Lock your doors Alderman O’Connor! Kirby’s coming…with friends!

One nice thing we can say about #kirbydelauter is that he’s always good for a laugh! Whether he’s crafting tear drop flow charts that are impossible to decipher or word smithing about excrement slamming into wind chimes, he never ceases to amuse us. Of course, it would be a lot more funny if he wasn’t in any position of authority in our county. But hey, in today’s world, we have to get our jollies where we can. Here is this weekend’s comic relief:

2017-02-26-2

giphy (2).gif

Whew!!! Once again Kirby knee jerk reacts to an issue that he obviously doesn’t understand. We can only assume that he’s pontificating about an article in yesterday’s paper about making Frederick a sanctuary city. What does that entail asks thee? Basically, it entails law enforcement and other governmental entities not asking about an individual’s immigration status. Kinda similar to the military’s no ask no tell policy concerning gay service members. And guess what Kirby? If you bothered to read this article all the way through, instead of just singling out Michael O’Connor’s name, you would have seen that the Frederick Police department has already codified this policy. Here’s what the good alderman had to say about the proposal to adopt this policy across all levels of city government:

“For me, it’s a statement of support for the residents of our community who work, who live, who go to school, who pay taxes … in the city,” he said. “The reality is, for people in our community who are here, regardless of their documentation, they should not have to live in fear.”

So, we aren’t just letting people come into our house uninvited? That’s not what he meant? Why is Kirby always getting things so very wrong?

In other what the what news: If you’ve driven down Route 340 recently, you’ve probably seen a huge black and yellow billboard yelling at Senator Ronald Young for being a big meanie to Governor Hogan.According to said billboard, Senator Young has gotten his legislative role oh so very wrong. Doesn’t he know that, as a legislator, he’s supposed to be against all the legislation the governor no likey? Just like Congress did when Obama was president! Well, said billboard leads you to a cray cray website that shows just who paid for said eyesore (Side note: try not to put so many words on a billboard in which drivers are speeding by people!):

2017-02-26-42017-02-26-5

2017-02-26-7

 

These people have cutesy little names for everything!  Let’s try to break all these “harmful” bills down. The Sunshine Tax, fact checked here by the Baltimore Sun, is a piece of legislation requiring energy providers to get a larger percentage of their energy from renewable sources. The potential costs to taxpayers? .48 to $1.45 a month! Makes you wonder who was lobbying to get this sidelined. Doesn’t seem like that’s going to drain the ole family coffers. The rain tax is a nickname that’s been driving your Lady Yokels crazy for a few years now. It’s called the Storm-water Management fee people!  It has to do with impermeable surfaces. You know the surfaces that rain can’t penetrate? Houston has a huge flooding problem because of them. The danger in Maryland is not only flooding, but water pollution. When the water doesn’t get filtered through the soil all the mess it’s mixed with on land goes right into the water. And Governor Hogan’s repeal, wasn’t really a repeal y’all. We still need to comply with the EPA regulations.  Now what about the scary sounding Road Kill bill? Well, that’s hyperbolic nonsense as well. You can read it here, but it’s basically a system for scoring transportation projects. And according to the Maryland Reporter:

To drive home the point that the new law gives Hogan carte blanche to do as he pleases, lawmakers added this concluding sentence: “[N]othing in this Act may be constructed to prohibit or prevent the funding of the capital transportation priorities in each jurisdiction.”

In other words, Hogan can fund whichever road, bridge and transit projects he wants regardless of the score it receives.

All he’s gotta do is give “a rational basis for the decision. . . in writing.”

Like, “it will make the road safer.” Or “it will reduce traffic congestion.” Or “it will help economic development.”

We are baffled as to why the Maryland Republicans are against the creation of a commission to oversee and recommend redistricting recommendations. We suppose they must have some of those famous reasons we keep hearing about.

So curious as to why the Maryland Republican Party would spend their money on a billboard and website attacking Senator Young in a non-election year.  We also hear from our fans that the Maryland Repubs are running ads on WFMD attacking both Jan and Ron over the downtown hotel. But hey, who are we to tell them what to waste  spend their money on?  Guess they are counting on their cutesy “scare words” to get everyone worked up. Took us about fifteen minutes to refute everything on that website. We can only hope that those who read that billboard will do their due diligence…or at least read our blog.

