For the third time this fiscal year (which only started July 1st, so we're 4 1/2 months in), the state of Maryland has been forced to make budget cuts. This $360 million in budget actions brings the total to over $1 billion.

Doing his best to make lemonade out of the lemons he grew, Governor Martin O'Malley related, in part:

“These have not been easy decisions, but they have been necessary decisions to balance our State’s budget, and get our state through this recession more quickly and stronger than other states,” said Governor O’Malley.  “Our citizens expect and deserve a government that works, and in spite of the most severe recession in a generation we’ve been working to reform our State government to make more efficient and effective.”

In the past three years, the O’Malley-Brown Administration has implemented $4.6 billion in budget cuts and spending reductions, including the elimination of more than 3,300 state positions.

Governor O’Malley once again held public education harmless in this round of budget cuts, noting Maryland’s nationally ranked number one public schools and the need to invest in our schools even in difficult times.  General Fund support for K-12 education in FY2010 will exceed FY07 spending by almost $700 million. 

Of the FY2010 budget actions, six of every ten dollars have come from reforming state agencies.  Among today reductions were efforts to continue reforming our State government to make it more efficient and effective, including the suspension of non-essential vehicle purchases and reducing out-of-state travel for state employees.  In addition, the State Highway Administration will reduce operating hours for five of 12 SHA-operated rest areas.  An additional rest area will close during the winter months, and the rest area at US 219 at Keyser’s Ridge will close permanently.

Additionally, Governor O’Malley introduced $11 million in savings from efforts to ensure that only people who are eligible for Medicaid receive Medicaid services, and by scaling back unnecessary services; $500,000 in savings from negotiating lower prices with venders; and $3 million in savings from streamlining operations and consolidating functions across our government.

Can I add something here, Governor O'Malley? Unlike the federal budget which is created by Congress, YOU MAKE THE STATE BUDGET! So these cuts are in the budget because you overestimated the revenue you would get and/or didn't have the will to look people in the eye and tell them "no".

Just like Wicomico County's budget, you left education as the sacred cow and contrived a number of ways to rob several existing funds (many of which seem to be slush funds for some pet purpose or another) or look to Uncle Sam (maybe I should say Uncle Barack) in order to bail you out. You place a lot of faith in Fedzilla to plug in the holes your cuts are creating.

Yet you have the audacity to smugly claim that your General Fund spending is now $500 million less than three years ago - and that you've made $4.6 billion in cuts over that timespan - but education spending is up $700 million. Well, perhaps if you'd get the budget right the first time we wouldn't have these problems. It's bad enough you jacked everyone's taxes up yet still can't figure this out on your third try.

Adding a voice of sanity is GOP challenger Larry Hogan:

Today, Martin O’Malley and the Board of Public Works cut $300 million more out of the State Budget. The cuts reduce millions in spending already committed for college financial aid, Medicaid funding, and state mental health programs. The cuts also may violate state law regarding the amount of appropriated funding that can be taken back by the state.

“Martin O’Malley continues his assault on the citizens of Maryland while exposing to all that he is unable to put Maryland's fiscal house in order. Twice now, he has made significant cuts to the state's Medicaid program after significantly increasing it less than a year ago. And once again he has chosen to put the burden of his overspending on state employees. This leadership does not work for Maryland citizens," Hogan said.

Hogan continued, "Here's what the citizens of Maryland have learned from Martin O'Malley over the last three years: he cannot be trusted to lead our state back to prosperity; his overspending and 'tax everything' policies have severely damaged our state's economy and revenues; and he has no problem attacking the state's most vulnerable."

According to Maryland’s Department of Legislative Services, the fiscal year 2010 budget is currently $32.3 billion; the final budget of the Ehrlich administration was $29 billion – an increase of nearly $3.3 billion in new spending.

“Martin O’Malley has spent Maryland into a one billion dollar hole,” said Hogan. “And his fiscal policies have led to the highest unemployment rate in a generation by attacking the job creators of the state with more and more taxes. It's time to change Maryland for the better by putting Martin O'Malley in the unemployment line in 2010. Only then can we put Maryland back on the right fiscal track.”

If O'Malley gets a second term and the economy somehow picks up, it's a safe bet to assume that he'll raise taxes in order to "make up" for all the spending cuts he's had to provide. Or, all those items this budget transfers to the federal ledger will stay there until fiscal responsibility returns to Washington and transfer payments to states are reduced. Naturally, O'Malley would then blame Republicans for that occurrence because the prospects for fiscal sanity inside the Beltway over the next couple years are dim at best.

