O’Connor Testifies Against Election of Judges

Retired US Supreme Court Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor testified yesterday before the Maryland Senate yesterday in support of AG Doug Gansler’s proposal to end the election of judges in Maryland.  O’Connor argues that ending the election of judges would help to reinforce confidence in our nation’s courts and end the appearance of corruption innate in judges being forced to seek campaign contributions.

Sounds great.  Appointed judges are so much better.  Right?  Not really.  Appointing judges just moves the politics from out front into the back room.  Maryland Sen. Allan Kittleman (R-Howard) hits the nail right on the head:

If this passes, no longer will any citizen of Maryland have the right to run for judge. If you’re not a favored son of a governor or lawmaker, forget about it. You will have to play the political game.

An excellent, and recent, case in point – Does anyone really believe that Senate Majority Leader Mike Miller’s son would have been appointed a judge IF NOT for his father’s political clout?

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Ken Cuccinelli … On Liberty

While the nation’s “economic pie” can be grown through good economic policies, the “liberty pie” is a zero-sum game – it doesn’t grow or shrink – and there are only two slices:  government power and citizens’ liberty.  If the current notions of centralized health care are enacted, government’s raw power over citizens’ lives will increase, and their liberty will be reduced by the same amount.

So writes Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli in this month’s issue of the American Spectator.  (sorry, the actual article won’t be available online until April)

Cuccinelli is fast becoming one of the leaders of the conservative movement.  While Cuccinelli has been using the power of his office to fight federal tyranny in the courts, he is also using the pen to make a reasoned argument for all that conservatives hold dear.

During the current resurgence of the conservative movement and the semi-conservative populism inherent among the tea parties, some may dismiss the need for the intellectual strength displayed by officials like Cuccinelli.  Don’t be fooled.  Without its intellectual underpinnings, the conservative movement never would have grown beyond the Bob Taft years.

As I have noted here in the past – Yes, it is important to believe the right things.  However, without a firm understanding of WHY we believe what we do, those beliefs will not survive the test of time.  This is precisely why we need elected officials like General Cuccinelli.

Yes, we all know that ObamaCare is bad policy.  We all know that it would be fiscally disastrous.  We all know that the world’s best health care system would be greatly diminished.  Yet, Cuccinelli has managed to succinctly explain why we should fight ObamaCare – even IF these things were not the case.  If we wish to forfeit our God given individual liberty for a promised blanket of economic security then America ceases to be that shining city.  Liberty forfeited is liberty lost forever.

Thanks Ken.

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Scandal Brewing At PAC-14

We haven’t written much about PAC-14, Wicomico County’s public access cable channel in quite some time.  Because of that, many of you may think that all is well there.  Sadly, you would be mistaken.  The crew running PAC-14 (along with some of the vocal “supporters”) are just as conniving and deceitful as always.

We have to admit that we made a mistake.  We tried to be fair and allow PAC-14 Executive Director Mike Goodson and a majority of PAC-14’s board the opportunity to do what they said they were going to do.  Instead, this merry little band has decided that giving Wicomico taxpayers the “middle finger” is the best route to obtain their goals – and those goals have little to do with providing viewers an opportunity to watch their government in action and providing citizens the opportunity to produce local content.  No, the goal of the PAC-14 board is to siphon money from the taxpayers and build an entity that will eventually be handed over to Salisbury University so that taxpayers will no longer have even a marginal say as to how a portion of their tax dollars are being spent.

Thanks to elected officials like Wicomico County Executive Rick Pollitt, Salisbury Mayor Jim Ireton, Salisbury council members Louise Smith, Gary Comegys, and Shanie Shields, along with unelected “volunteers” such as Phil Tilghman, Elizabeth Bellavance and WCBOE President Mark Thompson, expect PAC-14 to blossom into an organization which wastes money (your money) on consultants and plans for grand schemes while refusing to adhere to the basic rules of transparency (which are in their own by-laws).

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Who’s Your Corporate Daddy

Barack Obama lectures the Supreme Court (and lies while doing so).  Lefties throughout the land whine about “special interest” money.  Maryland Dem chairwoman Susan Turnbull even has the gall to rail against the “Citizens United” decision.  Yet, MDDEM’s couldn’t survive without corporate and union cash.

Maryland Democrats … How’s that hypocrisy thing going?

Thanks to Red Maryland for this excellent video.

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Thank You Jim Bunning

Red State has a great piece about Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) (along with Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN)) being the only person to stand up and fight the extension of the Obama PORKULUS.  Bunning deserves our gratitude.

While his colleagues were watching the Olympics or fundraising, it was Bunning who stood firm and kept objecting to attempts by the Senate majority to sleaze through more wasteful spending.  I wonder where his colleague and fellow Kentuckian Mitch McConnell was?

