PEOPLE’S COUNSEL WILL HAVE TO COMPETE TO KEEP HIS JOB: Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown is considering new candidates for the role of people’s counsel — the state’s top advocate for ratepayers in regulatory proceedings concerning utility companies. The current People’s Counsel, David Lapp, who has served in the role since early 2021, says he wants to stay in the role, after his initial five-year term concluded in June. Christine Condon/Maryland Matters.
IF DEMOCRATS WIN BACK CONGRESS, JAMIE RASKIN COULD BE DC’S NEXT MAIN CHARACTER: U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin is ready to pounce. For almost two years, the Montgomery County Democrat has watched the Republican-led Congress do little to check President Donald Trump’s power. Lee O. Sanderlin/Maryland Matters.
HOW POLITICAL WINDS SHIFTED AT SPARROWS POINT SHIPYARD FROM GREEN ENERGY TO SUBMARINE PARTS: Five years after a historic Sparrows Point shipyard was identified as a cradle of wind energy, that land will instead be used for a massive weapons manufacturing facility. Anduril, a defense startup, will construct components of nuclear submarines for the U.S. Navy beginning in 2030, eventually creating thousands of jobs at Tradepoint Atlantic. Hayes Gardner and Adam Willis/The Banner.
BRAVEBOY’S MEDIATION, MOORE’S CALLS CARRIED PRINCE GEORGE’S THROUGH SPHERE NEGOTIATIONS: Prince George’s County Executive Aisha Braveboy’s still-new administration appears to have secured its signature win this week. After weeks of negotiation, the County Council on Monday gave its initial approval to a set of agreements with the county executive and Sphere Entertainment for its plans to build a smaller version of its Las Vegas entertainment venue at National Harbor. Jack Hogan/The Banner.
MOORE JOINS MULTI STATE COLLABORATIVE TO FIGHT RISING ELECTRICITY COSTS: Maryland Gov. Wes Moore recently joined the PJM Governors’ Collaborative, a new multistate organization aimed at giving states a stronger voice in decisions affecting energy affordability and reliability. WMAR/ Web Staff.
WHY THE FIGHT OVER MD’S MOST POLITICAL FISH IS COMING TO A HEAD: A generations-old fight over the Chesapeake Bay’s most polarizing fish could be nearing a pivotal point: Atlantic Coast regulators are considering whether to cut in half the amount of menhaden that industrial fishing boats are allowed to take from the estuary each year. Adam Willis/The Banner.
VOTERS IN MIDTERM ELECTIONS IDENTIFY CULPRIT FOR RISING COSTS OF LIVING: TRUMP’S TARIFFS: Tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump in his second term have cost Maryland residents and businesses a total of $6.6 billion, according to an analysis of Census Bureau import data compiled for the National Taxpayers Union Foundation. Ashley Murray/Maryland Matters.
DEVELOPER FINED FOR MORE GUNPOWDER TRIBUTARY POLLUTION: Months after reaching a record settlement over mud pollution from a Harford County housing project, state environmental regulators have fined the developer another $24,000 for continuing to foul a Gunpowder River tributary. Timothy B. Wheeler/The Chesapeake Bay Journal.
LAWMAKERS RAISING MONEY TO DEFEAT REPUBLICANS WHO MOCKED CHINESE-BORN COLLEAGUE: After two state lawmakers posted a podcast that mocked a Chinese-born colleague’s accent, a group of Asian American and Pacific Islander lawmakers is raising money to campaign for their opponents. Pamela Wood/The Banner.
COMMENTARY: MARYLAND’S ENERGY AFFORDABILITY CRISIS IS A CRISIS OF LEADERSHIP: A recent Maryland Matters article on rising utility rates included an important acknowledgment from Annapolis: Despite passage of the Utility RELIEF Act earlier this year, lawmakers know their “work is still not done.” Randy Altschuler/Maryland Matters.
PENTAGON CITES ‘LAW ENFORCEMENT INQUIRY’ IN WES MOORE’S BRONZE STAR RECORDS: A federal law enforcement inquiry is underway in connection with the controversy surrounding Maryland Gov. Wes Moore’s Bronze Star, an honor he received nearly two decades after his deployment to Afghanistan and first falsely claimed he had earned it, according to a letter obtained by Spotlight on Maryland. Gary Collins/The Baltimore Sun.
Cost of living has gone up for many reasons:
-Horrible State Energy policy also colliding with the increase in Data Centers
-$40Trillion debt and money printing during covid increased inflation and devalued our money.
-$Trump Tarrifs
-Trump going to war with Iran increasing oil prices.
-Corporations not increasing employee pay except for the people at the top that do not need that money.
-Increased state taxes and fees and state spending
we are being squeezed by all sides and the one thing that our state can control such as State spending and taxes, they choose to increase, gee thanks, y’all really care about affordability, lies. If they cared they would have cut state spending and not increased our cost of living even more. But they don’t care. They care more about giving money to corrupt non-profits and stuffing their pockets full of our money.
There are many reasons the cost of living has gone up in recent years. Some of them have been long term decisions that are finally coming to a head and some are recent because of the Trump Administration. Our energy production in this state can be traced back to 2 decades of crappy state policies pushing wind and solar, no mention of Nuclear, and the shutting down of old coal plants. Now I am not going to sit here and say we should move to get rid of old dirty electric power plants, but the legislature put the cart before the horse. I noticed this 2 decades ago and boy do I wish I was wrong. It was idiotic to not push Nuclear and only wind, solar, and would you believe even incinerators were ok? Here we are now with new technologies such as Data Centers gobbling up even more energy. That, no one really foresaw until it was too late, but that does not change the fact that the legislature was all tunnel vision on reducing carbon footprint at the cost of energy, they just did not care that electricity costs were going to go up because blah blah blah climate change. Then we had the excessive Gov’t debt of $40 trillion and the excessive printing of money during Covid thus increases in inflation. Then Trump enacted his Tariffs, then he went back on his word about going to war and screwed us on oil prices. Then our Governor and Legislature spent all of our money and increased taxes and fees across the state and still lie to us about how he lowered taxes. Insulting us to our faces. All of these things are colliding at once and causing unaffordable life and I didn’t even include the fact that wages have been mostly stagnant for 2 decades while the people at the top suck up all the money and resources. neither one of the main parties care to fix our problems, just push both of their stupid and costly agendas, middle class and poor be damned.