March 15, 2011:
Rascovar & Lee Tell It Like It Is...
 Two
astute observers of the Annapolis scene are Barry Rascovar and
Blair Lee. They provide an "insider's baseball" perspective of
the State House through their weekly columns in the Gazette
newspapers.
The Gazette of Politics and Business is a Friday edition
that is also available online (click
here). This edition contains perceptive articles by the
Gazette's team of State House reporters as well as the opinion
columns of Rascovar and Lee.
This week's edition is especially insightful. Rascovar
questions why legislators are not listening to their own fiscal
advisors. The Board of Revenue Estimates last week predicted a
slower-than-expected economic recovery, but the Democrat
leadership continues to increase the budget as if full recovery
will happen in the next quarter:
"Why aren't O'Malley and lawmakers paying attention?
Based on the revenue board's bleak analysis, they should be
reining in Maryland's out-of-control spending and preparing
for a slower than expected recovery. Instead, delegates and
the governor are pandering to the usual special interests.
The revenue board's cautions preceded the alarming events in
Japan, the world's third-largest economy. That nation's
triple devastation will ripple economically through Maryland
and the country. It also is now clear that Maryland's strong
job growth over the past year - loudly touted by O'Malley -
was a mirage. . . This is not a time to crank out another
budget that protects vested interests and avoids the tough
decisions. Yet once again, it looks like that proverbial can
is about to get kicked down the road." (To read the full
opinion column,
click here)
Lee offers an analysis of the unusual alliance that formed
to defeat the assumed passage of the gay marriage bill in the
House of Delegates. He highlights the role of the
African-American churches in persuading legislators to stand
fast against the bill:
"Insiders say that P.G. County's black churches turned
seven delegates against the same-sex bill, enough to kill
it. Many blacks also take offense to the gay lobby's pitch
that homosexual marriage and biracial marriage are similar
civil rights issues. Biracial marriage is much different
from same-sex marriage, say blacks; no religion teaches that
biracial marriage is a sin against God. This clash between
the gay lobby and black churches is a white liberal's
nightmare. Don't the black churches understand that their
job is to endorse Democratic candidates, not religion?" (To
read the full opinion column,
click here)
During the 90-day session, we recommend that you set your
"flipboard" or "google reader" to the Gazette of Politics and
Business to stay current on what is happening behind the scenes
in Annapolis. You will not be disappointed!
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