Dayhoff Soundtrack

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

This year National EMS week is May 20 – May 26, 2012

This year National EMS week is May 20 – May 26, 2012.

According to the website for the American College of Emergency Physicians, “National Emergency Medical Services Week brings together local communities and medical personnel to publicize safety and honor the dedication of those who provide the day-to-day lifesaving services of medicine's “front line.’”

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Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/ or http://kevindayhoffart.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.com/ Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/ or http://www.westgov.net/ = www.kevindayhoff.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net Explore Carroll: www.explorecarroll.com The Tentacle: www.thetentacle.com

Monday, May 21, 2012

Josh Matt and Tim brainstorm together on the Westminster Fire Dept website

Sunday, May 20, 2012

ML Carroll Canapés Catering serves up fare with international flair for G-8

Caterer serves up fare with international flair for G-8

ML Carroll Canapés Catering

http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=135937

May 19, 2012 By Courtney Mabeus News-Post Staff

CAMP ROUND MEADOW -- It's been a long week for ML Carroll, she said Friday night as she leaned against a wood-paneled wall in a cabin at Camp Round Meadow. A helicopter could be heard whirling off in the distance.

Leaders from the G-8 countries began arriving Friday evening for a round of talks that would last through today. Along with them came hundreds of journalists and other support staff. At least a few local residents were on hand to help keep some of the hungry travelers fed.

But Carroll, president of Canapés Catering, which is based in Frederick and also provides catering for ThorpeWood, a mountain retreat in Thurmont, didn't even initially plan to be here. Word-of-mouth, she said, provided the impetus that led her to the camp Friday… http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=135937

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Saturday, May 19, 2012

Gordon Wickes gives me a briefing on day's events as I start my shift Off Track

George Lucas Does Something Likeable For a Change: Revenge on Rich Neighbors By Peter Hall May 10, 2012

George Lucas Does Something Likeable For a Change: Revenge on Rich Neighbors By Peter Hall May 10, 2012 http://www.movies.com/movie-news/george-lucas-grady-ranch/7883

George Lucas' rich neighbors don't want him building a movie studio in their backyard. His response is the best thing he's done in years.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, for four decades Lucas has owned a large swath of land in Marin County in the North San Francisco Bay and has spent the past few years trying to transform the ranch on it into a massive, nearly 300,000 square foot, state-of-the-art movie studio complete with day care center, restaurant, gym and a 200-car garage. His neighbors, however, have rejected it every step of the way. Despite the promise of bringing $300 million worth of economic activity to the area, the already-well off neighbors are worried about years' worth of construction activity and the additional foot traffic it will bring into their neighborhood once completed.

The local homeowners association has been such a thorn in Lucas' side that he's decided to abandon the studio construction entirely, issuing this official statement about Lucasfilm's withdrawal of the new studio:... http://www.movies.com/movie-news/george-lucas-grady-ranch/7883

[...]

So what is George Lucas going to do with his property now that he's tired of his rich neighbors putting up a not-in-my-backyard stink? He wants to transform the property into low-income housing, naturally, ending their official statement with this zinger, "If everyone feels that housing is less impactful on the land, then we are hoping that people who need it the most will benefit."...

[...] More... http://www.movies.com/movie-news/george-lucas-grady-ranch/7883

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Thursday, May 17, 2012

Westminster Police Fire EMS respond motorcycle accident Uniontwn & New Windsor

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

NCF Home Improvements LLC

Nicholas C. Frock, owner

Claiborne – St. Michael’s, Talbot County Maryland

Licensed and Insured – Friendly, Local and Professional

443-786-1697

www.ncfhomeimprovements.com

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http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2012/05/ncf-home-improvements-llc.html

Labels: Bus Home Improvements, Dayhoff Frock Wright family, Dayhoff Frock Wright Nick and Jessica, MD co Talbot Co, MD co Talbot Co Claiborne, MD muni St Michaels Talbot Co, NCF Home Improvements

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TheTentacle.com The 2012 Maryland General Assembly special session meets Orwell's 1984

2012 Meets "1984"

TheTentacle.com The 2012 Maryland General Assembly special session meets Orwell's 1984

By Kevin E. Dayhoff

http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=5111

TheTentacle.com: "Amid rancorous opposition from Republicans and rising discontentment among segments of the ruling Democrats, the curtain rose Monday for an attempt at a carefully choreographed special – 431th – session of the Maryland General Assembly opera.

