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 am a second-generation military veteran, following in the footsteps of my father who served over two decades in the U.S. Air Force as a munitions maintenance specialist, loading weapons on our nation's warplanes. I was honored to carry my father's legacy forward, and proud to serve my country.

Dad's career took us all over the world. I was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, my mother's hometown and an early duty station for my father, deployed to what was then Chennault Air Force Base (AFB). A year and a half later, we were headed for America's Last Frontier, the state of Alaska, which I'm sure was a shock to my mother, still in her teen years and who'd never left home before.

Three and a half years at Eielson AFB (Fairbanks) and Elmendorf AFB (Anchorage) began a series of moves for my family, with transitional stops in Lake Charles in between, the length of which varied depending on Dad's duties. One of my two brothers was born in Alaska.

From Alaska, it was Bunker Hill AFB, Indiana (Kokomo), which later became Grissom AFB before being realigned and renamed Grissom Air Reserve Base. That's where my sister was born and where I graduated from kindergarten.

From there, it was across the Pacific to Tachikawa AFB, Japan (Tokyo), where I spent my first two and a half years of elementary school. I still remember walking outside our apartment and looking to the horizon to see Mount Fuji hovering in the sky; what an awe-inspiring sight! My younger brother was born there.

After departing Japan and spending some time in Lake Charles while Dad finished up his duties in Asia, we were transferred to Mountain Home AFB, Idaho (Mountain Home) and Holloman AFB, New Mexico (Alamogordo) after that.  We spent about a year in Lake Charles while my Dad deployed to Thailand, and we were then transferred to Torrejon AFB, Spain (Madrid). 

It was during that tour that I decided to join the Air Force Junior ROTC program, which surprised my family. I was a skinny, bookish and shy teen who no one ever pictured in a uniform, but I benefitted greatly from the experience and actually became a social human being as a result!

In the middle of my junior year in high school, we moved to what would be my Dad's last duty station, Dyess AFB, Texas (Abilene). It was there that I graduated from high school, left to briefly attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, an experience for which I was ill-prepared, and eventually landed at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. The children of veterans stationed in Texas were offered the in-state tuition rate, $4 a semester hour at the time, so I couldn't pass it up.

All told, we moved nine times before my 18th birthday. While some would offer sympathy for our nomadic lifestyle, and I noted in later years the existence of military dependent support groups, I felt no stress whatsoever. In fact, I loved the opportunity we were given to travel the world and collect memories, and I'm a better, more adaptable person for my travels.

In college, I started out in the Army ROTC program but switched to the Air Force version after I fell for a girl in blue. I graduated with a commission in 1982 and, in 1983, deployed to Lowry AFB, Colorado (Aurora) for air intelligence officers school. 

From there, it was on to Offutt AFB, Nebraska (Omaha), the headquarters of the fabled Strategic Air Command, where I monitored the Soviet Navy and provided intelligence information to the command briefers for their presentations to the SAC commander-in-chief (CINCSAC). 

My ability to stand on my own two feet during those presentations was noted and I ended up as a command intelligence briefer myself, still a second lieutenant and chosen over several more senior officers. I briefed the SAC assistant chief of staff for intelligence and CINCSAC on breaking intelligence affecting national security.

While stationed at Offutt, I married my long-distance girlfriend of three years whom I'd met at Texas Tech when she was a foreign student on a semester abroad in the U.S. Not long after we married, we were notified of our first overseas assignment to the Tactical Fusion Center (TFC) in Boerfink, West Germany. We would be only two and a half hours away from my wife's home village in France. Also, It was there that our first child would be born.

My assignment to the TFC was the best of my Air Force career. We were the American intelligence contingent supporting the warfighters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) central region. The bunker where I worked was the primary war headquarters for NATO's allied army and air force commanders in central Europe. 

The highlights of my tour were the incidents I helped to manage as an indications and warning officer, to include the bombing of a nearby Army surface-to-air missile detachment by the Red Army Faction terrorist group, the U.S. air attack on Libya in 1986 (Operation El Dorado Canyon), and the near-shootdown of a U.S. Army helicopter by a Czech warplane patrolling the border between West Germany and Czechoslovakia. I later ran the U.S. air and air defense analysis unit and provided daily intelligence assessments to NATO fighting forces.

