20060707 KDDC Recent MGA actions on Electric Dereg will hurt Marylanders

Recent General Assembly actions on Electric Deregulation will hurt Marylanders

July 7, 2006

In light of Maryland's Court of Appeal's decision today to halt the General Assembly's firing of the Public Service Commission, you may want to be sure to read an Op-Ed column in today’s Baltimore Sun as to how the Maryland General Assembly’s approach, in the long and short run, will hurt Marylanders in the future electric market.

It is written by Ray Gifford, president of the Progress and Freedom Foundation, is a former chairman of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission:

From the Baltimore Sun

Assembly's BGE stance will hurt Marylanders

By Ray Gifford

July 7, 2006

WASHINGTON -- Maryland will suffer for some time because of the General Assembly's poor, populist choices about electricity.

As expected, the legislature overrode Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s veto of a bill that limits Baltimore Gas and Electric's rate increases and eliminates all of the current members of the Public Service Commission. The bill is a travesty for Maryland consumers and good regulation.

By repealing the rate increases, the legislature effectively denies BGE the ability to pay the competitive price for electricity. While this is hailed as a populist victory over corporate greed, no one has made an effective case that the PSC's determination of the need for an increase was wrong or overestimated BGE's costs. Instead, the legislature chooses to defy simple regulatory math; an electric utility must be able to charge what electricity costs or it will provide too little or slowly go out of business.

Read the rest of the column here.

20060707 KDDC Latest edition of the Westminster Main Street News is now available

Extra! Extra! Read all about it. The latest edition of the Westminster Main Street News, by Westminster Economic Development Administrator Stan Ruchlewicz.

Always informative and well written - click here: "Downtown Westminster Main Street News!"
to download the latest edition.

20060707 KDDC MD Court puts canning the PSC on hold

July 7th, 2006 at 1:55 PM.

Tom Stuckey, writing for the Associated Press reports that the MD Court of Appeals has put a temporary stop on the Maryland General Assembly firing the Public Service Commission.

Maryland State lawyers say that the Maryland General Assembly has the power to not only replace the Public Service Commission, but the august body even has the power to replace the replace judges of the Court of Special Appeals if it didn't like a ruling; saying: "As unpalatable as if may be, the legislature has that power," Berman replied."

The AP piece was placed on the Baltimore Sun's web site at 1:26 PM:

Md. court temporarily halts plan to fire PSC

Appellate judges say law cannot be enforced pending further order

By Tom Stuckey

The Associated Press

Originally published July 7, 2006, 1:26 PM EDT

"The five members of the Public Service Commission won a temporary reprieve today when the Court of Appeals issued an order enjoining the enforcement of sections of a bill passed last month to replace the current commission with new appointees.

The court's decision came in a two-paragraph order prohibiting replacement of the commission members "pending further order of this court."

Be sure to find the time to read the ENTIRE article. In a precious exchange, at the end of the article:

"Assistant Attorney General Michael Berman told the judges that the legislature has inherent authority to replace state employees. That power can only be limited by the state constitution, and there are no constitutional restrictions that would apply in the case of the Public Service Commission, he said.

"The General Assembly was addressing a problem, and the problem required ending the terms of the commission," Berman said.

Berman was questioned closely on how far the power extends to replace employees.

Could the General Assembly replace judges of the Court of Special Appeals if it didn't like a ruling, Bell asked.

"As unpalatable as if may be, the legislature has that power," Berman replied. (my emphasis)

He said if the legislature went too far in exercising its power, it could be reined-in by voters at the next election."

Read the rest of the article here.

Gee, if we could only get the all-powerful Maryland General Assembly to use that power for public good instead of serving themselves. Ah, for starters, perhaps they would consider replacing North Korean communist leader Kim Jong Il.

The opera that we know as the Maryland General Assembly continues to entertain.

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20060706 KDDC Aunt Kay Birthday Cake and the Commissioners

July 6, 2006

Carroll County Commissioners Julia Gouge, Dean Minnich and Perry Jones surprise Carroll County Office Building receptionist Kay Church with a birthday cake for her birthday.

How old is she, you ask? Well, here at kevindayhoff.com, we are not in the business of devulging state secrets, that's the job of the New York Times. However, we'll give ya a hint: she's the same age as President George W. Bush.

