Some of us thought perhaps the retrograde run of the Republican Party into the quagmire of neoconservatism had begun to run its course. Apparently our hopes for the restoration of responsibility were ill-founded.
In Washington, we were told the party was prepared to govern. No such luck. We are now into the middle of February, and nothing has changed. Once again, they engaged in an immature and futile attempt to destroy Obamacare even as its success and benefits of all kinds have been demonstrated. And Boehner has engaged in undercutting efforts on the international stage.
In Maryland, Hogan took the oath for governor and promptly demonstrated his willingness to work again the hopes and dreams of Maryland families with the negativity found in his proposals regarding education. America’s middle class has been victimized by income inequality, the failure to build good paying jobs and in the face of it Hogan raises tuition. And then he moved on to undermine the efforts to manage the cost of stormwater runoff. In other words, he is working against a coordinated effort to deal with climate change issues and matters of pollution of our bay.
It seems our new governor is going to follow in the footsteps of former Republican Governor Ehrlich. He left office with a $1.5 billion dollar structural deficit in place. So much for conservative efficacy. We then had to struggle to undo the damage even as the Great Recession struck. We do not need another irresponsible governor, but it seems we have one. Maryland shot ourselves in the foot. America is lagging in developing the skills of our youth through education and attacking education, and its availability is hardly a solution.
Words need to be followed by constructive deeds, and all we are seeing from Republicans is an utter failure of constructive vision and usually forward-looking Maryland has made a terrible mistake. We need to press for sound negotiations and a recognition of a responsible vision for our future free of archaic and ineffective ideology. If the recent election was about change, it left us with a new governor who wishes to turn away from constructive decisions and budgets. His proposals have nothing to do with sound conservatism or functional economic processes.
It remains to be seen how Governor Hogan will behave in the long run, but his opening positions leave a very great deal to be desired. It is, indeed, time for sound governance, functional and honest negotiations but locally and in Washington we see the Republican Party offering neither. People who are against governing are in charge.
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