Republicans finally revolt against Project 2025 but cannot excape the vile document's intentions

Project 2025:  "This 900-page proposal from the Heritage Foundation was published last year — with the input of many former Trump administration officials and those with close ties to the former president — to serve as a (dangerous) blueprint for a future administration."

Echo opinion by Governor Larry Hogan, a former Maryland governor, is the state’s Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate, published in The Washington Post (Democracy Dies in Darkness).

I am a firm believer in what might be called traditional American values: rule of law, separation of church and state, and respect for civil service professionals. 

Never before have I seen those core principles more under threat.On the left, the refusal by some to clearly stand up to radicals such as antisemitic and pro-Hamas protesters, advocates of defunding the police, and the open-borders movement has done substantial damage. However, on the right, there is no clearer example of the threat to American values than Project 2025.

This 900-page proposal from the Heritage Foundation was published last year — with the input of many former Trump administration officials and those with close ties to the former president — to serve as a blueprint for a future administration. To call many of these ideas “radical” is a disservice. In truth, Project 2025, takes many of the principles that have made this nation great and shreds them.

On the left, the refusal by some to clearly stand up to radicals such as antisemitic and pro-Hamas protesters, advocates of defunding the police, and the open-borders movement has done substantial damage. However, on the right, there is no clearer example of the threat to American values than Project 2025.

This 900-page proposal from the Heritage Foundation was published last year — with the input of many former Trump administration officials and those with close ties to the former president — to serve as a blueprint for a future administration. To call many of these ideas “radical” is a disservice. In truth, Project 2025, takes many of the principles that have made this nation great and shreds them.

Toxic politics on both sides of the aisle are undermining faith in our system of government. But Project 2025, sends this disturbing trend into overdrive, casting aside the checks on presidential power that have protected our democracy for more than 200 years.

One of Project 2025’s primary targets is federal workers, including about 150,000 Marylanders. Project 2025, proposes to eliminate civil service protections for most of these workers, instead creating more political appointees chosen by the president.

The goal is to remove nonpartisan civil servants, most of whom patriotically do their jobs without fanfare or political agendas, and replace them with loyalists to the president.

Republicans who believe this power grab will benefit them in the short term will ultimately regret empowering a Democratic president with this level of control.

Perhaps more troubling, Project 2025 would undermine the Justice Department by weakening its independence from the president, eliminating the norm that the White House does not intervene in federal investigations. My father was an FBI agent who believed deeply that this work should not be infected by politics. It was that approach that gave him credibility when he became the first Republican in Congress to come out in favor of the impeachment of President Richard M. Nixon.

It’s true that the ideal of impartial justice that my father embodied has not always been realized. But that does not mean it should be abandoned by choice and design.

Project 2025, also proposes enacting absurd and dangerous policies that must be rejected, including mass deportations, disbanding the Education Department, potentially abolishing the Federal Reserve, and withdrawing the abortion medication mifepristone from the market.

This radical approach is out of touch with the American people. Most Americans — regardless of party affiliation — have more in common than many realize. They want common-sense solutions to address the cost of living, make our communities safer, and secure the border while fixing the broken immigration system. Instead of addressing these problems, Project 2025, opts for total war against the other side, making it impossible to find common ground.

I still believe that bipartisan progress is possible in Washington, but not if we keep going down this dangerous path and fail to defend what made this nation great. The extremes feed off each other, and the exhausted majority of Americans are left trapped between the crazy. 😲😳😵The way to start to fix the broken system in Washington is to elect leaders who will do things differently, stand up for American values and hold both parties accountable. That is the only real bulwark against extremism.

P.S. Although the Trumpzi extremists finally rebuked Proect 2025, the fact remains....they wrote it....and they cannot hide from the dangers it mapped out to destroy American democracy.

Ukrainian Cemetery in Dundalk Maryland is vandalized

As a native of Dundalk, Maryland, this vandalism is highly suspect for several reasons. Number one is the timing having occurred just prior to the unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

Second in urgency is the fact that even I do not know where this particular cemetery is located. In fact, I suspect the location of the cemetery is probably located in an area where there are other cemeteries.  Therefore, to target this particular Ukrainian cemetery is definitely more than curious timing.  Who did this and why?