However, if Larry Hogan gets in that would provide the opportunity (although he would have to do so with lightning speed, starting the day after the election) to reevaluate every line-item in the state budget. It may take the first year to pare the budget down to a more appropriate level - if you assume a reasonable 3% per year growth from the FY07 figure provided, the FY12 budget would work out to $31.58 billion - but once that's done, budget number two can work from a standpoint of reducing the tax burden on Maryland residents and employers. Of course, the dirty little secret Democrats won't admit is that cutting taxes would increase revenue, so if you combine that with prudent spending habits Maryland can weather the next storm more easily.

It would be a vast improvement from the O'Malley crisis management method being employed now.

Note to fellow Maryland Red County readers: As a member of Wicomico County's Central Committee I attended the recent state convention where Audrey Scott was installed as the new party chairman - my pictorial coverage may be found here.

I came across an interesting article in yesterday's Washington Post regarding some of the media buys which have occurred over the last couple days.

The piece by Aaron C. Davis and Ben Pershing features a number of House Democrats who voted on both sides of the bill. Obviously groups like Health Care for America Now and AFSCME are giving "attaboys" to those who voted yes and condemning those who properly voted no, with notable exceptions. Apparently Frank Kratovil is being spared their wrath - for the moment, anyway.

To me, though, this is the money part of the article, part of which quotes our plurality Congressman:

Rep. Frank M. Kratovil Jr. (Md.), who was one of 39 Democrats on the other side of Saturday's vote, was spared in initial ads and protests. But he said that he expects criticism for his no vote to carry into the 2010 election.

"Some on the Democratic side think I should have blindly voted for it because it was a priority of the leadership, and some on the other side say don't vote for it regardless of what's in it," Kratovil said in an interview Monday, noting that his vote on the final legislation could still be in play.

The freshman, among those who swelled the party's majority in the House, initially voted against President Obama's stimulus bill this year. Over the summer, he voted for climate-change legislation. Kratovil said he thinks his record adds up to a powerful case for independents -- and maybe some Republicans in his Eastern Shore district-- that he can base decisions on policy and not politics.

"I think I've demonstrated . . . that I won't let pressure force me to go one way or another," he said. (Emphasis mine.)

So his vote can still be in play, huh? Remember, folks, it's all but certain that if the House bill survives in the Senate (or if a companion Senate bill passes) he's going to have to vote on this again. Nor should we forget that, to Frank, "universal health care - means universal." At least that's what he campaigned on in 2008; then again, at the time he didn't have a voting record to dissect.

Those who congratulated Frank for his wise vote against Pelosicare (probably knowing they had a vote or two to spare) might not be so pleased with him when he turns around again and votes for a "compromise" House-Senate bill. It's been hard to figure out just what core principles Frank has and this subject muddies the waters even further.

Fresh off GOP gubernatorial election upsets in New Jersey and Virginia, is there hope for a Republican comeback in Maryland?

According to a recent poll, trouble may be brewing for Governor O'Malley in next year's election. The poll, conducted by the nonpartisan Clarus Research Group, interviewed 637 voters in Maryland between October 30 and November 2, 2009.  Perhaps the most troubling sign for Maryland Governor O'Malley was that 48% of voters polled say would they would prefer someone new to win and only 39% say they want to see Gov. O'Malley re-elected.

The front runner for the Republicans would be former Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich.  Even though Ehrlich has not committed to running, Clarus included a hypothetical 2010 rematch in their poll with O'Malley leading his former Republican rival by a 47-40 percent margin.

The results of the poll highlighted that O'Malley has a significant advantage over Ehrlich among women and African Americans voters. During the 2006 election, O'Malley defeated incumbent Ehrlich with a nearly 20 point advantage with women voters and a 60 point advantage with African Americans.

From watching Tuesday’s election returns from Virginia and New Jersey, we can see that even in blue states liberalism is failing. Obama talks a great game, and says the right things – such as promoting health care reform through “choice and competition,” – but is unable to produce legislation that matches the rhetoric. And people are wise to the double talk now. We the people know better, and we watch what the politicians do rather than listening to what they say.

Could anyone imagine seeing a Republican take the governorship of deep blue New Jersey? Go back one year and remember how dominant Obama was in Jersey, easily winning the Democrat stronghold, and ask that question again. It is likely that anyone forecasting a Republican taking the governorship just one year later would have been ridiculed and mocked until he moved to a remote island where no-one has televisions, newspapers or internet access. It just seemed impossible. And yet, here we are today, watching more than 50 percent of New Jersey voters reject Jon Corzine and his failed liberal policies.

Watching these two states that went for Obama in ‘08 do such an about face in this short a time should give every Republican in Maryland cause for optimism. If a state like Jersey can elect a Republican to the governorship, and Virginia can support the Republican by a ridiculously large margin of 18 percent, why should we in Maryland not take that as a sign that the Democrats are more vulnerable than ever and move in to capitalize on that vulnerability. As much as Obama has failed on the national stage, Martin O’Malley has failed the State on every level. He promised lower energy costs, but BG&E customers, who thought they had it bad before, saw their rates skyrocket by 85 percent under Martin O! And while talking about the need to lower energy costs for all Marylanders, O’Malley has fought for “Global warming” legislation that will raise energy costs across the board.

