Close but No Cigar

Image via WikipediaI used to enjoy the occasional fine cigar, but it has been a while since I had a good stogie.  When I was partaking of fine cigars, I could only enjoy them outside of the house, usually if I was golfing or doing yard work.  Mrs. Dickster would not let me have them in the house.  One cold winter day she let me fire up a log in the basement but she quickly came down to tell me she could smell them up on the top floor of our townhouse.

For a variety of reasons, I gave up my vice of smoking fine cigars.  I still have some of my cigar paraphernalia around the house.  I still have a couple of humidors lying around the house along with some cigar cutters and a few of the cigar torches that I used to fire up my logs.  I am reminiscing about my former love affair with cigars because of an email that I received from one of the companies that I used to order cigars from.

I have long known that my home state of Maryland is a bastion of liberalism.  One of my blogging buddies, Harrison Price of Capitol Commentary has frequently called his home state of California the Peoples Republik of Kalifornia.  I think the same could be said of Maryland.  While the local news was flooded with potential laws like gay marriage, increasing the gasoline tax, increasing the alcohol sales tax, and Maryland's passage of their version of the Dream Act (the last two passed) they also managed to sneak in a new cigar law.

Even though I no longer smoke cigars, I still get emails from some of the companies that I used to buy cigars from.  Below is the text of an email that I recently received from one of them.  Apparently, it is now illegal to receive orders of cigars through the mail in the state of Maryland, which is how I used to get the bulk of my cigars back in the day.

ATTN: all cigar customers residing in Maryland

Effective May 1st, 2011, a new law (http://mlis.state.md.us/2010rs/fnotes/bil_0008/hb0088.pdf) has declared it illegal to ship cigars into the state of Maryland.

You heard that right. Unbelievable as it may seem, Maryland legislators took away your right to choose where you buy your cigars. We at Cigars International, like many others in the cigar industry, believe this to be an un-American affront to freedom – and will increase the cost of a cigar to you.

Here is the question for you as a resident of Maryland: is it the responsibility of the state to dictate from whom you can and cannot purchase? Bear in mind, handmade cigars are a legal product. Cigars are no different than sneakers, pencils, or books in terms of interstate commerce. A state cannot arbitrarily choose to close its borders to a legal product, for any reason.

We need you to help overturn this ill-conceived piece of legislation.

Sadly, Maryland legislators think they are protecting a small handful of retail cigar stores in Maryland who, rather than compete in the marketplace on service, selection and pricing, chose to persuade state legislators to approve an anti-choice, anti-freedom, and anti-American law at the 11th hour. Competition is good. Competition is American.

As a Maryland resident, you should be outraged. Today it's cigars. Tomorrow it will be something else. Enough is enough. It is time to fight back.

HERE IS WHAT I AM ASKING YOU TO DO TODAY: The Maryland state Comptroller is Peter Franchot. I urge you to contact him today. Tell him you're a voter, you enjoy cigars, and this law limits your choices and freedom. We must make our voices heard or who knows what will be illegal tomorrow.

You can reach Mr. Franchot by calling him at 1-800-552-3941 or emailing him at pfranchot@comp.state.md.us.

Or you can mail him at
Comptroller of Maryland
80 Calvert Street
P.O. Box 466
Annapolis, MD 21404-0466

It is definitely troublesome to have the government ban a legal substance.  While it is disturbing, I am more concerned about the state passing a law to give in state tuition breaks to illegal immigrants when the state budget is operating at a deficit.  I will be signing a petition to try to get an initiative on the ballot to repeal that particularly loathsome bit of legislation.

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Our Schools are Totally Messed Up

There is something seriously wrong with the school systems in this country.

First, you had an assistant principal in California who told five kids they had to remove clothing that displayed the American flag or go home.  He was concerned that it might offend kids of Mexican heritage on Cinco de Mayo.

A couple days later, also in California, a 13 year old was told during art class to choose another art project because the teacher deemed her project "offensive."  She drew the American flag and was just starting to write "God Bless America" when the teacher confronted her.  The teacher praised another student's drawing of Barack Obama.  When asked point blank in a meeting with the child's parents whether it was the flag that was offensive or the phrase "God Bless America," the teacher would not answer.  The lesson, Obama is good, the flag is bad.

Now, there is a 10 year old girl in Texas is facing a week of detention because of the school's "zero tolerance" policy.  Her offense was accepting a Jolly Rancher candy from one of her classmates at lunch.  The state has a law that bans so called "minimally nutritious" foods.  Each school district is given their own discretion on how to enforce the rule, but one week detention for something as trivial as having a piece of candy seems a bit asinine to me.

Speed Cameras: Safety or Revenue?

Image via Wikipedia

My blogging buddy Harrison over at Just Politics posted an article today called Klosing the Kalifornia Budget Gap: Katch Speeders! He points out that California included a provision in their latest budget to allow jurisdictions to add speed sensors to red light cameras.  Violations come with a heavy fine of $225-$325.  He also talks about how much revenue the state would expect to generate from the speed cameras.

His post reminded me of news that has occurred locally here in the DC area.  The argument rages on as to whether or not speed cameras and red light cameras are legitimate tools for traffic safety or tools to raise revenue in these tough economic times.  Lawmakers say that the purpose of any of these cameras are to make the roads safer, not to raise revenue.  Like the old saying goes, however, actions speak louder than words.

The state of Maryland recently made it legal for speed cameras to be placed throughout the state.  Previously, only Montgomery County had the cameras in place.  In Montgomery County they are looking at moving away from the fixed speed cameras to mobile speed cameras.  The reason?  Revenues from the cameras have dropped significantly and they have a budget shortfall.  MOCO expected to bring in $29.3 million but only managed to generate $17.8 million because they issued over 280,000 fewer tickets than expected.  One camera generated 12000 tickets the first month, but now only issues 2800 month.

In my home county of Prince George's County, the county government was set to place some fixed speed cameras in school zones.  The county executive, Jack Johnson, decided instead to go with mobile units.  The reason for the change?  Projected revenues from the fixed camera project were too low.

If safety were truly the goal of the cameras, then revenue should not be a factor. Since the cameras are issuing fewer tickets, they have had the desire effect of changing driver behavior.  Unfortunately governments, especially heavily Democrat governments like MOCO and PG, are addicted to taxing their constituents and are counting on that revenue.  So, when their policies accomplish their goals and change behavior, they have to find more ways to replace the funds.

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