Free Republic

Published on May 22, 2013, Vid at link

Maryland citizens had their Second Amendments rights infringed on Thursday when Gov. Martin O’Malley signed more gun control into law. Mr. O’Malley became the third liberal governor this year — after New York and Connecticut — to ram through pointless laws that will do nothing to reduce crime by exploiting the Newtown tragedy. However, Mr. O’Malley’s scheme was secretly watered down a little before it became law. The governor was fixated on banning “assault weapons,” even though only two people were murdered by rifles of any type in Maryland in 2011. However, O’Malley’s “assault weapons” is less stringent than the...

Cardinal O’Malley to boycott Boston College commencement over honoring of pro-abortion Irish PM May 10, 2013 (CNS) - Archdiocese of Boston's Cardinal Sean O'Malley said today that he plans to boycott Boston College's commencement ceremony May 20 because it will feature Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny as its commencement speaker. The College is scheduled to award Kenny an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. Kenny supports loosening the country's legislation against abortion. “Since the university has not withdrawn the invitation and because the Taoiseach (prime minister) has not seen fit to decline, I shall not attend the graduation,’’ O’Malley said in...

Archdiocese of Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley will boycott the commencement at Boston College because the Catholic educational institution is hosting the Prime Minister of Ireland at a time when the nation faces a government bill that would okay some abortions. The College is scheduled to award Edna Kenny an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. Pro-life advocates, led by Students for Life of America, are galvanizing pro-lifers against Ireland’s first pro-abortion Prime Minister Enda Kenny’s planned address to Boston College graduates. It has launched a web site, NotAtBC.com, to gather supporters to protest the speech. “Since the university has not withdrawn...

BOSTON, May 6, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) - While Ireland’s Catholic bishops and the pro-life movement are fighting desperately to keep the government from enacting legislation to permit abortion, Boston College, a Catholic institution in Massachusetts, is honoring the head of the same government. Irish pro-life leaders say they are incredulous at the news. Niamh Uí Bhriain of Ireland's Life Institute told LifeSiteNews that the Jesuit college should withdraw its invitation. The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts also condemned the college for selecting Republic of Ireland Taoiseach (Prime Minisster) Enda Kenny as its 2013 Commencement Speaker. The university will also confer an...

Three Democratic governors who successfully pushed their state legislatures to toughen gun laws are asking Congress to do the same. “We need the federal government to take the lead and enact reasonable laws to reduce gun violence by, at a minimum, ensuring that more gun purchasers pass a federal background check,” Govs. Andrew Cuomo of New York, Martin O’Malley of Maryland and Dan Malloy of Connecticut wrote in a letter to Senators on Wednesday. “The American people are clear on this issue – more than 90% support background checks prior to gun purchases. They understand that if you can’t pass...

To repeat a line once said of Seán O'Malley among his Capuchin confreres, "The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone." So the more recent story goes, in the days after Pope Francis' election, the cardinal-archbishop of Boston dispatched his priest secretary to the Domus with a note for the new pontiff, ordering the aide "to give this letter to someone who will put it into the Pope’s hands." As it turned out, Fr Jonathan Gaspar didn't just end up delivering the message – he was received by the Pope. While we don't know the contents, they were clearly...

A "storm management fee" will be imposed on Maryland residents by Gov. Martin O'Malley — meaning that Maryland is essentially going to tax the rain that falls on people’s property. The bill apparently stems from an order from the Environmental Protection Agency to clean up the Chesapeake Bay estuary. The rationale is that since "roofs, driveways and carparks create more potential for drainage problems and water contamination," a fundraising fee will be assessed based on the size of the building and surrounding paved surfaces.

Maryland Democratic Governor Martin O’Malley has instituted a tax on citizens for the amount of rain that falls on their property. The tax, officially known as a "storm water management fee," will be enforced in nine of the state's counties. The state legislature passed it in 2012 purportedly to "raise revenue to cleanup [sic] the Chesapeake Bay," according to MarylandReporter.com. Former 2012 GOP U.S. Senate candidate Dan Bongino bashes the tax in a Wednesday afternoon press release. The law "requires individuals, businesses, and even charitable organizations and houses of worship to pay a tax based on the amount of rain...

