A new tax in an election year?

State Senator Richard Madaleno wants to impose a new tax in an election year.

The Gazette reports:

Madaleno said last week that he will refile the bill, which would allow Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot to collect sales taxes from Maryland affiliates of Amazon and similar online retailers in the state.

The move could generate $7.5 million annually for the state and help plug a multimillion-dollar budget gap next year, Madaleno said.

Governor O’Malley is being forced to trim the state budget by about $400 million and $7.5 million seems like a drop in the bucket.

The cost Democrats would pay is much greater than the benefit they would receive. From a publicity perspective, do the Democrats really want to raise taxes again, especially in an election year?

Should this new tax pass, each and every news story will not only mention how Democrats are raising taxes, but they will also remind voters of Gov. O’Malley’s billion dollar tax increase in 2007.

If the Democrats are smart, they will oppose this tax because the cost politically is far greater than the benefit.

Facebook+MACO+Boozs = Fired Staffer

Maryland Politics Watch has a great post about partying and boozing at MACO involving numerous political staffers with PHOTOS

Check it out

We just wanted to pass it along. At a time when unemployment is rising and people are wondering what is being done by their government to help, these probably aren’t the best pictures to be surfacing…

O’MalleyWatch also has a post up “O’Malley Staffers Partying at MACO”

By the way, the staffer who posted those pictures on Facebook should be fired.

Rule of thumb for Facebook – NEVER POST PHOTOS OF YOU AND ALCOHOL!!!

When to declare?

The Associated Press reports

Richard Hug says he believes Ehrlich will run and is “looking at the situation very hard.”

Why does Richard “Dick” Hug’s opinion matter? Well, Dick is the single biggest Republican fundraiser in the state of Maryland. He was crucial to Ehrlich raising a record breaking amount in his 2006 campaign. If anyone knows what Ehrlich is thinking, Dick does.

If Ehrlich runs when will he announce?

Henry Fawell, an Ehrlich spokesman, says the former governor is comfortable waiting to make a decision, like he did in 2002 when he waited until March to formally announce his bid.

In politics timing is everything.  O’Malley is forbidden from fundraising during the legislative session (January through April).  A March announcement means forgoing two months of prime time fundraising.  An early announcement also means every major policy story will end with a quote from Ehrlich.  Forgoing the fundraising and press edges would be a major political blunder.  Look for a January announcement if Ehrlich runs.

While Maryland is a blue state early polls show leads for candidates in blue New Jersey and in purple Virginia. If Christie and McDonnell win in November, Ehrlich will jump in the race.

Legislator/Bloggers

We have stumbled across a legislator/blogger – Delegate Mike Smigiel.

www.delegatemike.com

It is good to see legislators who aren’t afraid of the internet and who realize blogging is a good way to engage their constituents. You should take some time to check out his posts.

Do you know of any other legislators in the Maryland General Assembly that also blog? Let us know who they are and we will add them to our blog list.

New Episode of “As Republicans Burn”

Over the last two days we have received 3 emails about a recent event so today’s post is a new episode in a series we have affectionately titled “As Republicans Burn.”

In last week’s episode, we reported about legislative leaders rejecting Pelura’s fake olive branch. Two weeks ago, the conversation was on “Will the RNC Bailout the MDGOP.” This week the saga continues. (Nothing would bring more joy than for this soap opera to end, but sadly Republicans keep doing blogworthy things.)

See, Minority Leader Delegate Tony O’Donnell (who represents Calvert and St. Mary’s Counties) showed up unannounced to a St. Mary’s County GOP Central Committee meeting and proceeded to chew out the group for not voting to remove embattled GOP Chairman Jim Pelura.

