I live (right now) in Montgomery County, Maryland.  An " All-American" community, if one is to believe the signs the county has placed near its borders and by its busiest streets.  But upon further inspection, the county would be more honest with a sign that read: Montgomery County, An "All-Government" community.  
   Why?  Because Democrats have run the county for over two decades, and to them and their cronies, it is county government that makes the area great.  County government is the creator of jobs, the creator of parks, and oh yeah, the producer of "things".  Well, I guess technically they are the seller of liquor, but that is because the County charter has been rigged to impose a monopoly over all liquor sales in the county (the better the fatten tax revenues).  And, I guess they are also the seller of "services", and "permits", like the wonderfully expensive parking permit I purchase every month to park at the local metro station.  Add these revenues to the massive increases year-over-year to property tax rates, and it is easy to see why MoCo government has gotten fatter then an early-1990s Oprah.

   Cost of living issues in MoCo aside, how can this be changed?  How can Republicans or at this point, the Greens, make a case that the Democratic stranglehold on the county is not good and not pointing to better times ahead?  It won't be easy, but 2009 and 2010 seem like times ripe for change.  In a series of blogs, I will write about the potential for change in MoCo.  Here's one glimmer of hope for 2009: Robin Ficker is back!

   

   There are so many things wrong with the stimulus, it is hard to know where to begin.  But to me, nothing in this ill-begotten bill screams moral hazard more then the money federal lawmakers are setting aside for states and cities.  At present, it appears that some of this aid was stripped out of the senate version passed today by an overwhelming (cough cough) majority, but just a few hours later Pelosi announced that she wants to put it back in.  One can only hope that her insistence leads to more wrangling and perhaps an end to this foolish enterprise all together.

   Consider: states all across this great union are suffering, but which of them are suffering the most?  Are you hearing about Florida's 40-billion dollar deficit? Are you hearing that Texas is considering taxing itunes downloads and movie tickets?  No, of course not, because those states actually have some idea of how to plan ahead, and they are mixed, in their legislative bodies, between the two parties.  It's the dark blue states like New York, California, and Maryland that need this money.  They need this money because their state legislators are spend-crazy, and their governor's are spineless.  They need this money to "create and preserve jobs".  Baloney. With the money they get from the Feds, these states will simply plug the holes in their budgets and hope that business can continue as usual.  They will use the money to preserve failing, bloated bureacracies, and they will continue to fund pet projects that otherwise will need to be scaled back or scrapped. 

   These Democratic governors and state legislators got into this fiscal mess by not looking ahead, and so therefore the solution is to allow them to continue not looking ahead.  If you think that statement is bit illogical, well, perhaps you are too smart to ever belong to the United States Congress.

   The old adage has rung true time and time again: absolute power corrupts absolutely.  We see it everywhere: in the heavily Republican Congress of 2003-2004, in Illinois state politics, in Albany, New York.  But as always, there are exceptions to the rule.  Case in point: the state of Maryland.

 

   I am 22 years old, and throughout my life there has only been one party making laws, spending money, and setting social policy: Democrats.  Sure there was governor Erlich in 2002, but that was mainly the by-product of a terrible Democratic candidate that year.  As soon as the next gubernatorial race rolled around, it was straight back to Democrats.  

 

   Now, I don't know when this will end, or if it ever will.  There are murmerings now of rebellion in the ranks today, as I write this.  People hate the tax increase of 2007.  They also want more spending, however.  People hate that crime continues to worsen in places like Montgomery and Prince George's counties.  People despise the myriad fees and the expensive toll to get across the Bay Bridge.  They hate the regulations on business but, in the same breath, ask for more environmental safeguards.  In short, the people of Maryland are hard to please, but even harder to figure out.

 

   With so many problems, what will voters do about it?  My best guess now is that they will continue to elect huge Democratic majorities in the state house and that they will most likely re-elect Governor O'Malley.  It is, to borrow a Hannity word, "stunning".  But part of the problem here is that Republicans remain small, timid, and unwilling or unable to talk about things that Marylanders care about.  I have already dispensed some advice in a previous posting, but here goes some more: be different, but not necessarily Republican.

 

   More on this tomorrow.