Doug Duncan sounds off
The words "Martin O'Malley" appear nowhere in Doug Duncan's op-ed in the Sunday Post, but you could certainly be forgiven for seeing some between-the-lines crticism of the former MoCo Exec's one-time Democratic primary rival. He mentions a few Montgomery-specific issues and none on the state level, but the critique he levies about government officials' response to the economic crisis certainly seems aimed at Annapolis as much as Rockville.
Pity the poor Maryland state or local elected officials facing reelection in 2010. Their response to the fiscal crisis has been reactive and uninspired, and voters are getting angrier by the day....
Trust and confidence in government need to be restored, and it has to start with an honest accounting about the challenges we face along with a vision of where we want to go. It's time to be truthful to the public and acknowledge that government's capabilities must be reshaped for some time to come. Can state and local elected officials get back to basics by adopting zero-based budgeting and conducting a healthy review of government's core missions and competencies? Can they decide a program is no longer affordable and then cut it entirely out of the budget? Can they get ahead of the revenue forecasts and stop changing budgets every few months? Can they redesign services to face a new economic reality?
For their reelection's sake, they better hope they can, because if they can't, the voters will replace them with others who will.
It would be tough to take out a sitting governor in a primary election, and it would naturally be reading way too much into this to infer that Doug is dipping his toe in the water, but it's not exactly a full-throated endorsement of the top Maryland Democrat either.
Comments
Has our Governor EVER mentioned even once that any of the $3.3 BILLION coming our way if any of it will go directly to the taxpayers of the state? Or will every dime go to his pet projects?
Will ANY of it go to fund new programs that will STILL need funding in 3-4 years when the windfall is gone?
It seems like a severe leadership deficit.
Posted by: AnotherWatcher | February 16, 2009 4:45 PM
Doug Duncan is absolutely spot on.
Democrat/Republican/Libertarian/Whatever should all demand fiscal responsiblity from our governemt(s).
We all say we do - yet we keep electing and reelecting the same bozos who spend us into ruin.
Posted by: bryanintimonium | February 17, 2009 9:38 AM
I'm all for fiscal responsibility, but it will take a very cold hand to cut social programs out entirely when citizens need them the most. Let alone cutting education. Though we're ranked pretty high, so maybe we can just fall back the the rest of the pack and save a penny on our next Snickers bar.
I usually like Mr. Duncan, but he took a cue from Ehrlich and is just lobbing grenades from the safety of the private sector. He wants to make it seem like you just take a red marker and cross off what doesn't work and you're done with it. If politics was that easy, maybe he'd have made it through the primary in '06.
Posted by: James C | February 17, 2009 12:53 PM
James C - what do you mean "the safety of the private sector"? When the private sector suffers an economic slowdown, expenses are cut. It makes NO SENSE not to expect a similar response on the public side. No one is suggesting (besides you) that social programs be cut out entirely. If you ever worked in the public sector (I have) you would know EXACTLY where the fat is in each budget and what can be cut with minimal reduction in service.
Posted by: Paul | February 17, 2009 5:02 PM