Tonight the Country is quite a bit Redder…

and even Bright Blue Maryland is, a bit Purple Perhaps.

Enjoy what improvements were made, but remember there is still a lot of work to do.

It is not an overnight job.

You can continue the re-painting of America, and Maryland.

2012 begins NOW!

Over 5 years ago, my second post ever was about the empty dreams of the Annapolis Market House.

How sad that all these years later, the historical site still is being debated.  After all this time, it’s future is still unclear.  Is there any excuse for that?

Who was one of the go-to guys in deciding the fate of the Market House?  Oh, yeah, Judd Legum.  As my blogging collegue Brian Griffiths noted, his philosophy of what the Market House should be leaves much to be desired.  Another reason not to let him get anywhere near the State House this November.

Oh, it gets worse.

Now the “Powers That Be” want to mess-up the rest of the City Dock area.  It is not enough to have evicted private businesses from the Market House , then installed inadequate air conditioning to hurt the new tenants.  It is not enough to compete with City Dock area businesses in a building where they do not intend to make a profit.  Now they have to choke-off existing Dock-area businesses from their customers.

In an ill-advised attempt to make the area more people-friendly, they propose cutting the parking in the area, making more areas for walking, and for more businesses.  What is the matter, is there an over-abundance of parking spaces?    Are all the downtown storefronts rented out, with people clamoring to move their businesses there?  I didn’t realize the economy was so thriving, but the feds do claim the recession is over.   I know many businesses didn’t get the memo.

While a park-like atmosphere may be nice to have, isn’t that what Susan Campell Park did years ago, when we lost that parking area?  I remember when you could drive up to the end of the Dock.  Now, oh wise ones, where are the people going to park who you want to partake of your new businesses, of your Sailing Hall of Fame, etc.  While it is nice to have residents partake of discussions about the future of the area, I doubt there are enough residents to make the existing businesses, let alone the new ones you want to bring in, profitable.

That means that out-of-towners, tourists and workers, need to park before they can walk the area.  There are plenty of places to walk and enjoy the City Dock, and the boat traffic in Ego Alley isn’t the only traffic worth watching.  It can be interesting to watch the car & motorcycle traffic around City Dock while you munch on that Storm Brothers ice cream cone.  Boaters aren’t the only ones who like people to see their vehicles.  You can’t see them in a parking garage blocks away, and you can’t get there to see any of this if you have to park far either.

What do these people not understand about business (everything?)?  Businesses need customers & employees, and they in-turn need convenient places to park!  What they don’t need is the Annapolis government getting in the way of this thing called “profit”.  Sorry, Judd, but that is not a dirty word!

Please don’t let me have to blog in 2015 about the Market House still being a bust, and the failure of the whole City Dock area.

EDIT: Seems it’s back up.

Now the Donkeys are at it again.  I was afraid this would happen.  They are using some of the rhetoric of the Brian Murphy campaign to attack Bob.  They are complaining that Bob is/was/and will be a big spender & tax/fee raiser.  They are using Brian to do their dirty work.  Yet they conveniently omit the fact that in Mr. Murphy’s gracious concession statement, he touted Bob’s commitment to  raise neither.

Here’s some of the drivel from MD Dem. Issac Salazar…

NOTE TO NATIONAL REPUBLICANS:

EHRLICH RAISED TAXES, INCREASED SPENDING,

REFUSED TO SIGN NO-TAX PLEDGE
Annapolis, MD (September 21, 2010) – In response to the Republican Governor’s Association’s false attack ad, Maryland Democratic Party Executive Director Travis Tazelaar released the following statement:

“In their haste to try to prop up Ehrlich’s flagging campaign with false attacks against Governor O’Malley, national Republicans forgot to mention that Bob Ehrlich has zero credibility on taxes and spending. Ehrlich raised taxes and fees by $3 billion and went on the worst spending binge in Maryland history. Ehrlich’s own Republican primary opponent savaged Ehrlich for his fiscal irresponsibility and refusal to sign a no-new-taxes pledge.”

Here’s the quote from Brian that the Dems are leaving out…

“I entered the race because I am a fiscal conservative, and Marylanders cannot afford higher taxes or fees.  Bob Ehrlich has pledged not to raise either, and so he has my full support in the General Election against Martin O’Malley”.

Of course, they also leave out the millions in new taxes that came in under Martin’s watch.  So even if you buy what they are selling about Bob (and when you buy it remember you will have a 20% increase in the sales tax, thanks to MOM), there guy is certainly no better, and is in fact much worse.

It’s really laughable when Dems try to paint Bob as some sort of big taxer, like that is ever a problem when any of their guys are doing it?!

The Murphy Dilemma…

When the editors of Red Maryland, Conservatives all, took the step of endorsing Bob Ehrlich, you'd think that a very Un-Civil Civil War had broke out in the Republican ranks. Charges of favoring RINO's, of being part of the problem instead of part of the solution, and even a copy-cat Facebook page fueled the fire. The anger and frustration is understandable. Note that it was the editors, not all the contributors, who make the endorsements. Some of us (well- maybe just me) may have been leaning towards the new kid on the block.