This is an evil act. Why did it happen just prior to the Russian-Ukraine invasion!

Echo reported in the Dundalk Patch by Kristin Danley-Greiner

Hogan Pledges Reward To Solve Ukraine Cemetery Vandalism Case
Gov. Larry Hogan has pledged a matching reward alongside Metro Crime Stoppers for information in the Ukraine cemetery vandalism case.

Toppled headstones at the Ukraine Cemetery in Dundalk

BALTIMORE COUNTY, MD — Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has pledged a $2,000 match to the Metro Crime Stoppers $2,000 reward being offered for information that leads to the arrest of the person or people who damaged headstones at a Ukrainian cemetery in Dundalk. Hogan called the incident "heinous."

An estimated 50 headstones located in Dundalk's St. Michael Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery have been knocked over and damaged. Baltimore County Police are investigating the vandalism. Sgt. Gladys L. Brown, a spokeswoman for the department, did not say whether the incident was being considered a hate crime, but cemetery administrator Stephen Humeniuk said the timing of the vandalism as Russia invaded Ukraine "is difficult to ignore." He told the Baltimore Sun that he received a call from a neighbor of the cemetery alerting him to the damage mere hours before Russia began attacking Ukraine Wednesday.

An estimated 50 headstones located in Dundalk's St. Michael Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery have been knocked over and damaged. 

"The first thing you think is a hate crime, but you can't prove it," Humeniuk said. "There was no notes. There was no spray paint. Nothing to indicate that. It was just the timing of the incident and the crisis in Ukraine. I thought to myself: 'What else could go wrong?'"

Most of the damaged stones were located in a back corner of the cemetery. Adornments on headstones had been shattered and many of those that had been knocked over had cracked.

"To me, it was unprecedented and it was intentional and it was a hate crime — I'll say it," church trustee John Wojtowycz said.

Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski spoke out against the incident on Twitter.

"I'm appalled by the despicable acts of destruction at this cemetery, especially in light of the recent, unjustified attack on Ukraine. 

We should all be standing up for the Ukrainian people and speaking out against actions against them, whether acts of war by Putin or acts of destruction closer to home. I stand in solidarity with the families affected by this vandalism and with all Ukrainian families living in our communities," he tweeted.

Bipartisan American election 2020 - Integrity validated

Echo!

https://www.heraldmailmedia.com/news/state/hogan-ferguson-jones-stress-election-integrity/article_b6f6e5a8-8fca-5c7d-80fa-0d31932513c8.html

Election integrity!

ANNAPOLIS, Maryland — Governor Larry Hogan, Senate President Bill Ferguson and House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones released a joint, bipartisan public service announcement on the importance of counting every vote and protecting the integrity of the electoral system.

“Our democracy relies on the confidence of voters in a free and fair election,” Ferguson said. “Because of this, it is our mission to ensure every vote is counted.

“We are here, united, to support a complete counting and certification of Maryland’s election results, and encourage everyone’s patience and calm during this period.

“Despite these unprecedented circumstances, Maryland has risen to the occasion,” Ferguson said.

Hogan said, “Marylanders are coming out to vote in record numbers at our polling places, where it is safe and public health protocols are in place.

“We are also working closely with state and federal law enforcement partners to provide election security oversight and ensure our election systems are protected against any potential outside threats.

“Democracy is not a partisan issue,” Hogan said. “We are one, united Maryland.”

Jones said,” We will stand by the results of this election and urge leaders across the country to do the same.

“American democracy works best when we stand behind the common principles that bind our institutions together.

“Nothing is more important to us than to ensure that your voices are heard and that your votes are counted,” Jones said.

“Maryland, thank you for voting,” the three leaders said in unison.

Echo opinion- Republicans must reject Donald Trump

A call to Maryland's Governor Hogan! Will he lead the Republican challenge to oppose the failed Trumpzi administration?

An echo opinion published in The Washington Post, in the Virginian-Pilot and in the Glenwood Post Independent (Colorado), by conservative columnist George Will.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — America's most improbably popular governor, a Republican beginning his second term in perhaps the bluest state, resembles a beer keg with an attitude. 

