Big Dogs Weblog

Why Maryland Does Not Need O’Malley/Brown

Aug 3, 2006 Political

Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley is running for the office of governor and he selected a man named Anthony Brown to be his running mate. Brown is a military reservist and I am sure he is a smart man. Brown is a black man and I wonder if the Baltimore Sun, when it endorses O’Malley (which I will bet a steak dinner on) will make the same remarks about Brown that they made about Michael Steele, Maryland’s Lt. Governor (and next Senator) who happens to be black. The Sun said that the only thing Steele brought to the ticket was the color of his skin. But we only need to scrape the surface to see real problems with the O’Malley/Brown team.

First, O’Malley’s latest commercial indicates that he has a plan for the state’s educational system. O’Malley has been the Mayor of Baltimore for 4 years and his school system is the lowest in the state in about every category they measure. O’Malley ran on the same education ticket when he ran for Mayor. Despite his poor performance and his neglect of the city’s children the state teacher’s union has endorsed him. Of course the leader of that union is a Democrat who is running for another state office.

I recently wrote a post about an 11 year old boy who was killed by a convicted child sex predator. This guy had a long criminal record and in 2002 he told police that he was a pedophile and he needed help. Instead of locking him up they gave him help obtaining his next victim. But Big Dog, surely you do not think O’Malley and Brown are the friends of child sex predators. Why, any thinking human being is consumed with protecting children and the Democrats are always telling us that they are doing it for the children. Tell us Big Dog, what are you saying?

I am glad you asked. These two men would rather place politics above the safety and welfare of our children. O’Malley did that with the school system in Baltimore and they are complicit in the system being easy on child sex predators. You see, during the last legislative session in Maryland there was a bill on the table. Jessica’s law, as it was called was a law that made things really tough on child sex predators. I am unsure of all the provisions but there were mandatory jail terms and long sentences. This particular bill, designed to help the children was not passed even though the legislature had 90 days to get it done. I guess the children are not so important to Democrats after all because the Maryland legislature is overwhelmingly Democrats. The bill eventually got passed but that is because the Democrats went home after the session and caught hell. There was a special session called so they could screw consumers with an energy scheme and they took the opportunity to vote on Jessica’s law at that time.

Who could have been involved in this and why? This is from the MD GOP week in review (4/06)

Anthony Brown: Why is he protecting child sexual predators?

Another one of the most important issues facing the General Assembly was the rapid increase of child sexual predators in our communities and how to protect our children. According to the Department of Corrections and Public Safety, sexual predators are on the rise in Maryland. “Since December 2002, the earliest figures available, the number of registered sex offenders in the state has increased by 1,558, from 2,792 to 4,354 in December 2005. ‘The only way you lose people is if they go back to jail,’ [Dave] Wolinski [assistant director of the Criminal Justice Information System, which maintains the list for the state Department of Corrections and Public Safety] said.” (Sex offender registry grows by hundreds each year, Baltimore Examiner, April 11, 2006)

So why wasn’t anything done? Politics, ladies and gentlemen. Politics trumped the safety of our children. And guess who played the biggest part in killing legislation that would have created mandatory sentences for these deviants? None other than Martin O’Malley’s running mate, Delegate Anthony Brown.

Sexual predator legislation died in the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by defense attorney and delegate, Joseph Vallario. Anthony Brown sits on the committee and since his selection as Boy Mayor’s running mate, he’s taken a far more visible role as O’Malley’s puppet in the legislature. Here’s how Brown did it, according to an account in the Baltimore Sun: “House Republicans and Democrats sparred over the measure recently, when Del. Anthony G. Brown, a Prince George’s County Democrat, moved to amend the original sex offender law to include the Jessica’s law provision. Brown is also Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley’s running mate in a race to unseat Ehrlich.But Del. Anthony J. O’Donnell, the House minority whip from Southern Maryland, said doing so would mean certain death for the provision or perhaps the entire bill.
’It was a way to kill Jessica’s law without fingerprints,” said O’Donnell. “I really feel it is in big trouble because these folks want to make it appear that they really support it but they don’t.’ Brown denies O’Donnell’s assertion, saying he wanted to include the bill in the umbrella sex offender legislation. He said he hopes to be appointed to the conference committee to negotiate a solution.” (Child-molest measure stalls, April 8, 2006)

THE DEMOCRAT LEADER ON THE FLOOR THAT WANTED TO RECOMMIT JESSICA’S LAW BACK TO COMMITTEE AS IT WAS SET FOR PASSAGE SO THAT THEY COULD KILL IT WAS ANTHONY BROWN. The bill never made it to conference committee because it was recommitted to a Senate committee and ultimately died. It appears Anthony Brown gave Senator Brian Frosh the necessary talking points he needed to kill HB 4 in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee. (see picture at bottom) (edited by author) The O’Malley-Brown ticket has placed Maryland’s children in more danger from sexual predators who, now thanks to them, have less to fear from our laws in terms of mandatory sentences and jail terms without possibility of parole.

