Legum’s New Line

The Republican Women of Anne Arundel County have removed letter from their president which compared President Obama to Adolf Hitler from their website. The following “urgent message” now appears on their website from the group’s Board of Directors.

The article put on our web site by Joyce Thomann was done solely by her. Our Board of Directors never saw the article and would never have approved it. We are not in support of Mrs. Thomann’s personal thoughts ot [sic] opinions.

Ms. Thomann’s husband, however, is still defending the letter.

UPDATE: Ms. Thomann apologizes.

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Scott Bowling, a GOP candidate for Alderman in Annapolis, has a issued a press release blasting Joyce Thomann, head of the Republican Women of Anne Arundel County, for comparing President Obama to Hitler. He also announced he was returning Ms. Thomann’s contribution to his campaign. An excerpt:

I forcefully reject this view enunciated by Ms. Thomann, and find the use of this inflammatory rhetoric unacceptable, useless and destructive. Speaking for myself, I fail to see any merit to the statements offered, and believe that these kinds of statements are contrary to my goal of vigorous, civil debate on all issues.

…Ms Thomann does not speak for me, nor have a role in my candidacy. I am, in light of this letter, returning the contribution Ms. Thomann made to my campaign for Ward 3 Alderman, to express my absolute condemnation of this comparison.

Earlier this week I wrote that the members of Maryland’s Republican Party should “speak up and make it clear that the group’s offensive rhetoric about President Obama is unacceptable.” Bowling has done so and should be commended for it.

It remains to be seen whether other prominent Republicans in the Annapolis area, including the presumptive mayoral nominee Dave Cordle, will follow suit.

UPDATE: Cordle writes to say that he has contacted Ms. Thomann and expressed his disapproval with her comments.

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The Republican Women of Anne Arundel County, one of Maryland’s most prominent Republican organizations, has launched an outrageous attack on President Barack Obama. The website currently features a letter from Joyce E. Thoman, the organization’s President, comparing Barack Obama to Hitler. An excerpt:

Dear Friends:

Obama and Hitler have a great deal in common in my view. Obama and Hitler use the “blitzkrieg” method to overwhelm their enemies. FAST, CARPET BOMBING intent on destruction. Hitler’s blitzkrieg bombing destroyed many European cities – quickly and effectively. Obama is systematically destroying the American economy and with it AMERICA. First the banking/investment industry, next private enterprise (GM and Chrysler) and now HEALTH CARE. And he is working on grabbing more of the American economy with his environmental extremism!

We too CAN fight back. Contact everyone you know. Start a blitzkrieg of our own. Shut down the Capitol switchboards and the White House switchboards! Say NO to the Obamination of Obama Care!

The Republican Women of Anne Arundel County, which holds a weekly breakfast, is regularly visited and praised by Maryland’s Republican leadership. When former Gov. Bob Ehrlich (R) was a Member of Congress he praised the organization of floor of the House of Representatives:

Mr. EHRLICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to an organization in my district celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. The Republican Women of Anne Arundel County was formed in 1937 as the Federation of Republican Women of Anne Arundel County. Its founder was Edna Payne of Annapolis…Mr. Speaker, this organization is a living example of the spirit of citizenship envisioned by the founders of this great Nation. Political and charitable participation are the duties of everyone in a true democracy. The Republican Women of Anne Arundel County regularly prove that actions speak louder than words. I want to congratulate them on reaching this 60th anniversary milestone.

It’s time for Bob Ehrlich and the rest of Maryland’s Republican Party to speak up and make it clear that the group’s offensive rhetoric about President Obama is unacceptable.

[HT: Annapolis Capital Punishment]

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Today, I went down to the City Dock in Annapolis to check out the local “tea party,” one of many anti-Obama protests occurring around the nation today.

The message of the event was striking. The audience, which was quite large despite a heavy rain, was told that Obama was leading the country toward “dictatorship.” The government, we were told, was creating a crisis “100 times as grim as 9/11,” the people were being “brainwashed” into complacency by the media and soon “the face of big brother will be exposed and the slogans of a classless one party system are revealed to us.”

