanders will have more time to dissect the governor's tax proposals rolled out in recent weeks.
That is good news for everyone.
As Senate Republican leader David Brinkley (Frederick-Carroll) said last week, "We feel that the whole purpose of calling a special session is to raise taxes."
Waiting will help legislators to craft a slots proposal that will bring the most revenue to the state. As we suggested last week, auctioning slots licenses to businesses that would return the highest portion of winnings to Maryland would be the best route to take.
We elect our legislators to deliberate over laws. The regular session is the best forum for proper discussion of the people's business - and especially business designed to drain more money from household budgets.

Gov. O'Malley can't get a handle on state's slots issue
http://www.examiner.com/a-978936~Dan_Gainor__Gov__O_Malley_can_t_get_a_handle_on_state_s_slots_issue.html
Gov. Martin O'Malley. He's using the state's $1.7 billion deficit to try and rework our entire tax structure - and spend a couple hundred million extra. Rather than push for true belt-tightening in government (Does anybody even know what that means?), O'Malley pulled together a hate-the-rich package that raises almost every tax you can imagine and encourages wealthy people to move out of state.
The "plan" is a classic smoke-filled-room result. Now O'Malley expects the legislature and the abused public to acquiesce. And he wants it done in a special session just prior to the regular session to minimize debate.The GOP makes it clear it only approved slots because Republican Gov. Bob Ehrlich asked nicely and didn't spend like a teen with her dad's credit card. GOP members say they especially oppose a special session because it's designed to raise taxes. Duh. Of course it is. Everything O'Malley does now is designed to raise taxes.

Special session foes have a good point
http://capitalonline.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/10_08-04/OPN
Those legislators you've seen cowering in the corners recently are Republicans and Democrats who fear a special session.
As Gov. Martin O'Malley sent signals that he is poised to call for a special session of the General Assembly sometime in November, legislators began backing away. House Speaker Mike Busch has gone on record opposing it. So have other Democrats, including state Comptroller Peter Franchot. Even if they approve of slots in principle, legislators of both parties have political reasons for not wanting a special session. No lawmaker wants to be remembered for approving revenue increases from gambling without simultaneously voting for spending cuts. Since budget figures won't be re ady until after a fall special session is held, it's likely that the only real legislation on the agenda of a special session would be slots.
A special session is a bad idea and the governor is making a terrible mistake in asking for one. But it is his privilege to do so. If he goes ahead, we can only hope that the unwilling legislators won't do anything stupid.

O'Malley's tax plan is hardly 'progressive'
http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/10_07-07/COL
It's a time-tested script:
Liberals enact mandated spending increases and create a structural deficit, while claiming to be fiscally responsible. The structural deficit becomes a real deficit, and we have a budget crisis.
The liberals bicker over slot machines, and then, finally, reunite to "compromise" and "courageously" pass a tax package. They slightly reduce two taxes, raise every other tax, approve slots, and tell you that only the rich will pay more.
Democrats haven't deviated from this script yet.The governor claims that his revenue reforms will put money in your pocket. But it won't stay there long.
By HERB McMILLAN The writer represented Annapolis in the House of Delegates from 2003 to 2007.

Nickel and dimed
http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/10_04-39/COL
As he sold his new tax plan during a barnstorming tour of Maryland last month, Gov. Martin O'Malley repeatedly stressed its "fairness." "Fair," in this context, is code for: "You don't have to pay; the rich will take care of it."That's because sales taxes are going up, but property taxes are going do wn, along with income taxes for all but the richest 4 percent.
But that's an assumption resting on some dubious and suspiciously precise numbers. And the truth is, a lot of us probably will be paying more.Are the numbers false? Not exactly, but the presentation is carefully calculated to show the poor and middle class saving money. If the chart showed average families paying, say, $50 or $100 more, it wouldn't be so effective.
But then, it's only October. There are plenty of lies, damned lies and statistics still to come.