It was on May 4 that Gov. Martin O’Malley announced that the legislature would get together for a couple of days to raise taxes and enact more laws, rules and regulations in Maryland.

Paradoxically, Jim Joyner wrote in ExploreCarroll.com on May 6 that the Carroll County delegation observed that “the county would be better off under the state's ‘doomsday’ budget, and stands to lose some $1 million in state funding in a special session of the Maryland General Assembly…

“‘I challenge that moniker ... it's not a doomsday budget,’ said Sen. David Brinkley (R., Carroll/Frederick). ‘Frankly, the budget still goes up by $700 million, and I think the citizens are expecting us to live within our means as they are having to do so.’ ”" ... http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=5111

'via Blog this'

*****
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Update: see also

Eagle Archive: Budget and the economy were worries in 1837 ... and still are

by Kevin Dayhoff

http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2012/05/eagle-archive-budget-and-economy-were.html

This is the time of the year when many citizens turn their attention to the budget processes of Carroll County government and its eight municipalities. No matter where you live in Carroll County, money matters.

Statewide, Gov. Martin O'Malley has announced that on Monday, May 14, the General Assembly will get together for a couple of days to raise taxes and enact more laws, rules and regulations. (For more on this read, "Delegation says county stands to lose $1 million in special session," on ExploreCarroll.com.)... http://www.baltimoresun.com/explore/carroll/opinion-talk/ph-ce-eagle-archive-0513-20120509,0,1799107.story

Labels: Bus Econ, Bus Econ 2012, Dayhoff Art, Dayhoff Media Explore Carroll, Dayhoff writing essays Economy, Gov O'Malley Admin, Md Gen Assembly 2012 431, MD Gen Assembly Opera, People O'Malley-Martin

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Tuesday, May 15, 2012

MRC Alert Special: Latest Notable Quotables

Monday May 14, 2012

MRC Alert Special: Latest Notable Quotables

    As a bonus for CyberAlert subscribers, below is the text of the May 14 super-sized edition of Notable Quotables, the MRC's bi-weekly compilation of the latest outrageous, sometimes humorous, quotes in the liberal media. It was compiled by the MRC's Rich Noyes.

    Highlights from this issue include the media "getting chills" upon hearing President Obama utter the "historic words" that he's flip-flopped in favor of gay "marriage," even as NBC's Savannah Guthrie dares to state the obvious, that everyone in "the media seem to uniformly support same-sex marriage."

    Also, reporters blame conservatives for the defeat of Indiana Republican Senator Richard Lugar in a primary, with CBS's Bob Schieffer suggesting the GOP "has moved too far right for its own good," while NBC's Brian Williams helps the Obama campaign spike the football one year after the death of Osama bin Laden, admiring the "even keel" Obama kept while at the White House Correspondents Dinner amid fears that a botched mission would be "a Waterloo" for his presidency. And, ABC's Diane Sawyer does a little pro-Obama campaign work, too, oozing over the pretentious poetry Obama wrote to a girlfriend decades ago: "Oh, we were all so romantic when we were young."

    To read it online, posted with five videos with a matching MP3 audio: http://www.mrc.org/notable-quotables/media-uniformly-back-obama-gay-marriage-getting-chills-upon-hearing-obamas-histori

    Quotes marked with [VIDEO] have an accompanying video file that you can access by visiting the online version.

    The four-page, fully-formatted, full-color PDF good for printing:http://www.mrc.org/sites/default/files/documents/May142012.pdf

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NewsBusted: The green light for conservative laughter!

Check out the MRC's two-minute long twice a week comedy video show where we make fun of the liberal media and liberal politicians.