This is outrageous politics from the O’Malley-Brown Team. Children are in danger and they play politics. There is no excuse for not protecting our children from these sick individuals, but we’re sure Brown will have plenty as the months go on but nothing he says will change the facts.

Send Del. Anthony Brown an email about this legislation and his disgusting politics at the expense of our children at anthony.brown@house.state.md.us (bold emphasis added)

I am not so naive to think that passage of this law would have saved the recent child victim. Enforcement of current laws and locking the revolving door would have prevented it along with some good old fashioned common sense on the part of his mother. But the fact is, when given the chance to do something that would protect children “Del. Anthony Brown (Martin O’Malley’s running mate) killed the legislation so that Republicans wouldn’t get credit for passing a strong measure like “Jessica’s Law.” “(MD GOP 6/06)

Does the state of Maryland really need two people who put politics ahead of the safety of our children in charge? Do we need to elect two guys who only care about obtaining power? If we elect these guys then it means we are signing on to the idea that the safety of our children comes second to politics. If that is the case when they are running how bad will it be if they get in? I for one do not want to see this state turned over to two guys who would sell their very souls to Satan for a chance at power. Besides the issue of child safety, which is certainly enough, we do not need O’Malley’s failed Baltimore City policies moved up to the state level. Bob Ehrlich got us back in the black ink after years of Democratic failure and the last thing we need is a man who lost 58 million dollars in there screwing things up again.

Shame on the O’Malley/Brown ticket for their dismal performance with regard to our children. I do not know what kind of soldier Anthony Brown is but I know that he is a JAG officer so he is not in a leadership type position. I mean, how many lawyers do they actually have engaged in battle? I do know this, as a soldier my job was to accomplish my mission and take care of my troops. In addition, I was to always protect those who could not protect themselves. Once you are a soldier you are always a soldier and Brown is still in the reserves. Forget for a minute his duties as a lawmaker, how could he neglect one of his most basic duties as a soldier, the protection of those who can not protect themselves. He neglected the most vulnerable segment of our society and this is an act that should never be rewarded especially with election to higher state office. If anything, it should be grounds to remove him from the position he currently holds.

I am disgusted, as a soldier and as a citizen of this state, that Anthony Brown put his own personal interests above our children’s safety. Come to think of it, even writing about the color of his skin as they did for Steele would be too much praise for this guy.

Tags: Commentary, Political

Mel-Low Out On Gibson

Aug 3, 2006 Uncategorized

Mel Gibson was arrested for driving under the influence late last week. When he was arrested he mad a lot of bad comments about the Jewish people. I in no way condone what he said and believe that Mel has a lot of issues. The drunk tongue says what the sober mind thinks. Having said all that, Gibson apologized for the remarks, made while he was obviously drunk, and he seemed to be sincere. Unfortunately, a lot of people can not forgive him and this incident, while reprehensible, has garnered much more attention then it should have and in all reality the media, Hollywood, and the liberal blogs (as well as anyone else who is carrying on with this ad nauseam) are demonstrating selective outrage. Remember, Gibson said something bad about Jewish people and people are outraged. But, where was the outrage when these statements were made or incidents occurred?

• My son joined the Army to protect America, not Israel. (Cindy Sheehan)
• From the beginning, this war was orchestrated from top to bottom by Jewish Neocons that saw the war as one for Israel’s strategic objectives. They ramped up the war through Jews such as Perle and Wolfowitz, the false intelligence through CIA analyst Stuart Cohen and by Israel’s Mossad, and had a compliant Jewish-dominated media to cheer on the war. The truth is the Iraq War has inflicted incredible damage on America and the American people. It is war against America rather than in defense of America. (David Duke)
• A Hasidic Jewish driver in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights section accidentally kills Gavin Cato, a 7-year-old black child, and antisemitic riots erupt. Sharpton races to pour gasoline on the fire. At Gavin’s funeral he rails against the “diamond merchants” — code for Jews — with “the blood of innocent babies” on their hands. He mobilizes hundreds of demonstrators to march through the Jewish neighborhood, chanting, “No justice, no peace.” A rabbinical student, Yankel Rosenbaum, is surrounded by a mob shouting “Kill the Jews!” and stabbed to death. (Al Sharpton)
• During a private conversation in 1984, Jackson referred to Jews as Hymies and to New York as Hymietown. He later apologized. (Source)
• “These false Jews promote the filth of Hollywood that is seeding the American people and the people of the world and bringing you down in moral strength…It’s the wicked Jews the false Jews that are promoting Lesbianism, homosexuality. It’s wicked Jews, false Jews that make it a crime for you to preach the word of God, then they call you homophobic!” (Louis Farrakhan)

Now, all of these items are equally reprehensible. They are all aimed at blaming the Jews for the ills of the world. Momma Moonbat said her son died for Israel and the KKK David Duke reaffirmed that. Jackson, Sharpton, and Farrakhan, guys who scream bloody murder whenever they perceive that blacks have been treated unfairly, all take pot shots at the Jews. Where was the public outrage?