The Jenkins proposal
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/opinion/display_editorial.htm?StoryID=66118
When County Commissioner Charles Jenkins proposed that Frederick County address its issues with illegal immigrants, his idea was aptly described as DOA.
Jenkins pro posed that Frederick County refuse to provide any local government services to illegal immigrants, including social services and public education. That general concept is nothing new, and has been tested in various court cases. Perhaps the most important service at issue, public education, has been heard by the Supreme Court, which ruled that a local jurisdiction cannot withhold public education from children because of their immigration status.
As we have said before, we supported Jenkins' proposal because it called attention to the kinds of issues and emotions that cities and counties all over the country are facing. The more these local jurisdictions raise the profile of this problem, the more Capitol Hill's hand will be forced to address it. Commissioner David Gray says he'd like to get input from Sen. Barbara Mikulski when she visits Frederick this week. So would we. In fact, we'd like to see Mikulski and her fellow Maryland senator, Ben Cardin, as well as Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, working really hard in coming months to help forge a workable solution within their respective houses of Congress and political parties.
We call on Maryland's U.S. senators and our 6th District congressman to work diligently with their colleagues to pass this legislation in 2008. It simply won't wait another year.


OBITUARIES

Thomas W. Rimrodt
[ Age 41 ] Republican campaign manager
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/obituaries/bal-md.ob.rimrodt09oct09,0,4296956.story?track=rss
Thomas Wayne Rimrodt, a Republican campaign manager who had been an assistant secretary in the Maryland Department of Planning until early this year, died of brain cancer Sunday at St. Joseph Medi cal Center in Towson. The Parkville resident was 41. After serving as the city manager of Atherton, Calif., he moved to Maryland in 2000 and managed Republican Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett's re-election campaign. He then began grass-roots organizing work for Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s successful campaign for governor in 2002.
"He lived life to the fullest," said his friend Casi Tomarchio of Forest Hill. "He loved being around people.
"He was very interested in what grass-roots Republicans had to say and made sure the upper levels of the party heard that," said his wife of 17 years, the former Sheryl Hurston.
A Mass of Christian burial will be offered at 9 a.m. Saturday at St. Gabriel Roman Catholic Church, 6950 Dogwood Road, Windsor Mill, where he was a member.

NATIONAL NEWS

Gilchrest returning from Iraq
http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071009/NEWS01/71009012
First District U.S. Rep. Wayne Gilchrest is on his way back to the U.S. after spending almost a week in Iraq.
Gilchrest went to Iraq to assess the security situation, talk to American troops and commanders and hear from officials on the progress of establishing a stable government. He met with top commander General David Petraeus, the U.S ambassador to Iraq and the Iraqi prime minister.
Gilchrest says his delegation met some Iraqis who were in training in three years ago and are now leading large numbers of Iraqi soldiers. But even with the advancements, Gilchrest says there still remains a great deal of violence.

20071010 Democrats flog SCHIP

20071010 Democrats flog SCHIP

Democrats flog SCHIP

October 10^th, 2007

A colleague called this to my attention the other day…

… and for additional information please see: 20070921 Five Key Myths About President Bush’s Support for SCHIP Reauthorization

I certainly support Congressman Bartlett’s vote and hope that he remains steadfast. That being said, as I e-mailed a kind reader much earlier in the day, whom I believe disagrees with Congressman Bartlett’s vote; I think that it is a tough vote for many complicated reasons.

In an ideal world, everything possible needs to be done to ensure that children have access to adequate health care. However, what concerns me, above and beyond why a basic health and welfare necessity is so expensive to begin with; is “the Congressional Budget Office predicts it will entice the families of two million children who already have private health insurance (half of targeted new enrollees) to sign up for government-controlled, taxpayer-paid health insurance.”

I have somewhat heretofore avoided this fray, as I have no interest in vilifying anyone who disagrees with Congressman Bartlett’s vote or the presidential veto. And I am unhappy with the further politicalization of the issues of health care as much I abhor, for example, the environment being all wrapped around the axle of partisan politics. I respect the folks who support the current SCHIP legislation in spite of the fact that I disagree with their tactics to change votes.

