Cell Phony The past three days, world markets have been whipsawed over concern that the credit crisis is going to lead to a recession in the US. Congress and the President in a rare moment of bi-partisanship are rushing a stimulus package to bring confidence back to the markets, even while it is acknowledged that whatever stimulus is agreed to won’t have an immediate effect.

In Maryland, it is time to throw out last fall’s revenue projections as the downturn in the real estate market will likely extend through 2008. The sales tax increase may only soften somewhat the decline in retail sales tax receipts as worried consumers extend their cautious buying well into the New Year.

Prices at the pump are pinching consumers’ pockets and declining home sales are going to similarly pinch the flow of revenues into the state’s bank account.

The state’s revenue picture will be much worse than projected last fall. The Governor has already played his hand on taxes in the special session last fall before the extent of the credit and housing crisis was known. Now he won’t have much room to maneuver and will have to look to spending cuts to balance the budget.

When the world is falling around your ears, it’s better to find other things to talk about. If you are a member of the Maryland General Assembly and are powerless to stop the credit crisis or the decline in the value of everyone’s home, and you want improve the common good, what do you do? How about introducing a bill to ban the use of hand held cell phones while driving?

Telling people they can’t use hand held phones in their cars is like telling teenagers to just say no to sex. It sounds nice but it isn’t reality. Cell phones have become one of life’s necessities, like cars and computers. We all drive and talk on our phones even though we know it is distracting and potentially dangerous. You don’t need to look at statistics to know that. I use a hands free and I still find that distracting, but no more distracting than kids fighting in the back seat or having an argument with your girlfriend (mine once got pulled over for going 85 in a 60 mile hour zone while yelling at me about something that I am sure justified the $150 fine she had to pay).

Even if a law is passed, this one is guaranteed to be broken by everyone. Enforcement will necessarily be selective. Like speeding, everyone will do it and take the chance of being caught.

Legislators are always looking for ways to do something to justify their pay and existence. It is an understandable human trait. In this case, instead of doing something, we should be satisfied to pay them just to stand there.

Labels: cell phones, legislature, Maryland

  7:39 AM •  0 Comments • Links to this post

Danger for the Democrats? After the split results from Iowa and New Hampshire, it now looks entirely possible that ‘Tsunami Tuesday’ Feb 5, when 22 states hold their primaries, might not decide the democratic nominee for president. The race would move to Maryland and Virginia which hold primaries the next week. Assuming the race between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton remains up in the air, the role of the party’s super delegates, consisting of its elected officials and party leaders will start to loom over the selection process.

It is not surprising that race has emerged as a sticky issue in the democratic primaries. Barack Obama is the first African American with a legitimate chance to win his party’s nomination. What is surprising is that Hillary’s campaign was responsible for bringing the issue into the public debate with her clumsy comments about Martin Luther King and potential first husband Bill’s reference to Obama’s positions being a “fairy tale”.

Hillary and Bill have to be extremely careful in criticizing Obama. Even Hillary’s campaign message that her experience should trump Obama’s message of hope carries with it the subtext that Obama needs to wait his turn. This condescension is guaranteed to raise the ugly image of a black man not being ready for the White House.

New Hampshire demonstrated the power of identity politics when Obama patronized Hillary as being “nice enough”. Both this episode and Hillary’s emotional moment motivated women to come to the polls in unprecedented numbers for Hillary and enabled her to claim an upset in a state that she had been leading by more than 20 points a few short months ago.

Democrats have relied on black votes to win races around the country and bring them the presidency. With Obama having a real chance, blacks will be able to vote for one of their own notwithstanding Bill Clinton’s prior support in the black community. So, criticizing Obama carries grave hazards for Clinton and the party.

If Clinton wins but she is perceived to cross a racial line in her criticism of Obama, black voters may feel burned. And if the super voters end up choosing her as the party’s nominee, blacks might believe that their best hope got the shaft by the party’s leaders.

Even the Clinton’s record with the black community might not be enough to overcome the resentment that might engender. It probably won’t mean that blacks will vote for the republican candidate, but they could stay home in critical swing states like Ohio, Michigan and Illinois.

With a small turnout of black voters in those states, even in a year when the political winds are strongly behind the democrats, could result in democrats snatching defeat from the jaws of victory next November.

Labels: Hillary Clinton, Obama, politics, Race

  4:47 PM •  3 Comments • Links to this post