How many people tried to put any of these people out of business (though that would have been appreciated)? How many people in the liberal world or in Hollywood asked that these never be forgiven? As a matter of fact, except for Jackson, there is no indication any of them apologized. Yet, he was forgiven and the rest were never taken to task.

What they ALL said was wrong. What is equally wrong is the disproportionate response between the way Gibson (Conservative) was treated and the way the rest (Liberals) were treated. Wrong is wrong and political ideology should not guide one’s “morality.”

Tags: Commentary

Not Everyone Has Internet Access

Aug 3, 2006 Uncategorized

As anyone who pays attention to the news knows, the mid-Atlantic is in the middle of a heat wave. We have had temperatures around 100 degrees with a heat index around 110-115 for the past few days and four elderly people have died as a result of the heat. The city has opened cooling centers where people without air conditioning, like the four that died. I heard about this on the radio and the instructions said ‘to find the location of the cooling center closest to you, log on to (radio station.com).’

What are the odds that these elderly people had a computer with Internet access? Even if the elderly owned computers at a high rate, what are the odds that the elderly who did not have (probably could not afford) air conditioning spent their money on a computer with Internet access?

This is a common thing for places to do. They tell you to log on to this site or that. What about people who do not have Internet access? In addition to that, sometimes it is down right stupid. The electric company says to check at their website for power the status of power outages. If your power is out, how can you check? If it is on, why would you? When you call Comcast to see why the Internet is out they say “If you are calling to report Internet outage press (what ever number) and then after you press it the voice says “Most items can be checked on line at the Comcast website. I just pushed a button to find out why the Internet is out!!! Hello??

In any event, I think that instructions, such as the one for cooling shelters, should say you can check on locations nearest you by logging on to our website or calling (whatever number).

They should keep in mind that the people they are trying to help probably can not access the information. It would do them well to remember that not everyone has access to the Internet.

Tags: Commentary

Why Can’t We Have Voluntary Prayer In School

Aug 3, 2006 Uncategorized

Prayer in school has been under attack for years and is now outlawed because of the efforts of organizations like the ACLU who have twisted the First Amendment to fit their desire of Communism. Regardless of how anyone feels about the subject, the Constitution is clear in that Congress may not create a law establishing religion and that they may not prohibit the free exercise thereof. It would seem that if the Supreme Court has ruled (in error, in my opinion) that students may not voluntarily participate in prayer in the classroom, then a place should be set aside for students who want to pray or participate voluntarily in religious studies. Unfortunately, students have been denied this under blanket assumptions that allowing a child to pray on his own in a place provided somehow violates the First Amendment.

The whole idea of the separation clause was to keep the government from making an official religion as was done in England. That act caused a lot of strife in people’s lives and the Founders decided that this was not going to happen here. The misinterpretation of the First Amendment, in my opinion, has caused as much problem as any government sponsored religion could have and while I am not for government sponsored religion (as directed in the first part of the clause) I am in favor of following the second part of the clause as fervently as the first. People should be free to worship, as they see fit (in accordance with the law), where they want. If a child has a free period in school there should be a place where the child can go and read a Bible, Koran, Torah, or any other religious book and should be free to pray.

Some elected officials of the federal government obviously think that this particular scenario is appropriate:

What is the most powerful room in the United States Capitol? Ask some members of Congress and you would probably hear this: Room 219. It’s the room closest to the House Chamber, and its walls have been privy to some of the most pivotal discussions of our history.

Recently, however, Room 219 just got a whole lot more powerful. How so? You see, in Room 219 some of the highest elected officials of our land are bending their knees in weekly prayer gatherings—openly declaring, not their power, but their dependence on the power of God.

Room 219 of the Capitol, a government building, is used for prayer. It is a place where elected officials go, voluntarily, to express their religious faith. If the Capitol were a school, this would be illegal and the ACLU would be foaming at the mouth over the very idea that it is allowed. People are not talking about forcing children to pray, worship, or read scripture. Instead, the whole idea is voluntary participation. It involves providing a place for children to worship in the same fashion as those elected officials. Accommodation of prayer has been part of this nation’s history and until recently was not seen as an intrusion on people’s lives but rather a symbol of the very freedoms millions have fought and died for. Unfortunately, organizations such as the ACLU have chosen to attack this very freedom with little or no regard for history, tradition, and the will of the people.