Rolling out the 12-year child was cringe worthy. Then, well, read it yourself: Don Surber: “3,000 square foot home, but cannot ‘afford’ health insurance?

Remember the Frost family of Baltimore? They had a bad traffic accident 3 years ago. Their medical bills were paid by the taxpayer-subsidized SCHIP. Democrats trotted out Graeme Frost, 12, to call the president mean for not expanding the program beyond what he was willing to expand it.

But all is not what it seems. Based a sympathetic Baltimore Sun story — reporters never question “victims” — a blogger did some snooping around.

[…]

For balance read: Faiz / Think Progress:

Right Wing Launches Baseless Smear Campaign Against 12 Year Old Recipient Of SCHIP — Two weeks ago, the Democratic radio address was delivered by a 12-year old Maryland boy named Graeme Frost. Graeme told his story of being involved in a severe car accident three years ago …

(Has anyone answered the question as to why automobile insurance did not take care of the young man’s medical needs?)

Ultimately, as much as I am profoundly unhappy with the current health care delivery system in our country, my view is that the government taking over is to go from the frying pan to the fire. And I view the current SCHIP legislation is one more step closer to government run health care – which would ultimately and paradoxically threaten the health and well-being of all Americans.

I have lost faith in big government’s ability to do much of anything well and I’ll be darn if I have any interest in some faceless bureaucrat, who holds a job in which they cannot be held accountable – or be fired no matter what their job performance; making life and death decisions for me or my family – or our community’s children.

It is classic “Fenno’s Paradox.” I know extraordinary individuals who work for government and do a great job but I learned to abhor big government. I know great folks in the insurance business but hold the industry in contempt. I know great doctors and health care professionals but have total disdain for the health care delivery system…

Congressman Bartlett cast the correct vote…

Before your itchy fingers reach for the keyboard to hurl insensitive remarks, if you disagree, I’m fine with that. Please provide me, and the readers, with compelling and persuasive arguments other than “Bush Derangement Syndrome” or that “Republicans Suck.” Besides, as a former conservative elected official, you can’t top the “Baltimore Sun treatment.”

_____

Anyway, as I was saying… A colleague called this to my attention the other day…

Democrats Flog SCHIP yet leaves 19-23 Million Americans At Risk for AMT Tax on Rich

Shhh! Pay no attention and don't worry if you're one of the 19 - 23 million middle-income American families with earnings @$75,000 who may be penalized and forced to pay the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) on the "rich" unless Congress acts before the Senate plans to adjourn on November 16.

Details are in the CNN coverage here: http://money.cnn.com/2007/09/24/pf/taxes/amt_ticktock/index.htm (See at the bottom of the post…)

Congressional Democrat leaders, unions, MoveOn.org, and the AARP are among those hard at work to get your attention with lobbying campaigns to override the President's veto of a proposal to more than double spending on the SCHIP program.

The plan proposes increasing taxes on smokers but the Congressional Budget Office predicts it will entice the families of two million children who already have private health insurance (half of targeted new enrollees) to sign up for government-controlled, taxpayer-paid health insurance.

The proposed expansion doesn't include any changes in the eligibility guidelines. Under the Block Grant program design of SCHIP, states have flexibility to disperse the funds. In some states, such as New Jersey, Michigan, Wisconsin, one-third to 40 percent of current SCHIP enrollees are adults. Maybe that explains why AARP supports the Democrat-proposed expansion.

Under the proposed Democratic expansion of SCHIP two million children who already have health insurance in families making up to $83,000 might be penalized by the AMT. Democrats have not approved, but propose paying for most of the expansion with a tax increase on cigarettes that would require adding and sustaining 20 million new smokers.

Bartlett gets heat for stance on health insurance bill

http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=65912

Democrats and health care advocates are targeting U.S. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett as a potential swing vote to override President Bush's W ednesday morning veto of a children's health insurance bill. Bartlett, a Republican who represents Frederick County and a large swath of other counties across Maryland, voted for the State Children's Health Insurance Program when it was enacted in 1997. Last week, he voted against a reauthorization bill that would have expanded the program.

