Friday, June 23, 2006
Good for Governor Ehrlich
Good for the Governor: Ehrlich Vetoes Bill Offering Electricity Rate Relief
Although the General assembly will probably over rule his veto, it is always a good thing to be on the right side of an issue. This bill is nothing more than an attempt by the Democratically-controlled Maryland legislature to deflect blame for the introduction of market forces into the Maryland energy market. The Democratic solution is to have everyone participate in the rate hike deferral (a deferral in the same sense that a mortgage is a deferral of paying for the house) – more or less forcing us all to pay interest on the portion of the hike not yet in force. I’d just as soon pay up front but apparently I have no say in this matter because, once again, the Democrats who run this state know what’s best for me.
Two good columns on this issue from the Gazette: Lawmakers slay rate hike dragon and What a sham!
Just more evidence that John Fund may be right:
“It should normally be difficult to pick the worst state legislature in America, but Maryland's is way out in front.”
Although the General assembly will probably over rule his veto, it is always a good thing to be on the right side of an issue. This bill is nothing more than an attempt by the Democratically-controlled Maryland legislature to deflect blame for the introduction of market forces into the Maryland energy market. The Democratic solution is to have everyone participate in the rate hike deferral (a deferral in the same sense that a mortgage is a deferral of paying for the house) – more or less forcing us all to pay interest on the portion of the hike not yet in force. I’d just as soon pay up front but apparently I have no say in this matter because, once again, the Democrats who run this state know what’s best for me.
Two good columns on this issue from the Gazette: Lawmakers slay rate hike dragon and What a sham!
Just more evidence that John Fund may be right:
“It should normally be difficult to pick the worst state legislature in America, but Maryland's is way out in front.”
Comments:
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The political costs of this one might be huge. People I talk to around Baltimore are of the opinion that Ehrlich just sealed his doom with the veto. The rate hike really hits people's pocketbooks and rouses an incredible amount of resentment. They don't want to hear about market forces -- they want relief. Combine this with the Duncan depression and this has been a good week for the Dems.
I don't think so...the veto has no shelf life that I can see; is certainly not a state-wide issue and at best is just an excuse for people who would never have voted for Ehrlich anyway...I remain cautiously optimistic.
Greetings Bruce - I didn't wonk out on this issue like others did mainly because I felt that if the market said 70% then 70% it was...so I didn't really see a lot of options here for the Governor (and his plan of 'opt-in' did somewhat acknowledge the bad news because you had to consider alternative pricings.) I felt that he actually kind of understated the matter because the whole mess of de-regulation starts with the term "deregulation" - which as you can appreciate didn't really happen so the benefits of de-reg (and I do believe in them) never got a chance to come to fruition.
The Governor has done a lot of things I disagree with but I'd crawl a mile through shards of glass to vote for him instead of O'Malley
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The Governor has done a lot of things I disagree with but I'd crawl a mile through shards of glass to vote for him instead of O'Malley
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