Stocky and blunt, Larry Hogan, whose job approval is in the high 70s, has won twice in the state with the highest percentage of African-Americans of any state outside the Deep South. 

Maryland's Republican Governor Larry Hogan

In 2016, Maryland voted more emphatically for Hillary Clinton — by 26 percentage points — than all but three other states. In 2018, Hogan was re-elected receiving a majority of women's votes, and 28 percent of the African-American vote while running against a former head of the NAACP. Hogan won while almost 50 percent of Marylanders were saying they would vote against all Republicans in order to express contempt for Donald Trump. 

So, Hogan won against a huge blue wave in a deep blue state.

But, then, Hogan had ended the "rain tax," which was known as a "storm water remediation fee" until he rebranded it. It forced certain counties to tax everyone, sometimes based on the amount of "impervious surfaces" on their property. All the great and good in Maryland defended this as environmentally virtuous (supposedly helping the Chesapeake Bay). However, all but one member of the Legislature, which had veto-proof Democratic majorities in both houses, voted not to terminate their political careers by continuing to tax rain.

Because in 2016 Hogan was early in saying that he would neither endorse Trump nor attend the convention that nominated him nor vote for him. And because Hogan has voiced barely disguised disgust about the president's comportment. And because Hogan's father set an example of principled insubordination. And because he, Hogan, is term limited and hence has little to lose other than sleep, happiness and friends. For all these reasons, he is being importuned to challenge the president in Republican primaries. He says he is "listening" and has "not said no."

He does, however, have a day job he is reluctant to neglect. And he soon will become chair of the National Governors Association. So, he clearly is not eager to mount a losing challenge — which it surely would be — just to unfurl the tattered flag of recognizable Republicanism. 

Opposing any incumbent president is not a day at the beach, and campaigning against today's uniquely smarmy incumbent would be especially disagreeable. Hogan has, however, undergone, while governor, six rounds of chemotherapy (24 hours a day, five days a week, times six, spanning 18 weeks) to defeat an advanced and aggressive cancer (non-Hodgkin's lymphoma), so has endured something almost as unpleasant as Donald Trump.

Furthermore, Hogan's father, a former FBI agent and a Maryland congressman on the House Judiciary Committee in 1974, was the only Republican to vote for all three articles of impeachment against Richard Nixon. Probably for this reason he lost the 1974 Republican nomination for governor.

It is unlikely that Hogan will gratify those who are offering to hold his coat while he brawls with Trump. Still, this town on the Chesapeake Bay will remain known as the incubator of something else germane to today's discontents.

In 1786, in response to a dispute between Virginia and Maryland over rights of navigation and commerce on the bay, Virginia's Legislature asked all the states to send delegates here to a convention to consider how conflicts about interstate commerce could be handled under the Articles of Confederation. 

Only 12 men from five states attended, but two of them were prodigiously talented, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison. The meeting decided that there should be (in the words of Hamilton's report to Congress) a conclave "at Philadelphia on the second Monday in May next" to consider measures to make the Articles "adequate to the exigencies of the Union." The result was the Constitution.

Today, in the U.S. Capitol, 28.3 miles west of where the Annapolis meeting occurred (in a tavern, long gone), a majority of congressional Republicans seem poised to support Trump's evisceration of the Constitution's architecture of checks and balances. 

By opposing a binding resolution disapproving the president's declaration of an emergency, they would approve Congress' acquiescence in the loss of its core power, that of controlling spending. These Republicans raise two questions: Why is there a Congress? And why are such Republicans receiving salaries?

Every Republican who supports the president in this trashing of the Constitution whose creation began here thereby violates his or her sworn oath to defend it and to "bear true faith and allegiance" to it. Voters should expel all of them from public life.

George Will is a columnist who writes for The Washington Post

Maryland *does something* about healthcare

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/editorial/bs-ed-0409-health-care-20180406-story.html
An Echo opinion editorial from The Baltimore Sun~

Keep in mind that Governor Larry Hogan is a Republican, this is remarkable progress using bi-partisan negotiating.  