President Washington and our founders agreed on the necessity of prayer. And while today there are prayer breakfasts and even a National Day of Prayer, seldom do legislators gather to spend significant time actually praying. That’s what led Congressman Randy Forbes, representative of the Fourth District of Virginia, to help initiate these gatherings in Room 219.

Congressman Forbes has also established the first Congressional Prayer Caucus to protect and promote prayer. Such an effort is so necessary today, not because our forefathers did not find prayer important, but because it was never before under attack as it is today.

People in America enjoy many freedoms with regard to many aspects of their lives. We allow the most despicable items to be displayed and expressed as part of those freedoms. It is inherent in our psyche to allow even those with whom we adamantly disagree the opportunity to express themselves. The KKK, the Black Panthers, militant Islam and many other radical groups have the freedom to march where they want, protest where they want, and say what they want (so long as it they are not breaking the law) under the blanket of freedom. Unfortunately, the selective disintegration of our freedoms has made us a weaker nation.

In America, perhaps more so than any other nation on the Earth, we have diversity. People may be believers in any number of religions and may worship in accordance with the tenets of those religions. People are not persecuted by the government for their religious beliefs and, unlike other nations, we do not kill people for being part of another group. But we do deny the freedom of worship when it comes to our schools. Our children are not entitled to the same religious accommodation that elected officials have given themselves.

Are we truly a free people when our citizens are denied their rights because of the whims of others? No nation can truly be free until every legal act is allowed, regardless of who it offends. Denying our children the right to voluntary worship, regardless of the views of others, is just a foot in the door to denial of other freedoms. How can we stand by and let this happen when we so willingly accept the actions of groups like those mentioned above, as a proof of freedom and tolerance?

Source:
The source of the quotes is BreakPoint

Big Dog Salute to Wayfarer.

Tags: Commentary

Exxon Profits Up, They Catch Hell While Government Skates

Jul 30, 2006 Uncategorized

Exxon reported that its second quarter profits were 10.8 billion dollars and this has a lot of people screaming bloody murder. How oh how can this company make money when people are forced to pay three dollars or more for a gallon of gas. There are a few things that need to be explored before we condemn Exxon or any other company that makes money selling its products.

A barrel of oil is 42 gallons and when refined produces 19.5 gallons of gas. Three dollars times 19.5 yields 58.5 dollars which is well below the cost of the barrel. Well, the balance of the barrel produces other usable items such as jet fuel, kerosene, lube oils and other items. When those are sold they make up the difference between the cost earned from gasoline and the cost of the barrel.

Interestingly, the process of refinement has a cosy associated with it. The costs include 59% for the supplier, 10% for refining, and 11% for marketing. Now these are just the costs, not the profits. Refiner, marketer, transporter, and retailer profit accounts for 10c per gallon (total, not each). Of this, the person who owns the gas station gets 2 or 3 cents a gallon and the oil company gets 8 or 10 cents in profit for each gallon of gas. As pointed out earlier, they make money on the other products made from crude oil.

One item that is an associated cost for gasoline is the tax each state and the federal government tacks on to a gallon of gas. The Federal Excise Tax is 18.4 cents a gallon and states vary from around 7.5 cents to upwards of 32 cents a gallon. In addition, some states add other taxes (local, etc.). This explains why the cost of gasoline is different across the country but does not take into account costs associated with “boutique” blends of gas. The average of all states (and DC) is 21.1 cents a gallon. This means that the government makes 39.5 cents a gallon of gas and these government entities do not do anything to “earn” it.

For the sake of argument we will say Exxon makes the 8 cents a gallon and we will use the average for government of 39.5. What this means is that government makes 5 times as much money on a gallon of gas than the oil companies. Say it again slowly, the people who actually do all the work make one fifth of the money that the government, the entity that does absolutely nothing, makes. So my math tells me that if Exxon made 10.8 billion dollars then the government made 54 billion dollars (it is really more than this because of the variances in state values and because government taxes the other items made from crude). Why is there no outrage at the profit government made?

Exxon and all the other publicly traded companies have to come out each quarter and tell everyone how much money they made. Most people have no concept as to what it takes to make gasoline and the costs involved. They see a large profit and think gouging and this is egged on by the politicians who, it would seem, have no idea how things actually work (though many of them own oil company stocks). Perhaps it would be a good idea to make Congress come out each quarter and tell us how much money they took in from the taxes they impose on companies. Each state should be required to do the same. If I were Exxon I might come out and say “We made 10.8 billion dollars and the government made 54 billion dollars in profit from our sales.” If the information is put out there and people actually pay attention to it maybe they might point their outrage at the price of gas in the right direction.

Sources:
How Stuff Works
Gibson Consulting
Gas Taxes
My Way News

Tags: Commentary