Striking Back Against An Evil Empire

Last night a Republican revolution overturned an old order in central Maryland that could put that state's party on the road back to having a voice.

Moderates were sacked (in the medieval sense instead of the football) by conservatives more determined to fight the power of their Ruling Party than cooperate with it.  Delegate Michael Hough won nearly 70 percent of the vote against long time moderate incumbent David Brinkley.  Two of his "conservative team" of delegate candidates won their primaries in the three seat multi-delegate district.  Conservatives also seized command of Frederick County's Republican Executive Committee.

This, paired with Neil Parrott's victory in Washington County, among others, shows that Maryland Republicans will likely continue their march rightward.

Republican rediscovery of conservatism in the nominally Free State can be explained in a number of ways.

First, a handful of Maryland Republicans have honed campaigning to a fine confluence of art and science.  Ted Dacey ran the Hough campaign, whose coattails extended long enough to help elect two more conservative delegates and overturn the Frederick County GOP committee.  Dacey has a quiet and unassuming personality, but is also a tireless organizer and strategist.  He helped to elect his brother as Frederick alderman and has worked many campaigns.  Another up and coming, highly respected campaign leader is Delegate Parrott's campaign manager, Kari Snyder.  Both work endless hours and perform any task to make sure the campaign runs right.

They are only two of a growing army of young conservatives in that state who don't accept the idea that their Ruling Party cannot be dethroned or beaten.

Maryland conservatives also tap into growing discontent with the policies of their Ruling Party.  Issues such as the "rain tax," the "bathroom bill," and other Free State absurdities have turned Republican voters sour on "going along to get along."  Marylanders see their private sector at the state's extremities suffering.  Now they are fighting back.

Resurgence of Maryland conservatism will ignite voters who, otherwise, would see no difference between the parties.  If Maryland's GOP can continue this momentum, it can make more congressional districts and senatorial races competitive.  This will force their Ruling Party to seek more money nationally, taking Democratic resources away from other races.  Also, the failures of Maryland's leftist experiments will get wider examination and discussion.

Maryland's road back from Democratic domination will be long.  They can take heart that West Virginia's Republicans had to struggle and fight to get back to competitiveness, but succeeded against tradition, a corrupt machine, and other factors.  If they can go to the next step with successful outreach, continue to groom successful conservative leaders, and take advantage of the inevitable federal government contraction, Maryland's Republicans have no reason to not count on brighter days ahead.

Growth in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle Comes From Virginia Prosperity and Maryland Folly

Despite the economic slowdown, despite the persistent problems of state tax and regulation policy, West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle continues to see strong growth.

Two factors contribute to the growth. One is spillover from Virginia's business friendly system. Multiple outlets consistently rank Virginia as the friendliest state for business growth.  The cluster of Northern Virginia counties within 90 minutes of Washington DC saw the most spectacular development. According to the State Journal Winchester, mere miles from Hampshire County, rocketed from 134 to 41 on the best performing cities list.

Winchester, population of near 30,000, and other growing cities along the Interstate 81 corridor, are technically suburbs of Washington.  Those who can afford to do so are streaming through the gaps and over the mountains into West Virginia, colonizing exurbs.  

Eastern Panhandle and Potomac Highlands counties are benefiting from Virginia's prosperity.

Other counties reap from the folly of their northern neighbor, Maryland.

Maryland's anti-business policies and crackdown on personal liberty drive people south of the Potomac.   According to US Census Bureau statistics, West Virginia counties bordering Maryland tend to have population and jobs growth.  The Maryland counties have either losses or growth that lags behind their cross river brethren in the Mountain State.  

Either way, Eastern Panhandle representatives need to keep pushing Charleston to reform regulatory and tax laws to continue the growth.  Jefferson, Berkeley, Morgan, Hampshire, Hardy, Pendleton, Mineral, and Grant counties are poised to reap the benefits.

Why Primary Offense Expansion Gives Police Too Much Power

Allegheny Radio Corporation's Amanda Mangan reported on Facebook about new traffic laws in Maryland that could affect West Virginia drivers.

She reported that, as of October 1, using a cell phone while driving now is a primary offense.  Like Maryland laws on seat belt usage, this means that officers can pull over drivers if they see them violating the law.  A driver can use his or her phone if pulled over, but not in the travel portion of the roadway.

These changes certainly affect West Virginia drivers in the Eastern Panhandle who frequently use Maryland interstates.

But they can also lead to a wider problem because they expand the scope of probable cause.  A police officer cannot pull a driver over unless they have good reason to suspect a violation of law.  Police need probable cause to satisfy Fourth Amendment requirements that the government not interfere with persons or their effects without good reason.