Two new episodes were posted last week and a fresh one will go up tomorrow (Tuesday) morning. You can watch the latest episode on this page where you can also sign up for an e-mail alert which will deliver links to new episodes direct to your in-box: https://app.e2ma.net/app/view:Join/signupId:1361583/acctId:1358864

Enjoy all the episodes on the MRC's own MRCTV: http://mrctv.org/channels/newsbusted
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    Now the quotes from recent weeks, as featured in the May 14 Notable Quotables, Vol. 25; No. 10:

"Getting Chills" Upon Hearing Obama's "Historic Words"

[VIDEO] Co-host George Stephanopoulos: "What a watershed moment. You know, whatever people think about this issue, and we know it's controversial, there's no denying when a President speaks out for the first time like that, it is history."
Co-host Robin Roberts: "And let me tell you, George, I'm getting chills again. Because when you sit in that room and you hear him say those historic words — it was not lost on anyone that was in the room."
— ABC's Good Morning America, May 10.

Too Obvious to Deny: Media "Uniformly" Back Obama on Gay Marriage

"So many people in the media seem to uniformly support same-sex marriage. Do you think that this dialogue we're having nationally doesn't adequately recognize that for many people, this is an issue that they struggle with and don't believe in?"
— Savannah Guthrie on NBC's Today, May 10.

"I think that the media is as divided on this issue as the Obama family — which is to say not at all. And so he's never going to get negative coverage for this....When you have almost the entire media establishment on your side on an issue in a presidential campaign, it's very hard to lose politically."
— Mark Halperin on MSNBC's Morning Joe, May 10.

Watch Out for Evil "Wolves... Giggling With Delight"

[VIDEO] "It is a pretty profound statement by our President. I don't want to get past that too quickly. That's the good news for everybody in the country in terms of freedom and the long march towards liberalism in the country.... But there has always been another army out there that feeds on those who resent it. That army has been out there during Jim Crow. It was out there during abolition, during suffrage. There's always an army that feeds on change and feeds against it — the wolves, and they're being released right now and they're probably giggling with delight at how they're going to use this."
— Chris Matthews during MSNBC live coverage during the 3pm hour, May 9, shortly after ABC released clips of Obama's statement on same-sex marriage.

The "Too Far Right" GOP vs. "Voice of Bipartisanship"

"Do you think that the Republican Party has moved too far right for its own good? I mean, when you see the situation that's happened out in Indiana, where Richard Lugar, who's probably passed more significant legislation than any single member of the Senate right now, I would say — that I can think of — he might actually get beat in the primary because they think he's not conservative enough."
— Bob Schieffer to Peggy Noonan on CBS's Face the Nation, May 6.

Anchor Erin Burnett: "This is pretty tragic that we have gotten to this point where working together is a negative thing...."
CNN Contributor John Avlon: "If you are frustrated with the way Washington isn't working, with the division and dysfunction, this primary is an important reason why. Right now reaching across the aisle to try to solve a problem is a hanging offense in the Republican Party primaries."
— From CNN's Erin Burnett OutFront, May 8.

Loving Lugar's "Prescient" Anti-Conservative Manifesto

"Indiana Sen. Dick Lugar did not go quietly, after losing his primary contest Tuesday in Indiana to a Tea Party-backed challenger, Richard Mourdock. And if there is one thing the American people need to read today, it is his farewell missive, which may prove to be as prescient and long lasting as Dwight Eisenhower's 1961 exit speech warning of the coming military industrial complex."
— Time magazine White House correspondent Michael Scherer in a May 9 post for the magazine's "Swampland" blog.

"Not only was it a manifesto, it was an incredibly eloquent manifesto. There have been a number of people who've been chased out of the party now, and none have either had the courage or the position [of Lugar]."
— Scherer on MSNBC's Daily Rundown, May 10.

"Diverse" Democrats vs. "Conservative White Guys"

"Do you have a problem with being inclusive, because most people do look at Republicans, going ‘They're a conservative bunch of white guys who want to protect Big Oil.' And now you're even hearing Republicans saying, ‘It's not big enough. We haven't opened up the tent door.'...It's not as diverse as the Democratic Party. You'd concede that."
— Host Candy Crowley to former presidential candidate Newt Gingrich on CNN's State of the Union, May 6.

Can We Blame Obama's Woes on the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy?

"We've talked before. I've asked you about the — the fact that Washington doesn't work very well right now, and hasn't for now a number of years that coincides with — Obama-Biden being in the White House. And you've been very critical of Republicans. Do you think that there is a modern right-wing conspiracy that has aligned against this President?"
— Moderator David Gregory to Vice President Biden on NBC's Meet the Press, May 6.