Upon whom has the devil left his mark?

join-the-666-devil-squad

Some very serious news has made it our way via the FNP political notes section. Senator Michael Hough is now in danger of becoming the devil’s consort. How could this be?!  Well, one of his bills accidentally (?) got marked with the devil’s much coveted seal of approval!   It’s true, he introduced the 666th bill this session and lo and behold the devil came straight up from the fiery pits of hell to give his blessing!!! Senator Hough is not at all pleased about the Dark Lord’s involvement in his legislation:

“I got the ‘mark of the beast’ bill. I hate having that bill number,” Hough said. “They should get rid of it. Who wants to have that?”

Oh grow up Senator Hough! You know when they skip the 13th floor on a building and mark it with the number 14 it’s still the 13th floor!!! Even if they labeled your bill 667 it will still be the 666th and who, but the most medieval among us, cares? It’s just a number! Aren’t there more important things to get all huffy about? Like, perhaps, plagiarism?

In the same article we learn there’s plagiarizing going on in the grand assembly hall. Our own Senator Young wrote a bill extending the statue of limitations for civil actions filed by child sex abuse victims. Another Senator, who also happens to be on the Judiciary Committee, apparently snatched up Senator Young’s bill words and all! He’s not too happy about it and there may have to be a duel. We cannot wait to see how that all plays out. How can you take someone’s bill, not even change one word, and expect no one to notice? Tis truly baffling!

Last, but not least, Hough and Afzali are having a town hall on Wednesday, February 22nd at 7:00 p.m. Who’s tempted to go?  We could make a Yokel night of it!

2017-02-17 (3).png
Love the P.S.!

 

 

 

This is what persistence looks like

Today in Frederick there was a rally in support of Planned Parenthood–an organization that has helped one in five American women. Your local ladies have been grateful supporters for their role in our own family planning. Some amazing first-hand stories were shared today, and we would like to ensure they are given some daylight.

Women on the street were talking about the difference Planned Parenthood had made in our own lives in helping literally plan our parenthood prior to the ACA mandate that birth control be covered by health insurance. If the ACA disappears, this will become critical again. Another woman used their services because she needed to escape life-threating abuse. Access to reproductive choice is an essential part of being free from abusive partners (as is access to health insurance regardless of preexisting conditions–the last thing we need is women staying in abusive marriages so they don’t lose their health care).

planned-parenthood
97% of the services provided by Planned Parenthood have nothing to do with abortion.
50% of Americans call themselves pro-choice to 44% pro-life. This is what America looks like!
50% of Americans call themselves pro-choice to 44% pro-life. This is what America looks like!

The first speaker shared that in 2006 she had just started a business when she was in a committed and loving relationship and became pregnant. She was devastated when she suffered a miscarriage. Not being able to afford health insurance, she went to Planned Parenthood for her care. It was at this point she learned she had an ovarian tumor and was diagnosed with stage 2 ovarian cancer. Planned Parenthood saved her life eleven years ago.

planned-parenthood-3

A minister from the community also spoke in support of the organization, explaining that she went to Planned Parenthood to get a pregnancy test when she was working as a social services coordinator and did not have insurance. When she told her family she learned that she was expecting at a Planned Parenthood clinic, they asked, “Did they try to get you to abort?” This underscores that we have work to do so the reality of Planned Parenthood is understood. She now has insurance, but the healthcare for women’s health needs is so expensive that she plans to return to Planned Parenthood for some services. The icing on the cake was that the person who spoke before her in the capacity of Community Outreach Coordinator for PP is the daughter she was pregnant with at the beginning of her story.

Planned Parenthood is not the gruesome villain painted by opponents. They provide essential life-saving services. These are services that will become more critical if the ACA is repealed. Delegate Karen Lewis Young spoke about her membership on the Health and Government Operations Committee. Delegate Lewis Young also spoke eloquently about the very real difference between being pro-birth and pro-life. You go, girl! Real pro-life is pro-choice, too!

Stand with Planned Parenthood. They matter.