ANNAPOLIS, Md~ The Maryland General Assembly session has seen its share of controversial issues, from gun control to medical marijuana, and of memorable moments, perhaps the most notable of which was when Republican Del. Meagan Simonaire gave a floor speech endorsing a ban on so-called “conversion therapy” for gay youth, which she said her father, Republican state Sen. Bryan Simonaire, suggested she try after she came out as bisexual. The session has had some election-year political jockeying, too, as Gov. Larry Hogan sparred with Democrats over changes to the state school construction program.

But the most significant thing that’s likely to emerge from the 90 days of lawmaking came with little fanfare or controversy — one of the most aggressive efforts in the country to protect the state’s Affordable Care Act insurance exchange from collapsing under a series of blows from the Republican Congressand President Donald Trump. Maryland figured out a way to start and fund a reinsurance pool — a tax on all health insurers (not just those that operate on the exchange) that replaces a federal levy Congress temporarily abolished. Some Republicans opposed it, but Democrats overwhelmingly supported it, as did Governor Hogan and the state’s largest insurer, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield.

The way it will work is by raising funds to cover costs from the most expensive patients on the exchange and thus make the remaining risk pool less risky — and lower premiums for everyone else. The principle behind the plan isn’t original; Obamacare included a national reinsurance program, and a handful of states have set them up, though all of them with the help of the federal government. Maryland is a pioneer in figuring out a way to do it at the same time that the Trump administration and Congress are actively trying to kill Obamacare. It is expected to significantly moderate increases to insurance rates on the exchange, which were otherwise expected to spike by 50 percent or more next year.

But it doesn’t entirely solve the problem. 

First of all, the tax deal only lasts one year (to match the federal hiatus, which is also only good for 2019). 

Other legislation requires the state to apply for federal help to support the reinsurance pool on a long-term basis, and at one point the Trump administration actually encouraged states to do that. 

But since then, the signals have been decidedly mixed, and Maryland may wind up being on its own. And second, the pressure on the risk pool in Maryland and elsewhere will only intensify when the requirement that individuals buy health insurance expires in 2019 as a result of the Trump/GOP tax law. Fewer young, healthy customers will buy insurance, making the risk pool older, sicker and more expensive.

The legislation includes a provision calling on a commission to study other potential reforms, including establishing a state-level mandate (like Massachusetts has), but it sets a deadline of Dec. 31, 2019 for the group to report its findings. That’s too late. The legislature needs to be in a position to potentially act on that idea immediately in the 2019 General Assembly session, and it already has an intriguing model in hand in the form of legislation considered but not enacted this year that would allow consumers to use the penalty they paid for failing to purchase health insurance as a down payment on a policy. (Because of federal subsidies, many wouldn’t have to pay anything more than the penalty in the first place.)

There is one remaining piece of health care legislation this year that lawmakers should work to pass before they adjourn.

Health care advocates sought to follow up on last year’s anti-price gouging bill for generic prescription drugs with one that would regulate prices for name-brand drugs. The idea was unprecedented nationally and would be complicated to carry out, and so a House committee converted the legislation into a bill requiring a study of the idea. It passed the House 137-0 on Friday, but it will take some effort to move it through the Senate in the time remaining. 

Given the outsized role drugs play in health care costs, we urge the Senate to make it a priority.

Investment in Baltimore - pay now or loose later

My colleagues, friends and classmates who grew up with me in Baltimore are understandably distraught about the city's future. How can Baltimore recover from the recent street riots, following the death of Freddie Gray? Well, my question is this. How can Baltimore prevent the growing incendiary social situation from getting worse? It can't be coincidence that the recent Baltimore riots happened after the Republcian Governor Larry Hogan cut inner city investments, especially education.

In fact, Hogan led Republicans stereotyped Baltimore's inner city problems. They never walked the walk of inner city people. In fact, when Hogan went to survey the recent riot devastation, he went when nobody was awake!  Hogan and his followers believe poverty is the result of laziness. But, they're having their stupid philosophy of social reform, aka, "get a job", handed to them in a platter. Decades of youth unemployment can't be fixed with a minimum wage job.

These are the choices. Like it or not. Expensive or not. Maryland either invests in inner city development, including providing education, job training and mentoring to unemployed people; or....be forced to fund overtime pay and increasing workmen's compensation rates for emergency  medical personnel, expensive trauma care costs resulting from violence and higher jail costs related to increasing criminal convictions, related to Baltimore's social breakdown.