My last tour of duty was at Patrick AFB, Florida (Satellite Beach). Two more children, the purchase of our first home in nearby Melbourne, and a relatively quiet tour at an Air Force science and technology center, punctuated by two near-deployments to Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm, marked the end of my Air Force career. I decided to pursue other dreams and received an honorable discharge on July 1, 1992, having attained a regular commission and the rank of captain.

All told, I was either a dependent or a service member for the first 33 years of my life. I don't expect that my children will follow in my footsteps, although my son fits perfectly in my old uniform. His Dad? Not so much. I keep the uniform as a reminder, however, of a life that shaped me and a nation that inspired me to offer myself to her in service, whatever the sacrifice.

I am blessed to be an American, and even though I don't fit in the uniform anymore, I still "solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic." The oath never dies. 

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.

It seems Governor Martin O'Malley, the "Teflon Leprechaun" (I can't take credit for that phrase! ) got a little testy at a press conference because the extortion racket he's been running against Constellation Energy has been exposed for what it is - a cheap political stunt designed to deflect the voters' attention from his false promise during the 2006 campaign to do something about the Baltimore Gas & Electric (BG&E)  72% rate increase. Here's what he had to say:

"I don't work for the country club set that pats each other on the back and tells them what a great job they do when they stick it to consumers with 70 percent rate increases. ... I work for the consumers and the people of Maryland. I work for the people. Thanks a lot."

Let's set one thing straight right up front, Governor. I am not now nor have I ever been a member of a country club, and none of the people with whom I associate regularly are part of a "country club set." None of the county commissioners here in Calvert County who've come out strongly against your extortion attempts are country club members. Your critics at the Baltimore Sun are probably not country club members, either.

Conversely, most of the nation’s wealthiest people are represented in Congress by Democrats. Wall Street gives more money to Democrats than Republicans. Once you were elected, "the country club set" couldn't wait to get behind you and curry your favor with their campaign contributions while the Maryland Republican Party went broke. Your campaign war chest is bulging with dollars from "the country club set."

The stereotype of the fat cat Republican is one of the biggest lies in politics. Get off your high horse, Governor - no one believes your populist posturing.

Are you working for the 4,000 construction workers who won't be hired to build the third reactor at Calvert Cliffs?

Are you working for the 400 permanent employees that won't be working at the new facility?

Are you working for the BG&E customers who won't realize the more than $1.1 billion in energy cost savings over eight years because of the new energy source? The long-term savings to the consumers for whom you claim to work is over five times greater than the one-time $200 per customer credit you're attempting to extort from Constellation - it totals only $220 million. Coincidentally, the one-time credit would take effect during an election year - how convenient for you!

Are you working for the Maryland taxpayers whom you've soaked for $1.5 billion in new taxes, but whose money you continue to spend, increasing the overall budget every year despite the recession and the projections of lower tax revenues and increasing deficits? Regrettably, the $130 million in new tax revenue generated by the plant wouldn't begin to make up for the $2 billion and $2.7 billion in projected deficits for the next two fiscal years.

A lot of people have told me it's dangerous territory to take the side of a major corporation over "the people." I'm not taking the side of Constellation, however; I'm taking the side of free markets where all businesses are treated equitably, competition is encouraged, and growth benefits everyone.

I'm taking the side of businesses that play by the rules. If there was any evidence that Constellation or BG&E is "stick(ing) it to consumers," it would have been uncovered by now because you and your no-so-independent cronies on the Public Service Commission (PSC) were desperately looking. Nothing unethical or illegal has been found.

I'm taking the side of those who honor the contracts they sign, unlike you, who agreed not to require PSC review of the Constellation/Électricité de France merger since it fell below a previously agreed upon threshold, then reneged on the agreement for political expedience.

You're blaming "the country club set" for the BG&E rate increase while conveniently ignoring the fact it was the one-party monopoly in Annapolis, your party, that froze BG&E's rates for six years. Once the freeze lifted, BG&E simply charged the rates set by the energy market at that time. What did you expect?

This is why lawyers shouldn't be drafting business policy - they don't know how to manage profit and loss, make a payroll or produce and distribute goods and services in a competitive environment.

The bottom line is that you aren't working for the people - you're working the people over. If Constellation decides one day it's had enough of Maryland's hostility toward free markets and the prosperity they bring to everyone, and they take their 7,500 jobs and move them elsewhere, we can say to you, our gangster Governor, "Thanks a lot."