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More taxing tobacco

Here's a factoid I didn't know, or possibly had merely forgotten from last year's session.  Either is possible-- good ol'  MM isn't as sharp as he used to be!  Which is still 18 times sharper than Howard County's next sharpest blogger, BTW.

So when the tobacco tax was doubled last year, apparently, tobacco products that are not cigarettes (cigars, pipe tobacco, smokeless tobacco, etc.) were NOT included.  This article has the info.  So this year, the O'Malley Administration is coming back to support doubling the tax on these other forms of tobacco.  I don't see a clear reason why the tax wasn't raised on these other forms last year, so hell, why not?  Raise the tax on the stuff.

But that's not all!  Only one year after doubling the tobacco tax to $2 per pack of cigarettes, now there's a push afoot to increase the tax to $3 this year.  I am totally cool with raising the tobacco tax, but I have to say, I think this particular tax increase may be a little much, a little soon.  Best to have more than one year's data on the costs and benefits of last year's tax increase before deciding if another one is prudent this year.

 

I think it's Romney

OK, so Mitt Romney has won Florida.  So I know that all of four states in the nation have voted in the GOP preliminary elections.  (I shy away from the words "primary" and "caucus" here.)  So one may think it's inappropriate to come out and declare a winner.  Yet, after a South Carolina election won by Newt Gingrich, who wound up polling even with Romney soon thereafter, Romney pulled ahead.  And at time of writing, appears to secure an approximately 15-percentage point victory.  With more elections coming fast and furious in the coming weeks, while I think newt will win a few, this race is Romney's to lose.  And he won't.

So what does this say of the 2012 general election?  If you're a supporter of President Obama, a lot of good.

I am one who thought Obama actually vulnerable to a Newt nomination.  If Newt could survive the infidelity story and his own ego, he would prove an especially dangerous candidate in the general election.  As I believe I've written before, he served in a position of power when life in America was good!  And that matters a lot.

But with Romney-- I'm getting vibes of 1996 here.  Romney is the Next Man Up.  He did well in 2008, but ran second to McCain, so now its his turn.  Meanwhile, he'll be running against a flawed incumbent who possesses vulnerabilities great enough to topple him.  But that won't happen, because the incumbent is a better campaigner, debater, and is more in touch with average Americans.  Oh, and he pays more than 15% in taxes.  That's important.

Of course, over the next nine months, who knows what could happen.  But right now, I'm far from excited in what I see.

On gay marriage, I'm with the First Lady

So Maryland First Lady (and Judge, don't forget) Katie O'Malley made headlines last week when she said that gay marriage failed in the Maryland House of Delegates last year because of some "cowards."  This is reported in this article.

Well, was she wrong?

The opposition to the bill last year was most curious.  One could expect delegates of both parties from rural areas to be queasy about supporting the legislation.  But what was really odd, and disturbing, was the opposition by numerous African-American delegates.  What, are no African-Americans gay?  And as to the argument about African-American churches holding the keys to the seats in some of these districts....wow, really?  I thought we were past the point in American (certainly Maryland) politics where elected officials were beholden to a church?

Frankly, Mrs. O'Malley, I think "cowards" was too mild a term to use.  And we'll see if any of these delegates acquire a shred of backbone this year, as the same legislation makes its way through the Assembly.

Christmas in January for Columbia!

(Author's note: I purposefully wrote this title so one could sing it to the tune of the refrain of "Springtime for Hitler" in "The Producers".  Try it yourself.  It's fun!  : )  )

It's that now-biennial ritual in the New City, called the Columbia Association budget hearing.  This article brings us the 411 on this year's wacky goings-on, which took place last week.  As per normal, I have more than a few observations on the proceedings.

I think that it is entirely appropriate for the villages to ask for enhancements to their villages' facilities that address and/or allay safety concerns.    Not that Columbia has become any more or less safe over the past two years, but because village employees, boards, visitors, etc. need to do business in a safe environment.

Interesting that there was so much focus on dredging, issues relevant to stormwater runoff, etc.  Dredging is a big problem here, but dredging is not something that people in Columbia do well.  Beyond the obvious sentiments expressed about projects, the need for education, etc., the CA Board should take from that focus the fact that dredging is a serious issue and has to be something they address in better fashion than they have.

All in all, the meetings was relatively free to crackpots, fruits and nuts.  Guess most of them are either on or are running for the School Board this year.

Build the fountain!