CBS Entranced by Liberal Plea for More Massive Spending

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman: "If we could get our politicians to move and do the right thing, we could be out of this [bad economy] very fast....The right thing is, actually, to spend more. Right now, you know, we have a long-term budget problem, but now is not the time to be slashing. Now is not the time to be laying off school teachers...."
Co-host Gayle King: "But you say that it could take seven years if we keep going the way we're going. And if we follow your advice, it would take-?"
Krugman: "Eighteen months, two years."
King: "So why aren't people listening to you, Paul Krugman? I love that President Obama, in Rolling Stone — did you see that? — he called you one of the smartest economic reporters?...I have a feeling, Paul Krugman, they might take your call if you called up the White House and said, hey, guys, I've got an idea."
— CBS This Morning, April 30.

Which Way Is It?

"Economy Continues on Path of Growth"
"Americans have ratcheted up their spending on cars, clothes and furniture, new figures show, and their fortitude at the cash register is energizing the recovery."
— Headline and lead sentence of a front-page Washington Post story by Peter Whoriskey, April 28.

vs.

"Economic Growth Slows Unexpectedly to 2.2%"
"The economic recovery slowed more than expected early this year, raising fears of a spring slowdown for the third year in a row and giving Republicans a fresh opportunity to criticize President Obama's policies."
— Headline and lead sentence of a "Business Day" section item by Shaila Dewan in the New York Times, same day.

Awed by Obama's "Even Keel" Amid Fears of a "Waterloo"

[VIDEO] "Keeping this secret also meant going on about the business of the presidency. Touring that awful storm damage in Alabama, while knowing at that very moment U.S. Navy SEALs were already on the move halfway around the world. (to Obama) You had to go to Tuscaloosa. You had to go have fun at the Correspondents' Dinner. Seth Meyers makes a joke about Osama Bin Laden. How do you keep an even keel? Even when we look back on the videotape of that night, there's no real depiction that there's something afoot."...
"If this had failed in spectacular fashion, it would have blown up your presidency, I think, by all estimates. It would have been your Waterloo and perhaps your Watergate, consumed with hearings and inquiries. How thick did the specter of Jimmy Carter, Desert One hang in the air here?"
— Brian Williams to President Obama during his May 2 Rock Center special on the first anniversary of the Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

A Campaign Between "Gordon Gekko" and "Henry V"

"Well, that's great stuff. I was so proud of the President there, I must say. This has nothing to do with partisanship. This is a commander-in-chief meeting with the troops, as it was right out of Henry V, actually, a touch of Barry in this case in the night for those soldiers risking their lives over there....I was so proud of him there, because I imagine being a soldier over there, this is what you want to hear, that the troops are backed up by the people at home, and there you had your commander-in-chief there with you personally. It's great stuff."
— Host Chris Matthews on MSNBC's Hardball, May 1, after live coverage of Obama's speech to troops in Afghanistan.

The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza: "He is pitching himself as a guy who has spent his life fixing the problem, which is turning things around. You can agree or disagree with this concept, but turning things around: the Salt Lake City Olympics; companies with Bain he would put in there; he would put Massachusetts in there, though many people would disagree. Turning things around, that he is a fix-it artist."
Host Chris Matthews: "Chris, how's that different than Gordon Gekko in Wall Street, greed is good?"
— MSNBC's Hardball, May 7.

Don't Pick on Jimmy

Host Ed Schultz: "I think he [Mitt Romney] owes Jimmy Carter an apology. I mean, Jimmy Carter put lives on the line and made a tough call....It's low rent, it's a cheap shot...."
MSNBC contributor Richard Wolffe: "Here's a President who had a ten times better job record than President Bush did. He was responsible for Camp David. That's not a bad record for anyone, certainly for someone who's had one term as a Massachusetts governor. It's time to pay a little bit more respect than that."
— MSNBC's The Ed Show, April 30, talking about Romney's statement that "even Jimmy Carter" would have ordered last year's raid on bin Laden.

How Low Will MSNBC Stoop?

"We know that Ann Romney has herself had some suffering in the form of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). She's also suffered with breast cancer. Do you think that he's intentionally using her to close the gender gap?"
— MSNBC's Martin Bashir, April 25.