Maryland taxpayers must suck up decades of neglect in Baltimore. As a result, they can pay to fix things now or continue to loose over time.  

Marylanders know how Baltimore has the potential to be a world class city. In fact, Baltimore is a destination American history attraction, a sports mecca and research magnet, especially with support from Johns Hopkins University and the Johns Hopkins Hospital.  Believe me, readers, Johns Hopkins has the  resources to stay in Baltimore, or move someplace else!

Therefore, it makes sense for Marylanders to stand behind their proud heritage city.  

Pay now to build the Baltimore that should've been finished after the 1968 devastating riots, (after Martin Luther King was assassinated) or watch the infrastructure deteriorate while the commerce moves out.  That's the choice.

Baltimore has the perfect trilogy of resources, being "location, location, location".  Located on the Chesapeake Bay, with close proximity to highway systems, railroads, and airports.  

As a matter of fact, what Baltimore needs is an investment in pride and development of the inner city. Baltimore needs a Marshall Plan like the investment that rebuilt Germany after World War II.  Look where Germany is today? Then, compare Germany's resurrection with where Baltimore is at today.  I rest my case. 

Investment in Baltimore is essential. Pay now, or loose later.

Baltimore prosecutor was elected - Attorney General Loretta Lynch has her back

Let's get this indictment right! It's the Baltimore Police Department that had Freddie Gay in custody when he suffered a fatal injury. Clearly, City Prosecutor Marilyn Mosby can't be removed from the case because she's elected. Moreover, she's not on trail.

"Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said the federal investigation was 'probably a step in the right direction'."

Not surprising, the Baltimore Police Department is enraged about how the City prosecutor Marilyn Mosby publicly indicted six officers who were implicated in the death of Freddie Gray, after he was arrested on April 12, without probable cause.

Nevertheless, the Baltimore Police Department hasn't tried to explain how Freddie Gray was alive when he was taken into custody, for apparently possessing a knife, but was essentially dead, with a broken neck, when they took him out of their van.

Now, as a result of the indictments, the Baltimore Police Department wants Marilyn Mosby to be removed as the prosecutor in the case. It's unclear how she can be removed, when her position is elected by Baltimore City voters.

Meanwhile, after Marilyn Mosby announced the indictments, the dangerous riots that were spreading throughout Baltimore City came to an end. How ironic! The riots ended just in time for the running of the world class Preakness horse race, the second event in the Triple Crown series. In fact, Maryland's Governor Larry Hogan should be sending Ms. Mosby a bouquet of Mothers Day roses for bringing the riots to an end, with the police indictments.  

Apparently, Ms. Mosby was the only city leader who seemed to hear the rally of "No justice, no peace".  Obviously, the Baltimore Police Department didn't understand how the riots would spread, unless somebody in Maryland took action. As a result of Ms. Mosby's actions, the Woodlawn Trophy can be proudly presented by Governor Hogan to the Preakness winner. Although the Governor will be smiling for the television cameras, the fact is, he wouldn't look so happy, unless Ms. Mosby  had calmed the rioting crowds, who were uncontrollably irate about Freddie Gray's death.


Thankfully, just when the Baltimore Police Department thought they might have intimidated the prosecutor Mosby, it seems the newly appointed US Attorney General Loretta Lynch has backed her actions up, at least in the investigative sense.  

Here's how Baltimore WBAL reports the investigation:

Justice Department to investigate Baltimore Police Department

The Baltimore City's Democratic mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake says she'll accept outside intervention to rebuild public trust in a city torn by riots over the death of Freddie Gray, a black man who suffered a fatal spinal injury while in police custody.

In calling for the Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation, Rawlings-Blake touted policing reforms she has been trying to make, but admitted they are not enough.

"I am asking the Department of Justice to investigate if our Police Department has engaged in a pattern or practice of stops, searches or arrests that violate the Fourth Amendment," Rawlings-Blake said.

Her request came a day after newAttorney General Loretta Lynch visited the city, 10 days after the city was marred by riots and three-and-a-half weeks after Freddie Gray was injured in police custody. The mayor says Lynch understands the urgency of her request.