The sale of military-style weapons in Maryland has skyrocketed because of the concern they'll will be banned once the strict gun control bill passed by the Maryland General Assembly on Thursday goes into effect. At Engage Armament in Rockville, there are only a few assault weapons left because so many have been sold in anticipation of gun restrictions. Ammunition has gone up in price -- that is, if you can even find bullets in stock. "Everything's been bought up and we've had ammunition that came right off the trucks," said A.J. Wynne, an employee at Engage Armament. "They'd say, 'What...

Vice President Joseph R. Biden said Wednesday the U.S. “almost had a chance at power” of the papacy, asserting that Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley nearly got elected pope. “We almost made it big,” Mr. Biden said. “We almost had a chance at power. We came that close, that close.” ~snip~ The vice president also read the first line of a poem by his grandfather called “My Mother’s Land A-Ruin,” the first line of which went: “Oh how I hate the name of England …” Mr. Biden asked members of the media to consider his recitation humorous.

And now, for Maryland’s other gun bills - - all 78, and counting. Hundreds of gun-rights advocates descended on Annapolis Tuesday — but for a change, not to protest Gov. Martin O’Malley’s (D) planned gun-control legislation. At least, not directly. After more than 45 hours of hearings and debate on O’Malley’s plan in recent weeks, the legislature turned its attention on Tuesday to scores of other bills that lawmakers have piled on in hopes of passing them alongside the governor’s. One would require all gun owners in Maryland to get liability insurance. Another would force them to lock up firearms...

Beretta USA in Maryland is thinking of pulling up stakes and moving out of the state because of pending assault-weapons ban legislation. Beretta USA is a division of Beretta, the 500-year-old family owned company which won a contract in 1985 to become the standard sidearm of all U.S. servicemen, replacing the Colt 45. Gov. Martin O’Malley has offered a bill that would ban assault rifles and magazines with more than 10 bullets, meaning Beretta’s famous 9mm pistol, which has a 13 bullet magazine, would be banned. New sidearms that possessed “military features” would also be included, which means Beretta’s semiautomatic...

Attention national media: You know Martin O'Malley, defender of the underdog. It's time to get to know Martin O'Malley, thug. The Maryland governor, widely rumored to harbor presidential aspirations, canonized himself in the progressive movement... during his many appearances on national cable TV news during election season as President Barack Obama's surrogate. But the man who says that we should celebrate diversity cannot tolerate those who oppose his political viewpoints. Here are three examples from the past year...

Gov. Martin O'Malley signed an executive order Friday to increase Maryland's long-term resiliency to storm-related flooding and sea level rise. **SNIP** "As storms such as Hurricane Sandy have shown, it is vital that we commit our resources and expertise to create a ready and resilient Maryland by taking the necessary steps to adapt to the rising sea and unpredictable weather," O'Malley said. "In studying and planning for storms and climate change, we can ensure that our land, infrastructure, and most importantly our citizens are safe and prepared."

Gov. Martin O’Malley called Hurricane Sandy a “violent storm” and ordered Marylanders off roads and highways because deaths may occur. Sandy is expected to bring wind gusts of up to 60 miles per hour and dump as much as eight inches of rain between Monday and Wednesday — making it one of the most powerful storms in Maryland in recent memory. O'Malley said the storm will be "unlike any storm we've had to weather." “Hurricane Sandy is going to come over Maryland, she’s going to sit on top of Maryland and beat on Maryland for a good 24 to 36...

Throughout Maryland, county governments have begun to push back against the reckless fiscal policies of Governor Martin O’Malley. During Maryland’s first special session, this past summer, Marylanders saw their taxes once again increased and witnessed the state government passing the buck on teacher pension liabilities to the county governments. In addition, Gov. O’Malley has put into action a whole slew of new regulations on vehicles, rainwater run-off, and septic systems. With continuously diminishing authority over local government specific issues and even higher taxes, county officials are hoping to posture themselves in order to curb not only the authority of the...