The political battle is focused on Bartlett because leaders believe if he switches his vote, others might follow suit.

Since Maryland has only one other Republican representative, it's not uncommon for Bartlett to be the only federal Maryland official voting a certain way on any given measure. Despite the calls for a vote switch, Bartlett defiantly reiterated his stance, saying it is consistent with the conservative principles of his district.

If popular program folds, children 'would have nothing'

http:/ /www.times-news.com/local/local_story_277093356.html

Originally created in 1997, the joint federal and state program offers low-cost health insurance to children in low-income families. It has provided coverage to about 6.6 million children while the expanded coverage would bring in another 4 million. In a bipartisan vote, the Senate and the House last week agreed to reauthorize the program and increase spending for it from about $5 billion to $12 billion each year for the next five years.

Saying the increase is too much, Bush vetoed the bill Wednesday.

Congressman Roscoe Bartlett, a Republican representing Maryland's 6th District, was the only Maryland representative to side with the president.

"Only Democratic congressional leaders could demand that a family earning $82,000 a year should qualify for their expanded SCHIP program that Republicans created to help children of the working poor and simultaneously call that same family rich and force them to pay the AMT, Alternative Minimum Tax," Bartlett said via a release. "It just goes to show that what Democrats really want is to have the government control how to spend the money that American taxpayers earn."

In the Senate, Maryland's Barbara Mikulski and Benjamin Cardin, both Democrats, feel otherwise. Like Bartlett, Mikulski voted for the original program, but she supports its expansion.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/09/24/pf/taxes/amt_ticktock/index.htm

AMT: Ticktock, Congress

http://www.cnnmoney.com/

Millions of taxpayers have been left in the dark about just how much they'll owe the IRS this year thanks to indecision in D.C

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Lawmakers have effectively denied roughly 23 million taxpayers the ability to plan adequately for their taxes this year.

That's because they have yet to decide just what they're going to do about the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). If they end up doing nothing, those 23 million folks will get hit with the "wealth" tax -- about 19 million of them for the first time.

The AMT was originally intended for the wealthy few when it was created nearly 40 years ago. But because Congress never indexed for inflation the amount of income exempt from AMT and because it disallows a lot of popular tax breaks, tens of millions of middle-class taxpayers could get hit.

With at most six legislative weeks left on the Congressional schedule this year, it seems highly unlikely that a deal would be sealed on a broad AMT reform package.

Sure lawmakers could push back the Senate's Nov. 16 adjournment date [also the expiration date of the temporary SCHIP continuation approved by Congress and the President] and legislate until it's time to deck the halls.

Broadly speaking, you might be at risk of having to pay AMT if more than one of these situations apply:

* You live in a high-tax state. State and local income taxes are not deductible under AMT as they are under the regular federal income tax code.

* You have kids. Personal exemptions are disallowed under the AMT.

* You take a lot of miscellaneous deductions, including unreimbursed business expenses. They, too, are disallowed under the AMT.

Your household gross income exceeds $100,000.

####

20071005 News Clips

News Clips

Oct. 5, 2007 – (finally posted) October 9^th, 2007

STATE NEWS

Maryland Republicans Imperil Passage of Slots Plan in Senate

GOP Won't Offer Support for Bill During Special Session

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/03/AR2007100302333.html

Maryland Senate Republicans said yesterday that they would not provide any votes for a bill legalizing slot-machine gambling if Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) calls a special legislative session this fall, a development that threatened to unravel the governor's efforts to win quick action on a plan to address a $1.7 billion budget deficit.

Minority Leader David R. Brinkley (R-Frederick) said that some of the chamber's 14 Republicans continue to support slots. But, Brinkley told reporters, Republicans are so disappointed with other aspects of O'Malley's plan that they want a longer debate when lawmakers return for their regular 90-day session in January.