"I believe the process can help repair the public's trust in the Baltimore Police Department -- even where that trust has long been broken -- by bringing about transparency, accountability and greater community understanding," Rawlings-Blake wrote in a letter to Lynch.

According to the DOJ, if the attorney general opens an investigation into the Baltimore Police Department, it would focus on seeking out any persistent patterns of misconduct, focusing on such areas as excessive force, discriminatory policing and improper stops, searches or arrests.

The DOJ released a statement shortly after the mayor's announcement, saying: "The Attorney General has received Mayor Rawlings-Blake’s request for a Civil Rights Division 'pattern or practice' investigation into the Baltimore Police Department. The Attorney General is actively considering that option in light of what she heard from law enforcement, city officials, and community, faith and youth leaders in Baltimore yesterday."

At the White House, spokesman Josh Earnest said investigating would be up to Lynch. She is "certainly eminently qualified to make this decision" as a former federal prosecutor.

"She has a very good understanding of the way that those law enforcement and prosecutorial enterprises should conduct themselves," he said.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said the federal investigation was "probably a step in the right direction."

Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-District 7, applauded the mayor's request.

"Let's not kid ourselves. This is a transformative moment, or it should be, but in order to transform the Police Department, we have to have thorough and complete information, and I think it has to be done by an independent body like Department Of Justice," he said.

Police react to mayor's request:

Baltimore City Police Commissioner Anthony Batts released a statement Thursday, saying: "We continue the work of bringing reform to every level of the Baltimore Police Department, a process we started more than two years ago. 

The Baltimore Police Department brought in new, talented and bright leaders. Experts in Internal Affairs, Equal Opportunity and training led the structural reforms of the department. A new Command Staff was put in place, chosen in part by community leaders to reflect their values. The way officers were trained, the equipment provided to them, the administrative policies and procedures (responded), outdated and antiquated systems were updated. Those were just a few of the things that were part of the transformative process. Even going so far as to change the schedule the officers worked to improve morale. There were tangible, empirical results that showed how the organization was fundamentally headed in a new direction. At the end of 2014, a 54 percent reduction in discourtesy complaints was documented, more than 40 percent reduction in excessive force complaints and a dramatic drop in lawsuits."

Nevertheless, the people have to remember that police officers are entitled to the same civil rights and due process as anyone else.

Justice Department probe under way into Gray case
Baltimore saw days of unrest after Freddie Gray was taken into custody and suffered critical injuries. He died a week later (I submit he was essentially alreaddy dead long before he was declared). 

The Justice Department is already investigating whether Freddie Gray's civil rights were violated, and it has been doing a review of some city policies since last fall, but a full-scale civil rights investigation is far more sweeping. 

Six officers are charged in Gray's arrest and death.

"I am willing to do what it takes to reform my department," Rawlings-Blake said. "At no time in our recent history has any administration brought this level of resources to reform our Police Department."

For 15 years, the Baltimore City Police Department engaged in zero-tolerance policing, sparking complaints and lawsuits. Rawlings-Blake has tried to get police to dial back the strategy.

Arrests have dropped from 110,167 in 2003 to 50,429 in 2013. 

But the types of arrests continue to be a flashpoint and a key element in the case of Gray. If they go forward, federal investigators will examine the reasons police use to take someone into custody.

The Baltimore City Police Department has been known to use arrest numbers as a measure of police performance. 
CNN reports that the Baltimore community lacks trust in law enforcement and that police must acknowledge that "we are part of the problem."

Attorney General Loretta Lynch has appeared to support prosecutor Mosby in her assessment of the harsh Baltimore police tactics. It seems like the Baltimore Police position must accommodate the DOJ investigation, rather than waste energy trying to remove Mosby as the prosecutor.

Baltimore in Chaos - Marilyn Mosby takes charge

"To the people of Baltimore and demonstrators across America, I heard your call for 'No Justice, No peace,' " Mosby said. "Your peace is sincerely needed as I work to deliver justice on behalf of this young man." Marilyn Mosby

Marilyn Mosby Baltimore prosecutor

Finally! Somebody has taken charge of the chaos in Baltimore following the murder of the young black man, Freddie Gray. Somebody had to step up!  Thankfully, it took the guts of a young 
and Black city prosecutor to rise to this challenge. 