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and French President Francois Hollande are trans-Atlantic kindred spirits when it comes to fiscal policy. Unfortunately for French government coffers, Hollande is making the same mistake in Paris as O’Malley did in Annapolis three years ago. Hollande made raising taxes on upper income households a central component of his platform, and Hollande is now moving forward on his campaign promise to raise tax rates on those who earn over $1.2 million a year, taking the rate from 46.8% to a whopping 75%. Not surprisingly, it looks like we are starting to see results in France that...

What a difference a day makes … twenty-four little hours … Why, just yesterday all was doom and gloom for Maryland’s Democratic governor, Martin O’Malley, who admitted to Bob Schieffer yesterday that he couldn’t say that people are better off now than four years ago, although he rushed to add, “but that’s not the question for this election”: One day later — and presumably, one Cory Booker-esque call from Team Obama — suddenly the world looks a lot rosier to Governor O’Malley: A day after saying, no, the country was not better off than it was four years ago, Maryland...

Maryland Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley said Sunday that Americans are not better off under President Obama than they were four years ago, a somewhat startling admission that Republicans and Mitt Romney immediately pounced on. On CBS's "Face the Nation" Sunday morning, host Bob Schieffer asked O'Malley if he can "honestly say that people are better off today than they were four years ago." "No," O'Malley said, "but that's not the question of this election." "The question," he continued, "without a doubt, we are not as well off as we were before George Bush brought us the Bush job losses, the...

Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley of Maryland, who is considered a possible contender for president in 2016, bucked other Obama surrogates on Sunday, saying that the country was not better off now than it was four years ago. On CBS's Face the Nation, host Bob Schieffer asked: “Can you honestly say that people are better off today than they were four years ago?” Responded O’Malley: “No, but that's not the question of this election. The question, without a doubt, we are not as well off as we were before George Bush brought us the Bush job losses, the Bush recession, the...

What's the fiercest rivalry in American politics today? There's Obama-Romney, of course, but try O'Malley-McDonnell—neighboring governors battling across the Potomac River over how best to resuscitate a moribund economy. Martin O'Malley, Maryland's liberal Democratic governor, is competing for jobs, businesses and tax dollars with Bob McDonnell, Virginia's conservative Republican chief executive. Both are rising stars considered potential presidential hopefuls in 2016. Both are Irish Catholics—Mr. McDonnell playfully calls Mr. O'Malley "the big Irishman to our north"—and each leads his party's association of governors. The two regularly spar on the Sunday talk shows, on the pages of Washington-area newspapers, and over...

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli — hoping to be elected governor of Virginia in 2013 — has filed a brief in a Maryland gun case that is bound to hit the target with firearms enthusiasts in Virginia. Cuccinelli's office last week filed a "friend of the court" brief on behalf of Virginia and 13 other states in support of a federal district court ruling that struck down a Maryland law. It grants handgun carry permits only to people who can prove a "good and substantial reason" that they face a specific or imminent threat to their personal safety beyond that of...

ANNAPOLIS — The Senate voted Friday to approve a gambling expansion bill, sending the legislation to the House where floor debate is expected to begin Monday. The Senate voted 28-14 in favor of the bill, which would legalize table games at the state’s slots casinos and allow a new casino to be built in Prince George’s County, pending approval in a November referendum.

In light of President Obama’s exhortation to hike taxes on those making more than $250,000 a year earlier today, here’s a well-timed piece of evidence demonstrating what happens when you decide you’d rather engage in populist persecution and punish the wealthy for their economic contributions rather than make tough budget-cutting decisions. A new report indicates that the state of Maryland is bleeding residents and tax revenue — an emigration likely due to the wildly blue state’s recent tax hikes. "The study, by the anti-tax group Change Maryland, says that a net 31,000 residents left the state between 2007 and 2010,...

