O'Malley Pats Himself on Back for Irene Response

...I guess he wasn't one of the nearly 90% of Harford County BGE customers that lost power in a "slightly less than category 1 hurricane" (~50 mph winds)... 15% of whom still don't have power 3 days later.

from the Baltimore Sun

In addition to the national attention lavished on Gov. Martin O'Malley and other state leaders for their handling of Hurricane Irene, Maryland's governor got a nod from inside-the-beltway publication Politico.

The politics-obsessed news organization listed O'Malley among four East Coast governors who passed an executive leadership test administered by Irene.

"With the memory of Hurricane Katrina forever serving as an object lesson in crisis management gone awry, the group of potential 2016 contenders whose states stud the coastline—Republicans Bob McDonnell and Chris Christie and Democrats Andrew Cuomo and Martin O’Malley—appear to have endured Hurricane Irene with burnished reputations after an uncommonly ferocious storm where executive missteps could have cost even more lives," according to Politico's Maggie Haberman.

The Sun wrote today about the hurricane's silver lining, which also illuminated Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown and Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. The hurricane was the topic of O'Mallely's first appearance on NBC's Meet the Press, which he did from storm-watch headquarters at the Maryland Emergency Management Agency.

Of course Irene's test is not quite over. Hundreds of thousand of Marylanders remain without power and are losing patience. O'Malley and Brown are spending the day in Southern Maryland, the hardest hit part of the state, to assess damage.

O'Malley's office asked us to note that the power outages will affect the state redistricting meeting originally scheduled for this afternoon at the Anne Arundel Community College. The hearing has been moved to the Joint Hearing Room in the Legislative Services Building at 90 State Circle, Annapolis. The meeting will be at 4:30.

...Lots of the Emergency Operations Centers Lost Power (admission in the video above)? And all, by now (August 30, 3 days later), have emergency generators? Wow. What foresight. And O'Malley PASSED the so-called "leadership test". What would it take to FAIL it? Imagine if it had been a Katrina... I think I see underwater busses...e-r-r-r-r, generators in Maryland's future. I can guarantee you one thing, they'll cost more than nuclear, coal-fired and or natural gas powered ones if Maryland's "long sighted" Democrats have any say in it.

What do Virginians Think of Maryland's Governance?

from the Republican Party of Virginia

For Virginia Democrats, A Time for Choosing Contrasts don't come much clearer than this. From National Review:

"... Just days after Virginia governor Bob McDonnell announced a $544 million surplus, Maryland governor Martin O'Malley told county leaders Saturday that Maryland may need to increase taxes to solve a $1 billion budget gap next year.

What makes the contrast even more striking is the fact that McDonnell previously balanced an inherited $4.2 billion budget deficit that Gov. Tim Kaine had said could only be closed with a $2 billion tax increase, while O'Malley has already signed the largest tax increase in Maryland history during his first term."

So of all those Virginia Democrats who might be considering a run for governor in 2013 - like Terry McAuliffe, Mark Warner and Ward Armstrong - we ask a simple question:

Do you support the O'Malley model of governance, or the McDonnell model of governance?

Virginia taxpayers will be very interested in your answer.

Patriot Action Alert!

From The Dagger and the Harford Campaign for Liberty:

Join us for our Monthly meeting on Tuesday, August 23, then join us for the fight at the redistricting hearing this Saturday!

Saturday, Aug. 27th at 11:00am at the Amoss Center.
200 Thomas Run Rd, across from Harford Community College, near corner of Rt 22

Senate President Mike Miller, House of Delegates Speaker Mike Busch and others will be at the hearing to.

Even if you do not want to speak, please attend and show your support for fair districts in Maryland.

The redistricting process is carried out every 10 years after the census to redraw maps based on the new census population data.

Prior to 2002 the eight districts in Maryland were made up of 4 Democrat held districts and 4 Republican districts. After the redistricting in 2002 the districts were changed to 6 Democrat and 2 Republican districts.

They now plan to redraw the districts to 7 Democrat and 1 Republican or possibly 8-0.

Our Founding Fathers rebelled because of a tax on Stamps and Tea.

HOW WOULD THEY REACT TO THE MODERN DAY TAKING AWAY OF OUR REPRESENTATION!!!

1. This redistricting represents Politicians picking their voters instead of voters picking their Representatives. We should be choosing our representatives and not the other way around.

2. The party in power will further reduce our ability to resist their hold on power.

3. Voting districts should be compact and comprised of communities with similar interests and goals.

4. This is an attempt at single party rule in Maryland.

5. The recent success of the petition to bring to referendum SB167 shows how out of touch the current state delegation has become. This is the petition that stops Illegal Aliens from getting In-State tuition at Maryland colleges until it is voted on by all Marylanders in November 2012 at the ballot box.

6. The current state assembly is more responsive to special interests than constituents.

Join us at Campaign for Liberty Meeting on Tuesday the 23rd at 7PM, then on Saturday, Aug. 27th at 11:00am at the Amoss Center.

200 Thomas Run Rd, across from Harford Community College, near corner of Rt 22

In Liberty,
Your Harford Campaign for Liberty Team