Maryland Busy Wasting More Money

As the Maryland General Assembly winds down their session, we are getting a sampling of more bills that were tossed around the crack pipe for consideration. Consider the following:

Frank Conaway (D) House, Northwest Baltimore City - (HB 1009) Designate the shillelagh (a wooden club associated with Irish folklore) as "The State Walking Stick of Statesmen and Gentlemen." This law is definitely needed because we don't have an official state walking stick. Consider these other "official" state symbols and the importance of each:

Cat Calico
Dinosaur Astrodon johnstoni
Drink Milk
Exercise Walking
Folk Dance Square Dance
Gem Patuxent River Stone
Insect Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly

Frank Conaway receives this week's Bonehead Award for wasting tax-payer money.

Saqib Ali (D) Montgomery County - (HB115) Proclaim April 13 as "Punjabi Cultural Awareness Day." Punjab is a region in northwestern India and eastern Pakistan.

What is the purpose of this bill? Self-promotion? If you haven't guessed, Ali, the liberal extremist who voted in favor of providing in-state tuition to illegal immigrants, is Islamic with ancestral roots to India and Pakistan. Ali receives the Assistant Bonehead of the Week Award.

HB131 - Proclaim March 31 as Cesar Chavez Day. Chavez was a union organizer for migrant farm workers. This is to honor the work that he did in Arizona and California. Wha??? It's fine to teach about his impact on history, but to declare an official day for him? And to waste tax-payers dollars to write a bill and debate it? What a horrible waste of money. Who are the boneheads that jumped on board this one? Unfortunately there are a bunch. Unfortunately, the boat with them on it didn't tip over.

The guilty are: Jeff Walderstreicher (D) Montgomery County, Victor Ramirez (D) Prince George's County, Tom Hucker (D) Montgomery County, Joseline Peña-Melnyk (D) Prince George's & Anne Arundel County, Ben Barnes (D) Anne Arundel & Prince George's County, Joanne C. Benson (D) Prince George's County, Aisha N. Braveboy (D) Prince George's County, Emmett C. Burns, Jr. (D) Baltimore County, Alfred C. Carr, Jr. (D) Montgomery County, Kathleen M. Dumais (D) Montgomery County, James Gilchrest (D) Montgomery County, Ana Sol Gutierrez (D) Mongtomery County, Guy Guzzone (D) Howard County, Jolene Ivey (D) Montgomery County, Susan C. Lee (D) Montgomery County, Roger Manno (D) Montgomery County, Heather Mizeur (D) Prince George's County, Karen S. Montgomery (D) Montgomery County, Nathaniel T. Oaks (D) Baltimore City, Justin Ross (D) Prince George's County, Todd Schuler (D) Baltimore County, Luiz R. S. Simmons (D) Montgomery County, Shawn Z. Tarrant (D) Baltimore City, Herman L. Taylor, Jr. (D) Montgomery County, Veronica L. Turner (D) Prince George's County, Kris Valderrama (D) Prince George's County, and Jewell Jay Walker (D) Prince George's County.

Do you see anything that these people have in common? Yes, they are all Democrats. And most of them are from Montgomery and Prince George's Counties. Areas rich in farmland that would have benefited by the work of César Chávez (not really). Waste-waste-waste!

On a funny note, Maryland Republican Pat McDonough commented that the Democrats are so in toe with whatever the governor wants that if O'Malley wanted to close all of the public schools in Maryland, the Democrats in the General Assembly probably would approve it. Nice one, Pat!