Legum’s New Line

Yesterday on ABC’s This Week, Former Maryland Lt. Governor and current RNC Chairman Michael Steele said that President Barack Obama’s approach to economic stimulus was not supported by the American people. Steele said that “the president is upside-down with the voters on this issue.”

Today, a new poll by Gallup shows that the American people strongly support Obama’s handling of the stimulus issue:

Many states, including Maryland, are counting on a robust federal stimulus package to avoid painful cuts to education and other critical state services. Maryland would “gain nearly $3.5 billion from the House authorized version of the stimulus, money that would mean the retention of 100,000 Maryland jobs.”

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The New Line has obtained two ethics complaints filed by Del. Rick Impallaria (R) against Delegates Donna Stifler (R) and B.J. Jennings (R). In the complaints Impallaria alleges that Del. Stifler falsely accused him of abusing one of Stifler’s aides. Impallaria also claims that Jennings participated in the “slander.”

The complaints are related to the same set of circumstances that lead Impallaria and Del. Susan McComas (R) to be deposed from their leadership positions in the Harford County delegation, reported by the New Line earlier this week.

In the complaint to Ethics Counsel William G. Somerville, Impallaria writes:

I told Delegate Stifler that we would have to talk to her aide, and she said I would not be allowed to talk to her aide because I had abused her. At that point, I realized there was no reasoning with her and told her that she was a “kook.” I stand by that statement and still believe it to be solid and true.

According to the Baltimore Sun, Del. Impallaria has a lengthy criminal record and got into a shoving match with immigration activists in 2004. You can read the full complaint filed by Impallaria below.

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In a dramatic letter circulated around the State House this morning and obtained by the New Line, Del. Susan K. McComas (R-Hartford County) alleges that Del. J.B. Jennings (R-Harford County) held an illegal meeting to depose her as chair of the Harford County delegation.

The letter alleges that, at the conclusion of the session Monday, Jennings verbally announced “a special meeting [of the Harford County delegation] to take place minutes later in the Silver Room of the State House.” The purpose of the meeting, according to McComas, was to remove “the delegation’s duly-elected chair and vice chair.”

Jennings chaired the hastily called meeting and later sent out an email “announcing he had been elected Chair and Del. Wayne Norman [R-Harford County] elected Vice Chair at the special meeting.”

In Maryland, chairing the county delegation can be an important position. The General Assembly frequently considers legislation that only impacts a particular county. When a county delegation approves of legislation that only impact their county, the rest of the General Assembly nearly always goes along. The chair of the county delegation has substantial control over a set of legislation that will directly effect constituents.

UPDATE: David Nitkin of Baltimore Sun follows up on this post. Apparently, it all started with a nasty argument between ousted caucus vice-chair Del. Richard K. Impallaria and another caucus member over payments for snacks at caucus events.

You can read the full letter below.

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In a combative telephone interview with USA Today, RNC Chairman Michael Steele said that all Republicans should oppose Tom Daschle’s nomination as secretary of Health and Human Services:

Michael Steele said in a telephone interview that Republicans should oppose former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle’s nomination to be secretary of Health and Human Services. Daschle is the second Cabinet nominee to acknowledge he didn’t pay thousands of dollars in taxes.

“We’ve already let one cat out of the bag with (Treasury Secretary Timothy) Geithner,” Steele said. “So what’s the standard down to, to be a Cabinet secretary? You don’t have to pay your taxes? Come on.”

While Daschle’s failure to pay the appropriate amount of taxes is a serious issue, perhaps Steele is not the best messenger on the issue of personal financial responsibility. In 2002, the Washington Post reported “two banks have filed foreclosure proceedings in the past year against Steele and his wife, Andrea, after they failed to make payments on their mortgage and a home equity loan last year. The loans, totaling about $ 96,000, listed the Steeles’ townhouse in Largo as collateral, a property that is valued for tax purposes at $ 115,110, according to court and tax records.”

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Today on Fox News Sunday, Michael Steele argued that, to be successful, the Republican Party needs to return to the “Contract With America,” a document created by Newt Gingrich and Tom Delay in 1994. Watch it:

Steele argued that, in 1994, “the American people and the [Republican] party” bound together to support the principles of the Contract. In fact, polls showed the vast majority Americans had never heard of it. Of the few that did know, half said it made them less likely to vote Republican.

