On Thursday, May 6th, the Maryland Department of Planning (MDP) will be hosting a “Public Forum to Help Shape the Future of Maryland”.  Translation:  This is where MDP Secretary Rich Hall and his local tree hugging, Bolshevik pals get together to figure out how they are going to STEAL YOUR PROPERTY RIGHTS!

If you think I’m kidding, let me give you two quotes from the last MDP forum I attended:

“I’m sick and tired of hearing about property rights.  WE gave these people the value in their land!” – Retired SU professor Harry Womack.

and

(Referring to Wicomico farmers)   “They need to remember that we gave them the value in their land.” – MDP Secretary Rich Hall in a conversation with me.

This is one of several forums that MDP is hosting around the state.  If you value your property rights, it would be wise to attend.  If not, you may want to pick up a copy of Atlas Shrugged and get a view of your future.

Back in the early ‘80’s, I remember my Intermediate Macroeconomics professor wasting half of a semester extolling the virtues of Marxist economic theory.  One day, I simply had to ask – Does anyone, even YOU, actually believe this nonsense?  His response?  “Well, it’s a valid economic theory”.  Well, I have finally come across someone who actually seems to believe that nonsense.

cassandra_m, over at DelawareLiberal, extols the virtues of Cap and Tax by claiming that Delaware has made over $2 million from selling “carbon credits”.  Sorry cassandra, Delaware TAXED power companies an ADDITIONAL $2 million.  You can call it whatever you want, but IT’S A TAX!  It’s a transfer.  It produces NOTHING!

Here’s how it works in the real world (vs. the imaginary, Marxist, MoveOn.org world):

Power companies are TAXED $2 million for “carbon credits”.  One of three things occur.  One, your power bill rises to make up for the lost $2 million.  Two, instead of raising rates the power company simply takes a reduction in profit.  This means that money will not be returned to shareholders to be put to a PRODUCTIVE use or needed capital upgrades will not occur.  The capital expenditures actually CREATE WEALTH and help to GROW THE ECONOMY (so does returning the money to shareholders).  Three, there is some combination of one and two.

Something tells me that cassandra sat in on the same economics class as WCBOE superintendent John Fredericksen.

Gov. Jack Markell and the state of Delaware finally appear to be doing the right thing by reaching a compromise in the US Army Corps of Engineers attempt to deepen the Delaware River channel.  By admitting that the Minner administration had acted improperly by sitting on the Corps’ request for five years, the Markell administration is able to assert the state’s rights to regulate certain portions of the project while not buckling to the left wing enviros who wish to harm the vital river ports of Wilmington and Philadelphia.

In a few weeks newly minted Nobel laureate Barack Obama is expected to sign a new climate change treaty in Copenhagen (sight of Obama’s recent Olympics debacle).  This treaty will, if ratified by the Senate, prove far more insidious than the recently enacted “Cap and Tax” legislation:

Remember, it will take 2/3 of all senators to ratify this treaty.  The time to start calling your senators is NOW!

If you wish to watch all of Lord Monckton’s speech, CLICK HERE.

Was there ever any question that the Virginia League of Conservation Voters was merely an auxiliary of the DPV?  If there was, it went by the wayside in this year’s gubernatorial election.

The VLCV has endorsed Democrat Creigh Deeds.  No surprise there.  However, to claim that “Mr. Me Too” is a true enviro champion in comparison to GOP standard bearer Bob McDonnell is a shameless farce.  McDonnell supports offshore drilling.  Deeds says “me too”.  Bob is for coal-fired and nuclear power.  Creigh says “me too”.

What are the core environmental differences between McDonnell and Deeds?  McDonnell has bothered to make concrete proposals.  Deeds simply says, “ME TOO”.

Yet, the VLCV has this to say about Deeds:

"There are pretty stark differences" between Deeds and McDonnell, said Lisa M. Guthrie, executive director of the Virginia League of Conservation Voters.