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In Salisbury, Working People Need Not Apply

As Salisbury councilwoman noted on the radio this morning, today’s Salisbury City Council work session is “relatively meaty”.    While I haven’t talked to councilwoman Debbie Campbell today, it’s a decent bet that she won’t be there.  Why?  Campbell has to work for a living.  So does Cohen, but fortunately she is self-employed.

The “council majority” of Louise Smith, Gary Comegys, and Shanie Shields don’t work for a living.  They live off of the teat of the taxpayer.  Therefore, why not move work sessions to the morning.  The meetings aren’t televised.  Working citizens can’t attend.  Campbell can’t attend many.  Cohen will undoubtedly miss a few because she has to earn a living.

By this action alone Smith, et al provide an excellent argument for not allowing anyone on a PUBLIC pension to hold elected office.  No – I’m not advocating that action.  I’m just noting that there is an argument to be made when people like Smith, Comegys, and Shields behave as they do.

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In Florida Senate Race, Be Careful What You Wish For

Red State’s Erick Erickson writes that Florida Gov. Charlie Crist may be bolting the GOP to run for the Senate seat Crist arrogantly believes is his by right.  If he does so, the conservative response should be a simple one – marshal every resource possible to elect Marco Rubio and THEN (after the election) make it our mission to destroy Crist politically so that he can never run for office again or benefit financially from his service as Florida’s governor.

Now, this may seem hard hearted.  It is.  However, if you play the game you should play by the rules.  If Crist bolts or campaigns for the Democrat nominee he has left the realm of civil political behavior and should be handled as such.

Erickson writes:

Here’s what will happen if Charlie Crist leaves the GOP. The DC-GOP Establishment crowd will attack RedState, Jim DeMint, and Marco Rubio for shrinking the GOP. Instead of pointing out that moderate Republicans are sore loser who don’t play well with conservatives, conservatives will be attacked for chasing Crist out of the party.

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Despotism Returns to Salisbury

When elected officials waste your tax dollars your recourse is limited.  You can complain.  You can lobby your officials.  Ultimately, you can vote those persons out in the next election.  One of the wonders of our great nation is our willingness and ability to replace politicians with the ballot rather than the bullet.

Sadly, there are instances in our local, state, and federal governments when officials steal from the taxpayer – either through embezzlement or spending public monies that are not lawfully appropriated.  Do we resort to the bullet?  Of course not.  This is America; that’s what prisons are for.

During the fascist regime of the former Queen of Barrieland, Salisbury taxpayers witnessed a constant, and consistent, stream of spending public funds without lawful appropriations.  When current Salisbury mayor Jim Ireton ran for his present post he promised voters that this type of behavior would not be repeated under an Ireton regime.  Sadly, this has proven NOT to be the case.

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Wealthy Marylanders Vote With Their Feet

Liberals never learn.  They cling to the discredited belief that all you need to do to raise government revenue is raise tax rates.  Wealthy Marylanders are showing Gov. Martin O’Malley that they have options too.  They can move to a more tax friendly state.

In 2007 O’Malley and his leftist pals in the legislature instituted the so-called “millionaires surcharge”.  Montgomery County is learning that if you raise taxes they will leave:

County officials estimate next year’s budget deficit will be more than $761 million. Much of the shortfall is tied to a few residents who have either lost money in the economy, died or fled Maryland’s new millionaire tax.

County records show Montgomery lost $4.6 billion in taxable income between tax years 2007 and 2008. The number of income tax returns above $1 million declined by 27 percent during that time.

Despite this “shocking revelation” of basic economics, those stalwarts of fiscal sanity – the Democrat majority of the Maryland General Assembly – are considering extending the “surcharge”, which is set to expire next year.  Perhaps O’Malley should call newly elected New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and ask him how many high earners abandoned the Garden State under the tax and spend policies of Christie’s predecessor – Gov. John Corzine.

Go ahead Marty – dance while Maryland burns.

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Steele Flunks the Test Again

MPPI Senior Fellow Marta Hummel Mossburg tags RNC chair Michael Steele for the rank hypocrisy of his book – "Right Now: A 12-step Program for Defeating the Obama Agenda".  While Mossburg hits Steele on many of the right specifics, she should have expounded more on her “Ignatius Reilly” theory of the Michael Steele persona.

Steele’s problem is a simple one – he believes in nothing.  Michael Steele has shown himself willing to pander to almost any audience at the drop of a dime.  He’s conservative.  He’s cool.  He’ll use scarce RNC resources to back an unapologetic left-winger in the NY-23 race.  He’ll take credit for the victories in Virginia and New Jersey, when he had absolutely nothing to do with them (and the RNC’s contribution was an appreciated one of finance and a few bodies).

Michael Steele is the embodiment for why tea party activists, and the conservative movement in general, should look at the GOP as ONLY a means to an end and hold them off with a ten foot poll.  Sure, various state parties (such as RPV) should be looked on as allies.  Some state parties, such as MDGOP, should be viewed as irrelevant except for their easy access to the ballot.

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