People Carroll County, Carroll County Commissioners, Carroll County Government News

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20060706 KDDC Blog mentions my April 12 Tentacle column

The Sun Lies mentions my April 12 Tentacle column

July 5^th, 2006

The blog, “The Sun Lies,” refers to my column in The Tentacle on April 12, 2006.

The Sun Lies post can be found here.

A list of my columns in The Tentacle can be found here.

If you are not familiar with “The Sun Lies,” you ought to remedy that right away. In a massive undertaking of keeping the Baltimore Sun honest about its biased, agenda driven reporting, The Sun Lies gives one the rest of the story.

It’s actually a shame. The talent at the Baltimore Sun is simply enormous. If they channeled that talent to being fair, balanced and accurate in their reporting, the subscription rate would be on the increase.

Meanwhile, the stock of the owners of the Baltimore Sun continues on a downward freefall. Many folks are beginning to whisper about the ultimate fate of newspapers in general and the Baltimore Sun, in particular.

As it is, the venerable old paper is on the ropes and quickly losing its status as the heretofore “paper of record.” That role is quickly being taken over by The Gazette – and the Washington Post.

For those of us who grew up reading the Baltimore Sun, the sadness is profound as in article after article, one picks up another newspaper or reads a blog, only to find out that any given Baltimore Sun article, simply gives slanted view, which often allows the reader to be ill-informed, if not misinformed.

Many folks blame the lost focus and misdirection by the Baltimore Sun on the takeover of the paper by Tribune, a number of years ago.

For the moment, the Baltimore Sun continues to arrogantly brush off protests that the paper is ipso facto the website for the Maryland Democratic Party and continues to believe that it is unaccountable for its collective lack of journalistic integrity.

This is a disservice to the many talented individuals and professionals who work at the paper and strive to get it right and ultimately, a profound breach of public trust.

Until things get turned around, most political reporting by the Baltimore Sun can be taken with a grain of salt and everything you read must be “fact-checked” by reading the Washington Post, The Gazette and the Sun Lies.

_________________

The Sun Lies’ complete post is pasted here:

Going Back A Little Bit, Dan Rodrick’s Logic Examined

July 5th, 2006

Governor Crothers, Meet Dan Rodricks

Kevin E. Dayhoff

Recently Baltimore Sun columnist Dan Rodricks wrote a remarkable column that may earn itself an Olympic honorable mention in the annals of populist political propaganda: “Legislators grabbed power to put public back in Public Service Commission (PSC).”

Mr. Rodricks’ erudite moment in journalistic rhetoric highlighted cherry picked, out-of-context tidbits of 1910 Maryland history in order to historically legitimatize the Maryland General Assembly’s sacking of the current Public Service Commission for following regulations promulgated by a previous slate of Democrat-appointed PSC commissioners, at the behest of a law passed by the Maryland General Assembly.

Huh?

All right, let’s try and explain it this way. Let’s start at the beginning.

One of the main architects of the 1999 electric industry deregulation legislation was Senate President Thomas V. (Mike) Miller (D. Anne Arundel). Seven years later, legislation that was once thought of as brilliant – has failed miserably. Stuff happens.

So, you are Senate President Miller. What do you do?

One option is to say: “Hey, it unexpectedly went south on us, but we are going to roll up our sleeves, work together and make it right.”

That would have been the statesman-like thing to do.

Or, are you going to triangulate and blame something – or someone – innocent, which has a relative inability to defend itself?

Hey, it’s Maryland; the party in power is a propaganda machine of unlimited supremacy along with the allied political writers of Baltimore’s Sun, which has approximately 1.2 million readers at its disposal.

Eureka. Let’s blame it on the PSC. Its role in this matter is little known or understood and its function is complex. We’ll reduce this to the simplistic and blame it.

The first act in this opera is for The Sun to introduce the PSC to the public and demonize it and its five commissioners.