One example of this is the $140 million energy tax, which has been passed along straight to Maryland residents. Add in his opposition to allowing a merger between EDF and Constellation to enable the construction of a new nuclear reactor at Calvert Cliffs, and O’Malley has fought a project necessary just to keep Maryland’s electrical production at current levels. Preventing the production of new energy is not the way to bring costs down.

In addition to his failed energy policy, O’Malley presided over the largest tax increase in Maryland’s history, which had to be conducted in a special session to avoid those pesky constraints imposed on the legislature during the General Assembly. This has helped Maryland ascend to the dubious honor of having the fourth highest tax burden (state and local) in the entire nation. Looking at 2006 data, which precedes the O’Malley tax hikes, Maryland’s individual income tax collections were already the second highest in the nation. All of this does not bode well for the governor of a state neighboring Virginia, which saw the Republican storm into office despite having lower taxes than Maryland..

Given the political winds and the fierce opposition to out of control taxation, government spending and government growth, the Maryland Republican Party is faced with a very favorable environment in 2010. It is now up to the party to turn that advantage into results by giving voters a solid, concrete message to get behind, closing the registration gap (Maryland has approximately one million more registered Democrats than Republicans) and then making sure those Republican voters turn out in force. The opportunity is there, will Maryland seize it?

Late this afternoon Mike Pappas dropped his nearly yearlong bid to become Maryland's next Governor and threw his support behind fellow Republican Larry Hogan.

In his announcement, Pappas noted, "(a)fter considering all the challenges ahead and my personal requirements at home and in my law practice, I have determined that the best interest of my family and business requires that I stop my run for Governor effective immediately." He cited both family reasons and the need to attend to clients of his legal practice as the two key reasons for withdrawing.

Pappas concluded that:

Some may question the timing of this decision given the tremendous victories Republicans won in elections this week.  However, those victories exemplify the kind of results we can achieve as Republicans with good candidates.  Although I believe that I personally make an excellent candidate, the realities of a State-wide race require more time than I can provide at this time, and I will not run such a race at anything less than 100%. 

Moreover, I have spent a considerable amount of time getting to know Larry Hogan since he entered the Governor’s race this Summer.  Larry and I share many of the same beliefs and ideas on how to rescue Maryland from the devastation caused by the failed policies of the Democrats in Annapolis.  Larry brings a great perspective to the race and has the qualities and resources necessary to mount a successful run for Governor.  With my withdrawal, Larry can focus his efforts on winning the general election and build on the momentum that started this week.

Therefore, I am proud to also announce that I am endorsing Larry Hogan for Governor in 2010 and am asking all of my supporters and members of Team Pappas to also support Larry in every way that they can.  I will be working hard for Larry, and I hope you all will do the same. 

I am deeply grateful to every person that joined our team, attended our events, contributed to the campaign, offered a word of encouragement, and challenged me to hold myself to a higher standard as a candidate and a citizen.

As for Hogan, he was pleased to gain the backing of Pappas.

I am honored to have the support of Mike Pappas. As the only candidate for Governor over the last ten months, Mike and his team have worked tirelessly building support across the state. Mike has been a consistent voice and leader for Maryland Republicans. He’s got a great future in politics,” said Hogan. “Mike and I both want to see common sense and fiscal responsibility return to Annapolis. I’m excited to have the Pappas team join my campaign.”

“Governor O'Malley's failed record of lost jobs, higher spending, record tax increases, and broken promises is unacceptable. Maryland families deserve better. I look forward to working with Mike and his outstanding team to give the people of Maryland a real choice for change in November 2010.

So the GOP field is cleared as Pappas is the second wouldbe Republican candidate for Governor to drop out. Charles Lollar of Calvert County had been rumored to throw his hat into the ring, but residency issues interfered with his plans. Instead Lollar is in the race against Steny Hoyer in the Fifth Congressional District.

Lollar and Pappas may not be the only GOP dropouts, though. Hogan has indicated his desire to step aside should former governor Bob Ehrlich decide to make another run at the state's top spot, but Ehrlich has been coy about announcing his intentions. It could be next year before Ehrlich reveals his hand, a wait which distresses some state Republicans (including myself.)

But at least until Ehrlich makes his decision, Hogan can now train his guns on incumbent governor Martin O'Malley and O'Malley has given him plenty to criticize as the state's budgetary woes continue despite plenty of stimulus assistance from Democratic partymate President Barack Obama. With Chris Christie defeating a governor who couldn't keep his promises just up the coast in New Jersey, Maryland Republicans can hope that lightning strikes again in what's presumably the bluest of states outside Massachusetts.