"Senate Republicans are united in withholding their support for any new gaming initiatives during a special session," Brinkley said. "We cannot offer those votes in a special session devoted to an unnecessary massive tax increase on Maryland's citizens that would have long-range, negative repercussions on our economy."

House Republicans have not taken such a hard line on slots, but GOP leaders have also signaled in recent days that their votes should not be taken for granted in the 141-member chamber.

Henry Fawell, a former Ehrlich press aide who now works for his law firm, said GOP leaders sought Ehrlich's counsel but "this was solely their decision." "Obviously, though, he thinks anything that stops the largest tax increase in history is a good thing," Fawell said.

Franchot warns against slots

Comptroller says 'predatory' industry will expand through state

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-md.franchot05oct05,0,2837952.story

Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot warned yesterday that if the General Assembly legalizes slot machine gambling, casinos in downtown Baltimore and "slots in a neighborhood near you" will follow.

"This predatory gambling industry goes where the money is," Franchot said at a news conference at Harborplace in Baltimore. "Let's be honest. There is no such thing as limited slots. In state after state where slots have been legalized, the debate about expanding them begins before the first slot machine is turned on."

The shot from a fellow Democratic officeholder further complicates Gov. Martin O'Malley's push to legalize slots as a way of closing a $1.7 billion budget shortfall. House Speaker Michael E. Busch opposes slots, and Senate Republican leaders said this week they do not support holding a special session of the General Assembly to consider O'Malley's tax and slots plan. Republicans were key to Senate passage of a slots bill in 2005.

Slots threaten deficit plan

House, Senate Republicans withdraw their support, leaving O'Malley's proposal on potentially shaky ground

http://www.gazette.net/stories/100507/polinew53857_32356.shtml

The seams on Gov. Martin O'Malley's carefully constructed deficit-busting proposal may be starting to tear even before lawmakers are called to Annapolis for a widely presumed special session this fall. The issue of slot machines, as it has been in years past, remains divisive and is shaping up to be O'Malley's biggest obstacle in winning the legislature's support.

House and Senate Republicans this week backed off their support of expanded gambling, with the 14-member Senate GOP caucus pulling all of its votes for slots during a special session. House GOP leaders indicated their support should not be presupposed, which could doom passage of a slots plan similar to a 2005 bill that narrowly passed the chamber thanks to large Republican backing.

''I don't think any of us are running to Annapolis ready to vote yea or nay," said first-term Del. Nicholaus R. Kipke (R-Dist. 31) of Pasadena, who is likely to favor slots, despite his caucus' cooled support. ''... I just can't sleep at night knowing that our dollars are being used for vital projects in other states."

Regardless of how many Republicans back expanded gambling, O'Malley will have to sell his plan to some skeptical and undecided Democrats , House Speaker Michael E. Busch said. ''It's a whole new dynamic and in essence you're starting over," said Busch (D-Dist. 30) of Annapolis.

And if slots revenue won't be generated immediately, what's the need to address it in a special session, asked Senate Minority Leader David R. Brinkley (R-Dist. 4) of New Market.

House Minority Whip Christopher B. Shank (R-Dist. 2B) of Hagerstown agreed that a special session ''is not the appropriate venue to consider such a weighty proposal."

Pols and educators dig in on Thornton

Budget deficit has some provisions vulnerable

http://www.gazette.net/stories/100507/polinew53917_32357.shtml

Early this year some legislative leaders considered the state's landmark Thornton school funding law a sacred cow.

Now, it appears the funding could be a cash cow, or at least sacrificial calf, on the way to solving the state's $1.7 billion budget gap.

''Nothing is sacrosanct here except what is mandated," Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. said on Wednesday.

Bealefeld picked as commissioner

Police veteran's first challenge: city homicide crisis

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bal-te.ci.police05oct05,0,4094257.story?coll=bal_tab01_layout

Choosing a well-respected local veteran over a prized out-of-town candidate, Mayor Sheila Dixon named Frederick H. Bealefeld III yesterday as police commissioner and charged him with tackling a homicide crisis that ranks Baltimore among the nation's most violent cities.

