Is Gov Wes any different or Moore of the same?
After 100 days of assuming office, can you confidently beat your chest and say that Gov. Wes Moore has been any different from his predecessors or simply a chip of the same block?
Take it or leave it – residents of Lonaconing, in Allegany County, may have a different take to this question because Gov Moore’s visit to the County marked the first time a sitting governor was there since 1996. Now would you call this an achievement of the governor? – Your guess is equally mine.
But let’s say we agree from the Lonaconing’s perspective, it is not every time a sitting governor pays visit to such a town especially outside of campaign season.
Away from shaking hands with a few people in Lonaconing, what actually has the governor done to across the entirety of Maryland since he succeeded Republican Gov. Larry Hogan?
I was across the state speaking to folks of all ages and races – the shocker was the consistency of the answers i got. It was as though each person i spoke to knew I was coming and had a prepared answer.
No one mentioned categorically that they have felt the impact of the governor – whether in their neighborhoods, their lives and especially in their pockets where it matters most.
To read your mind, yes I mentioned some of the bills the governor sponsored and passed with bipartisan support. One of which was the bill to accelerate the state’s move to a $15 minimum wage. The increase in tax breaks for military retirees and expansion of tax credits for low-income earners.
“Why is the increased Tax break for only military retirees?” One Mr. Crawford from Havre de Grace asked.
Miss Jeanette Willian in West Baltimore wasn’t calm when she said, “the only thing I keep on hearing in the news every time i turn on the TV, is the amount of breakfasts the governor has been having with guests and those crooked legislators at the expense of the people”
I also asked about the new paid service-year option for the state high school graduates that will be guided by an $18-million investment in the Department of Service and Civic Innovation?
“What does that even mean?” Anthonia Madison from Belair asked with her hands on her hips. An indication of how bombastic the question was.
We both laughed, before I proceeded to ask her about the governor’s proposed funding for medical training for abortion providers and the appointment of a climate czar – “Are you kidding me or what? What in God’s gracious name are we supposed to do with a climate czar?…. How does that decrease the price of grocery and milk and eggs?
“Please spare me with all the abortion BS. We are tired of what these Democrats are doing to our children and schools. This governor is no good for the state. I have been telling my brothers the same from the get go and I suppose he is about to prove everything I have been saying right” she said.
A shop owner between Pennsylvania avenue and North avenue (name withheld for obvious reasons) was quick to shut me down. “We ain’t giving this governor no second term. You only have to take look around you to know why. See all them cops right there sitting in their cars? Of what good are they when these drug peddlers roam the place selling their drugs right before their very noses”
“So why haven’t you all lay some kind of complain to the Mayor and the Governor?” I asked asked already guessing what was coming.
“They are both one and the same bro – The Governor and that Mayor Scott can’t say they are not aware of what goes on around here…. They can’t tell that lie.
“Decent people are scared to come out here and patronize these businesses because no one will clean up the mess you see all around. Miscreants and drug dealers mingling with the police. Common man! The city is a mess” he said as I walked out of his store.
My question to y’all Marylanders is, can you give Gov Wes Moore any credit for the first 100 days of his governorship?
Leave your comments below – he may just be reading you!!!