In light of President Obama's exhortation to hike taxes on those making more than $250,000 a year earlier today, here's a well-timed piece of evidence demonstrating what happens when you decide you'd rather engage in populist persecution and punish the wealthy for their economic contributions rather than make tough budget-cutting decisions. A new report indicates that the state of Maryland is bleeding residents and tax revenue — an emigration likely due to the wildly blue state's recent tax hikes. The study, by the anti-tax group Change Maryland, says that a net 31,000 residents left the state between 2007 and 2010,...

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal went into head-to-head combat on ABC This Week against Maryland’s Governor Martin O’Malley in a surrogate Romney vs. Obama debate, Sunday morning. The focus was on the U.S. economy and swiss bank accounts.

Pepco has crews working around the clock to restore power knocked out by Friday night’s storm, but some customers may remain in the dark through the week. Pepco estimates 90 percent of the outages will be restored by 11 p.m. Friday, a timetable Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett called unacceptable at a news conference with Gov. Martin O’Malley. "Nobody will have their boot further up Pepco's backside than I will to make sure we get there," O'Malley said about the July 6 timeframe. Pepco president Tom Graham said about 343,000 customers remain without power as of noon Sunday. About 443,000...

The Maryland General Assembly passed a $260 million tax increase Wednesday as it adjourned from a three-day special session that ended with Gov. Martin O'Malley saying he will bring lawmakers back for another session this summer. The House gave final approval to two bills that will raise income taxes and shift a portion of teacher pension costs to counties to balance the state’s $35.5 billion budget, which is nearly $1 billion larger than last year’s spending plan.

Evidently a spending increase just shy of $1 billion is not enough for Governor Martin O’Malley and the Democrat leadership in Maryland’s General Assembly. Today, May 14, lawmakers will return to Annapolis to pass the Governor’s tax hike proposal, allowing Gov. O’Malley to increase spending by over $1 billion from last year’s budget. Under Gov. O’Malley’s proposal, about one in five Marylanders will see their taxes rise. WBAL is reporting that the proposal will set new income tax rates on Marylanders making over $100,000 a year. However, there is a potential House-Senate compromise that could lower the threshold to just...

Gov. Martin O'Malley is not exactly a stranger around the White House these days. He met with President Barack Obama along with other state leaders late last week to discuss the economy. On Sunday he sat at the same table as the president for an annual governors dinner at the White House. He is a frequent guest on the national Sunday talk shows, usually defending the Obama administration's policies. So it was a bit awkward to see Obama forget O'Malley's name at an education event Monday. Sure there are 50 governors to keep track of, but O'Malley -- the chairman...

President Obama met with a group of Democratic governors on Friday and discussed plans to work around Congress toward policy goals. Gov. Jack Markell, the Democratic governor of Delaware and the vice chairman of the National Governors Association, told The Hill that the meeting was “very good” and said many of the governors were responsive to ideas about bypassing Congress. “There was a sense that none of us should wait, we can’t wait for things to happen in Congress,” Markell said of the meeting. “We’re going to do what we can do [now].” Obama has positioned himself against Congress as...

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley may be more skilled at implementing President Obama’s agenda than the White House itself. The Democratic governor is bringing the same big-spending, high-tax and class-warfare policies to the Free State. It’s going to cost residents a bundle. Tough economic times have forced ordinary Americans to cut back in order to get by. Not so Mr. O’Malley, who spends $35.9 billion in the budget released last month. That’s up from $34.2 billion last year and $32 billion the year before that. As Maryland Business for Responsive Government points out, the general fund budget fattened 11.4 percent last...

WASHINGTON - Frederick County wants to make visitors feel right at home with welcome signs highlighting some of its best aspects, but Maryland is blocking efforts to put the signs on state highways. The signs say, "Welcome to Frederick County. Open for business." Board of County Commissioners President Blaine Young said he believes politics is to blame for the state's rejection. "The state feels that government creates jobs. We feel that businesses create jobs and that's why they reject putting our signs on state-operated highways," he said. "If the State of Virginia can have 'open for business' on their welcome...

