Section: OPN

Our Say: Multibillion-dollar mortgage settlement a good first step

unknown@hometownannapolis.com (Unknown) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:00:00

When you consider the hit this nation's homeowners have taken since the crash of the real estate market, it's not hard to see why the economy is still pallid. It's remarkable there's any semblance of a recovery at all, with an estimated $700 billion in negative equity lying over the nation's housing market like the largest wet blanket in American history.

As The (Baltimore) Sun reported last week, n...

Guest Column: We need to continue celebrating Black History Month

unknown@hometownannapolis.com (Unknown) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:00:00

Black History Month observances are taking place all over the nation in February as we pause to celebrate the contributions African Americans have made to our country.

In Boston, they pause to pay homage to Crispus Attucks, an African American who was the first man to die in the Revolutionary War.

In Maryland, we celebrate the life and legacy of the late Congressman Parren J. Mitchell, my mentor, who was the first African American...

Editor's notebook

unknown@hometownannapolis.com (Unknown) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:00:00

FUNDS FOR BATES -The state Board of Public Works has awarded $1 million for improvements to Bates Middle School - and if you listened to some members of our county's General Assembly delegation, you would think that was a bad thing.

At the end of last year's session, House Speaker Michael E. Busch, D-Annapolis, used the influence of his office to redirect grant money approved by the legislature but left unused. Bates will use th...

Our Say: Callahan did a lot for his community Walker's message

unknown@hometownannapolis.com (Unknown) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00

Every community needs people like Dennis Callahan: people who love it passionately, have clear ideas about how it can be improved, and don't care how many toes they tread on while they're working to make those ideas a reality.

That last trait repeatedly undercut Callahan's electability as a politician. But he was an effective public servant - in his one eventful term as mayor of Annapolis, and in his years as the county'...

Our Say: Congress' dithering as wearisome as ever

unknown@hometownannapolis.com (Unknown) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00

Even Congress cannot be crazy enough to want the current 2 percent payroll tax cut to expire. That would mean that about 160 million people would wind up paying the government more - nearly $1,000 more for a typical worker.

In an election year, with Congress' popularity incredibly low and the economy attempting to stagger back from a recession, allowing this to happen - and also cutting off jobless benefits for 3 million people - ma...

Editor's Desk: Callahan always a good competitor, and an honest public official

unknown@hometownannapolis.com (Unknown) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00

I first met Dennis Callahan more than 20 years ago on a racquetball court at the old Merritt Athletic Club on Moreland Parkway. Callahan was a better player than me, but we were obliged to compete regularly in various leagues we had joined. Once in a while, I got the better of him and he would curse my long reach with a curious mix of frustration and respect. That was Dennis Callahan, a tough opponent with perseverance and a magnetic personali...

Our Say: A 'lockbox' won't justify a tax hike

unknown@hometownannapolis.com (Unknown) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00

At least so far, Gov. Martin O'Malley has not proposed a mechanism to guarantee that money put into the Transportation Trust Fund by a higher gas tax is actually spent on highways and transit. But he has indicated that he would go along with such a measure, and a lot of legislators are eager to step up with their ideas.

After all, most of them, unlike the governor, have to worry about facing the state's voters if a higher gas ta...

The Ninth Ward: Inflation: Of footballs, TV commercials and our bellies

unknown@hometownannapolis.com (Unknown) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00

Inflation has been generally low for a long time and the cost of airplane flights, telephone service and yes, even gasoline, remains relatively low, unless Gov. Martin O'Malley has his way.

A long distance call was once a family event planned for the evening hours, but now we call almost anywhere no matter what the time for next to nothing. Skype, email and Facebook etc. make it much faster and less expensive than ever to communicat...

Our Say: State justifies a political move with poppycock

unknown@hometownannapolis.com (Unknown) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:00:00

We wish the governor and the state Department of General Services would demonstrate a little honesty when it comes to justifying their decision to move the Department of Housing and Community Development from Crownsville to Prince George's County. Their insistence that this is a good idea because it will generate $12 million in tax revenue has grown worse than tiresome. Is it any wonder the state won't share the documentation that supp...