That prompted this blast from Mike Phillips, a minister and potential candidate for delegate in district 28. Mike’s email was posted on the official Charles County Republican Central Committee Blog:

In a recent St. Mary’s GOP Central Committee meeting, Delegate Tony O’Donnell showed up unannounced in the public forum of their meeting and proceeded to berate the committee members for supporting their Party and its elected Chairman Jim Pelura. He stated the committee as much as “stabbed me in the eye” for supporting Jim Pelura. He was stated to be “red faced” and came across as angry. The St. Mary’s County Central Committee is in the process of formulating an official response to the Delegate’s inappropriate actions. These types of activities by our elected officials are continuing to drive the wedge of division within the MDGOP. Support Pelura or not, but focus on your own work and stay out of Party business, that is the MDGOP’s role and Jim was duly elected by the convention. My advice to Tony: Put up for Republican values or shut up, but work toward party unity not deepening the divide.

Mike Phillips

It is clear the House of Delegates Republican leadership has had enough.  Minority Leader Tony O’Donnell is passionate about increasing the number of Republicans in the General Assembly and it is no surprise the conversation over the MDGOP would get heated.

Minority Leader Tony O’Donnell has every right to berate the St. Mary’s GOP Central Committee who recently joined only 9 other members of the Executive Committee in supporting Jim Pelura during a 20-10 no confidence vote.

Delegate O’Donnell is in a tough position. He has the responsibility to not only lead the current Republican Delegates, but also to do everything he can to increase the number of Republican members in the next election. Not sure everyone on the opposite side of O’Donnell’s shares the same goal.

The state party is getting trounced in voter registration, still in debt with little signs of fundraising success on the horizon, and practically no presence in the media pushing any message.

Moral of the story is that Tony O’Donnell has had enough and he has decided that for the party to actually win something, he needs to fight. The fire in Tony’s belly to move the party forward is exactly what Republicans need right now.

The irony in Mike’s email is that Mike takes Delegate O’Donnell to task for deepening the wounds in the party and yet his email being posted on an official central committee blog only deepens the division. Is it appropriate for a Central Committee to criticize a sitting member of its own party publicly? No. A side note – Delegate O’Donnell does not even represent Charles County and this was a St.Mary’s GOP local issue so why is Charles County GOP getting involved?

Mike Phillips is a Lollar Loyalist. Charles Lollar is Chairman of the Charles County Central Committee whose official blog posted this email. Charles Lollar is running for Congress against Steny Hoyer. You would think he would need help from elected officials for his campaign especially ones like Delegate O’Donnell who represent parts of the district. Elected officials know party activists, donors, and the press – all crucial resources for a first time congressional candidate especially in a long shot race.

Instead of trying to bridge the deep wounds in the state party it appears as though Lollar and his loyalists are deepening the wounds in the party. This is no way to win an election and this is definitely not a sign of leadership.

Democrats are laughing at the Republican Party in Maryland. 2010 is shaping up to be a year where Republicans have a strong wind at their back and could make gains equal to 1994. With all of the divisions in the Republican Party in Maryland, Republicans will not be able to maximize their potential in 2010.

As a side note, GA Harrison of Delmarva Dealings and RedMaryland, finally called for Jim Pelura to be fired. GA makes a solid case “How about a contract on Jim Pelura?“

Statewide and Federal Races Page

We here at MD Politics Blog will be keeping a close eye on the 2010 elections. We have begun creating a one stop shop for resources on all of the candidates and what they are running for in 2010.

The first page we have created lists all candidates running for statewide and federal offices in Maryland. As we move forward, we will be creating pages for Senate and Delegate candidates and maybe even some local races.

To do this effectively we need your help. If you know of a candidate running or have a link to a candidate’s website we don’t have on the site, please shoot us an email at marylandpoliticsblog at gmail dot com .

Thanks,

MDPoliticsBlog

Maryland worth fighting for – except when it’s not

If you were to visit former Governor Bob Ehrlich’s website www.bobehrlich.com you wouldn’t find many interesting items, but one thing stuck out.

On the homepage it says next to a picture of the former gov, “Our Maryland, Always worth fighting for.”

Question: If the former gov thinks Maryland is always worth fighting for then why has he been so hesitant to declare his candidacy?

The former gov hasn’t always been so focused on fighting for Maryland. Shortly after the 2006 election the former gov was not talking so glowing about the future of Maryland. The Washington Post reported “Ehrlich said “a return to public life is unlikely,” given Maryland’s lurch to the left Tuesday.”