Slowly but surely, the redevelopment of Symphony Woods is taking shape, and I am really starting to like what I see, as evidenced by this article.

In the search for a signature item of Columbia redevelopment, a symbol that could become as iconic as the people tree was to the Columbia pioneers, I think the idea of a fountain in Symphony Woods that motorists and others could see from Little Patuxent Parkway would be fantastic.

I especially love the fact that the fountain could even operate in winter, and be lighted.  In this latter aspect, I'm envisioning the fountain being lit red, white and blue for the 4th of July, red and green for Christmas, orange on halloween-- thinking our own local version of the Empire State Building's lighting scheme.

I strongly encourage the CA Board of Directors to approve the development of this fountain as part of stage 2 of the redevelopment of Symphony Woods!

James Howard is a Vampire! Proof!!!!!

Following up on a blog post earlier this week, here is a photograph of Planning Board member James Howard, moments before converting an unsuspecting toddler from being a source of sweetness and light to simply another minion of the undead:

NOW I want someone to tell me that James Howard is NOT a vampire!

Rumor has it that Mr. Howard is secrety lobbying for zoning for rendering plants and abattoirs in East Columbia.

Anyone got any garlic???

A challenge to the bench

I love this article.  And wow, has it really been 15 years?

So Circuit Court Judge Lenore Gelfman is up for another 15-year term on the bench-- a term that she won by running against the two sitting judges at the time, Diane Leasure and Donna Hill.  Hill was beaten out for the spot on the bench by Gelfman in the 1996 election.

I supported the sitting judges at the time, a position that was publicly assailed by many in the HFC, Democrat and Republican alike.  I felt that Judge Hill brought tremendous diversity to the board-- in terms of age, ethnicity and gender-- and her defeat is one of the moments in my political experience that frankly made me the most sick.

So, reading that local attorney Clarke Ahlers is running for the Circuit Court against Gelfman-- well, I think I'll be supporting Mr. Ahlers.  Turnabout is fair play.

Raising perverse amounts of cash-- local edition!!!

So it looks like the potential candidates for County Executive in Howard F---ing County are cashing up, as evidenced by this article. 

As of the latest filing deadline, Del. Guy Guzzone has about $192K in the bank, outpacing Councilwoman Courtney Watson by about $20K.  State Sen.  Allan Kittleman currently has about $62K in the bank.

So in the 2010 election, County Executive Ulman raised about $1M.  The 2014 election looks to exceed that total by a considerable margin, given these figures.

For me, more interesting than the cash chase will be the grabbing of issues.  These candidates, especially on the Democratic side, are going to have to demonstrate more than a nickel's worth of difference from each other in order to distinguish themselves from each other, and to Howard County voters.  This year, and 2013, will be the prime time for that to occur.

Turf Valley--- Please Make It Stop!!!

So this one is where we discuss that land use and development idiocy occurs all over Howard County.  In fact, it is a Howard County tradition.

On the Board of Appeals website we see our good buddy Marc Norman is once again appearing re: Turf Valley and the Mangione development.  Amazing.  Does this guy ever get enough?  Apparently not.  The next round is scheduled to occur on January 26.

Marc Norman better be ready to go all night long because new Board of Appeals member James Howard is alleged to be a vampire, per influential elements of the Howard County blog community.  So Marc, don't just bring your facts, your lunch, and your A game.  Bring a couple pints of A positive.  Because a man like James Howard can only find the energy to do all he does-- working professional, graduate student, committed community servant-- by being one of the undead.  So I've heard.

Seriously, can there be a limit on how many times the same guy can pester a public board about a case?  Hasn't Marc Norman run his route by now?  Give it a break, bro!

Keep the Flag Flying

You know, sometimes government just acts a little bit goofy insofar as it's proper to do the legal thing, but sometimes better to do the acceptable thing.  And this article is just one case of that.

I don't have a problem with this American flag flying in this circle in Woodbine.  I do think that it wasn't cool for the resident to place a cemented flagpole in the public right of way-- would seem to me that there should be some fine she should have to pay for doing this thing.  But, the act itself was not maliciously-intended. It was done just to have an appropriate place for the flag to fly.

Many if the American flag that I see flying from bridges and overpasses in the area-- no one ever seems to take them down unless they get weather-worn... in which event soon thereafter, another flag appears.  I am not sure then why this case be treated any differently.

State Highway Administration, let this flag fly!