Martin O'Malley must govern some other state I don't live in

So Governor O'Malley unleashed his State of the State address (and you can even listen to it, if you really are in to self-flagellation) on an unsuspecting populace today, and apparently the Governor is seeing things just a bit differently than the rest of us.

Let's review some "highlights":

But the future of our State is very much determined by the strength and the security of the families of Maryland – the hard-working and loving families that we have the honor and responsibility to represent. And today, the vast majority of Maryland’s families, like families throughout our country, are finding it harder and harder just to pay their bills and maintain the quality of life that they have worked so hard to achieve.

The Governor is absolutely right. We need somebody who is going to make sure that taxes are not raised on the Middle Class, and that somebody is standing up for those who are subjected to ever rising energy costs. I just only wish that this imaginary person were Governor, instead of Governor O'Malley, who continues to do what he can to make it tougher and tougher for families to survive in our state. It is stunning that he can say this without snickering, given the financial harm he has inflicted upon the middle and working class people of our state.

Continuing....

For the sad truth of our shared reality is that over the last seven years, real wages in our country have grown by only 1 percent. And unfortunately, the same cannot be said for everything else a family needs to survive.

Over the last seven years, the price of a gallon of milk is up 30 percent, the cost of a loaf of bread is up 20 percent, and yet real wages have increased by just 1 percent.

The cost of a gallon of gasoline is up almost 100 percent over that same time-frame.

And the cost of health insurance is up 78 percent, and yet real wages have by only 1 percent.

Yes, and the State of Maryland was nice enough to drive the cost of the sales tax up in this state by 20-percent and also raise the cost of income taxes as well. So realistically, that makes Martin O'Malley a key part of the problem and not part of the solution.

But we don’t need those numbers and figures to tell us that people are hurting; we see it in their eyes, we hear it in their voices.

And I see it in my bank account, with the numbers and figures tell me how much money Martin O'Malley is responsible for taking from me.

No wonder many of us are frustrated when – in the midst of this national economic downturn – we were also forced to confront a long neglected and huge structural deficit. The frustration is totally understandable. And there is good reason for all of us to be concerned and worried about our economic future.

But, as we have seen, Governor O'Malley has done anything to actual address the structural deficit. All Governor O'Malley did was ensure that the middle and working class families suffered financially, while making minimal cuts to the budget while still making sure that pet projects are funded at impractical and unaffordable spending levels.

Apparently, O'Malley has also established priorities for the state as well:

• To strengthen and protect our middle class, our family owned businesses and family farms,
• To protect our commitment to improve public safety and public education in every single part of our State,
• And to protect opportunity – the opportunity to learn, to earn, to enjoy the health of the people we love, as well as the health of the land, the water, the air and the Bay that we love – for more people rather than fewer.

Is this a joke? Is he serious? Because I'm not sure that anybody is doing less to address these priorities than Martin O'Malley. Families, businesses, and farms have been weakened by O'Malley's reckless spending and tax priorities. How is public education being improved given O'Malley's personal vendetta against Nancy Grasmick, focusing more on removing her than taking real steps to improving our schools? How are the people of Maryland having greater opportunities to learn and earn in these O'Malley years?

It continues to go on like this:

In the coming weeks, months and years ahead, we will be undertaking a number of efforts – legislative, regulatory -- and legal if need be -- to secure fair and reasonable energy rates while also ensuring an adequate supply for our future. Deregulation has failed us in Maryland and we cannot allow our future to be determined by that mistake.

And isn't it something that this gem is contained in a speech the same day that we get reports of higher electric rates?

Now, let's wrap it up towards the closing statements:

Let’s stay focused on the fact that people are counting on us to make these tough times more bearable. Let’s work together – regardless of personality, party or place – to face the challenges ahead.

What tough economic times call for is leadership. Leadership that is responsible to the needs of the people and the needs of the citizenry. What the people need is lower taxes. What the people need is a government that spends within its means. What we need is leadership that will in fact face the challenges without regard to personalities or party. Unfortunately, we currently have a Governor that governs on the basis of his partisan stripes, his desire for revenge, base jealousy, and the greed of personal power. This Governor is the antithesis of what he calls for in his own speech.

We know that Maryland is a stronger state than most. We can get through these tough economic times more quickly than other parts of our country, but only if we can continue to come together to protect the priorities that make us strong.

And again, what we have here is a Governor that is not committed to real priorities that benefit Maryland's working and middle class families. We have a Governor who is committed first and foremost to putting politics before people, and in governing only to benefit his party and his political career.

This Governor's State of the State address is a hubristic nightmare that can only come from the mouth of somebody who believes more in his press clippings, self-genuflection, and his own greatness than he does in doing what is best for the people of Maryland. While the people of Maryland suffer through an impending recession and higher taxes, O'Malley tries to takes steps to improve his political standing, and to continue to implement his O'Malleynomics on our state, with potentially disastrous (yet strikingly obvious) future consequences.

It is sad and depressing to think that middle and working class families of Maryland have to suffer through another three years of Martin O'Malley's reckless mismanagement and misplaced policy priorities.

School Board tells O'Malley to pack sand

Karma always comes back to get ya:

State Schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick was appointed to a new four-year term today by the State Board of Education, a move that could prompt the General Assembly to consider changing the laws that govern how Maryland's education czar is chosen.

Board President Dunbar Brooks announced the board's decision after a closed session that lasted about three hours. He declined to say how the board voted or why it chose to retain Grasmick, and he said board members were aware that the action might lead to legislation.

"We recognize that that's a possibility," said Brooks, who added that the board discussed "the pros and cons and risk" of making a decision about Grasmick's future.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, who had urged the board to delay a vote until Gov. Martin O'Malley had the opportunity to appoint three new members, called the action "a terrible mistake" and "a direct slap in the face of the governor."

O'Malley tried to run roughshod over the State School Board much like he has tried to run Maryland, by dictating instead of attempting to achieve consensus and work with people. By trying to bully the School Board, O'Malley forced the School Board to take decisive action to maintain its independence as the system is current set up in statute. For his bullying efforts, O'Malley got it shoved right back in his face. Maybe this will teach him some humility....but I doubt it.

(And that's not to say O'Malley doesn't have a point he is trying to make about the selection of the State Superintendent. Because if the Superintendent of Schools is a member of the Governor's cabinet, why are they not appointed by the Governor?)