"Toxic" Fox News Exploiting America's "Suckers"

"At least for Americans — Fox News is Murdoch's most toxic legacy....I doubt that people at Fox News really believe their programming is ‘fair and balanced' — that's just a slogan for the suckers....We [other news organizations] try to live by a code, a discipline, that tells us to set aside our personal biases, to test not only facts but the way they add up, to seek out the dissenters and let them make their best case, to show our work. We write unsparing articles about public figures of every stripe — even, sometimes, about ourselves. When we screw up — and we do — we are obliged to own up to our mistakes and correct them. Fox does not live by that code."
— Former New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller in a May 6 column.

Oozing Over "So Romantic" Obama's Pretentious Poetry

[VIDEO] "One of the perils of being President: Everything you ever wrote will become public. And today, Barack Obama, age 22 — long before he met Michelle — new letters and diary entries revealed in Vanity Fair from a biography out soon....The future president writes adoringly about life in New York. Quote, ‘Moments trip gently along over here. Snow caps the bushes in unexpected ways. Birds shoot and spin like balls of sound. My feet hum over the dry walks.' Oh, we were all so romantic when we were young."
— Diane Sawyer on World News, May 2.

Bizarre Bashir: Plan to Cut Spending Makes Romney a European Socialist?

"Now we know that Mitt Romney loves to paint the President as a European-style socialist, which is incredible. And he weighed in today....How does Romney do that when he knows that it's him who supports rank austerity measures? He supports Paul Ryan's budget. He wants to go cut, cut, cut. It's not [the] President, it's him. He's the European socialist."
— Host Martin Bashir on MSNBC's Martin Bashir, May 7.

Scolding a Play "Straight Out of a Far-Right Handbook"

[VIDEO] "Ever since that failure [of the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion], exploiting anti-communist fears to portray Castro as a monstrous boogeyman has been a cottage industry in Florida and Washington. While many have certainly assailed Fidel and still do for very legitimate reasons, others simply hate that he overthrew their dictator, Fulgencio Batista, whose corrupt government helped enriched privileged Cubans and American interests at the expense of the country's poorest people....Whipping up a frenzy over slights real and imagined is a play straight out of a far-right handbook, and Florida's electoral cloud has often given Fidel's critics far more leverage than their arguments merit."
— HBO Real Sports host Bryant Gumbel, April 17, talking about the uproar over Florida Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen telling Time magazine "I love Fidel Castro," a comment for which Guillen later apologized.

Family Turned Out Fine, Except for Brother Who "Became a Republican"

MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski: "It happened overnight, and all of a sudden we were going to the White House all the time and traveling around the world...."
Host David Letterman: "What about the brothers? How did they fit into this? Did they take it in the stride?"
Brzezinski: "Well, one became a Republican, so I don't think he turned out so well."
— Brzezinski on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman, May 8, talking about her childhood after her father, Zbignew Brzezinski, became President Carter's National Security Advisor in 1977.

As America Deteriorates, Celebrities Like Obama "More and More"

"I've grown to like him more and more. You know, I was always — I've just been a fan of his, if you could say that about a President. So that's the other kind of good part of it, is you know, getting to like him more and more."
— Saturday Night Live's Obama impersonator Fred Armisen on NBC's Meet the Press "Press Pass" segment, April 29.

Mitt Just a Puppet of "Women Hating Tea Baggers"

"If ROMNEY gets elected I don't know if i can breathe same air as Him & his Right Wing Racist Homophobic Women Hating Tea Bagger Masters"
— Actress/singer Cher in a May 8 Twitter posting that was later deleted (grammar and punctuation as in the original).

PUBLISHER: L. Brent Bozell III
EDITORS: Brent H. Baker, Rich Noyes, Tim Graham
DEPUTY RESEARCH DIRECTOR: Geoffrey Dickens
TIMESWATCH: Clay Waters
NEWS ANALYSTS: Scott Whitlock, Brad Wilmouth, Matthew Balan, Kyle Drennen and Matt Hadro
RESEARCH ASSOCIATE: Michelle Humphrey
INTERNS: Jeffrey Meyer, Josh St. Louis and Lillian Smith

    END Reprint of the May 14 Notable Quotables

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Monday, May 14, 2012

Maryland Reporter:Monday's roundup of state news - Special session starts today amid protests

Monday's roundup of state news

It's here: The special session has arrived, bringing with it talks of tax hikes on the wealthiest Marylanders, pushback from conservatives and attempts to throw in other legislation, including a non-discrimination bill targeting pit bulls; restaurants can soon allow patrons to bring their own wine; Del. Jacobs outlines opposition to gay marriage law, while U.S. Rep. Hoyer says he'll fight to keep law; President Obama to hold two fundraisers in Baltimore; Henson found guilty on one count; many "temporary" Montgomery laws become permanent; and Carroll commissioner sends out prayer service invites to county employees.

