“‘Cause I’m leavin’ on a jet plane
Don’t know when I’ll be back again…”
- John Denver (“Leaving on a Jet Plane”)
They call it Billionaires Summer Camp. Tucked away in the rarefied air of Sun Valley, Idaho, the annual gathering of moguls, media titans, and monied elites is a weeklong networking bonanza for the ultra-wealthy. That is where Governor Wes Moore spent last week with his family in tow, while Marylanders opened their electric bills in stunned disbelief, sweating through the heat of July and the heat of a budget crisis his administration refuses to confront.
While Moore rubbed elbows with Jeff Bezos and other billionaires discussing tech investments and personal branding, back in Maryland his government was unraveling. Maryland’s Transportation Secretary, Paul J. Wiedefeld, announced this past week that he will step down from his position effective August 1. This was not a scheduled transition or a quiet retirement. It is the kind of departure that raises red flags about internal dysfunction, looming failures, or sheer exhaustion with the direction, or lack thereof, of state leadership.
For those keeping score, there have now been five Cabinet-level departures under Moore. That is not just turnover. That is instability. It is a clear sign that all is not well inside the walls of the Government House, even if the press releases pretend otherwise. The Moore administration has barely passed the halfway mark of its term, yet its inner circle looks like a game of musical chairs.
In addition, Maryland Labor Secretary Portia Wu warned that the state’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund may be in danger of insolvency, with federal workers and contractors being laid off amid uncertainty in Washington. This is not some hypothetical crisis. It is a flashing red warning sign that thousands of Maryland businesses could be left with higher unemployment taxes if the economy sours.
And once again, while the alarm bells were ringing, Moore was in Idaho sipping cocktails with financiers.
Meanwhile, state agencies face hiring freezes. School districts are staring down Blueprint mandates they cannot afford. And Maryland families? They are getting battered.
Electric rates, driven higher by Moore’s ill-conceived energy policies and our increased dependence on out-of-state power, have left residents stunned. Some Marylanders have told me their bill had nearly doubled compared to the same time last year. My electric bill was up 25%. But Moore would not know. He was not here.
It is the start of a new fiscal year, and the budget is already fraying. Moore’s idea of fiscal discipline is smoke and mirrors. The Rainy-day fund is draining. The structural deficit continues unabated. What is the administration’s solution? Raise taxes again, push the burden onto counties, and hope the federal government bails us out. This is not a strategy… it is desperation wrapped in press releases and photo ops.
What message does it send when the Governor flees to a luxury retreat while his state teeters on financial instability? It tells us exactly who he is.
Wes Moore is more comfortable with the Davos set than with working families in Dundalk, Salisbury, and Lexington Park. He is fluent in the language of venture capital, not the realities of paycheck-to-paycheck life. His presidential fantasy has taken hold of him while Maryland is left holding the bill.
Moore loves to say, “leave no one behind”, but last week, he left all of Maryland behind. He left us behind for the billionaires, for the backslapping and keynote panels, for the glint of cameras and canapés on white tablecloths.
If you are wondering whether he paid for the trip himself or if donors chipped in, good luck getting a straight answer. Transparency is not exactly a hallmark of the Moore administration.
We have seen enough. Wes Moore promised transformation. Instead, we have gotten vanity, virtue signaling, and vaporware. Maryland deserves better than a Governor who escapes to the mountains every time the temperature rises at home.
The cameras may still be rolling, but the people of Maryland are steadily tuning out the Wes Moore Show.
Clayton A. Mitchell, Sr. is a life-long Eastern Shoreman, an attorney, and former Chairman of the Maryland Department of Labor’s Board of Appeals. He is co-host of the Gonzales/Mitchell Show podcast that discusses politics, business, and cultural issues.
Mickey Terrone says
How many days has he lost paying golf?
Liz Freedlander says
Clayton Mitchell’s tone in criticizing the governor seems to illustrate a personal vendetta rather than an objective analysis.
Michael Davis says
With simple editing, I could replace “Donald J. Trump” in most of what you write about Gov. Moore. Trump and billionaires; Trump rubbing elbows with the Saudi Royal family, Trump spending more time than any president in history playing golf – all of which we taxpayers pay for; Trump raising electric bills with the OBBBA; Trump selling bitcoins for personal profit as bribes; and Trump committing rape and having sex with underage girls. But wait, you haven’t blamed Gov. Moore for either taking hundreds of millions of dollars in personal bribes or being best friends with Epstein.
Two wrongs don’t make a right. The fact that Trump is the most corrupt, stupid, evil President in history who is destroying America does not excuse Gov. Moore. But to ignore Trump while spending EVERY single column you write condemning everything Gov Moore does, diminishes the credibility of your writing. Every essay you publish here is an irrational screed. Readers here deserve more.