Yes there are Ms. Guthrie.  Creigh Deeds is a Democrat.  The next time the VLCV portrays itself as “non-partisan”, have a hearty laugh and take their words for what they are – LEFT WING, DEMOCRAT PROPAGANDA.

Now, if were were talking about taxes there would be some “pretty stark differences”.

A “protest” (the organizers’ word, not mine) will be held in front of Rep. Frank Kratovil’s Bel Air office today between 4PM and 6PM.  All those who live in the northern part of the First District should let Frank know how they feel.

If at first you don’t succeed, try to slip one under the table.  That appears to be the mantra of the likes of Wicomico County councilman Bill McCain and his spendthrift pals.  After losing in the “Great Land Grab” of 2009, McCain and company are looking to have another go.  This time they will claim that the county will lose state funds if they don’t go along.

As usual, the interesting stuff on tomorrow’s council agenda will be in the work session.  Under “MALF Certification”, McCain and his land grabbing buddies will make a pitch to bring back the proposal to steal farmers’ land rights without any compensation.

For the uninitiated (don’t worry, I had to look it up), MALPF stands for the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation.  This body is supposed to compensate farmers for giving up their development rights.  We should note that there is NEVER enough money in MALF to compensate all of the farmers who have their property rights stolen by their state or county governments.  However, that doesn’t stop the mindless Marxists in Annapolis from playing out their little charade.

It seems that MALF has given Wicomico County “conditional certification” until September 30, 2009.  This will become permanent once a majority of our county council and County Executive Rick Pollitt sign off on stealing from Wicomico farmers.  Then, our farmers can get in the queue and perhaps their grandchildren will be compensated for a wrong done to their ancestors.

Now we’ll see McCain and probably Pollitt (with the help of groups like the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Wicomico Environmental Trust, and the Nanticoke Watershed Alliance) push for some new scheme that will strip farmers of their property rights.  It should be noted that this crew isn’t above sticking it to their own allies.  During the last attempt to steal from our county’s farmers we heard time and again from our local enviros who claimed that adopting the proposal of 1 lot per 15 acres (1:15) was the minimum acceptable.  Yet, Allan Girard of the CBF, the leaders of WET, and of the NWA all signed off on the McCain / Pollitt / Cannon compromise of 1:6.  I can’t wait for the next public hearing.  Girard stated after the last vote:

"Citizens are frustrated with this outcome. That’s why we commend the Council for committing to finding a solution that moves us forward, and away from current failed policy," said Girard. "Most people agree the status quo is unacceptable. We look forward to continuing the dialogue with all sides until a final resolution is reached."

I wonder how frustrated his core constituencies will feel after they find out they were betrayed by their own leadership and supposed allies on council?

As for my tree hugging pals, don’t worry.  Your core lobbies haven’t totally sold you down the river.  Today I received an email from the Maryland League of Conservation Voters (MLCV) inviting me to some kind of Marxist, kum-ba-ya meeting.  We now know that it isn’t just rampant development that’s destroying our planet, it’s farming as well:

We know what causes these dead zones– unchecked pollution from large factory chicken farms and sprawling development. President Obama has given the EPA a chance to hold these polluters accountable.

I just love lefty logic (or their version of logic):  We have to steal from our farmers because we need to preserve “agricultural” land and our “agricultural heritage”.  Of course, we’re going to have to stop them from using that land for a core agricultural purpose (poultry farming) because it’s a source of pollution.  Since many farmers raise chickens to help subsidize their grain operations in down years, they’ll soon be going bankrupt if such a proposal passes.  Adios “agricultural heritage”.

Of course, that’s not going to worry our local NIMBY enviros.  I also hope that they’ll stop quoting Perdue Farms CEO Jim Perdue in their little dog and pony shows since they are quite clear that they want to run him out of business as well.

