20071011 News Clips

News Clips

Oct. 11, 2007

STATE NEWS

O'Malley crusades for session
'We have to,' governor tells reporters at budget presentation in Salisbury
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-md.omalley11oct11,0,2890816.story
Despite pushback against a special session from members of his own party, Gov. Martin O'Malley said yesterday that he intends to move forward with plans to call one for early November. O'Malley also said he could support a referendum on slot machine gambling, an idea that some lawmakers have started to discuss privately as an alternative to including slots in the governor's proposal to address the state's $1.7 billion budget shortfall.
Sen. Richard F. Colburn, an Eastern Shore Republican who was on hand for O'Malley's presentation, said he thinks the referendum is a fine idea. He said it would put an end to the feuding between Busch and Miller, a slots supporter.
"I'm certainly in favor of letting the ... people decide because it's an issue the Maryland General Assembly has been unable to decide five years in a row," Colburn said.
But Senate Minority Leader David R. Brinkley, a Frederick County Republican who has voted for slots previously but said last week that his caucus would not back a slots bill during a special session, referred yesterday to a referendum as a "bad idea." "People were elected to go down there and make some decisions and cast some votes," he said. "There is no way that a referendum question will have the minutiae that a slots bill entails." Brinkley said slots opponents generally are in favor of a referendum because "they want to delay it and pervert the message."

O'Malley invokes 'Star Trek' to describe hurdles of tax plan
http://www.examiner.com/a-983071~O_Malley_invokes__Star_Trek__to_describe_hurdles_of_tax_plan.html
Gov. Martin O'Malley is often given to soaring rhetoric about his proposals, but he went to a place where no governor had gone before: a classic "Star Trek" episode. "You remember that episode with the two guys, and one of them, the right side of his face was black and the left side of his face was white? Remember that one? And he was always babbling and chasing through a burning planet, the last reaches of hell. Another guy had the opposite side of his face black and the other side of his face was white. "And to look at them, you think, you guys have so much in common, why are you guys chasing each other to hell and back, when you have so much to agree on? I felt like I was trapped in that episode all week."
O'Malley had spent much of Monday and Tuesday trying to persuade legislators to support his deficit-cutting tax increases and slots proposal, along with a special session to pass them. Fiscally conservative Democrats don't like some of the taxes, Montgomery County delegates are not thrilled with raising income tax rates, liberals don't want to see more gambling and Republicans hate most of it.
The governor was clearly frustrated.

New police retirement plan approved by commissioners
http://www.examiner.com/a-983083~New_police_retirement_plan_approved_by_commissioners.html
Better retirement packages at nearby police agencies lure deputies away from the Carroll County Sheriff's Office, but the sheriff hopes an improved pension plan pro posed this week will stop the drain.
"We're encouraged by the commissioners' decision and are looking forward to learning more details of the plan," said Lt. Phil Kasten, spokesman for Sheriff Kenneth Tregoning. Since 2004, better pay and retirement benefits at nearby police agencies have lured 15 deputies away from Carroll. A public hearing will take place before the commissioners take a final vote on the improved retirement packages, which could go into effect early next year.

MoCo Smoking Ban Praised On Anniversary
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/annapolis/2007/10/andrews_leggett_laud_4th_birth.html?nav=rss_blog
Montgomery officials are celebrating the four-year anniversary of the county's smoking ban, saying the law hasn't harmed the restaurant business and has led to simil ar laws elsewhere. The District, and Charles, Howard and Prince George's counties in Maryland have banned smoking in restaurants since Montgomery enacted its law. In February, Maryland will ban smoking in restaurants across the state.
County Executive Isiah Leggett (D), a longtime supporter ofr the smoking ban, who is traveling in Israel, issued a statement saying he was "proud that Montgomery County has led the way in protecting the health of restaurant workers and patrons."


EDITORIALS/OP-EDS

State too dependent on federal largesse
http://www.examiner.com/a-983059~Editorial__State_too_dependent_on_federal_largesse.html
Many citizens in oil-rich countries rue the natural resource that brings them so much wealth. Oil trap s them in an economy with no alternatives in good times and bad. The government is that way for Maryland - except no one seems to think it's a problem. We should worry. It means that if government spending withers, so will the Maryland economy.
Our elected officials need to look beyond Maryland's prowess in raking in federal dollars and make the state friendly to business of all stripes. It is the best guarantee that Maryland will continue to thrive regardless of federal dollars.

No dice on slots again?
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/opinion/display_editorial.htm?StoryID=66188
Former Maryland governor Robert Ehrlich started talking about slots during his campaign for governor, and tried his level best to get the General Assembly to go along. He figured Maryland was losing money like water from a leaking pipe -- money that could be well-utilized by the state for a variety of important spending needs. Education, including the money needed to fund the state's ambitious Thornton initiative, was to reap the benefits of the hundreds of millions that legalized slot machine gambling supposedly would have generated. But when O'Malley unveiled his complete budget proposal last month, many state Republicans, including Frederick County delegation members Sen. David Brinkley and Delegate Rick Weldon, didn't buy it. In particular, they objected to the lack of spending cuts in O'Malley's plan and to his pushing for a special session to deal specifically with the budget shortfall. But what about slots? If O'Malley calls a special session, all bets are off, according to Senate Minority Leader Brinkley. Brinkley last week said his fellow Republicans will be naysayers on slots if O'Malley convenes the session. The Maryland Democratic Party didn't appreciate Brinkley's shot across O'Malley's bow.
What is this really about? Slots? The best way to fix the budget? Politics? All of the above?