After his first ever electoral loss, it should come as no surprise that the former governor was depressed. Obviously time has healed some of the wounds.

Phrases like “always worth fighting for” shows the good money is on Ehrlich running again, though no one knows whether he can actually win. If he does run, it should make for a much more interesting race.

Guest Post: Healthcare Hecklers: Grassroots or Harris & Ehrlich Proxy

Periodically we are going to have guest posts to this blog from all sides of the political spectrum. We give each guest the opportunity to write about anything they want and their posts are unedited by this blog. The first guest post is written by Steve Lebowitz also affectionately known as “justdafacts”. See his post below:

Healthcare Hecklers: Grassroots or Harris & Ehrlich Proxy

Professional and well funded Astroturf operations on both sides of the healthcare debate have attracted national attention, but little has been said about their presence in Maryland. Someone from the other team can ferret out pro-Democratic activity in the Free State; I’m after Republicans.

At least two Washington groups tied to the GOP have set up camp in Maryland with an emphasis on targeting Rep. Frank Kratovil:

Americans For Prosperity (AFP)

• Consistent with its record of moving into states either during tight races or after Democrats win tight races, AFP appeared in Maryland, its 25^th state, soon after Rep. Kratovil narrowly won a packed Republican district.
• AFP hired Maryland state director Dave Schwartz, a longtime Ehrlich aide, straight from the Harris congressional campaign. Mr. Schwartz stayed on with the Harris campaign after the election, drawing his last paycheck on February 1, 2009; by March 2, 2009 he was blogging on the AFP website on behalf of “AFP Maryland.” From Harris to AFP—Same goal, new boss.
• Another 1^st CD GOP activist, Nick Loffer, appears to be on the AFP payroll. Nothing wrong with that [correct me if I’m wrong, Mr. Loffer] but it underscores the absurdity of AFP’s claim to be a non-partisan organization.
• AFP Maryland’s volunteer affiliate, AFP Lower Shore, has been a principle promoter of anti-Kratovil protests, although they were not responsible for the effigy incident as widely reported elsewhere.

AFP has been busy in Maryland with much more than drumming up opposition to Rep. Kratovil, but Mr. Schwartz or a spokesperson from AFP would be strained to deny that targeting the 1^st CD incumbent isn’t high on the agenda. We won’t know for a long time how much money AFP is spending on its agenda right now, but in 2007, the most recent year for which I could get my hands on their returns, AFP and AFP Foundation spent $9.5 million in 20 states. That’s a lot of “change in a teabag.”

In 2007 the going rate for AFP state directors was $72,000 to $115,000 annually, and that year AFP reported a combined $2.3 million in payments for “consulting. Would someone please call the Ehrlichs’ WBAL radio show tomorrow morning and ask if AFP or any of its affiliates are paying his firm’s Strategic Communications Team or any other entity of his firm for any services. Gov. Ehrlich remains the Maryland GOP’s eight hundred pound elephant, and he forgot to mention his ties to Mr. Schwartz last week on his radio show (he has disclosed that in prior appearances) so it’s fair to ask what role he might be playing in Maryland’s take on the tea party/town hall craze.

Institute For Liberty

This boutique of a Washington conservative political operation is part think tank and part action center. Its prolific president, Queen Anne’s County resident and Maryland GOP central committee member Andrew Langer, is no stranger to these pages. By coincidence of residence if for no other reason, Mr. Langer has trained the resources of his organization on Rep. Kratovil. The Institute For Liberty ran an orderly picket of a Kratovil district office [notice the AFP sign in the photo], and somehow, Mr. Langer’s “personal press release” picking on Rep. Kratovil found its way onto the Institute For Liberty’s Scribd page, alongside lofty tomes like, “Property Rights: Twin Promises for Postwar Iraq” and “How to Brew a Tea Party.”

What if, after all the tea parties, tracking, and district office pickets, Andy Harris loses the GOP primary to Sen. Pipkin or another ambitious colleague? No matter; re-election might be a squeaker for Rep. Kratovil, but there’s more to the 1^st C.D. electorate than tea partiers, and many of those attending his town hall meetings have been leaving very pleased with the way their new congressman handles his job. I predict his re-election.