When states expand the scope of primary offenses, they also unintentionally expand the opportunity for unscrupulous law enforcement officers.  All an officer needs to say to justify pulling a car over is to claim that he or she thought they saw the driver using a cell phone.

The CDC reports that 3,331 drivers in 2011 died in accidents where cell phones were a factor.  That rose by 70 from the year before.  Proponents of expanding primary offense laws claim that they keep people safer from roadway malefactors

But is this worth the inevitable accompaniment of expanding law enforcement's ability to harass citizens at will?

Maryland's Mini Secession Movement: Freedom, Dollars, and Common Sense

Across the country, secession movements have served as the face of frustration for rural residents.  States dominated by urban and suburban elites continue to rile countryside conservatives.  In an increasing number of states, counties have considered secession as the answer.

Active movements have sprouted in Northern California, Colorado, Michigan, and now Maryland.

According to Fox News, many of the complaints are the same.  Residents chafe under onerous restrictions on land that hurt farmers.  They also oppose gun control laws backed by suburbanites.

Some Marylanders already made the decision to secede as individuals.  Most prominently, former Maryland state senator and Republican Party chair Alex Mooney crossed the Potomac from Frederick County to Charles Town, West Virginia.  His run for Congress puts a face on the long trend of Maryland counties losing opportunities to competition south of the Potomac.

A study of West Virginia and bordering Maryland counties using numbers from the US Census Bureau's County Business Patterns data shows Mountain State counties faring better even with poorer infrastructure.

For example, Maryland's Allegany County, centered around Cumberland, had 1,847 private sector business establishments employing 25,136 in 2000.  By 2011, 1,647 employed 24,485.  Neighboring Mineral County saw some jumps.  In 2000, 480 establishments employed exactly 5,000 workers.  Eleven years later, the number of businesses dropped to 452, but the number of workers shot up to 6,445.

The numbers from Mineral County are still stagnant in many ways.  That area however, unlike Allegany, does not benefit from an interstate or any other four lane highway bisecting it.

Differences also emerge between Washington County, Maryland (surrounding Hagerstown), and Berkeley County, West Virginia.  Between 2000 and 2011, Washington County lost almost 3,000 workers while Berkeley added over a thousand.  Between 1990 and 2010, Washington County's population increased by around 25 percent while Berkeley's shot up by a little over 40 percent.

Washington County should benefit from the intersection of Interstates 70 and 81, two of the most traveled in the Eastern United States.  While Berkeley County has an excellent transportation infrastructure as well as Interstate 81, it is more beneficial to local travel.

Speculation that Marylanders may be seeking better opportunities and a way of life across the border would be tough to prove without further study.  The Mercatus Center's Freedom In the Fifty States Study shows little difference between West Virginia's overall rank of 44 and Maryland's of 42.  The study applauds West Virginia's ranking of ninth on personal freedoms, while Maryland hovers near the bottom among the least free societies in the United States.

Individuals abandoning their native states in search of better economic and social opportunities has helped to define the history of the nation.  But the 21st century wrinkle of seeking out areas friendlier to beliefs about government and freedom are playing out in interesting and unpredictable ways.

At any rate the Potomac Valley counties of West Virginia, despite handicaps from inferior infrastructure and  a system unfriendly to business, outperform their Maryland counterparts.

Less freedom, fewer opportunities.  No wonder western Marylanders have given up on Annapolis.  Time for those in Charleston to wake up and take advantage.

Maryland, what a neighbor

I have had a couple of run-ins with the state of Maryland and I am growing more and more irritated with MD's state government.

The first happened shortly after my tags expired on my vehicle. I had moved in the time period that property taxes are calculated (July 2006) and thus had not received my property tax bill from Harrison County, and did not have records on file for Mineral County. I knew that I needed to renew my tags, but had neglected to do so as I hate paying my property taxes 2 months early just to renew my tags. The Sherriff's office helped me to find my bill, but phone payment was not an option. I was going to be passing through Harrison county in the next week, so I decided to pay in person on my way to Charleston. While I waited to get the highly coveted paid receipt so that I could renew my tags my wife had a baby. I drove my vehicle between Keyser and Oakland in order to watch my daughter at home and be with my wife and new baby at the hospital. On the final trip I was pulled over by a MD state trooper because one of my three brake lights was out. He noticed that my tags had expired earlier in the month and wrote a $60 citation for expired WV tags. I took the ticket because, like most, I am an easy target for the police to pull over and fine. I still don't understand why I should pay MD $60 when I had been working on the issue, which in WV is not as easy as going to the DMV and paying to renew your tags. It takes several steps and visits to the assessors office, the sheriff's office, and then the DMV to get your tags renewed. I believe that a WV trooper would have understood and possibly cut me a little slack since my wife had just had a baby 2 days prior.