This evening Maryland First Vice-Chair Chris Cavey announced he was dropping out of the race to succeed Dr. Jim Pelura as state party chairman:

Over the past month I have traveled across Maryland speaking to Central Committees and Republican activists about the potential our party has in 2010.  Most folks agree we have an opportunity to make gains electing Republicans and would be negligent to miss our chance by not being unified as a Party.

Last evening I listened as a group of Committee members worked through the trials and tribulations of a new voting method to be considered for the upcoming convention.  It was a wonderful example of what party members should be doing, problem solving, and that made me think about the Chairman’s race.

Roughly fifty-three weeks from today is the 2010 General Election, we need to be unified, in full blown campaign mode and not bickering about the past.   The current race for Chairman is very close and I fear the effects of a close race will only further serve to divide us as a party.

Effective today I am withdrawing from the MDGOP Chairman’s race.  Party unity and winning elections in 2010 is important.  I will pledge to each of you to dedicate my time and effort by helping the next MDGOP Chair re-build and re-unify our party for 2010 wins. 

Thanks to each of you who have worked for my campaign and had faith in my leadership abilities.  Please realize that this was not an easy decision for me to make.  Long-term, however, we will be ahead of the game for our party’s future and we will create more victories by working together… starting from today. (Emphasis in original).

This also dovetails well with a release I received from another contender, Daniel Vovak. He's crying foul about the chairman of the nominating committee, Montgomery County GOP head Mark Uncapher:

Following the resignation of embattled Chairman James Pelura, Daniel "The Whig Man" Vovak has called for the resignation of the chairman of the Republican Nominating Committee, following a lapse in Mark Uncapher's ethics.
 
Uncapher holds two chairmanships within the Maryland Republican Party. Foremost, he is the chairman of the nominating committee for the next chairman. Secondly, he is the chairman of the Montgomery County Central Committee. Uncapher's primary job is to facilitate the process for about 270 central committeemen to elect the next chairman, who will be: Daniel Vovak, Chris Cavey, or Audrey Scott. However, Vovak has alleged that Uncapher is acting unethically by writing a letter of support for Audrey Scott, in spite of being the person who should be neutral in the process. Regardless, he believes Uncapher should continue as Montgomery County Chairman.
 
"Mark Uncapher's job is to find nominees, not to hand-pick them," says Vovak, a movie producer and ghostwriter in Bethesda. "Since Uncapher is in charge of the nominating committee I asked him today to write a letter of nomination for me and he said he will only support Audrey Scott. My position is that Uncapher should support all candidates who want to be chairman or he should support no one. It is absolutely unethical for the chairman of the nominating committee to single out a specific candidate while pretending to be neutral with the others. If Uncapher feels so strongly about Audrey Scott then he needs to resign because he is definitely not a neutral arbitrator."
 
The rules of the Party require a chairman-nominee to provide three nomination letters from committeemen in three different counties to be submitted to the nominating committee for vote by the whole committee. On Tuesday, Vovak asked Uncapher for his nomination letter and was flatly denied it. Uncapher's bias extends to the website for the Montgomery County Republicans, which lists only Audrey Scott as a candidate for chairman, but not Chris Cavey or himself. 
 
"It's issues like this that frustrate me as a Republican," says Vovak. "The next chairman needs to raise funds and stop airing our dirty laundry."

I think Vovak has a legitimate point, but Uncapher can salvage his credibility by bending over backwards to assure anyone nominated with the correct process gets a fair shake.

To refute one point made by Vovak, I also looked at the Montgomery County website and noticed it had omissions for both Larry Hogan and Mike Pappas in the Governor's race (along with missing Cavey in the Chairman race), so Vovak isn't the only one who should be miffed with the process. Then again, we who look for links are only human and I'm sure I haven't found every candidate running locally either.

Returning to Cavey, though, the item I found second most interesting in his release was that he "listened as a group of Committee members worked through the trials and tribulations of a new voting method to be considered for the upcoming convention." Personally, I see no trials or tribulations with scrapping the LCD system previously used and going to a simple "one man, one vote" system. I suppose the participants from counties who were given outsized importance with the LCD voting method may find change objectionable, but I don't!

(In an aside, it so happens that I played secretary at last night's WCRC meeting because our normal secretary was a participant in the call; hopefully he'll have good news for me next time we meet.)

So Cavey is out. Barring a nomination from the floor, it's likely Ehrlich administration official Audrey Scott will serve as the lightning rod for scrutiny and criticism over the next year as an interim party Chair. So the convention may have gotten a lot more dull, but we'll see.