Andy Harris Showing True Independence

During his two years representing Maryland’s 1st District, former Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-MD) pushed two core issues:  he was “independent”, and that he was fiscally conservative.  During this period of time Kratovil voted for President Obama’s stimulus plan and Obama’s budget bill; costing the American taxpayer trillions of dollars both now and into the future.  While Kratovil could (sorta) claim that he was independent from his own party, his record showed that he only opposed his party’s leadership on major votes where his vote was not needed to pass legislation with Democrat votes (e.g. ObamaCare).

In his runs against Kratovil in both 2008 and 2010, current Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) was portrayed by many in the media as an arch-conservative (or wingnut, if you prefer) and as someone who would be a lap dog for the GOP establishment.  After four months in office, Harris has shown himself to be a different kind of representative; one who votes his conscience, the best interest of the country, and the best interests of his constituents.  The want or will of the House GOP leadership doesn’t appear to hold much sway with Harris to this point in his (admittedly short) Congressional career.

The Washington Post has developed a database tracking the members of the U.S. House and comparing each member’s votes with the votes their respective party caucuses.  Harris’s record is surprising:

• Of the 435 members of the U.S. House, only 35 (Democrats and Republicans) vote with their respective parties less than Harris.
  
• Of the 242 Republican members, only 11 votes with their leadership less often than Harris.
  
• 111 members received the endorsement of various Tea Party groups.  Of these, only three show a more independent voting record than Harris.

This last fact was the one that I probably found most surprising.  Well respected conservatives such as Michele Bachmann, Jeff Flake, Duncan Hunter, Mike Pence, Marlin Stutzman, and Allen West have all voted more consistently with their leadership than has Harris.

To be sure, a willingness to vote against one’s own party doesn’t necessarily make you a great representative.  We should also note that we haven’t agreed with every vote Harris has made since being sworn in last January.  However, independent judgment and a commitment to a core set of principles show a strength of character that is sorely lacking in too many of today’s elected officials (Democrat AND Republican).

The voters of Maryland’s 1st District should be proud (and thankful) that Harris has been willing to put principle, and his promises to voters, ahead of the whims and inside-the-beltway judgment of his party’s leadership.  We recognize that there are still 20 months remaining in Harris’s current term.  We just hope Harris continues to show the same resolve in those 20 months that he has shown in his first four.

The Hidden Tax: Regulation

We see what Uncle Sam makes us pay every April. But a new edition of an annual report shows there’s an insidious fee we pay on a daily basis.

We all know what last Monday was. As many of us paid Uncle Sam’s toll — mine was almost a wash, which worked out about how I wanted it — one had either a sour mood knowing that Fedzilla took more of one’s hard-earned salary or that giddy feeling of having absconded with free money because a refund was due. (In many cases, of course, that was just the money loaned to Beltway bureaucrats — interest free! Try finding a bank who will give you those terms!)

Yet we forget there’s a hidden tax which gnaws at our pocketbooks and the economy at large every day. It was pointed out by the Competitive Enterprise Institute in their “Ten Thousand Commandments” report, released on Tax Day.

Regulations cost $1.75 trillion in compliance costs, according to the Small Business Administration. That’s greater than the record federal budget deficit — projected at $1.48 trillion for FY 2011 — and greater even than all corporate pretax profits. Says report author Wayne Crews, CEI’s vice president for policy:

Trillion-dollar deficits and regulatory costs approaching $2 trillion annually are both unsettling new developments for America. … Every year, the federal government blows past previous deficit, debt, and regulatory burdens with no end in sight. No wonder Americans are fed up with Washington.

Just think of the handicap that sucking over $1 trillion annually out of the national economy places on job creation, for regulations that normally have little to do with safety but a lot to do with selecting winners and losers. There’s a school of thought out there which believes that big business (and by that I mean Fortune 500 multinational corporations) is in bed with government to promulgate new regulations in order to discourage competition — a sort of trust-busting in reverse. Since start-up businesses have great ideas but little capital behind them, creating a maze of red tape they need to navigate before they can begin making their mark tends to discourage competition.

Read More …

Editor’s Note: This excellent piece was authored by local writer / blogger Michael Swartz.

Will SAPOA Tactics Backfire?

Yesterday’s post regarding Kris Adams, president of the Salisbury Area Property Owners’ Association (SAPOA), her daughter Alex, and newly elected Salisbury councilman Tim Spies should be cause for concern to all Salisbury voters.  Are these tactics the actions of a disturbed woman or an organized attempt to intimidate elected officials who are not already firmly in their grasp?

On this question, we shouldn’t even speculate at this time.  Only time will confirm whether or not Monday’s call to the Salisbury Police was an isolated and bizarre act or a pattern of behavior.  However, we believe that we should all be reminded of past behavior by related parties so that we can be vigilant as to any future action.

• Several years ago I was at a dinner with family and friends.  After we had eaten, an acquaintance came to our table for a visit.  This person, a fairly prominent businessman in Salisbury, commended me for “taking (then Salisbury mayor) Barrie Tilghman to task” and further remarked that literally having to wade through drug dealers and hookers to get to his office door each morning was having an adverse effect on his business.  After thanking him I asked why he and his business colleagues didn’t show up at council meetings and demand that the city do a better job.  His reply?  Anyone who dares show up to council meetings on a Monday night to complain is met Tuesday morning with a cadre of code compliance officers followed by a stiff fine for offenses real or imagined.
  
• In 2007, SAPOA members delivered letter to their tenants denouncing council candidates Terry Cohen and Tim Spies.  Some went so far as to claim that tenants would lose their abodes if Cohen and Spies were elected.
  
• In 2009, mayoral candidate Jim Ireton not only had to campaign for office but had to endure multiple anonymous mass mailings containing some of the most vile and hateful garbage I have witnessed in over 35 years of political involvement.
  
• During the same campaign, Ireton and councilwoman Debbie Campbell were the victims of gross misrepresentations by Kris Adams’ daughter Alex.  Ironically, the younger Ms. Adams did so while (falsely) claiming to be a spokesperson for the Salisbury University student government.  When made aware of this, the SU student government had to step in and denounce Ms. Adams’ actions.
  
• SAPOA members have publicly attacked supporters of Mayor Ireton’s “Safe Streets” package (a measure that SbyNEWS does not fully support) and compared them to Nazis.

These are just a few examples of past behavior that can be traced to SAPOA members and their political allies.

While this site, and this writer, have been accused of “intimidating” public officials and of causing good candidates to not run for public office, we find it amusing that I have always signed my work and stood by any charge I have leveled.  Yet, we see a demonstrable pattern of SAPOA members and their allies anonymously attacking candidates and hurling slurs at people whose greatest crimes are exercising their God-given rights to speak their mind and freely assemble.

The most ironic charge thrown at SAPOA’s political opponents (enemies, in SAPOA’s eyes) is that they somehow “hate renters”.  IF Mayor Ireton’s “Tenant Bill of Rights” actually becomes law this year, we wonder how SAPOA and its allies will attempt to manage the spin.

For the present Salisbury citizens should simply be vigilant.  As the prospectus says – “Past performance is no guarantee of future results.”  We know from experience that Salisbury voters are decreasingly willing to believe the hateful, ridiculous, and anonymous charges thrown out by SAPOA members and their allies.  Simply look at the last three city elections.  We can only hope that this past week’s incident is a foolish act by an individual.  If a pattern emerges, recent history indicates that these tactics will backfire and SAPOA’s own actions could be the cause of its worst nightmares.