The answer to these problems, according to one speaker, is to kick Obama and the leaders of the Democratic party in Maryland out of office. In the audience, one man wore a shirt comparing Obama to Hitler. Watch a video compilation:

Many of the most prominent Republicans in Anne Arundel County participated in the event including Delegate Ron George, Delegate Don Dwyer, Alderman and mayoral candidate Dave Cordle and former Delegate Herb McMillen. Dwyer, dressed in colonial garb threw the “tea” into the Annapolis harbor. McMillen, current head of the Maryland Taxpayers Association, acted as the MC.

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Michael Steele, former Lt. Governor of Maryland and now chair of the Republican Party, recently guest hosted Bill Bennett’s radio show. During the show, he announced his belief that the earth is cooling. HuffPost has the transcript:

We are cooling. We are not warming. The warming you see out there, the supposed warming, and I am using my finger quotation marks here, is part of the cooling process. Greenland, which is now covered in ice, it was once called Greenland for a reason, right? Iceland, which is now green. Oh I love this. Like we know what this planet is all about. How long have we been here? How long? No very long.

It’s worth noting that, among the scientific community, the fact that the earth is warming is not the subject of any debate. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a group of hundreds of distinguished scientists, concluded in 2007 that “Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice and rising global average sea level.” The panel concluded that it was “very likely” that most of the warming since the mid-20th century was due to human activity.

The head of Republican party, apparently, does not have much use for science.

Also, as Huffington Post notes, Greenland’s “name was derived…from Erik the Red, who wanted to trick people into going to that island as opposed to the more hospitable Iceland.”

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The Baltimore Sun, following up on a story broken by the New Line, confronted Rep. Don Dwyer (R-Anne Arundel) about his split from the GOP caucus. At first, Dwyer clams up completely. Eventually, he confirms he will no longer caucus with the GOP but refuses to elaborate. Here’s the exchange:

Smitherman: Are you leaving the Republican Caucus?

Dwyer: No comment.

Smitherman: Are you still a member of the Republican Caucus?

Dwyer: No comment.

Smitherman: That raises more questions than it answers.

Dwyer: I can say I am still a member of the Republican Party.

Smitherman: I don’t understand why you can’t say you’re a member of a caucus.

Dwyer: I can say I will no longer be attending the meetings.

Smitherman: Can you say why you won’t be attending those meetings?

Dwyer: Oh no.

Dwyer also confirmed to the Washington Post that he “no longer plans to caucus with the group” but told that paper’s reporter “I’m not discussing this issue with anybody, at any time.”

Yesterday, the New Line reported that, according to General Assembly sources, Dwyer became upset with the GOP caucus after the group refused “to support his ‘personhood’ amendment to the Maryland constitution.”

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RNC Chairman Michael Steele is under fresh scrutiny for more suspect expenditures from his 2006 Senate campaign. WBAL News reports that, at the end of his 2006 campaign. Steele made $64,000 in questionable payments to a firm named Allied Berton, LLC.

The firm’s website indicates that Allied Berton was “in the business of trading commodities, such as minerals, metals, coffee and sugar.” The purpose of Steele’s payments to the company, however, was listed as “political consulting.” Further, “At the time the campaigns made the payments, Allied Berton’s right to conduct business had been forfeited by the state for failing to file the proper paperwork.”

All told, Steele, former Governor Bob Ehrlich, Ehrlich’s running mate Kristen Cox and the Maryland Republican party paid over $400,000 to Allied Berton. Watch WBAL’s Report:

Previously, the Washington Post reported that FBI was investigating a $37,000 campaign payment by Steele to a defunct company owned by his sister-in-law. A former campaign official claims no work was done for the payments.

So far, this latest has not been covered by the national media. Stay tuned to the New Line for updates.

