Talking Taxes: Rural Counties Seriously Gypped

The nay-saying has started. Opponents of tax cuts have deluged the General Assembly with dire warnings about the consequences of trimming taxes. So let us put Maryland’s fiscal situation in perspective. It is hardly as though Annapolis has been on a diet over our readers’ lifetimes. Adjusted for inflation, state expenditure was $1.7 billion back […]

This Is Our House: How the Caroline Center Tackles Job Readiness

Drive a few blocks due east of the state penitentiary in downtown Baltimore and you will cross the 900 block of Somerset Street. There you will find the “Caroline Center: A Learning/Career Center for Women of East Baltimore.”1 This is not a salubrious part of town. Nonetheless, the center concentrates on providing intensive, values-based training […]

Private Models Improve Services to Vets

The homeless veteran – he is a historical problem we want to ignore. The sheer magnitude of the dilemma makes us feel helpless. Ragged men – and women – on the streets, haggard from sleepless nights, eyes bloodshot from too much booze or drugs. Marylanders are not strangers to this sight, because we have some […]

The Interview: Charles I. Ecker, Howard County Executive

We continue our series of interviews with the major contenders in the 1998 gubernatorial race. In this issue, we talk with Chuck Ecker, county executive for Howard County. Dr. Ecker will be facing 1994 Republican nominee Ellen R. Sauerbrey in the GOP primary. Calvert Question. Your proudest accomplishments as county executive? Ecker Answer. I think […]

The Dissent: How the Townsend Report Fails to Address the Roots of Juvenile Crime and What to Do About It

About the Authors Robert M. McCarthy, J.D. Robert M. McCarthy is the named principal of a general-practice law firm located in Bethesda, Maryland. His particular concentration is in juvenile cases; he has handled approximately 5,000 such cases in the last 15 years. Previously, he was a contract attorney with the Maryland state Public Defender’s Office […]

Reforming The Schools To Save the City, Part 1

About the Authors Denis P. Doyle Denis Philip Doyle, founder of Doyle Associates, is a nationally and internationally known education writer, analyst and consultant. Doyle has recently developed a comprehensive book and compact disc (CD) titled, Raising the Standard: An Eight-Step Action Guide for Schools and Communities, which will be available in October 1997. After […]

A Matter of Law: Is Rehrmann’s Property-Tax Ploy Illegal?

It is a rare day indeed when this journal opposes a tax cut, a rarer one still when it actually suggests an increase. But Harford County Executive Eileen Rehrmann’s proposal to do away with the state property tax prompts this response. It is, of course, entirely natural for gubernatorially aspiring politicians to dream up election-year […]

When Our Fiscal Hands Are Tied: How Maryland Lost Control of Half Its Budget

Great demands are placed on lawmakers each year to spend taxpayers’ money. The causes are usually noble, well intentioned and passionately argued. As a lawmaker, I know first-hand how painful it is to say no when someone looks you in the eye and pleads for your help. Our human nature makes refusal a difficult choice […]

The Menendez Menace: A Review of Wilson\’s Moral Judgment

For years, social scientists have been trying to expand their influence from beyond the small university departments where they are holed up to the real world where serious work is being done. To some degree, they have been successful. In the world of business, for example, diversity counselors with Ph.D.s now advise CEOs on how […]

A Plea for Sanity: Keep Politics Out of the Regulatory Process

Each year, the Maryland General Assembly considers over 2,500 bills during its 90-day session. Because of this volume and due to limited time, it is difficult adequately to address each bill proposed. It would help if there were fewer bills, if certain categories of bill were simply ignored or ruled “off limits” or were dealt […]