Gov. Martin O’Malley said Thursday that he was surprised and “very disappointed” when he learned that Richard Stewart, a member of the Governor’s Redistricting Advisory Committee, pleaded guilty last Thursday to failing to pay almost $4 million in federal Social Security and income taxes for a company he owned. “We had gone through the vetting process,” O’Malley said when he appointed Stewart, a Prince George’s businessman, to the five-member committee that drew the new lines for congressional and legislative districts. “It’s beyond me how anyone would take an appointment like this” and not disclose he was under investigation, said the...

Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley is threatening to ram through a sweeping new land use plan that imposes an environmentalist agenda on the state’s sprawling rural populations — a move that could spark a tax revolt and mass exodus unless it is rewritten, county officials and state legislators told The Daily Caller on Monday. O’Malley has indicated that he intends to impose what some lawmakers are calling a draconian new environmentalist agenda, known as “Plan Maryland,” through executive order and regulation, rather than through the state legislature, even though his fellow Democrats dominate both chambers. Plan Maryland’s expensive new mandates for...

Maryland is home to some of the most gerrymandered congressional districts in the country. But the decennial redistricting getting underway gives Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley and state leaders a chance to remake the partisan, unrepresentative districts created 10 years ago under Gov. Parris Glendening, another Democrat — districts that have harmed Democratic and unaffiliated voters as much as they have Republicans. And the good news is officials don’t have to spend much time reviewing voter rolls and computer data to achieve this good-government outcome. All they have to do is adopt the plan offered by Maryland Republicans. Yes, you read...

Virginia's surplus announcement has lit a match under the longtime rivalry between the commonwealth's Republican Party and Maryland Democrats. "[Virginia Gov.] Bob McDonnell and Virginia Republicans tout their accomplishments but — as often with the GOP — the facts tell another story," Maryland Democratic Party Director David Sloan said Wednesday. "McDonnell’s illusionary 'surplus' is the result of deferred bills, dismantled programs important to the middle class, budgetary obfuscation and federal stimulus spending." Sloan released the statement after McDonnell announced a $544 million surplus for the fiscal year ending in June. Maryland is also expecting a surplus of at least $300...

VIRGINIA BEACH Police have arrested two people in an attempted robbery and assault at a wig store. On May 17, a man and woman with a toddler entered the Ace’s Beauty and Wig Supply at 3972 Holland Road, police said. The woman then tried to shoplift a $75 wig. When an employee tried to stop her, the woman pushed her into a display case. Another employee tried to intervene, but was assaulted by the male, according to a news release from police. The male suspect also assaulted the female employee. The female suspect then threw the wig on the ground...

Dozens of illegal immigrants celebrated in Annapolis Tuesday as Maryland officially made them eligible for tuition discounts at colleges and universities — an issue that ignited impassioned opposition during the legislative session and is already subject to a repeal effort. Gov. Martin O'Malley made good on a long-standing promise to sign the controversial measure that extended in-state tuition rates, making Maryland the 11th state to grant such rights to undocumented residents. His action came the same day that President Barack Obama said he will renew a push for federal legislation that clears a citizenship path for illegal immigrants. "This will...

BALTIMORE -- The latest Gonzales Research & Marketing Strategies poll shows that Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley is currently ahead of former Republican Gov. Bob Ehrlich, but his lead has steadily dwindled. According to the poll that surveyed likely voters earlier this month, 47 percent said they would vote for O'Malley and 42 percent said they would support Ehrlich, while 6 percent were undecided. The poll also gave the governor a 48 percent approval rating. The last three polls found O'Malley's lead dwindling from 11 percent to 8 percent. Currently, the most recent Gonzales poll gives O'Malley a five-point advantage. The...