Maryland Reporter:Monday's roundup of state news - Special session starts today amid protests
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Peter Franchot's commentary on the Special Taxing Session

Today, the Maryland General Assembly will reconvene in a special session, and is expected to pass a Fiscal Year 2013 budget by raising income taxes on middle-class families throughout the State. I have high personal regard for my former colleagues in the legislature, and I sincerely appreciate their desire to sustain our state’s longstanding commitment to priorities such as education and health care. As Maryland’s Chief Fiscal Officer, however, I respectfully believe this is simply the wrong approach at the wrong time, for the following reasons.

First and foremost, Marylanders are still struggling to balance their personal household budgets, provide for their families and build a secure future in an economy that remains exceedingly fragile, and which has yet to truly recover from our nation’s financial crisis.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, for example, Maryland ranked 47th in the nation in average private sector weekly earnings during that period, and was just one of nine states to experience a decline. Finally, despite recent report of job growth, we must still create nearly 150,000 additional jobs in Maryland just to return to pre-recessionary levels. While we can share optimism that Maryland’s job figures will continue to trend in the right direction, so too must we acknowledge that far too many people remain unemployed or underemployed, have settled for lower-paying jobs and are therefore taking home smaller paychecks.

At the same time, Marylanders have seen the value of their homes – for many, their primary source of personal equity and mobility – continue to decline. According to the Maryland Association of Realtors, the median price of existing homes in this state has fallen from $323,838 to $225,601 – a drop of about 30 percent.

None of this bodes well for an economy that is powered by consumer activity. Needless to say, people who have lost jobs, are underwater on their mortgages or feel as if they are barely making ends meet simply will not be putting money back into the Maryland economy. It should also go without saying that the worst thing we can do to a struggling, consumer-powered economy is dig deeper into the pockets of consumers who are already strained financially. We cannot afford to jeopardize the long-term health of our economy for the sake of a questionable, short-term budget fix.

Second, this will serve as merely the latest in a long and seemingly endless line of changes to the State of Maryland’s tax code. Over the past five years, Marylanders have seen an increase in the State’s personal income tax rate, a reduction in the amount of personal exemptions for individual filers, an 18 percent increase of the corporate income tax rate, a 20 percent increase to the motor vehicle excise tax, a 20 percent increase to the sales tax, a 50 percent increase of the sales tax on alcohol beverages, the adoption and subsequent repeal of a computer services tax, the adoption and sunset of a special tax bracket on high income earners, and the adoption and sunset of an unprecedented set of new filing guidelines for Maryland corporations.

In my travels throughout the State, the one thing I hear above all else is a desire for a stable tax climate – one that allows both businesses and families to budget responsibly and to engage in sound, long-term financial planning. By comparison, the process by which we adopt changes to our tax laws appears, far too often, to be arbitrary, improperly vetted and highly politicized. This does little to reinforce Maryland’s hard-earned reputation as a desirable place to live and conduct business, and it does even less to inspire public confidence in our state government.

My final objection to this strategy of resolving our fiscal challenges through tax increases – as well as through slots, which I understand could be the topic of yet another special session – is that it simply won’t work. Most will recall that the legislature convened for a special session in 2007. That special session led to the largest tax increase in history, which was intended to resolve our state’s structural budget deficit, and the adoption of a statewide slots program that was designed to generate $600 million for education.

As we all know, neither of those outcomes occurred. We still have a structural budget deficit and, more than three years after slots were legalized in Maryland, we have still spent far more taxpayer dollars to buy the slot machines than we’ve actually raised for our public schools. I simply do not believe it would be wise to repeat history and expect a different outcome this time around.

