Soccer Dad

Maryland's CEO

An editorial in the Washington Post in May asserted:

Rather than suffer the impudent professional doubters who populate newspaper staffs, Mr. Ehrlich has tried to disseminate his message directly, through submissive talk radio programs.

After listening to the governor on a variety of talk shows I realized that this wasn't entirely fair. Actually the governor made a case that the newspapers haven't bothered. On the two Baltimore radio stations I heard him on, he sounded like Maryland's top salesman; or perhaps its CEO.

Because the topic of interest that week was the Preakness (the second of horseracing's "Triple Crown") the subject of slots was at the forefront of what the governor discussed. According to the governor slots isn't simply about keeping money Marylanders spend on gambling in neighboring states in Maryland. It isn't just about saving the racing industry by providing more generous purses. It's also about saving the horse breeding industry in Maryland. Here's the argument I heard many times:

According to Ehrlich, horse farms are the first link in a $5.2 billion per year industry for Maryland, and help make possible more than 20,000 jobs statewide - horse breeders, horse handlers, farmers, suppliers and other positions.

On the radio that argument was made over and over again leading up to the Preakness. But it got precious little play in the print media.
(The Washingtonn Post recently ran "Making Hay in a Horse-Based Economy" about the rise in recreational horse riding in Maryland. The problem with the article is that it doesn't ask whether the failure of the racing industry in Maryland would have an impact on raising horses for recreation or not. The article works from the unexplored premise that the two industries - recreation and racing - operate independently.)
The main opposition to the introduction of slots to Maryland comes from House of Delegates Speaker Michael Busch. Delegate Busch's main opposition seems to be less a matter of principle than it his desire to block the major legislative initiative of a Republican governor. If a Democrat is elected in 2006, I believe that slots will be passed in an instant because Busch would quickly fall into line.
One of Governor Ehrlich's likely opponents for the Governor's mansion, Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley now favors slots - no doubt he doesn't want to take the blame if Magna Entertainment announces its intention to move the Preakness from Baltimore between now and September 2006. His other likely opponent, Montgomery County Executive Douglas Duncan opposes slots.
In another case of promoting industry, Governor Ehrlich vetoed a legislative bill to force Wal-Mart to increase its contributions for employee health benefits. Governor Ehrlich vetoed the bill fearing that it will not only slow the expansion of a major retailer but cause Wal-Mart to reconsider its decision to locate a distribution center in Somerset County costing a depressed area hundreds of jobs. Despite the threat of an override by the Democratic legislature, Wal-Mart has gone ahead and bought the property for the distribution center anyway.
Predictably but irresponsibly, Governor Ehrlich two most likely opponents in November 2006, Mayor O'Malley and Montgomery County Executive Duncan have come out in support of the bill.
The Washington Post, for its part, has given plenty of space to Wal-Mart's critics. One article about the health care spending bill talks of Wal-Mart's "image problems" and how it has "...gone from being a business success story to being a cultural villain." Never in the article does it mention that Wal-Mart has consistently been among America's most admired companies in Fortune Magazine's surveys.
But still the Post's editors allowed that Governor Ehrlich may have been right to veto the bill.

The larger problem is 40-odd million uninsured Americans, and the soaring cost of health care, which has made it increasingly difficult for employers to continue providing benefits. The legislation in Maryland is a symptom of that problem, but surely not the solution.

I don't think that editorial has it quite right though, the solution to the health insurance crisis is not another government initiative, it is making it easier for industry to hire workers who will be able to pay for their own insurance. The bill backed by Maryland Democrats would worsen the problem not improve it.
The degree to which these efforts get highlighted by the MSM (or legacy media) is somewhat limited as these outlets are more concerned with legislative process and political maneuvering than they are on what is best for business in the state.
On Wednesday for example the Washington Post reported "Legislature To Probe Firings in Ehrlich Era." Why the governor needs to be investigated for firing political appointees hired by a previous administration is beyond me. As a spokeman for the governor points out:

Schurick repeated an administration estimate that fewer than 300 of the roughly 7,000 employees who serve at the governor's pleasure have been terminated since Ehrlich's arrival in January 2003.

Mind you, the governor's office has been citing this figure for months now. There's no reason a paper with the resources of the Washington Post couldn't have verified the figure. My guess is that the figure is correct because if it wasn't the Post would certainly have let us know. Instead it relies on an "administration estimate" instead of a more definite confirmed number. Given that the current administration has retained roughly 96 percent of the political appointees from previous administrations this is nothing more than a transparent effort to tarnish the governor and the Washington Post is playing along.
So for the editors of the Post to mock the governor for going to talk radio is hypocritical. If the paper wasn't flacking for the state Democratic party, I'm sure Ehrlich would try to get his views aired through the Post. But he knows if he goes to the Post, he's not playing on a level field. That's why he goes to talk radio. The field might not be level there either, but at least if it is tilted it's more likely tilted in his favor.
Maryland on the whole is an affluent state that over the past ten years has consistently experience a lower unemployment rate than the national average. Clearly the bounty this yields in tax revenues tempts some politicians - former Governor Parris Glendening comes immediately to mind - to spend as much as possible in order to solve the state's problems. Or find new problems to spend money on.
Fortunately, Governor Ehrlich is different. He sees that increasing opportunity is the key to improving Maryland's excellent economic picture. Alas, the Washington Post, Baltimore Sun and the Democrats both papers root for do not.

Posted by SoccerDad at June 16, 2005 06:45 AM | TrackBack