Old Line Roundup

On tax filing day (get moving if you haven’t yet), it’s probably worth your time to see what our taxes pay for: education, transportation/transit, police and fire services, parks and libraries, and the general welfare.

Of course, with the end of the legislative session in Annapolis, new things have been funded (or not), so for a quick legislative wrapup, check out the Sun. The Baltimore City Paper has a piece criticizing the Governor's my way or the highway approach to policy advocacy. Of course, calling this a failure misses the point: the goal of Governor Ehrlich's team may never have been to pass good policy, but to get reelected.

Does anyone have more current polls on the gubernatorial race, then those from early this year?

In the race for Sarbanes' Senate seat, Baltimore County Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger just got out, and word is that Montgomery County Rep. Chris Van Hollen and Baltimore Rep. Ben Cardin are inching forward to join former Rep. Kweisi Mfume. If Van Hollen gets into the Senate race, Council Members Tom Perez and Nancy Floreen, local progressive advocate and American University law professor Jamin Raskin, and State Senator Brian Frosh are among the names being discussed to replace him.

--OnBackground