Next, a recently discharged employee and WV resident filed for MD unemployment. I questioned why the filing was in MD and asked how this could affect me since I don't have a MD unemployment account. I was given a phone number to call and proceeded to do so on 3 occasions. After 1/2 hour wait times I would hang up in order to continue working. Today I was called by MD Unemployment and threatened with a fine if I did not immediately fax the form that I received back to them. Correction: a staff member was told to pass this message on to me and direct me to immediately return their call. I explained why I had not already done this ( I needed to know what, if any affect this would have on my payroll withholdings and whether this would create a MD unemployment account), to which I received vague answers of "it won't, don't worry about it", and an explanation that wait times for their division are usually fairly long. I went ahead and faxed the form to avoid a fine and penalty from our neighbor to the north. Yet another unpaid obligation that is levied against small business people. It took roughly 1/2 hour to complete the form and fax it, plus the 2 hours of phone calls. I am tempted to send an invoice to MD for services rendered. Perhaps I can get my $60 vehicle fine back.

Give Washington, DC back to Maryland?

A recent article in the Baltimore Sun says that Washington, DC should be given representation in Congress. I disagree it should be given independent representation.

The District of Columbia is the nations capital and in 1791 when its location was decided it was also decided it would be independent of the states. Originally the District of Columbia was set up at a 10 mile by 10 mile section of land along the Potomac carved out of both Virginia and Maryland. Washington County, DC was located on the Maryland portion, and Arlington County, DC was located on the Virginia portion.

The people that choose to live in the District of Columbia know they give up certain rights by choosing to live in a Federal District instead of a state. Everybody currently living in the District live there by choice, so they are willing giving up those rights.

The founding fathers did not want any state to hold the capital of the nation. I still believe that is a good idea. If the citizens of the District of Columbia want representation in Congress, then I believe the choice is simple. On July 9, 1846 Arlington County, DC was returned to the state of Virginia from which is was carved. The people in Arlington were then represented in Congress as part of the state of Virginia.

The same could be done now to give the people of Washington, DC representation in Congress. Simply return the Washington County portion of the District back to Maryland. They would then have representation in Congress without creating new Senate and House seats.

Want to See the Wealthiest State in the US?

Do you want to see the wealthiest state in the entire nation? All many of us have to do is to look out our front doors across the Potomac River. Yup, it's Maryland. Looking for the second poorest state will not be too hard. Just look at the ground under your feet.

Now these statistics are skewed somewhat. The $35,000 median income of West Virginia in most counties has drastically more purchasing power than in many parts of Maryland. Their median income of around $66,000 does not look nearly as good in areas where the cost of real estate is frighteningly high.

All that admitted, West Virginia should perform much better. Sure we can pat ourselves on the back for being better off than Arkansas. We can also remember when times were much worse. However these new income numbers reflect what three fourths of a century of Democratic Party leadership has done for our state. Certainly some individuals such as Senator Robert C. Byrd have worked hard and gotten some federal money sent our way. However sound conditions for economic growth would have rendered federal investment less necessary. It also would have meant West Virginia would have capitalized more on the ripple effects from the influx of public money.

The time is 2008. Vote Republican. 76 years of Democratic dominance have made 50th in too many catagories. It's time to end the slide. We would have fired a football coach for putting us consistently in last place for only a couple of years. Yet we put up with the same Ruling Party decade after decade.

Stealing Democracy

The Maryland House of Delegates is set to study a bill supported by their Senate and their current governor that would undercut that state’s democratic process. Groups that still cannot accept the presidential results of 2000 and 2004 see Maryland as a potential first victory in their war against the electoral college system. They want to force each state’s electors to vote for the candidate that wins the popular vote nationwide.

So why should West Virginians care if Maryland wants to toss aside its constitutional rights? It does not directly affect West Virginia, not yet anyway. Too many people fail to realize that the electoral college protects the political voice of smaller and medium sized states. In a system where the national popular vote is the deciding factor in a presidential election, what reason would a candidate have to court West Virginia’s relatively small population. Would Maryland even matter if a candidate captured the major urban areas? (No Maryland, Baltimore is not a major urban area compared to New York or Chicago.)

The Founding Fathers understood that balance is necessary in any political system to prevent tyranny. A majority can tyrannize as effectively as a dictator, just ask any blacks that lived under Jim Crow. Reducing our presidential elections to a simple national popular vote means that rural states lose their voice. What will happen to our gun rights, our property rights, and other issues that people outside of the major cities hold dear? The consequences when any group finds that they have no say in the system can be extremely serious.