Martin O'Malley

Anthony Brown and Nancy Kopp spoiling your clambake fun? But you rock on just the same, Peter.

It's Maryland's Winners and Losers for July 4, 2008. CLICK HERE.

Gov. Martin O’Malley has ordered the Maryland State Flag to remain at half staff until sunset on Thursday. The order came after the death of Cpl. Richard Scott Findley, a Prince George’s police officer who was killed in the line of work on June 27.

According to the Associated Press, Findley was attempting to stop two suspects in a stolen pick-up truck when his cruiser was rammed. The officer was reported to have been stricken again while exiting his vehicle. The driver, 19 year-old Ronnie Lionel, unexpectedly died in jail earlier this week.

Martin O'Malley: Second from left, in Galway

Gov Martin O'Malley used part of his vacation time to pick up an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws on Friday from the National University of Ireland in Galway.

J. Millard Tawes Crab and Clam Bake: A political traditionThe Daily Record's Andy Rosen has a must read item on Peter Franchot trying to move the Board of Public Work's July meeting to the Eastern Shore in order for him to make the annual J. Millard Tawes Crab and Clam Bake in Crisfield.

The annual event takes place on the afternoon of July 16, at almost exactly the time the BPW will meet. At ther public session this week, Franchot was unable to convince Gov. Martin O'Malley and state Treasurer Nancy Kopp to agree to move the next meeting to Salisbury in order to be closer to the event.

But, as anyone who knows Franchot will tell you, he didn't stop there. Read Rosen's piece here.

The state Republican Party is accusing Gov. Martin O'Malley (D-Baltimore) of what they call "double-budgeting" and "fund swaps," saying the governor is trying to pass $50 million off as significant reductions in state spending.

"First of all, Martin O'Malley and his Democratic cronies in the General Assembly should have gone through a stringent spending reduction process before passing the largest tax increase in Maryland history," said state GOP Chairman Jim Pelura in statement. "How many more offsets, ‘fund swaps,' ‘double-budgeting' and other budget sleight-of-hand tricks are in the budget that would allow reduction of taxes on Maryland's hardworking families?" Pelura added. "This is typical O'Malley sleight of hand."

Perhaps this is one of those situations where there is enough blame to go around.

First here is what we know. We know that Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon (D) is being investigated into whether or not she received gifts for approving city incentives that favor developers. In particular is developer Ronald Lipscomb. Lipscomb and Dixon, who were separated from their respective spouses for quite sometime, acknowledged that they had a personal relationship between 2003 and 2004. During the course of the relationship, they had spent a lot of time traveling and a lot of time shopping. Those shopping strips involved dropping a lot of money in a single store. Also a fact is that Dixon did not make full disclosures when she filed her ethics reports. This is where I begin.

Yikes. There are several cringe-worthy moments in the Baltimore Sun's video of Sheila Dixon's presser this morning. She expressed frustration with the prosecutor's office for the damaging information appearing in the press and her inability to get the media focused elsewhere.

With all the new details, no one has said, 'It's not so bad.' Isaac Smith at FreeStatePolitics even raised the specter of resignation.

Also: eyebrows must have shot up in Annapolis when they got wind of this quote, "I wasn't the mayor then. That was an O'Malley administration."

It's been a while since we checked in on state legislation designed to instill the national popular vote as the method for selecting the president.

Maryland was the first state to enter this interstate compact which pledges a state's electoral votes to the national popular vote winner, thus when enough states equaling 270 delegates in the Electoral College pass the bill, the popular vote automatically go to the national popular vote winner.

No one thought much of Maryland's 10 electors at the time, except for the group's organizers who had had a string of defeats. But in December, New Jersey brought another 15 to the table. And in recent months, both Illinois and Hawaii (where a gubernatorial veto was overridden) have signed their bills into law, bringing the total to 50 electoral votes, and thusly needing another 220 to displace the Electoral College.

Long story short: what once seemed like another trivial attempt could end up a trophy on Gov. Martin O'Malley's mantle in re-making the way we elect presidents.

Yeah, I know it’s not Monday. I was busy this weekend, Father’s Day and all.

But, we might just make this a weekly event. Each weekend, I’ll catch a former Republican Governor on the radio for you and provide the highlights and the corrections on Monday. Or, when I get around to it.

Mr. Robert L. Ehrlich is now getting himself some attention - keeping hope alive or something like that. He’s been known to wax poetic and be very kind to himself and his record (Aren’t we all.). He’s been known to treat the facts with something less than precision. He’s been known to take swipes at people for political gain, including me on a rare occasion.

Besides, this is just good political fun. I know we’ll all enjoy it. (Warning: KKK/Skinhead alert below.)