Now I would put my Conservative Bonafides against most anyone's, and I am furious that the MD GOP waived Rule 11, the rule that would have the Party keep the heck out of the way, and let the voters decide who they want on their ticket. The Party is supposed to wait, then after the Primary come out with guns a-blazin'. This business of the “establishment” picking favorites is nothing more than gross interference, and has to stop. It is bad now, and was bad when we had our own Governor and everyone wanted to kiss his ring and run with his blessing. The arrogance and, dare I say it, “audacity” sickens the stomach! It's some party nanny-officials telling us what is good for us, that they know better and we should fall in line graciously like the good little kiddies we are.

Some are frankly a bit perturbed about being told that we have to, once again, “hold your nose and vote for…” You can fill-in the blank with McCain, or Ehrlich, or any other candidate that just doesn't measure up in the “True Conservative” category. We've waited years, and we really want to, for once, vote our conscience, not a compromise. There is a little problem with that. We live in Maryland. Although Red Maryland wants Maryland to be red, it isn't even close yet.

So, we have a dilemma. To vote for the most conservative candidate, who has statistically no chance of winning against MOM, or to vote for the most conservative candidate That Can Win? That was what the Editors of Red Maryland were considering.  Don't hate them for that.  The Gonzales Poll showed the race is winnable, by Bob Ehrlich. If you put everyone who is undecided, plus all those who want someone other than Martin or Bob (and some of them favor the Greenies, or others), you still have basically diddly, and not even squat.

Despite the demonizing going on, and the breaking of another 11, the 11^th Commandment, Bob's not a bad guy at all. Would he work hard to fulfill all our “True Conservative” hopes and dreams, probably not, but he would work his butt off to turn the state's economy around, and that is no small accomplishment. He would also grant the more conservative of us a seat at the table, where we could make ourselves heard. How soon we forget that when he was in office, conservatives were actually listened to occasionally.

The Palinization of the Murphy campaign has given Brian much more visibility, and I understand that he is seen as a way “True Conservatives” can get excited about voting again. I think that if you want to vote for him in the Primary, you should do so. If his possible Coale-connection to the Democrats has you concerned, but you just can't bring yourself to voting for Bobby in September, leave that section blank and vote for people on the ballot in other races. Those races are important, too. If you see Bobby as the best choice, vote for him. As for me, the jury's still out on what I will do.

Primaries are where we are supposed to differ and debate, no matter what the “establishment” tells us to do.

But then we have another dilemma. For the General election, both sides need to swallow their pride. If, as expected, Bob comes out the winner of the Primary, Mr. Murphy better get his butt out there sign-waving for Bob the very next day. His supporters, many of whom really aren't very fond of Bob, better shape up and give their all to the campaign. If they think Bob's too moderate, don't they realize that Martin is really much worse? Newsflash, people: Brian & Bob aren't the enemies here. If a Maryland Miracle happens, and Brian is triumphant in the Primary, Bob and the Kane's better put all their efforts behind the new kid. I expect, no, demand, that the Kane's send Brian all of the money they and their richy-rich Potomac friends planned on spending for Ehlich-Kane. Yeah, like that's going to happen. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not.

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A fellow blogger has left us.  All good things to his family.
I hope the trains run better where he is now.

BigMike

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… Seems like Bobby Ehrlich may be finally deciding if he will fish or cut bait.

The word is that he will run for Governor, and that therefore Pat McDonough will not. Pat can run for either County Executive, or his current Delegate seat. Since Larry Hogan already said he'd drop out if Bobby jumped in, will we hear official announcements about all this soon? Stay tuned.

(Cross-Posted at Red Maryland)

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It's Official… According to ABC…

… Universal Health Care is indeed an evil plot!

A plot hatched by alien lizard-people from another planet bent on world domination and destruction!

The premiere of "V" said so! Not so far from the truth?

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In the past, pro-life pregnancy centers in Maryland almost became required to discourage potential clients by telling them they did not have to tell the truth. That bill was defeated.

Now, a slightly less (but still discouraging) bill may be passed today in Baltimore City that seeks to do much the same. It would require such centers to post signage that they do not provide or refer for abortions, or birth control. It is evidently party of an effort by Planned Parenthood to discourage the use of their "competition". The bill is due to be voted on today.

While it may not seem too ominous, note that very rarely is an organization required to state what they do NOT do. Does your gas station have to state that they do not rebuild transmissions? Does the local hamburger joint have to say they do not serve steak? Of course not. What's to stop the list of things "we don't do" being expanded to procedures filling reams and reams of paper? Could the hamburger joint eventually be required to say they don't rebuild transmissions?

Are Planned Parenthood organizations required to tell potential clients that they do not "lovingly help you give birth to a healthy baby and give you resources to be able to raise the child yourself"? Are they required to tell these women that they "will not help you through the pre-natal period and will not help you develop an adoption plan for your new baby"?

This legislation is unfairly targeting one type of pregnancy center (the pro-life kind), and not the pro-abortion version.

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