Marilyn Mosby has taken the reigns from Baltimore City's Mayor Stephanie  Rawlings-Blake. The mayor, sadly, has been as ineffective as a proverbial deer caught in he headlights, by her lack of emotion and lethargic response to the growing racial crises, post the police brutality killing of Freddie Gray. Meanwhile, Maryland's Governor Larry Hogan has behaved like a used car salesman, waiting for the bank to call him with a customer's loan approval. He talks a lot, but has nothing to contribute to the crises, except rhetoric.  Obviously, Rawlings Blake and Hogan do not communicate.

So, how's Maryland's Republican Governor going to fulfill his campaign promise to Maryland's voters, now that the state's largest city and economic engine is in a meltdown? Who's going to present the Woodlawn Trophy at the Preakness Race, the second leg of the Triple Crown?  Who's going to build Baltimore back to become the state's economic engine, when at least 20 percent of the city is trashed and burned?

Moreover, Governor Hogan hid in the equivalent of an emergency bomb shelter when he told the news media how he waited for Rawlings-Blake to call him before enacting the state's National Guard. Otherwise, if he'd waited any longer to declare the emergency, the burning of Baltimore would've turned the city into matchsticks. Then, like a rerun of the movie "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World", former Governor and Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley shows, up after cancelling speeches in Europe, because he wanted to walk the streets of the burned out city.....and do what? It's like Rawlings-Blake, Hogan and O'Malley are all looking for two "big W's", meaning "who is responsible for this chaos?" and "what happened that I can blame on somebody else?".

Except, this Baltimore tragedy isn't a parody. Rather, it's frighteningly real.  

For a fact, Freddie Gray did not deserve to die. 

There's nothing in the universe of possibilities that caused Gray to deserve to have his neck broken and his spine severed during an arrest, without cause.

So, here's what the Baltimore City Attorney Marilyn Mosby said:

Freddie Gray death ruled homicide; officers charged

By Michael Pearson, Ben Brumfield and Eliott C. McLaughlin, CNN
Six Baltimore police officers will face charges in the death of Freddie Gray, the city's prosecutor said Friday in an unexpected announcement that brought cheers from protesters and words of protest from the police union.

The announcement by Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby left no doubt about what she thinks happened April 12, when Gray was arrested: The 25-year-old died, she said, after suffering "a severe and critical neck injury" while being transported "handcuffed, shackled by his feet and unrestrained" inside a police van. It is against police policy to transport a prisoner without proper restraints such as a seat belt.

BALTIMORE — Baltimore’s chief prosecutor (Marilyn Mosby) charged six police officers on Friday with crimes including murder and manslaughter in the arrest and fatal injury of Freddie Gray, a striking and surprisingly swift turn in a case that has drawn national attention to police conduct.

The state’s attorney for Baltimore, Marilyn J. Mosby, filed the charges almost as soon as she received a medical examiner’s report that ruled Mr. Gray’s death a homicide, and a day after the police concluded their initial investigation and handed over their findings. Officials had cautioned that it could take considerable time for her office to complete its own investigation and decide whether to prosecute.

Five of the six officers are in custody, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said later.

Mosby said Gray suffered fatal spinal injuries on April 12,while being transported in a police van, where he was taken because he was somehow involved in a yet to be fully explained incident.

The most serious charges were brought against Officer Caesar Goodson, who was driving the transport van that brought Mr. Gray to the Western District police station after his April 12, arrest. Mr. Goodson, 45 years old, was charged with second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and other charges.

Officers William Porter, 25, Lt. Brian Rice, 41, and Sgt. Alicia White, 30, were each charged with involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault and misconduct in office. Officers Edward Nero, 29, and Garrett Miller, 26, were charged with second-degree assault and misconduct in office. (News is reporting the charged police officers were released on bail on Saturday May 2nd).

It's unclear how Mosby's firm response to the homicide of Freddie Gray will impact Baltimore's violence and demonstrations, but she certainly has put a sense of awe into the city.  