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Today, the House of Delegates considered legislation by Del. Sue Kullen that would impose stiff penalties on tattoo parlors that ink minors without parental consent. The House GOP countered with an amendment to the legislation which would have imposed the same conditions on abortion providers. WBAL has the details:

Delegates are considering a bill that would require minors get their parents’ permission before getting a tattoo or body piercing.

Delegates who oppose abortions proposed an amendment to extend that parental consent requirement to teens seeking abortions.

Anne Arundel County Republican Delegate Ron George was among the delegates who backed the amendment. He wanted to expand parental consent to a procedure that is “more invasive” than getting a tattoo.

The House parliamentarian ruled that the amendment changed the purpose of the bill, which is against Maryland rules. In Maryland, each bill can only have one subject – a much different approach than the U.S. Congress. The House of Delegates affirmed the parliamentarians ruling by a vote of 103-35.

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If you think the fiscal situation in Maryland is bad, check out California:

The state, nearly out of cash, has laid off scores of workers and put hundreds more on unpaid furloughs. It has stopped paying counties and issuing income tax refunds and halted thousands of infrastructure projects.

…Twenty-thousand layoff notices will go out on Tuesday morning, Matt David, the communications director for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, said Monday night.

California has also lost access to much of the credit markets, nearly unheard of among state municipal bond issuers. Recently, Standard & Poor’s downgraded the state’s bond rating to the lowest in the nation.

Why is California in such bad shape? One reason: “The state, unlike most others, requires a two-thirds majority vote in the Legislature to pass… tax increases.” The Maryland GOP recently proposed that Maryland follow California’s lead:

This week, Senator Andy Harris (R-7) and Delegate Steve Schuh (R-31), with joint support from the Republican Caucuses in the State Senate and House of Delegates, introduced the “Taxpayer Protection Act”.

…This exciting piece of legislation would require a 60% vote in each chamber to raise existing taxes or create new ones.

No one wants tax increases. The Maryland legislature, where both chambers are dominated by Democrats, is not actively considering any tax increases this session. But in a time of deep economic uncertainty, Maryland should remain nimble.

The Maryland GOP, of course, knows that their proposal has no chance of becoming law. But they’ve polled the issue and have decided it’s a political winner. It’s a safe bet, however, that they didn’t tell people about the consequences of similar restrictions in places like California.

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Maryland is counting on a robust federal stimulus package to avoid painful cuts to critical services and balance the state budget during a severe economic downturn. Meanwhile, RNC Chairman Michael Steele and local Republican bloggers are aggressively pushing the notion that Americans oppose the President Obama’s $800 billion stimulus package.

The evidence cited is a poll by Rasmussen which found that 37% of Americans supported and 43% of Americans opposed the stimulus package. With an error margin of 3%, the poll essentially shows the public equally split.

More importantly, the Rasmussen poll is at odds with every other major public poll taken in recent days, all of which show that Americans support the stimulus package by a substantial margin:

CNN (2/7-2/8): “As you may know, the U.S. Senate is expected to vote on a bill that would attempt to stimulate the economy by increasing federal government spending and cutting taxes at a total cost to the government of about eight hundred billion dollars. Based on what you have read or heard about this, do you favor or oppose the bill that the Senate is expected to vote on?”

Favor: 54%
Oppose: 45%

Pew (2/4-2/8): “From what you’ve read and heard, do you think this [stimulus plan being proposed by President Obama that may cost about $800 billion] is a good idea or a bad idea?”

Good idea: 51%
Bad idea: 34%

CBS (2/2-2/4): “Would you approve or disapprove of the federal government passing an economic stimulus bill costing more than 800 billion dollars in order to try to help the economy?”

Approve: 51
Disapprove: 39

Gallup: (2/4): “As you may know, Congress is considering a new economic stimulus package of at least 800 billion dollars. Do you favor or oppose Congress passing this legislation?”

Favor: 52
Oppose: 38

You can keep track of the latest polling on the stimulus package at PollingReport.com.

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