Not really surprised

  I often write about things that surprise me in the news. I guess I should have been paying attention more over the years. My ninth grade English teacher Miss Bird urged all of us to read about current events. I believe we were required to write reports about that. But I grew up in a small town and our current events were pretty boring. Not much happening that piqued my interest. Yes I grew up in East Hampton and there were celebrities about but I didn't pay them much mind, bunch of silly rich people. My current events centered around the time and tides. Fishing, clamming and a little bit of hunting, whatever the season allowed. That's what was current in my mind.

  I wasn't paying attention to local politics, or national politics for that matter. About the only time I noticed was during election season. The parties would establish their headquarters in a rented shop and hand out all the goodies. I got everything from book covers to pot holders. It was a competition between the Republicans and the Democrats; who was giving out the best stuff. That was the extent of my political interests at that time. I had absolutely no idea which side my teachers were supporting, that wasn't mentioned in the classroom. Back then teachers were educators not activists! I wish it had stayed that way. It's apparent that isn't the case today. even though I haven't set foot in a classroom in many years. I hear about the issue of flags being flown and the battle over books. Of course I grew up with Uncle Remus, Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn and a host of other offensive characters. 

  I was listening to the local news and was surprised once again. The governor of Maryland, Wes Moore, was on the news explaining the need to hire a consulting firm. He had engaged a firm at the cost of $290,000. The stated purpose of this consulting firm is to inform the governor and the state legislature about the possible effect a Trump presidency could have on the state. They are so taken aback at the results of the election they needed to hire outside help with the fight. The general feeling is that Trump will upset the applecart. Business will not continue as usual. What are they going to do? 

  When Moore took office the state of Maryland had five billion dollars in their rainy day fund. The budget was balanced and in fact, there was that excess. Today, Maryland has a deficit, a serious one. It is estimated that the deficit will grow into the billions in just a few years. If the Trump administration doesn't keep funneling money  to the state it is going to be bad! 

 The answer to that is hiring a consulting firm. I was surprised because I genuinely thought that is what we elected those officials to do. I really thought the state legislatures' job description was to legislate, to confront the fiscal issues of the state. Turns out all they are doing is hiring others to do the work and they just go along with that. I think I would rather pay the $290,00 to those consultants and just send the legislators home. That would be a more fiscally responsible thing to do, save all that money being paid out to legislators, wouldn't even need to fund the capital buildings, staff members, maintenance or any of that. There are 141 state delegates. Not sure how many people working for that consulting firm but I'm guessing fewer than that. I'm thinking a lot smaller office space would be required.

  Facing a 2.7 billion dollar deficit, the largest in twenty years for the state of Maryland, the response is; hire a consulting firm. The big problem, the one they need help solving, expert advice on, is what will they do if they can't continue with this deficit spending? The Trump administration is saying they  expect there is wasteful spending taking place. The Trump administration is calling for, gasp, fiscal accountability. The plan will not be to simply tax and spend anymore. Cuts will have to be made. Programs may even have to be eliminated. Trump is even talking about deporting all the illegals living in the state. Well hopefully this consulting firm can provide some answers quickly. Once Trump is in there, it's game over. It's panic time in Annapolis. The state is starting to "lawyer" up to fight back.