Piece of cake: character assassination is a cottage industry with the political writers of The Sun. (”The PSC and the Office of the People’s Counsel are set up to be independent agencies,” Speaker of The House of Delegates Michael Busch {D., Anne Arundel} said. “And this dialogue from a lobbyist from the utilities company and the constant inferences to the administration continues to bring into question the agency’s independence.” March 18: “Schisler, industry advocate exchanged e-mails last year,” The Sun) {Editor’s Note: Kenneth Schisler is the chairman of the PSC.}

The next act is to verbalize that the PSC is to blame and to repeat it so often so that it has the imprimatur of actually being true. (“’The customers have to feel, however the rates are being set, that they are getting a fair shot and have confidence in the people who are setting the rates,’ said Sen. Paula C. Hollinger, a Baltimore County Democrat who sponsored the bill.” March 28: “Panel acts to oust PSC members,” The Sun.)

Act 3 came April 6, when Dan Rodricks keyboards into gear with historical context to further legitimatize the blame-game, by invoking the name of “a progressive Democratic governor (from 1910) … named Austin Crothers.”

The final act is for The Sun to follow-it-up until it sticks. (“But Miller said Maryland residents ‘have no confidence in the PSC,’” April 9: “Leaders dispute news of BGE pact,” The Sun)

All brings to mind the introduction of Volume 1 of the “Tercentenary History of Maryland,” which says: “History is not an exact science and cannot be. Man simply does not know enough to tell everything about anything… Documents do not necessarily tell the whole story about anything, or even the truth about it… Strangely enough, a great deal of the most sedate American narrative is unconsciously but none the less thoroughly permeated with the heroics of a past emotionalism…”

And so it is with Mr. Rodricks’ use of Maryland Gov. Arthur Lane Crothers (1908 to 1912.)

For decades before the 1907 election of Governor Crothers, Maryland was ruled by a ruthless Democrat political machine. That rule, considered at the time to be among the most powerful in the United States, essentially ended with the deaths of the Maryland legislature boss, Arthur Pue Gorman on June 4, 1906; and Baltimore City boss Issac Freeman Rasin in 1907.

It was in the resulting power vacuum – the duopoly bosses’ deaths – that Mr. Crothers was chosen as a compromise candidate for governor, chiefly because of the powerful Eastern Shore Senator John Walter Smith.

During the reign of this “progressive Democrat political machine,” Maryland resisted many of the social and regulatory reforms that were sweeping the country.

As far as Governor Crothers’ reforms, Robert J. Brugger, author of the same history of Maryland cited by Mr. Rodricks, writes, “… Crothers as a reformer profited from circumstance.”

When Mr. Rodricks refers in his column, to “The General Assembly of 1910 kept it simple and put “public” and “service” in the name from the start,” he fails to mention just which members of the public the Maryland Democratic machine had in mind at the time.

Oh, that’s right, Mr. Rodricks failed to mention the other “legacies” of the “progressive Democrats” at the time: the “Poe Amendment” and the “Digges Amendment.”

These two initiatives attempted to systematically and methodically disenfranchise African-Americans of their right to vote. They were both explored extensively on the same pages (420-426) in which Dr. Brugger also discusses Governor Crothers in his history of Maryland, cited by Mr. Rodricks.

Oops!

Even Dr. Brugger remarked: “It testified to the ambiguity in Maryland that the Crothers administration both emitted the Digges amendment and left behind a series of important reform acts.”

Back to the future; if the Democratic leadership disagrees with the law, rules and regulations put into place, that the PSC followed in making the decisions of which the same leadership disagrees, then change the law.

Sacking the PSC is not the way to do it. One can imagine that unambiguous history will not be too kind to the 421st session of the Maryland General Assembly, no matter what has transpired in this opera, by the time you read this.

And, oh – after the turmoil of the Democratic machine years and the Crothers administration, a progressive Republican governor, (Phillips Lee Goldsborough,) was elected. Conventional wisdom is that history will repeat itself.

Isn’t that special?

http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=1552

We’d particularly highlight Mr. Dayhoff’s point that The Sun was setting the stage to demonize the PSC on behalf of a certain political agenda they have been pushing. Now is a good time to also suggest reviewing our PSC commentary such as happy endings’ and other demonstrated bias by The Sun in their coverage. If The Sun will not monitor its own bias then those of us in the blogging community will.

