Rascovar on Politics

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Drug Price Controls for Maryland?

Drug Price Controls for Maryland?

By Barry Rascovar

Feb. 17, 2019 — That’s no disputing America has a big problem with high prescription drug prices, especially for life-saving or life-extending medications.

Everyone from President Trump to Bernie Sanders to Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan to state legislators and local elected leaders on the right to the far left agree something must be done. By 2022, U.S. spending on prescription…

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Hogan's School-Days Rule

Hogan’s School-Days Rule

By Barry Rascovar

Feb. 13, 2019 — What’s best politically for Gov. Larry Hogan and Republicans may not be best for Maryland school children educationally. But in this case, Hogan & Co. see gold to be mined in the 2020 elections. Generating sympathetic voters for the GOP — by championing post-Labor Day school-year starts and early finishes — must come first.

That explains the state Senate’s…

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Hogan Snubs Kirwan

By Barry Rascovar

Feb. 7, 2019 — Gov. Larry Hogan apparently doesn’t think much of the Kirwan Commission and its recommended improvements for Maryland’s K-12 classrooms.

You won’t find that message in Hogan’s State of the State Address, or in his formal budget submittal — a mind-boggling set of numbers running well over 1,000 pages.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan

But to understand what Hogan is up to…

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Hogan's Tax Cut Can Wait

Hogan’s Tax Cut Can Wait

By Barry Rascovar

Jan. 29, 2019 — Gov. Larry Hogan says he’ll propose a “major tax cut” when he delivers his fifth State of the State Address in Annapolis on Wednesday. Guess he isn’t expecting a recession or worrying about Maryland’s projected $5 billion structural budget deficit over the next five years.

As is always the case, the proverbial devil is in the details of Hogan’s…

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More Kirwan Dreamin'

More Kirwan Dreamin’

By Barry Rascovar

Jan. 22, 2019 — Proposing a costly, far-reaching overhaul of Maryland’s public education system may make sense in theory, but facts on the ground can smash those dreams to smithereens.

The shoot-for-the-moon Kirwan Commission now has put in place a wildly ambitious, best-practices plan for making Maryland schools not just markedly better but world-class.A brand-new curriculum in…

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The Next Senate President

The Next Senate President

By Barry Rascovar

Jan. 13, 2019 — Maryland Senate President Mike Miller’s surprise announcement that he is battling metastatic prostate cancer unsettled an extraordinarily settled situation in the Annapolis State House.

Senate President Mike Miller

Future leadership of the state Senate, where Miller has ruled since 1987, is now up for discussion. Whether he steps down this session, next year or…

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Martin, We Hardly Knew Ye

Martin, We Hardly Knew Ye

By Barry Rascovar

Jan. 7, 2019 — For someone who has campaigned since 2015 to be taken seriously as a presidential candidate, it’s ironic Martin O’Malley received more publicity from ending his quest than during it.

Ex-Presidential Candidate Martin O’Malley

The former two-term Maryland governor and two-term Baltimore mayor proved an embarrassing failure in the 2016 Iowa caucuses, receiving…

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MD's $1 Billion Mirage?

MD’s $1 Billion Mirage?

By Barry Rascovar

Jan. 3, 2019 — Maryland begins the New Year with a whopping cash surplus and an ocean of additional dollars expected to flow into the state Treasury over the coming 18 months.

But it quickly could turn into a mirage during an overdue economic slump, international trade wars, nervous markets and a highly erratic president.The stock market collapse that started in December leaves…

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Kirwan Flunks Math

By Barry Rascovar

Dec. 24, 2018 — What is $4.4 billion divided by 188?

William “Brit” Kirwan, the former math professor and respected university big wig, thought he knew the answer.

He didn’t come close — and learned last week he had flunked his course in applied political mathematics.

Former University System of Maryland Chancellor William E. “Brit” Kirwan

Indeed. Kirwan’s Commission on…

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School Aid: Hogan's Bid Opener

School Aid: Hogan’s Bid Opener

By Barry Rascovar

Dec. 17, 2018 –Tip of the Week: Gov. Larry’s Hogan’s $1.9 billion school construction proposal will be dead on arrival when the General Assembly convenes in January .

How could that be? Enthusiasm should be rampant for Hogan’s plan — monetizing slot machine tax revenue earmarked for education in a way that provides roughly $190 million more each year for new public school…

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Rockeymoore Cummings' Challenge

Rockeymoore Cummings’ Challenge

By Barry Rascovar

Dec. 11, 2018 –When Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, the wife of Congressman Elijah Cummings, seized leadership of the Maryland Democratic Party, she bought herself a truckload of troubles.

Despite a lopsided Democratic voter-registration edge in Maryland, the party is badly fractured. The far-left urbanist progressive movement cannot see eye to eye with traditional Democratic…

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Heed GM's Early-Warning Signal

Heed GM’s Early-Warning Signal

By Barry Rascovar

Dec. 3, 2018 — Come April, 14,000 General Motors workers at five factories — including one in White Marsh — will be jobless. Good economic times over the past 10 years are coming to an end — and GM’s blunt, Darwinian announcement stands as a early-warning signal we had better heed.The U.S. is nearing the end of an exhilarating economic expansion that has been historically long.…

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The Mohler Era Is Ending

The Mohler Era Is Ending

By Barry Rascovar

Nov. 26, 2018 — It’s not usually the case that a public hanging marks the end of an era — but this is the case for Baltimore County Executive Don Mohler.

The fill-in CEO of metro Baltimore’s largest subdivision won’t be going to the gallows this week. Instead, he’ll watch the unveiling of his official portrait in Towson.

Baltimore County Executive Don Mohler

Then a week from…

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Redistricting: Where's the Supreme Court?

Redistricting: Where’s the Supreme Court?

By Barry Rascovar

Nov. 17, 2018 — Now that Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh has appealed a lower-court decision on redistricting to the Supreme Court, we might get some straight answers to such questions as:

What does or does not constitute political gerrymandering that violates the Constitution?

What are the new rules when maps for congressional and state legislative districts are drawn?

Ho…

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Mid-Term Musings

By Barry Rascovar

Nov. 12, 2018 — As expected, Gov. Larry Hogan breezed to a whopping victory last week — the first Maryland Republican to accomplish a second-term win since 1954.

Given the anti-Trump wave that washed over many parts of the country, Hogan’s cakewalk in a heavily Democratic state was remarkable.

Re-elected Maryland Republican Gov. Larry Hogan

He ran a nearly flawless campaign.…

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Loh Must Go

By Barry Rascovar

Nov. 4, 2018 — Why is Wallace Loh still president of the University of Maryland’s flagship College Park campus?

Loh followed the wishes of UM’s board of regents, then defied them, by firing D.J. Durkin as football coach — without bothering to consult with the regents. This poisons Loh’s already shaky relationship with the system’s governing body.

UM College Park President…

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6 Mid-Term Questions

By Barry Rascovar

Oct. 28, 2018 — Early voters in Maryland have cast their ballots in huge numbers. Is this due to a super-energized electorate? Or is it just regular voters taking advantage of an extra week to cast their ballots? We will only know once polls close on Nov. 6.

Meanwhile, here are questions to ponder:

How did Maryland’s voting get so messed up?

It took 90 minutes to cast my early…

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