Governor Ehrlich Was Correct
The Maryland Republican Party kicked off a new email newsletter today. The inaugural message informs partisans that "Screamin’ Howard Dean," the chair of the Democratic National Committee, will be attending an event for the Maryland Democratic Party. "We plan on giving the DNC chair a proper Republican welcome when he arrives..."
What is a "proper Republican welcome?"
I suspect that what they have in mind isn’t the kind of welcome that each of us would give to someone entering our home. Or the kind of welcome that I get from my colleagues when I show up for work every day. Or what the vast majority of us from any party would call "proper."
More than 700,000 Marylanders have no health insurance. Similar numbers are struggling to pay their rent. Tens of thousands of families need help paying for child care. More than half of Maryland students are not meeting our own standards for achievement. We now spend more state money incarcerating adults than we do educating them.
Meanwhile, our leaders and their parties organize rallies to taunt, jeer and mock their opponents? How does that move us in a direction toward addressing the critical issues that face our state and our communities?
In his State of the State speech in January, Governor Ehrlich decried the decline in civility and respect in Annapolis. His detractors immediately responded by pointing out the failures of the governor, his party, and his administration in demonstrating those very characteristics.
From our observation, there is enough blame to go around. But Governor Ehrlich’s words were correct.
We recognize the role of politics, power and spin, and the benefits of energizing a political base. Nonetheless, it is troubling when those overwhelm discussion, debate and solutions for our critical needs.
In the coming weeks and months Maryland Nonprofits and the Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute will be hosting forums around the state to discuss the issues we face in our communities. If you would like to participate, contact me at (shill at mdnonprofit dot org) or click here. We also welcome your tax-deductible financial support (be sure to check the Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute as the program you wish to support).
What is a "proper Republican welcome?"
I suspect that what they have in mind isn’t the kind of welcome that each of us would give to someone entering our home. Or the kind of welcome that I get from my colleagues when I show up for work every day. Or what the vast majority of us from any party would call "proper."
More than 700,000 Marylanders have no health insurance. Similar numbers are struggling to pay their rent. Tens of thousands of families need help paying for child care. More than half of Maryland students are not meeting our own standards for achievement. We now spend more state money incarcerating adults than we do educating them.
Meanwhile, our leaders and their parties organize rallies to taunt, jeer and mock their opponents? How does that move us in a direction toward addressing the critical issues that face our state and our communities?
In his State of the State speech in January, Governor Ehrlich decried the decline in civility and respect in Annapolis. His detractors immediately responded by pointing out the failures of the governor, his party, and his administration in demonstrating those very characteristics.
From our observation, there is enough blame to go around. But Governor Ehrlich’s words were correct.
We recognize the role of politics, power and spin, and the benefits of energizing a political base. Nonetheless, it is troubling when those overwhelm discussion, debate and solutions for our critical needs.
In the coming weeks and months Maryland Nonprofits and the Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute will be hosting forums around the state to discuss the issues we face in our communities. If you would like to participate, contact me at (shill at mdnonprofit dot org) or click here. We also welcome your tax-deductible financial support (be sure to check the Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute as the program you wish to support).
2 Comments:
This is a great action-oriented post. Your whole blog is fantastic. Thanks for writing it.
By eRobin, at 12:46 PM
Thanks for the affirmation. Though, my colleagues think that I wrote it, and I'm not so sure that it wasn't written by one of them.
Steve Hill
shill at mdnonprofit dot org
By MarylandPolicyBlog, at 7:37 AM
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