UPDATE I: ThinkProgress has more on the Steele interview.

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If you were hoping that Michael Steele would bring a new approach to Republican Party politics, here’s some bad news. Less than 24 hours after being elected chairman of the RNC, Steele praised House members for their lockstep opposition to President Obama’s stimulus bill, saying “the goose egg that you laid on the president’s desk was just beautiful.”

More from CQ Politics:

Michael Steele, the new national GOP chairman, urged House Republicans at the end of their three-day retreat to stick to their stand against the $819 billion stimulus measure as they plot their strategy for the 111th Congress.

A day after he won election as RNC chairman, Steele told the gathering at the Homestead resort that the minority party had sent a strong message to President Obama by joining together to oppose the version of the stimulus passed by the House (HR 1).

“This week the emphasis will shift to the Senate, and I am hoping they listen and learn from the very important message that you sent this week,” Steele told the GOP lawmakers, who had closed ranks and cast 177 “no” votes when the bill was before the House.

The Politico reports that Steele also “jokingly told members” that “we’re living in an era of bipartisanship.”

UPDATE I: Steele repeated his “goose egg” comment this morning on Bob Ehrlich’s radio show. You can listen to the audio of the interview, his first as RNC chair, here.

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Former Maryland Lt. Governor Michael Steele was just elected chairman of the RNC. Here are five facts about the new leader of the Republican party:

1. Steele compared stem cell research to Nazi experiments during the Holocaust.

2. Steele bused in homeless African Americans from Philadelphia to distribute literature in inner-city Baltimore that featured a “Sample Democratic Ballot” with votes for Steele and former Gov. Bob Ehrlich, along with photos of prominent black Democrats.

3. Steele once described that “R” next to his name as a “scarlet letter,” complaining that being a Republican was hurting his electoral chances.

4. Steele was endorsed by Mike Tyson during his run for Senate. When Tyson, who used to be married to Steele’s half sister, pleaded no contest to assault in Montgomery County in 1998, Steele was on hand to support him.

5. Steele defended former Gov. Bob Ehrlich’s decision to hold a $100,000 fundraiser at a country club that did not allow non-white members, saying that the club’s membership’s policies were “not an issue” because “I don’t play golf.”

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Mike Duncan, the incumbent chair of the Republican National Committee, dropped out of the race for the next RNC chairman after the third ballot. That leaves former Maryland Lt. Governor Michael Steele as one of the favorites. The other contender is Katon Dawson, current chair of the South Carolina Republican party.

The other candidates left are Ken Blackwell and Saul Anuzis.

You can keep track of the voting on Chris Cillizza’s twitter page.

Stay tuned to the New Line for coverage of Maryland’s most prominent Republican.

UPDATE I: After the fourth ballot the count is: “Dawson 62, Steele 60, Anuzis 31, Blackwell 15.” The magic number is 85.

UPDATE II: Blackwell withdraws and endorses Steele, making him the odd-on favorite.

UPDATE III: Steele wins.

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GOP Del. Don Dwyer is pushing for Maryland to pass its own version of Proposition 8, the California ballot initiative that inserted a ban on gay marriage into the state’s constitution. From the Capital:

Although Maryland Republicans frequently lament any time the state’s actions mirror California’s, Del. Don Dwyer hopes Annapolis follows the West Coast on the gay marriage issue this legislative session…

California recently accomplished what Mr. Dwyer has been wishing for years by putting same-sex marriage to a vote during the November general election…

“It was a great encouragement,” Mr. Dwyer said of the vote. “We have been considered the California of the East Coast.”

Dwyer may run into difficulties getting his version of Proposition 8 on the ballot. In Maryland, unlike California, ballot initiatives must pass the state legislature. Similar initiatives have not gotten very far in recent years.

Dwyer said he plans on trying anyway: “I’m like a dog. When I get hold of a bone, I don’t let go.”

For more on Proposition 8, and why we shouldn’t repeat California’s mistake in Maryland, read this editorial from the Los Angeles Times.

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