Despite the challenges, the 26-year Police Department veteran confidently vowed to reduce crime while simultaneously stabilizing a department still reeling from turnover in recent years. Early indications suggest Bealefeld is already making limited progress on both fronts, and many rank-and-file officers said yesterday that they are pleased he will be in charge.

Carroll wants police force

Commissioners approve creation of county department

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/carroll/bal-md.ca.policing05oct05,0,2496373.story

The Carroll County commissioners have voted to create a county police department with an appointed chief to replace a resident trooper program that has been based at the state police barracks in Westminster for 33 years. Carroll County is the last jurisdiction in Maryland to rely on the state police as its primary law enforcement agency.

Carroll Sheriff Kenneth L. Tregoning has pushed for the past few years for his department to assume primary control of policing, but all three commissioners said yesterday that they favor establishing their own department and selecting its chief.

"The best system for policing in the United States is with the sheriff's office," Tregoning said. "It's an elected office where the citizens determine who their leading law enforcement official is."

Funding BRAC growth at issue

State studies options for getting private developers on bases to share cost

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/brac/bal-md.ar.brac05oct05,0,2642267.story

The O'Malley administration is reviewing its options for getting private developers on military bases to share the costs of highway upgrades and other infrastructure needed to accommodate growth, Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown said yesterday.

Speaking at a base-realignment planning meeting in Annapolis, Brown said private developers winning long-term leases from the Army and other military services to build offices, laboratories, hotels, restaurants and stores on bases in Maryland need to "shoulder their responsibility" for handling the off-base traffic generated by their projects. The lieutenant governor said administration officials are reviewing the law to see if the state government can seek payments from private developers on military bases for such impacts on surrounding communities.

Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold told Brown and the O'Malley administration's base-realignment subcabinet that he and the commander of Fort Meade are talking now about whether the developer of a 2 million-square-foot office complex on one corner of the p ost will help pay for road widenings and signal upgrades to handle increased traffic from the project in the surrounding community.

"We welcome the jobs in Anne Arundel County," Leopold said, noting that many of the new jobs as a result of the federal Base Realignment and Closure effort carry high salaries. "The challenge is to provide the infrastructure."

Judge tells ex-staffers for Ehrlich to respond

2 refused to testify when questioned at legislative hearing

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-md.personnel05oct05,0,6698869.story

A Baltimore County Circuit judge said this week that two one-time staffers of former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. must answer questions that they declined to respond to when they testified before a legislative committee investigating the then-governor’s personnel practices.

During a heated hearing last year, Craig B. Chesek and Gregory J. Maddalone refused to answer questions about the terminations of state workers in their departments.

The legislative committee, which has been disbanded, spent more than a year examining Ehrlich's hiring and firing practices, an attempt to determine if terminations in the Republican administration had been politically motivated.

It concluded that employees were fired "based on political considerations in violation of constitutional rights and state law" and called for stronger protections for state workers.

Republicans decried the effort as an election-year smear campaign. They said that the workers served at the governor's pleasure and could be fired at Ehrlich's discretion at any time.

Md. seeks affordable housing for military work force influx

http://www.examiner.com/a-972886~Md__seeks_affordable_housing_for_military_work_force_influx.html

While many of the incoming military work force expected to move into the Baltimore region because of base realignments will seek high-end housing, the state's housing secretary said Thursday that he plans to focus on making sure there is enough affordable housing to meet the regions' demands. Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold said there is a "workforce housing crisis" in his county. As the county is revamping its master plan, Leopold said he hopes to create more transit-oriented development that will include affordable housing.

"It's just not affordable to live in this county, especially when you have million dollar houses popping up like dandelions after a spring rain," Leopold said.

State gives county OK to pluck illegal signs

http://www.capitalonline.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/10_04-41/TOP

The sea of nuisance signs at intersections across Anne Arundel County may soon be a thing of the past.

County Executive John R. Leopold announced yesterday that the state granted him permission to pluck illegal signs from state medians and roadsides, and he has dedicated a team of weekend inmates to do the plucking.