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North China Restaurant July 6, 2006

North China Restaurant

July 6, 2006

Miss Caroline and I had dinner Thursday evening at North China Restaurant in the Cranberry Square Shopping Center in Westminster. (Many folks are not aware that the Cranberry Square Shopping Center is owned by the Maryland Pension System…)

I had Sushi, of course. (Top picture.) Lui, the North China Restaurant sushi chef always makes me whatever he wants… I figure that he’s the artist, so just let him be as creative as he pleases and I’m never disappointed…

Miss Caroline had the Crispy Sesame Eggplant, Hunan Style.

If you haven’t had a chance to have dinner at the North China Restaurant, give it a try the next chance you get. The host’s name is Jack. Tell him “the chairman,” as he refers to me, sent you.

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20060706 KDDC North China Restaurant

Food, Food Chinese, Restaurants Carroll County, Restaurants Westminster, Restaurants, Restaurants Chinese, Restaurants North China, World China, 

20060706 KDDC Baggy Pants and Crime Prevention

Baggy Pants and Crime Prevention

The July 6^th, 2006 Carroll County Times has a story by Ari Natter, entitled, “Carroll rated Md.'s second-safest county.” This is good news for Carroll countians and it affirms one of the main reasons we like living in Carroll County – overall quality of life.

A big hats off goes to all the various law enforcement agencies in Carroll County that work tirelessly for our safety.

The beginning of the story reads: “Despite a 7.7 percent increase in the county's crime rate last year, Carroll County remains the second-safest county in the state, according to an annual statewide crime report released last month by the FBI. Only Garrett County, with a rate of 1,742.8 victims of crime for every 100,000 people, had a lower crime rate than Carroll, which totaled 1,897.6 victims of crime per 100,000 people.”

For the rest of the story, click here.

But perhaps one thing missing in the story is the untold story - and that is; one thing that continues to work to our advantage is the dynamic that most criminals aren’t very bright.

ABC carried a story on June 20th, 2006 that helps shed some additional light on crime prevention: “Baggy Pants Can Trip Up Criminals, Say Police.”

I kid you not, next time you see some young men attempting to walk in the fashion craze that requires them to wear their pants around their knees – looking, like, totally ridiculous, smile, knowing that the stupid fashion is a great crime-fighting tool.

No word as to whether or not this has contributed to a lower crime rate in Carroll County. But we’re on the trail of this breaking story…

Meanwhile, the ABC story leads-off to say: “Any plumber could tell you droopy drawers tend to trip you up, but apparently a lot of crooks fail to listen. Loose-fitting, baggy jeans have been in fashion for years, but police officers say they can also help fight crime.

"When they run, it makes our job easier," said Jim Matheny, a lieutenant with the Stamford, Conn., police department. The 41-year-old told ABC News he has no trouble chasing down suspects who wear low-hanging pants.

"They go to take off and either they have to use their hands to hold their pants up or several times the pants just fell down around their knees and they had to stop running," Matheny said. "They spend all day thinking of ways to beat the police and then they go and put these pants on. It really handicaps them."

Matheny said that those considering a life of crime might want to take a look at their wardrobes first.

"It's hilarious to me if you think about it," he said. "This is what they do for a living. It's like when the big thing was not tying your shoes and we had kids running out of their shoes."Read the rest of the story here.

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA.

E-mail him at: kdayhoff@carr.org

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20060706 KDDC A Picture of Community Policing in Westminster

A Picture of Community Policing in Westminster
July 7th, 2006

This is what community policing is all about. Westminster Police Sergeant Tom Kowalczyk stops for a moment to chat with Caroline Babylon and her Dad (my father-in-law,) David S. Babylon, Jr., at the May 20^th, 2006 Willis Street “Tag Sale” neighborhood event. Former Westminster Common Council President Babylon was a member of the Westminster Common Council from 1964 to 1989. © Kevin Dayhoff

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20070706 KDDC Happy Birthday Aunt Kay

Today is Aunt Kay's Birthday
July 6th, 2006

If you happen to be over in the Carroll County Office Building yet today - or tomorrow, for that matter, please remember to say Happy Birthday to the popular young lady who works at the reception desk. Earlier today, the Commissioners' took her a cake. I'll put some pictures up on the blog later.

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