- Steve Lebowitz, Annapolis

get justdafacts on twitter and Daily Kos

Pelura’s Fake Olive Branch

We told you about Jim Pelura going to the RNC, hat in hand, to beg for money. We told you about Maryland GOP Chairman Jim Pelura’s hack Andrew Langer leaking confidential information to the press. (Andrew Langer refutes it here) Now the Washington Post has Jim Pelura making an insincere offer to Republican legislators.

The Washington Post printed an e-mail/letter exchange between Pelura and House Republican leaders Tony O’Donnell and Chris Shank.

“In an e-mail last week, Pelura informed O’Donnell and Senate Minority Leader Allan H. Kittleman (R-Howard) that he had asked Mykel Harris, chairman of the Prince George’s GOP Central Committee, to head a commission to develop the contract. The commission, Pelura wrote, would include state and local Republican party officials, members of GOP clubs and other Republican activists.”

This is more than just a dumbfounded chairman on his last leg attempting to reach out to the people who could make or break him, this is a slippery PR ploy to make him look like Mr. Unity. How do we know? Because the legislative contract was already written by Charles Lollar – former MDGOP Tax Commission Chair and unqualified gubernatorial candidate and Pelura confidant – who posted it to his web site here:

So, Jim and Charles, and Prince George’s County Republican Chairman Mykel Harris, have already written the agenda. They just need to legitimize it thus giving inspiration to email the legislative leaders.

Their first mistake was attempting to play Del. Shank and Del. O’Donnell as a couple of novices (Tony’s taken his lumps going after bigger fish than Pelura.)

Tony and Chris wrote back that they need to take the lead, not some broken party apparatus:

” ‘The Contract with America, in 1994, was developed by experienced policymakers in the Congress under the leadership of the House Minority Whip at the time, Newt Gingrich, with assistance from many other members like Dick Armey of Texas,’ O’Donnell and Shank wrote. ‘The policymaking experience and political expertise for such an endeavor similarly exists within our joint caucus membership. … We know the policy, and we know how such policy relates to winning elections.’”

And they let Jim know they’re still not friends.

“‘We continue to have a lack of confidence in this chairman to prepare the party for statewide quadrennial elections just 15 months away. He seems to want to focus efforts into the policy arena while falling down on core fundamentals of party building activities. It is our political opinion that the state party chairman should excel at some very fundamental items before he delves into the realm of policy making. In our opinion, the chairman should be focused on improving the fundraising performance of our state party. He is still paying off debt that he has incurred years later, and we are less than five months away from being in a quadrennial statewide election year. … Maybe he hopes someone in Washington will magically send us a bailout for the Maryland GOP. How does the MDGOP criticize the Dem’s for out of control spending, a bailout mentality, or spending beyond their means, with this situation hanging out there?’”

Ouch.

*As a side note, it was this blog that first used the terms “bailout for the MDGOP” which was then picked up by Baltimore Sun and now used in an email from the GOP House Leadership.

McDonough for Gov? Not so much

Delegate Pat McDonough R-7 announced on WCBM radio this week that he was considering running for Governor. This just adds another office to the long list he has said he was “considering” since 2006. First it was the Senate seat being vacated by Andy Harris, then the County Executive race, and now a race for Governor. Next thing you know he will be talking about making a trip to Iowa…

GA Harrison over at RedMaryland has a good conservative response to McDonough considering the race.

Pat McDonough is a one-trick pony – Illegal Immigration. He even had Tom Tancredo do a fundraiser for him earlier this year – need this author say more?

Delegate McDonough is not a credible candidate. This author’s assessment is that he probably just wanted to get his name in the news again which he accomplished. Delegate McDonough makes a good delegate and should probably stay there.

One interesting question does come to mind: Will Pat be able to keep his radio show on WCBM or will he have to give it up? Wouldn’t allowing him to continue to get all of that airtime to promote himself and his candidacy be a campaign contribution from the station itself? I guess the same question can be asked about the Ehrlich’s on WBAL. Will they have to give up their show?