Charles County Wins Largest Of Homeland Security Grants

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/03/AR2007100300009.html

Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) announced this week that he has secured more than $1 million in federal homeland security grant funds for Southern Maryland. The funds, from three grant programs in the Department of Homeland Security, are to be used for several projects, including providing protective equipment to first responders, hardening critical infrastructure and building interoperable communications systems.

Charles County, the largest jurisdiction in Southern Maryland and home to the Indian Head Naval Surface Warfare Center, received $427,315, the largest grant in the tri-county region.

EDITORIALS/OPEDS

Getting it right

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/bal-ed.session05oct05,0,7405745.story

Gov. Martin O'Malley's plan for a special legislative session to address Maryland's projected $1.7 billion budget deficit suffered a major blow with the decision by Senate Republicans not to support a slots bill - at least not before the regular session next January.

That's welcome news.

As much as a special session offers the most expedient path for Mr. O'Malley's $2 billion deficit reduction package - and prolonging these decisions puts the state budget potentially $500 million deeper in the hole - it's still the wrong choice. The General Assembly has some difficult votes to make, particularly in regard to potential tax increases and expanded gambling, but members need a full range of alternatives to consider and adequate time to study and debate them.

The reasoning of the Republican senators may be convoluted even by State House standards - they're opposing an alternative to taxes as a way to oppose taxes - but the results are still beneficial.

But the process by which that legislation is adopted is important, too. It needs to be deliberative and open, not a backroom deal cut in the wee hours after a whirlwind week in Annapolis. That may prove inconvenient to the governor, but it's still the right thing to do.

Does SCHIP insure kids or subsidize savvy HMOs?

http://www.examiner.com/a-972917~Timothy_P__Carney__Does_SCHIP_insure_kids_or_subsidize_savvy_HMOs_.html

Democrats may never get enough votes to override President Bush's veto of their bill expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), but they hope to draw quite a bit of GOP blood in the process.

The Democrats' congressional campaign chairman, Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., has promised that a vote to uphold the president's veto will be portrayed as a vote "in lockstep with the president and against children's health."

If SCHIP's opponents chose to employ the same sort of language, they could charge Van Hollen and his colleagues of voting "in lockstep with the HMOs."

Indeed, while the Democratic effort to expand SCHIP is spun as bein g "for the children," the chief beneficiaries of the bill - and the most prolific lobbyists for it - are private health insurance companies, the pharmaceutical industry and other big businesses that would stand on the receiving end of the broadened pipeline of subsidies if Democrats get their way.

SCHIP is a federal program created by the Republican Congress in 1997 with the aim of guaranteeing health insurance for children of families too rich for Medicaid but possibly too poor to avoid health insurance on the free market.

It's got to be nice to be Van Hollen and the Democrats now. You get to do a favor for the HMOs, and everyone's convinced it's "for the children."

Nickel and dimed

http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/10_04-39/COL

As he sold his new tax plan during a barnstorming tour of Maryland last month, Gov. Martin O'Malley repeatedly stressed its "fairness."

Fair," in this context, is code for: "You don't have to pay; the rich will take care of it."

"The vast majority of Maryland families will be paying less," Mr. O'Malley said during an event in Ellicott City, one of seven stops he made in nine days. But that's an assumption resting on some dubious and suspiciously precise numbers. And the truth is, a lot of us probably will be paying more.

On this scale, the numbers are so big - a $1.7 billion deficit, $800 million in new revenue from the sales tax hike - that they're hard to wrap your head around. So politicians naturally try to make the numbers accessible, telling us the average family of four making $50,000 will save $119 overall.

Are the numbers false? Not exactly, but the presentation is carefully calculated to show the poor and middle class saving money. If the chart showed average families paying, say, $50 or $100 more, it wouldn't be so effective.

But then, it's only October. There are plenty of lies, damned lies and statistics still to come.