Well anyway, HERE WE GO AGAIN!  Our local farmers will have to fire up the tractors again.  We’ll have to go to more public hearings.  We’ll have to hear Bill McCain publicly ridiculed by his fellow appraisers.  Rick Pollitt will try to cut a deal that doesn’t make him look too bad.

Trust me.  It won’t be pretty.  It won’t be fun.  BUT – if we allow these folk to steal from our farmers, you and I will be next.

I’m a conservative.  Therefore I’m in favor of conservation.  Unfortunately, the left isn’t in favor of conserving energy.  They are in favor of cutting our consumption of energy.

What’s the difference?  Adopting policies that will encourage each individual, family or business to reduce their total energy consumption is conserving.  Passing laws mandating that we will cut our TOTAL energy consumption is just crazy.

Case in point – Delaware’s SB106.  This masterpiece of liberal “group think” requires Delaware utilities to cut their consumption by 15% by 2015.  I know, it sounds great.  Wind… Solar … No Nukes and rolling blackouts.

How does Gov. Jack Markell expect to attract new industry to the First State when Delawareans will be forced to pay more for electrical power than their neighbors?  Don’t bank on “Cap and Tax” delivering a more even playing field Jack.  Before people’s rates double, the Dems will be out of power and that farce will be repealed.

Delaware will be stuck with a stagnant economy and you’ll be wondering why.

We recently did a post on the Maryland League of Conservation Voters (MLCV) and their decision to rate Maryland legislators on EARLY VOTING.  We posed the question – What does early voting have to do with environmentalism?

Today I received an email from the Maryland chapter of AARP asking me to email my senators in support of “Cap and Tax”.  For those of us at that certain age in life, AARP offers lots of great benefits; discounts on travel, insurance, etc.  However, I become increasingly dismayed with groups that claim to be supporting certain issues and then use our dues money to promote left wing causes like “Cap and Tax” and ObamaCare (last week AARP hosted a “Tele-Town Hall” that did told every left wing lie possible about Obama Care).

Something tells me that AARP supports early voting too.  What has that got to do with being a senior?  We vote in high numbers already.

Have you ever wondered how your electrical power gets to your home or business?  If you live on the Delmarva peninsula, there’s only way – moving south from New Castle County.  This causes congestion in our area grid that costs Delmarva ratepayers approximately $100 million per year.  Fortunately, Delmarva Power has proposed a solution – the Mid-Atlantic Power Pathway, or MAPP.

The MAPP, as proposed, will run from Dominion Virginia Power’s Possum Point station in Prince William County, Virginia to Mirant’s Chalk Point plant, to Constellation Energy’s Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant.  From there power will be converted from AC to DC, and travel under the Chesapeake Bay and through Dorchester County to NRG’s Vienna station.  There it will be converted back to AC and continue its path to NRG’s Indian River plant near Millsboro, in Sussex County, Delaware.

Besides helping to ensure a reliable power supply to the Delmarva peninsula, ratepayers will actually see a cost savings.  The cost of building an operating the MAPP will be less than the current congestion charges being paid to the grid operator.

If this is so great, why isn’t the MAPP completed already?  As usual, the majority of citizens are being held hostage by the usual NIMBY and tree hugging crowd.  Sure, I understand that not too many of us want high voltage power lines running through our neck of the woods.  Of course, we expect the lights to come on when we flip that switch.  Don’t we?

Dorchester County is the primary battleground.  That’s not because of the good folks in Dorchester; it’s because that is where Delmarva Power has to obtain new right of way.  In the other areas along the MAPP route, right of way already exists in most places.

However, I hope that we’ll begin to see the benefits of the MAPP in the next few years.  Delmarva Power has retained Cathy Bassett, former Rep. Wayne Gilchrest’s Communications Director, to take point on this matter.  Bassett is working hard to reach out to members of the affected communities and explain why we need the MAPP and its benefits to all of us.  Bassett has earned a lot of credibility with Shore residents over the years and I am confident that she’ll be able to overcome the fear mongering of those who seem to believe that sitting in the dark is a reasonable alternative.