Who could have guessed that a young Black woman (35 years old) would be so decisive? She's especially riveting, when contrasted against Rawlings-Blake, Hogan and O'Malley, who acted like movie stars in a grade B-movie rehearsal. Thankfully, Mosby finally took charge of the entire saga.  

By "throwing the book" at the six police involved in the killing, Mosby knows the charges must be given due process and those officers have seen their jobs disappear, forever.

Capitalism is an economic system where wealth is shared - Republicans Alert

"...look at what Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton did when he inherited a $6.2 billion state deficit from Republican Tim Pawlenty. Pawlenty cut state taxes to show his credentials as a presidential candidate. After eight years in office, Pawlenty left office with a 7 percent unemployment rate and a total of only 6,200 new jobs."

Republicans who praise the laurels of living in a Capitalist society have no idea about what this really means. Listen up Republicans! Capitalism means "sharing the wealth".  In other words, tax money must be reinvested to help the civilized world to progress.

Columnist Tom Zirpoli of the Carroll County Times writes about how investing tax money improved economies:

Best states invest in education

Tom Zirpoli
March 18, 2015

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) is following the GOP's failed philosophy of trying to boost the state's economy by cutting taxes. Never mind that, according to Hogan, Maryland already has a significant deficit. Never mind that he has already proposed drastic cuts to education funding to help balance the budget, and that cutting taxes will only make it necessary to make more cuts on the backs of our children.

There is now overwhelming evidence that cutting state taxes does not grow a state's economy or create jobs. This experiment was tried on the national level by President George W. Bush, who cut taxes and then watched the federal budget surplus he inherited disappear. Oh, and then there was the Great Recession of 2008 -- so much for growing the economy by cutting taxes.

The evidence is also overwhelming at the state level, where Republican governors and legislatures have watched their states' deficits grow and their economies fail after big tax cuts. Then, in response to their recklessness, they cut education funding instead of restoring the revenue.

Hogan wants to cut Maryland K-12 education funding by $144 million because, according to his budget secretary,David Brinkley, "We want responsible budgeting here." But there is nothing responsible about cutting revenue while proposing massive cuts to our children's education.

Hogan is following the same failed formula of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, and Arizona Gov. Douglas Ducey of cutting state taxes, growing the state deficit and then cutting education funding to balance the budget on the back of the states' children.

Instead, Hogan should look at what Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton did when he inherited a $6.2 billion state deficit from Republican Tim Pawlenty. Pawlenty cut state taxes to show his credentials as a presidential candidate. After eight years in office, Pawlenty left office with a 7 percent unemployment rate and a total of only 6,200 new jobs.

Dayton raised state taxes on the rich and raised the state minimum wage after he took office. Minnesota now has the fourth highest state income tax rate in the country. His actions were called a "jobs killer" by state Republicans. However, after four years in office, between 2011 and 2015, Minnesota added 172,000 new jobs, the unemployment rate dropped from 7 percent under Pawlenty to 3.6 percent under Dayton and the state now has a $1 billion surplus which it can invest into better schools, stronger infrastructure and better services for its citizens.

As a result, Forbes rates Minnesota the 9th best state in the nation for business. In the same study, Forbes rated Walker's Wisconsin, next door to Minnesota, one of the worst states to do business. When will Republicans learn that businesses want to locate in states that invest in education, infrastructure, technology and good services for citizens? Smart business men and women want the best schools for their own children. They also understand that to attract strong employees they need to be located in states with good schools and other family services.

Interestingly, Dayton's family founded Target department stores and he is a billionaire. Yet, he campaigned on higher taxes for the rich and investing 33 percent of the tax increase to the state's public education system.

Dayton's strategy has been a big success. Meanwhile, back in Wisconsin, Louisiana, Arizona, Kentucky and other GOP states where taxes have been cut and education funding slashed, the deficits keep rising and job creation lags behind the national average.

Hopefully, Hogan will look at the data and update his economic plan for Maryland. Simply put, Marylanders want to keep our strong public education system and are willing to pay for it. If retired folks want to move to Pennsylvania to avoid taxes on their retirement, good riddance. 

They are not the folks who will be growing the economy in Maryland's future; our children, however, will.

Tom Zirpoli writes from Westminster. His column appears Wednesdays. Email him attzirpoli@mcdaniel.edu.