Boo! 'The dead hand of Maryland horse racing has reached out from the grave and grabbed taxpayers by the throat'

http://www.gazette.net/stories/100507/policol32042_32357.shtml

As befitting the season of masquerade and scary events, Maryland taxpayers are about to experience a ''Carrie" moment.

Gov. Martin O'Malley plans to siphon off $l00 million each year from the treasury and hand it out to Maryland horse racing. The dead hand of Maryland horse racing has reached out from the grave and grabbed taxpayers by the throat.

Giving a bulging goody bag to Maryland horse racing is quite a trick when citizens are rightly being asked to pay higher taxes for education, transportation and health care.

The loss of Maryland horse racing isn't about the loss of an industry. Truth be told, it's about the loss of a venerable political and plantation class.

As it turns out, Maryland taxpayers have more to fear from Governor O'Malley's sleight of hand than they do from the dead hand of Maryland horse racing.

Luiz R.S. Simmons, a Democrat from Rockville, represents District 17 in the House of Delegates.

NATIONAL NEWS

Gilchrest To Travel To Iraq

http://wjz.com/topstories/local_story_274100436.html

A Maryland lawmaker is embarking on his third trip to Iraq. Congressman Wayne Gilchrest has been critical of President Bush's policies. Ron Matz reports Gilchrest leaves on his mission Thursday, seeki ng answers to a lot of unanswered questions.

"We've been in Iraq longer than World War II lasted. There are too many loose ends for too long in this war. We want to get answers to 34 specific questions," said Gilchrest. "I've been to Iraq twice before, I've met all the players. We're going now with a very specific agenda to create legislation to deal much more effectively with this conflict," said Gilchrest.

County residents rally against SCHIP veto

http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=65951

By Meg Bernhardt , News-Post Staff

Middletown resident Bonita Currey remembers children who would be in her class for weeks with toothaches, but their parents couldn't do anything to help them.

Currey and roughly 30 others rallied Thursday night in downtown Frederick. They protested President Bush's decision to veto a bill that would reauthorize and expand SCHIP and urged U.S. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-6, to support an override of the veto. Health care advocates have said Bartlett's vote is critical for a House override of the veto. Bartlett, a Republican, voted for the original SCHIP program, but voted against the expansion because it would be a step toward universal health care, he said.

"I support continuing SCHIP health insurance for all children of the working poor, but that is not what this debate is about," Bartlett said in a radio address Thursday. "Democrats are demanding that SCHIP be expanded because they want to force government-controlled, taxpayer-paid health coverage onto middle-class and upper-class families who already have private health care coverage that they themselves control."

Bartlett has thanked critics for drawing attention to his vote, saying it was the correct one.

"Only Democrat Congressional leaders could demand that a family earning $82,000 a year could qualify for their expanded SCHIP program and simultaneously call that same family rich enough to force them to pay the AMT, Alternative Minimum Tax," Bartlett said. "It just goes to show that what Democrats really want is to have the government control how to spend the money that American taxpayers earn."

Lawmakers respond to expansion of phone call eavesdropping in US

http://www.communitytimes.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=65&twindow=&mad=&sdetail=5369&wpage=1&sk eyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1049&hn=communitytimes&he=.com

A temporary wire-tapping measure that President Bush wants made permanent has some Maryland lawmakers concerned that the law is too expansive and could impinge on privacy rights. One of those is Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-2nd), who represents parts of Woodlawn, Randallstown, Granite and Reisterstown.

"I believe we must have court oversight in these situations,"

Ruppersberger, a former investigative prosecutor, said. "We must have checks and balances when it comes to protecting the civil liberties of Americans. We don't have to decide between civil liberties and national security."

Likewise, freshman Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin voted against the legislation.

Congressmen who represent the northwest area, including Ruppersberger, Elijah E. Cummings (D-7th) and John Sarbanes (D-3rd) voted against the bill, as did Cardin.

However, Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski voted for the bill, insisting in a statement that the measure provided the administration with tools to fight terrorism while protecting privacy rights. "These proposals are time limited," she said. "A more comprehensive and permanent solution is necessary."