Jim Wilkins says
It’s another clever allusion to a popular song! But unfortunately that’s where the cleverness ends. Mitchell, in his headlong effort to discredit Wes Moore has just stepped into a pile of…Anyway it is truly ironic that Mitchell, an obvious Republican apologist, would dare to lampoon Moore for hanging out with billionaires. The last time we checked (although lately the kindergartners have been fighting) Mitchell’s favorite president was fawning over, entertaining and generally giving Musk (the “richest man in the world “ carte Blanche to dismantle the federal government including removing funding from USAID and causing misery and taking healthcare away from people in underdeveloped countries. Lest we forget the cozy relationship between Trump and the monied class we can just look at that Big Ugly piece of legislation they just passed. Here’s an analysis of how those “tax breaks” go. Under the bill a person who makes $1million will get a $96,000 tax break. What about someone making $50,000 or less? Their tax break will amount $0.68 per day, amounting to a yearly tax break of (let me get out my calculator) $248.20. Well ain’t that a kick in the head??(as the song goes). Mitchell’s howling rings hollow in the ears of those who have been betrayed by his party.
kathy Smith says
This was a well written article. Very informative, straight facts written as a real news should be It allowed me to make my own informed opinion about our Governor. We need more articles like this and I will watch for another written by Clayton Mitchell It saddens me to read these facts. I have lived in Maryland for 68 years and I don’t know why Marylanders are so gullible We keep allowing these politicians to keep us down by lying to us. They give our tax money away to everyone but not back to us hard working tax payers. No MOORE!!
Wake Up Maryland says
He’s asleep at the switch as he sniffs out backers for a 2028 Presidential run. How can anyone be so blind to their own leadership failures? He’s not only driving the wealthy out of the state through crushing taxes, but he’s killing the poor and middle class by imposing chilling user fees…pretending they’re not taxes. I’m a democrat and there’s not a chance he receives my vote.
Steve Kent says
Tells you how much soft people there are in Maryland to put such an incompetent person in a major office like this I have been here 69 years and have not seen the financial problems rise to the levels its in now with no clear answer to help the working class out but raise taxes . not the answer
Eric Ploeg says
Moore is a clever, rhetorical speaker using catchy phrases, punch words and hi-fives during his many photo ops. Last month he signed off on the largest tax increase in Maryland history to cover his frivolous, special interest spending. Yet he appeared recently on CNN like a hero boasting, very convincingly that he is saving Maryland citizens money! Guess he fooled you.
Unbelievable how some people can defend this snake oil salesman. This article speaks the truth and is entirely objective. Seems that its just not what what some people want to hear.
Anthony Seda says
Wes Moore’s Mountain Getaway: A Governor Who Leaves Maryland Behind
Governor Wes Moore didn’t just leave Maryland last week—he abandoned it.
While everyday Marylanders opened their electric bills in shock, watching them spike under the burden of misguided energy policies and July’s brutal heat, Governor Moore was sipping cocktails in the rarefied air of Sun Valley, Idaho. Not just on vacation—he was attending the so-called “Billionaires Summer Camp,” a weeklong networking retreat for the ultra-wealthy, where moguls like Jeff Bezos and tech elites gather to plot their next power moves.
Moore took his family with him. He left Maryland behind.
This is the same man who campaigned on bold promises to “leave no one behind.” But when the state was hit with fiscal tremors, when Cabinet secretaries were walking out the door, and when families across the state were grappling with skyrocketing bills and economic uncertainty—Wes Moore was nowhere to be found.
Let’s not ignore the headlines:
Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld suddenly resigns, joining a growing list of five high-level departures from Moore’s administration in less than two years. That’s not “restructuring.” That’s dysfunction.
Maryland’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund is in danger, risking massive tax hikes on small businesses if Washington stumbles.
Public schools are staring down unfunded mandates, thanks to Moore’s reckless rush toward Blueprint implementation with no plan to pay for it.
State agencies are freezing hiring, even as services suffer.
The Rainy-Day Fund is being depleted, while Moore touts “balanced budgets” that are anything but.
Yet amid all of this, Moore chose to be with the billionaires, not the people.
He didn’t feel the heat—literally or politically. He wasn’t in a Baltimore rowhouse with a $500 electric bill. He wasn’t talking to a teacher in Western Maryland trying to make sense of mandates without resources. He wasn’t listening to a small business owner in Prince George’s County bracing for another round of tax hikes.
No, Moore was 2,000 miles away. On a private jet. In Sun Valley.
He likes to speak the language of public service. But he thinks in the language of private equity. His is a politics of performance, heavy on slogans, light on substance. He says all the right things while doing all the wrong ones. Moore didn’t run for Governor to serve Marylanders—he ran to build a national brand.
And let’s not forget: this is a man who sent his own troubled teenager to Valley Forge Military Academy—while denying working parents real investment in mental health services and youth programming here at home.
This isn’t just poor optics. It’s moral failure.
Wes Moore doesn’t lead. He escapes. When the budget frays, when the bills pile up, when agencies falter—he flees to mountaintops with moguls. The cameras keep rolling, but back home, Marylanders are tuning out.
The hypocrisy is staggering. The disconnection is real. The consequences are ours.
Governor Moore, if you truly believe in “leaving no one behind,” it’s time to start acting like it. Maryland isn’t your stepping stone. It’s your responsibility.
Until then, don’t be surprised if the voters decide to leave you behind next