Right Stuff: Judge O'Malley's decision

unknown@hometownannapolis.com (Unknown) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:00:00

Commentator Michael Kinsley defined a "gaffe" as a politician inadvertently revealing what he or she really thinks. Maryland's first lady Katie O'Malley recently committed a big one.

In welcoming remarks to the 24th National Conference on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equality in Baltimore, O'Malley - who moonlights as a District Court judge - asserted that the same-sex marriage bill failed in the General ...

Editor's Notebook

unknown@hometownannapolis.com (Unknown) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:00:00

FAVORABLE WINDS - Some state legislators may have been secretly hoping that federal procrastination would delay any decision about Gov. Martin O'Malley's plan to put a complex of giant wind turbines off Maryland's Atlantic Coast. They found out differently last week from U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar.

Salazar announced that his department found no environmental reasons, and no likely impact on s...

Editor's Desk: To accuse us of liberal slant, you have to pick and choose carefully

unknown@hometownannapolis.com (Unknown) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:00:00

In a letter to the editor (The Capital, Jan. 28), Donald Rowan scolded us for glamorizing House of Delegates Speaker Michael E. Busch, D-Annapolis, in a story about him becoming the longest-serving speaker (The Sunday Capital, Jan. 8). He labeled us liberal, using as evidence two of our columnists, and our supposed predilection for attacking Republicans exclusively.

He wrote that while he once found it refreshing to se...

Our Say: A lame-duck governor goes too far on taxes

unknown@hometownannapolis.com (Unknown) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:00:00

Even by the low standards of State of the State addresses, there wasn't much to cheer about last week as Gov. Martin O'Malley rolled out his plan to tax his way out of a budget mess. It was obviously the work of a lame-duck governor no longer worried about voter revenge.

The governor's plan calls for putting a 6-percent sales tax on gasoline on top of the current 23.5-cents-a-gallon fuel tax. O'Malley also wants to raise...

Editor's Notebook

unknown@hometownannapolis.com (Unknown) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:00:00

LOTTERY ONLINE - In a year or so, you'll be able to buy a Maryland Lottery ticket online.

The U.S Department of Justice has decided that a 1961 law, which was thought to effectively ban online lotteries, applies only to sports betting. So the Maryland State Lottery Agency can now move online without even a new law.

Lottery officials argue that retailers will not be hurt because 85 percent of the customers who ...

Our Say: Marylanders' fiscal safety nets fraying

unknown@hometownannapolis.com (Unknown) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00

Maryland is consistently ranked as one of the country's richest states. But according to a national assessment by the nonprofit Corporation for Enterprise Development, that doesn't translate into Marylanders having bigger-than-average pools of assets to draw on in the event of emergencies.

The CFED ranked Maryland only 19th among all the states and Washington, D.C., for the financial security of its residents. It estimated that ...

Plain Speaking: The art of raising taxes

unknown@hometownannapolis.com (Unknown) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00

Benjamin Franklin once famously wrote, "Nothing is certain but death and taxes." Here in Maryland, you might escape the grim reaper from year to year, but annual tax increases are indeed a virtual certainty.

As a result, the method and rationale for raising taxes has become something of an art form. A few of the strategies for confiscating an ever larger portion of people's wealth are tried and true, but in Maryland, the i...

Our Say: Acme decision was justified - and overdue

unknown@hometownannapolis.com (Unknown) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00

The only thing unfair about the sanctions imposed on Acme Bar and Grill by the Annapolis liquor board is that such penalties probably should have been wielded earlier, against other city businesses. After years in which leniency was customary, it's not pleasant being the one who's made an example of.

Still, the rules are the rules, and testimony in the liquor board's proceedings made it clear that on June 15 Acme served alco...