Mike Miller has made Maryland a better place
I am one of a small handful of lobbyists who lobbied Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller before he was Senate president — in 1986. He was chair of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee and I was asking for his help on a gun violence prevention issue. He disagreed with me that time, but over the years he played a key role in enacting many lifesaving gun laws, from banning assault pistols in 1994 to the landmark Firearm Safety Act of 2013. And, his leadership has been critical in many health care successes in our state from increasing tobacco and alcohol taxes to reducing teen smoking and underage drinking to expanding health coverage to this year’s first in the nation Prescription Drug Affordability Board law.
Mike Miller has not agreed with everything proposed by public health advocates like me, but during his 30 years as Senate president he has done much to make Maryland a healthier and safer place for all of us (“Senate President Mike Miller stepping down,” Oct. 24).
Trump correct to keep Pelosi out of loop on strike
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is apparently bothered by the manner in which President Donald Trump handled the very successful annihilation of one of the world’s most dangerous and vicious criminals (“The takedown of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi: The tip, the raid, the reveal,” Oct. 28). She seems upset that President Trump communicated with the Russians proximate to the beginning of the operation and continuing through to the final result, which was a successful mission and dead master terrorist.
Understanding the conditions on the ground over which this operation needed to be conducted, it was not only reasonable but imperative that the president alert various factions, all heavily armed, including the Russians, that “we” would be in their air space. It was also necessary to keep those factions informed (as much as was strategically possible) as to the intention and result of our incursion, hence the timely notification to the Russians.
In my personal opinion (and I can’t help but to think that perhaps President Trump was having the same thoughts), any notification of the Congress beforehand may have very well resulted in the leaking of the operation to the media. It is not as though this hasn’t happened in the past.
Leaks have been made by both Republicans and Democrats, at times for political expediency. A leak in this case may very well have resulted in the abortion of the mission or the possible loss of the lives of our personnel.
Mr. Trump was right in keeping these cards very close to his chest. He was right in not informing members of Congress in advance, as the Congress has repeatedly demonstrated that it, as an entity, is not to be trusted.
Kudos to the extremely brave members of the U.S. military for the success of a very complex and dangerous operation. Kudos, too, to President Trump for his resolve in finding and bringing this murderous monster to justice. Well done to both!
The ‘tax and spend’ Kirwan education plan
Kirwan is a “tax and spend” career Democrat’s greatest gift (“’A battle for the soul of Maryland’: Baltimore education advocates gear up for Kirwan funding fight,” Oct. 25). They get to raise taxes for education for elections as far into the future as the eyes can see. We have seen this approach in the past result in a huge increase in inept administrator costs and very little, if any, funding ever found its way to infrastructure and up-to-date books.
A much more prudent approach would be to prioritize a list of infrastructure and book spending so that the neediest areas would get the relief as quickly as possible, and those less needy areas would wait for the gamblers to pay for them as it happens.
This will cut down on the political patronage and entrenchment of the tax and spenders and will be much easier on the taxpayers that will end up paying for the bill on the interest of the money needed to do it all at once.