O'Malley touts plan
http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071011/OPINION01/710110448
Gov. Martin O'Malley visited Salisbury University on Wednesday to present his solution to the state's structural deficit, estimated at $1.7 billion next year. His proposals are controversial at best, and here on the Shore, he could have faced a downright hostile audience. He deserves credit for his willingness to face the music and make his pitch to Lower Shore residents. As it happened, the crowd was fairly friendly. The most controversial aspect of O'Malley's plan is a carryover from Gov. Robert Ehrlich's administration --slots. Ehrlich fa iled to get a slots bill past the House of Delegates. The issue polarized the Lower Shore throughout Ehrlich's administration.
Marylanders are right to question how the state can raise revenues while reducing the tax burden on as many as 83.5 percent of the state's residents. O'Malley's plan merits in-depth study and debate. Let's be open to the possibilities, but without rushing into any fast-track approval.

Commissioners voted wisely
http://www.gazette.net/stories/101107/frededi52513_32355.shtml
The Frederick Board of County Commissioners voted down a proposal Tuesday that would have cut off county funding from any program that helped illegal immigrants, including schools. Instead, the commissioners adopted two resolutions, one each for the federal and state governments, that encourage both to take their own responsibilities more seriously as they relate to illegal immigration. Even if someone could claim to put a dollar figure on what illegal immigration costs America, any such number would be hotly contested and serve only to divide our community further. Would that not run counter to the idea that the commissioners want to ''promote harmony in our community and mutual respect for all people"?
We acknowledge that illegal immigration is a problem.
In fact, we support Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins' desire to partner with the U.S. bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to deport illegal immigrants arrested for other crimes in our county.


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Rep. Bartlett explains why he supports veto
http://www.times-news.com/opinion/local_story_283105513.html?keywor d=secondarystory
I appreciate the opportunity to respond to the Times-News Oct. 5, 2007 editorial and Oct. 4, 2007, news article about the SCHIP program. I'm proud that I voted to create the SCHIP program in 1997 because I want to provide health insurance for children of working poor families, but that is not what this debate is about.
Congressional Democrat leaders are demanding that SCHIP be expanded because it is a crucial step toward achieving their ultimate goal of "universal health care" that Americans soundly rejected. SCHIP is a bipartisan program for children of families earning up to 200 percent of the poverty level who don't have health insurance. SCHIP currently provides coverage to 6.6 million individuals.
There is time to make two changes I support to continue and improve SCHIP to make sure we provide health insurance to low-income kids first. SCHIP should continue to cover children in families with incomes at or below 200 percent of the federal po verty level. I support better outreach programs to make sure eligible children without health insurance enroll in SCHIP.
I will vote to sustain the President's veto because having the government take more taxpayers' money to encourage families who already have insurance to expand a government-run healthcare program doesn't help children who don't have insurance.
Roscoe G. Bartlett
Member of Congress Sixth District, Maryland

NATIONAL NEWS

Md. delegation backs BRAC economics
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/brac/bal-md.sbriefs11oct11,0,1622498.story
Maryland's congressional delegation defended yesterday the process that will move thousands of military jobs to the state as cost-effective and good for the country, after criticism from other states that spawned an oversight hearing.
An investigation by the Asbury Park Press in New Jersey has found that the cost of closing the fort and transferring many of its jobs to Aberdeen Proving Ground in Harford County has increased from $780 million to $1.5 billion, giving BRAC opponents there ammunition. Spokeswomen for Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, a Southern Maryland Democrat, and Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, a Baltimore Democrat, said they are confident the hearing won't change anything. "At the end of the day, it's going to make sense for these facilities to be at Aberdeen," said Stephanie Lundgren, a Hoyer spokeswoman.

Back from Iraq, students quiz Gilchrest on U.S. role
http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071011/NEWS01/71011003
The students of Fallston High school looked at their computer screens intently.
They asked questions about the war in Iraq, and then listened, hoping Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest, R-Md., would answer.
Gilchrest had just returned from almost a week in Iraq, which he visited to assess security, talk to U.S. troops and commanders and hear about progress in establishing a stable government. From his office on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, he took some tough questions in a Web chat with students at two Harford high schools, Fallston and Harford Tech.
Students said they found the congressman's responses candid and sincere and appreciated chatting via the Web with someone who had actually been to Iraq. "It is refreshing that there are people in Washington who listen to people back home," Fallston teacher Pat Whitehurst said. "Sometimes people in Congress tend to forget that."

SCHIP on the merits
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/editorial/bal-ed.schip11oct11,0,380908.story
From a Maryland perspective, the campaign to override President Bush's veto of legislation expanding access to health insurance for working-class children isn't going well. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid started out by leveling a thinly veiled threat at Republican Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett, the only Marylander to vote against the measure. But Mr. Bartlett has reveled in the attention, saying he was pleased to be identified as the only one who got it right.
Mr. Bartlett is rooting for a compromise that would help less-needy folks buy insurance with refundable tax credits. He says he wants to maintain their control over health care choices.