Activists Call on Maryland Republican Chair Alex Mooney to Resign // Campaign for Congress is a Conflict of Interest

UPDATE: The Baltimore Sun reports that while the crazy-train continues in CD6, State Senator Chris Shank has agreed to serve as State Senator David Brinkley's Washington County campaign chair, should he get into the race:

David Brinkley, a Republican state lawmaker considering a run for Congress in Maryland’s 6th Congressional District, said Tuesday that a key Senate colleague, Chris Shank, would serve as a county campaign chair if he decides to formally enter the race.

Shank had been considered a potential candidate for the district himself. In siding with Brinkley, Shank could give a boost to a campaign that is competing in a crowded GOP field to replace incumbent Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett. Shank would serve as Brinkley’s Washington County chairman.

For a couple months now, Maryland Juice has pointed out how GOP Chair Alex Mooney is mismanaging the State's Republican Party. I also predicted that party activists would be unhappy with the fact he's leaving the party over $100,000 in debt and spent hundreds of dollars of donor money on unexplained "Chairman's Expenses."

Now that Mr. Mooney has started running against the incumbent Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, people are starting to get upset. The rightwing blog Red Maryland today had the following post titled Bad Form "Chairman" Mooney. They call out what they believe to be inappropriate behavior from the GOP Chair:

So MDGOP "Chair"Alex Mooney is only $20 away from his online fundraising goal. Great he's finally raising money for the party right?

Wrong. The link to donate is to Mooney's congressional campaign....

If you're calling yourself "Chairman Mooney" then you damn well better be raising money for the party.

In an update, they now announce that a petition has formed to call for Mr. Mooney's resignation. The effort is titled "Real Leadership at the MDGop." Ouch! See the petition text below:

Terry Lierman Steps Down as Chief of Staff to Rep. Steny Hoyer // Young MoCo Aide Replaces Former Party Chair, CD8 Nominee

Politico today reports that U.S. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer's Chief of Staff Terry Lierman is departing from his job on the Hill. Mr. Lierman previously served as Chair of the Maryland Democrats, and ran as the party's CD8 nominee against Rep. Connie Morella in 2000.

Terry Lierman, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer’s chief of staff, is leaving Capitol Hill, the second top staffer to leave Hoyer’s office recently.

Lierman will be replaced by Alexis Covey-Brandt, who currently runs Hoyer’s floor operation. Covey-Brandt has been with Hoyer since 2003.

The staff departures have raised some questions in top House Democratic circles about Hoyer’s future within the Democratic Caucus, although the 72-year-old Maryland Democrat insists that’s not the case.

CD6: Rep. Roscoe Bartlett's Sci-Fi Re-Election Agenda // Billions to Defend Against Electromagnetic Pulses & Solar Flares?

Newt Gingrich & Rep. Roscoe Bartlett Push Bizarre Issues in 2012 Race

Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich has recently been in the news for something other than his Presidential campaign. The New York Times this week wrote about an odd policy priority for the former member of Congress:

In debates and speeches, interviews and a popular book, he is ringing alarm bells over what experts call the electromagnetic pulse, or EMP — a poorly understood phenomenon of the nuclear age.

The idea is that if a nuclear weapon, lofted by a missile, were detonated in outer space high above the American heartland, it would set off a huge and crippling shockwave of electricity....

Mr. Gingrich is part of a conservative movement that calls EMP an underappreciated danger. In Congress, spurred by Representative Roscoe G. Bartlett, Republican of Maryland, members of the movement hold hearings and recommend new safeguards, especially for the nation’s power grid, for which protective steps could run into many billions of dollars....

CD6: Rep. Roscoe Bartlett NOT Retiring: "If I Don't Run, Republicans Have No Chance"

Maryland Juice is aware that Rep. Roscoe Bartlett has announced on multiple occasions that he is running for re-election in 2012. Nevertheless, today's news on WMAL seems different:

Roscoe Bartlett isn't going to let a little Democrat redistricting stop him.

The 10-term Republican congressman serving Maryland's Sixth District says he will, in fact, run for an 11th term in 2012.

"A number of people called me and told me that if I don't run, Republicans have no chance of holding this seat in this new district," he told News Channel 8....

Baretlett says he has now started aggressively raising money, and that he does not expect any serious challengers to face him for the Republican nomination.  He claims his potential opponents are filing to run so they can build war chests for future elections, and he encourages them to do just that, because he does plan to retire some day.

But not today.  Or next year.

New Report: 28% of Marylanders Have Started a Small Business, Majority Have Participated in Start-Ups

Where is the bailout for small business owners?

Last Friday, the Greater Baltimore Technology Council and Maryland's Department of Business & Economic Development released statewide survey results indicating that a whopping 28% of all Marylanders have "founded or partnered" in a business.

According to DBED: "The report, On Entrepreneurism: A Statewide Survey of Business Owners explores the business start-up by industry and examines the role government and advocacy groups can play to support entrepreneurs. Key findings indicate that 56% of Marylanders have personal experience with business start-ups as a creator, participant or supporter and 47% have been directly involved in a business start-up as a creator or participant. Complete results."

End Commuter Discrimination: Senators Cardin & Mikulski Fight to Preserve Transit Tax Credit - Relief Ends in 2.5 Weeks!

Federal News Radio today reported that U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Barbara Mikulski are calling on Congress to protect and expand a tax credit for mass transit commuters. The benefit is set to expire at the end of this year:

A group of 22 senators has called on the Senate Finance Committee to take up extending a mass-transit commuter tax benefit, which expires at the end of the year.

The mass-transit benefit is set to be cut nearly in half — from $230 a month to $120 — starting next year, barring action by Congress.

Maryland Democratic Sens. Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin, who both signed the letter, said the cut could disproportionately affect federal workers....

The commuter benefit was last boosted in December 2010, when Congress upped the benefit to its current level — the same amount afforded parking benefits.

In a joint press release last Friday, the two Maryland Senators explained why they were fighting for this critical, but not-so-glamorous benefit:

U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Barbara A. Mikulski today joined a bipartisan coalition of twenty additional Senators in urging the Senate Finance Committee to include an extension of the widely used mass-transit commuter tax credit in any relevant legislation taken up by the Senate before it expires at the end of the year. The tax credit has an immediate impact on the region’s federal workforce and middle-class commuters across the nation. At a savings of over $1,000 per year, it eases the burden of high travel costs on families, allowing them to invest it in the local economy.

Saqib Ali Organizes Protest Against Montgomery County Lowes // Former MD Lawmaker Calls Out Caving to Islamophobia

UPDATE:  Saqib Ali just sent the following update: "Many people have already RSVPed, including the Majority Leader of the MD State House of Delegates Kumar Barve." Maryland Juice contacted Mr. Barve to confirm his attendance, and we received the following response: "Yes, I'll be there unless I have the flu (which everyone else seems to be getting)."

Maryland Juice just received the following email from former Maryland Delegate Saqib Ali:

Lowes Hardware store has decided to cave in to rank Islamophobia by pulling its commercials during the TV show "All American Muslims" http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/11/showbiz/all-american-muslim-lowes/index.html. They did this because some people complained that the show falsely depicts American Muslims as "normal people".

This decision has been condemned by politicians, activists and show-business celebrities. All kinds of people from all walks of life are outraged. Imagine for a second if Lowes had pulled its commercials from a show that depicted Catholics or Jews as "normal people". This is no different.

We will be picketting a Lowes store in Montgomery County, MD on Sunday December 18th. The exact location will be announced shortly. Please visit the Facebook page for this event by clicking here: http://on.fb.me/vtxEnt

- Saqib Ali

We'll update you on this story when we hear more!