On Monday, during a gubernatorial debate between current Maryland Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley and former Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., the subject of illegal immigration arose and Gov. O’Malley used a term that surprised even this jaded observer. When referring to the millions of illegal aliens now residing in the United States, O’Malley called them “new Americans.” Apparently, for the open borders Democrat, anyone whose first act in this country is to violate the law and disrespect our sovereignty, deserves the same status as someone who faithfully observes our immigration laws by waiting years to come here legally, and...

Recently, there have been several pieces in the Baltimore Sun concerning the news that Constellation Energy is pulling out of their project to build a third nuclear reactor at Calvert Cliff's in Calvert County. They currently have two reactors in this rural county on the west shore of the Chesapeake Bay, and have been trying to secure a permit and federal loan for the proposed third reactor since 2007. The government originally promised Constellation a $7.6 billion loan, but Obama's anti-nuclear power, Nuclear Regulatory Agency is demanding an $880 million fee to proceed on the deal. These federal loans are...

BOWIE, Md. - President Barack Obama’s message to thousands of African Americans who came to see the man they voted for two years ago was simple: Get out and vote for the Democratic ticket in next month’s mid-term elections, even though he’s not on the ballot. “Don’t make me look bad, now,” he quipped.

During a speech by President Obama at Bowie State University, a protester shouted “you’re a liar!” interrupting his speech and prompting Obama to comment back, “We know Fox sent you.” After the protester shouted, he was shoved and cursed out by Obama and Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley supporters. Take a look:

If anyone wants to know why we don't trust the wolves (government statists) to guard the hen house (our economic prosperity) look no farther than the O'Malley administration. Martin O'Malley has been campaigning all over the state and lying to everyone about a non-existent economic recovery in Maryland. As it turns out, O'Malley's Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation (DLLR) was hiding an internal report all along that showed that economic growth has "stalled." One young staffer mistakenly posted the report on the DLLR website, but was told to immediately remove it before people would discover the truth about O'Malley's...

A few minutes ago I received the press release below, not yet posted at the Catholic Action League web site. I had to read it several times because I kept saying to myself, "It can't be so!"But, sadly, it is. Caritas Christi, a network of six hospitals owned by Archdiocese of Boston, will soon acquire Landmark Medical Center.  Landmark will continue to operate as a secular hospital, meaning abortions and sterilizations will be performed there.Caritas Christi itself is scheduled to be acquired by Cerebus Capital Management, but that sale has not yet been approved by the Holy See and various oversight agencies.  Cardinal...

Gov. Martin O’Malley rode through enemy territory Saturday as he and his family took part in the annual Dundalk Fourth of July parade, a ritual that draws pols from U.S. senators to party central committee candidates. As his green Cadillac convertible turned into Belclare Road at the start of the parade, the governor was greeted by a few loud boos and some polite applause. Republican ex-Gov. Bob Ehrlich, who hopes to retake the job O’Malley won from him four years ago, walked the entire parade route and was routinely lavished with spontaneous, prolonged applause, whistles, shouts of encouragement, bear hugs...

Republican challenger Robert Ehrlich now leads Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley in the rematch of their 2006 gubernatorial contest, according to a new poll released Friday. Mr. Ehrlich has opened up a 3 percentage point lead over the Democratic governor in one of the nation's more liberal states, according to an automated survey of over 750 likely voters by the polling firm Magellan Strategies. It is the first poll to show the one-term former GOP governor ahead in the race. According to the Magellan poll, Mr. Ehrlich was preferred by 46 percent of state voters to 43 percent for Mr. O'Malley,...

Rome, Italy, May 31, 2010 / 11:34 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The first big phase in the renewal process of the Catholic Church in Ireland begins next fall. On Monday, "high profile" Church officials with "great specific experience" from the UK, Ireland and North America were named to head the Apostolic Visitation the Holy Father promised Irish Catholics last March. A statement delivered personally by Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi to journalists in the Holy See’s Press Office on Monday outlines Pope Benedict’s nominations for the Visitors to the four metropolitan archdioceses of Ireland and the country's seminaries and religious houses.He...