In closing, I would respectfully ask that in the future, you expect better from your state government. I would ask that you reject this patently false choice between destructive tax increases and thoughtless cuts to education, health care and public safety.

Instead, I would ask that you demand that our state government follow the lead of working families throughout Maryland by living within its means. We must seize this opportunity to deliver a better product to the taxpayers of Maryland for less money through technology, sensible priorities, innovative management and a renewed commitment to old-fashioned customer service. We must also remember that Maryland’s fiscal well-being depends entirely on the strength of our economy, and that a true economic recovery cannot be achieved through state government spending, but rather, through meaningful private sector growth.

While I do not believe this special session will yield a positive outcome for the taxpayers of Maryland, I do believe that our best days are still ahead of us. It remains an extraordinary privilege to serve as your Comptroller, and I look forward to working with you in the coming years to build a truly prosperous state and a government that is truly worthy of the people we serve.
Peter

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Helt retains seat, Everich and King added to Mount Airy council

Helt retains seat, Everich and King added to Mount Airy council

Mount Airy residents reaffirmed one sitting Town Council member to new term, added one previous member to return to the group, and also added a new face to the council in the town's May 7 election.

In the process, voters filled a seat vacated by a member who declined to run, and ousted a 24-year veteran of the council.

Three seats on the five-member council were up for grabs. The top vote-getter was incumbent Council President Peter Helt, who garnered 645 votes... http://www.baltimoresun.com/explore/carroll/news/ph-ce-mount-airy-elect-0513-20120510,0,3770997.story

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Ire over income tax plan to get louder Monday

By Michael Dresser and Annie Linskey, The Baltimore Sun

4:53 p.m. EDT, May 13, 2012

A Maryland family making more than $175,000 will pay at least $254 more in income taxes this year under a revenue-raising plan theMaryland General Assembly is expected to take up when it convenes for special session on Monday.

The same family of joint tax filers with two children reporting more than $1.1 million in gross income would pay an extra $3,269 — a larger hit to the very rich.

The tax proposal would target the state's more affluent — pleasing liberals because it spares everyone in the lowest tax brackets and ensures that education and other programs won't be cut. Conservatives, however, warn it would turn away wealthy residents and hurt small businesses... http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/breaking/bs-md-session-taxes-20120510,0,185259,full.story

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Sunday, May 13, 2012

Eagle Archive: Budget and the economy were worries in 1837 ... and still are

by Kevin Dayhoff

This is the time of the year when many citizens turn their attention to the budget processes of Carroll County government and its eight municipalities. No matter where you live in Carroll County, money matters.

Statewide, Gov.Martin O'Malleyhas announced that on Monday, May 14, the General Assembly will get together for a couple of days to raise taxes and enact more laws, rules and regulations. (For more on this read, "Delegation says county stands to lose $1 million in special session," on ExploreCarroll.com.)... http://www.baltimoresun.com/explore/carroll/opinion-talk/ph-ce-eagle-archive-0513-20120509,0,1799107.story

Hagerstown Herald-Mail: Thurmont preparing, cautiously, for the world by Andrew Schotz

Thurmont preparing, cautiously, for the world By ANDREW SCHOTZ http://www.herald-mail.com/news/hm-thurmont-preparing-cautiously-for-the-world-20120512,0,396669.story

May 12, 2012 Main Street of the town of Thurmont, Md. will be gearing up for the G-8 Summit that will be held May 18th and 19th.

When world leaders convene this week at Camp David for the G-8 Summit, Thurmont plans to be ready.

Mayor Martin Burns said shop windows and sidewalks will be clean and the grass in the park will be mowed… http://www.herald-mail.com/news/hm-thurmont-preparing-cautiously-for-the-world-20120512,0,396669.story

Businesses will brace for a flood of visitors, including many American and foreign journalists covering the G-8, or Group of Eight. The Group of Eight nations are the United States, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, France and the United Kingdom.

A White House statement said the summit, to be held on Friday and Saturday, “will address a broad range of economic, political and security issues.”

One of the biggest unknowns is the protests. http://www.herald-mail.com/news/hm-thurmont-preparing-cautiously-for-the-world-20120512,0,396669.story

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Saturday, May 12, 2012

That's cool. Would. Be good to not be bothered for a little bit

http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2012/05/chesapeake-bay-writers-thinking-chair.html

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