Publication Date: Wednesday, February 01, 2012

Want to have your kid born in your living room or kitchen? If you do, the state of Maryland makes it fairly difficult for you to employ the services of a midwife to help you. There’s an effort afoot to relax the state’s restrictions on midwives so it’s easier for Marylanders to give birth at home. I say, let’s free the Maryland midwives!

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Publication Date: Tuesday, January 31, 2012

In a recent editorial that was generally critical of Gov. Martin O’Malley’s FY 2013 budget plan, the Washington Post lauded one proposal: requiring local school systems to pick up half the cost of their teachers’ pensions and other retirement benefits. Calling the proposal “courageous,” WaPo explained:

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Publication Date: Monday, January 30, 2012

My buddy Vinny DeMarco is at it again. He recently held a rally claiming that the alcohol tax he pushed for last year was a huge success. The press, from every report I’ve seen, gave him ample coverage with nary a hard question or even quizzical look (OK, I’m making up the quizzical look thing, but it stands to reason). That’s unfortunate, because from what I can tell, the whole rally was pretty much based on one whopper after another.  

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Publication Date: Friday, January 27, 2012

In 1986, political scientist R. Kent Weaver published a famous article entitled “The Politics of Blame Avoidance.” In it, he argued that politicians are more likely to seek to avoid blame for unpopular decisions than to claim credit for popular ones. If the debate over the cost shifting of teacher pensions in Maryland is any indication, Weaver was spot on: all the parties involved are pointing fingers at one another.

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Publication Date: Thursday, January 26, 2012

In case you didn’t know that the government is into extreme water sports like white water rafting and water skiing, I feel it is my duty to inform you of the $1.5 million that the government borrowed in 2006 to “serve as a grant to the Board of Directors of Adventure Sports Center, Inc.” When you go into to debt to fund a hobby, that shows some serious dedication.

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