Big Money

Now that the election is over, the tallies are in, and the numbers are shocking — and no, I'm not talking about the votes. I'm talking about the record-breaking amounts of anonymous money poured into campaign coffers by shadowy front groups like American Action Network and American Future Fund. American Action Network spent over $16 million on electioneering in 2010 but did not disclose where a single penny came from. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce spent over $31 million, but they also did not disclose their donors.

Every time I drive between Baltimore and Washington and come upon those big, spooky National Security Agency buildings in Fort Meade, I have cinematic thoughts about what goes on inside. I imagine the best and brightest of surveillance nerds spying on nuclear activity in Iran, on terrorist training camps in Yemen, on Kim Jong-un's playroom in North Korea. I also assume they're watching me as I drive along Route 32, taking my picture and running it through face-recognition software, recording the license plate on my car. If there's a cellphone in use, they're probably listening to the conversation, too. But wait.

Americans across party lines all have at least one thing to celebrate after this election: candidates supported by small donors won a David-and-Goliath battle in a campaign flooded with special interest money. But it would be a mistake to think that this victory means special interest or secret money will not continue to influence our politics. Campaign contributions are not a one-time gift but rather an investment, with the expected return being high-level access to our politicians.

Baseball Tonight's spring training bus tour rolled into Sarasota on Wednesday to check in with the Orioles. Seems like the best jumping off point for our weekly look at what the national media outlets are saying about the O's. You can watch Buck Showalter's BBTN interview above. Their stop also generated the following content: Jayson Stark wrote about the Orioles' attempt to repeat their 2012 . ESPN Stats and Info shared some interesting numerical nuggets . They also take a look at Manny Machado vs. Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez , from a fantasy perspective.

If lawmakers are serious about reforming Maryland's tax code in the near future, they ought to reform the state's campaign finance laws first. The reason is simple: Tax laws are filled with loopholes and inequities because big political donors wield enormous influence. That's just as true in Annapolis as it is in Washington. And it will always be true - unless legislators embrace the public financing of campaigns. Want the General Assembly to pass your bill? Any lobbyist worth his Guccis will tell you that you first have to donate money to the appropriate pols.

Annapolis -- A number of legislators have suggested recently that campaign finance reform legislation must pass this year in Maryland to cope with a "perception" that big money is the only voice the General Assembly hears.At hearings in both the Senate and House of Delegates, witnesses who favor the bill have said they know of no real problem -- only the perception of a relationship in which votes depend on campaign contributions.If perception could be outlawed, this argument suggests, there would be no problem.

With total fund raising for the 2000 election expected to top $3 billion, the Senate began consideration yesterday of a new proposal to overhaul the nation's campaign finance system. The House of Representatives recently approved a measure designed to curb the influence of big money in politics. And political reform is becoming a hot issue in the presidential campaign trail.Throughout the decade of the '90s, campaign finance has been fought over in Washington almost every year. But the result has been a legislative stalemate and widespread confusion over the terms of the debate.

The squeegee kid says he was was washing car windshields the other day when a man approached and asked if he wanted to make some "big money."The boy, 12, who lives in a West Baltimore public-housing development, had seen the man before in the courtyard of the project and knew what the offer involved -- joining a drug organization."

When you're talking about fishing tournaments with big prize money, you're talking about the ones with the big bills. Marlin bills, that is. The White Marlin Open, Ocean City's premier competition, is in its 28th year, bringing in the big crowds, big boats and big payoffs. This edition roars to life Aug. 6 for five days of scale-bending, flashbulb-popping fun. When last we saw Jim Motsko, the founder and president of the WMO, he was handing out $1.45 million in prize money, including one prize of $592,440.

SENATE REPUBLICANS were on the verge of making themselves rather than Clinton-Gore fund-raising the issue before coming to their senses and agreeing to a wide-scale probe of campaign financing improprieties. Both parties are now vulnerable to embarrassment and worse, which is as it should be.The GOP turnabout may put some zip behind a reform effort that seemed all but dead despite daily headlines about White House sleepovers, foreign contributions to the Democratic National Committee and, the latest outrage: unconscionable bilking by the DNC of a land-starved Indian tribe that paid $107,000 for a Clinton coffee-klatch.

If nothing else, the surprising in-season dismissal of Cam Cameron this week should provide some clarity at a time when the Ravens are going through a serious offensive identity crisis, but you may not like what it eventually reveals. Now, we're finally going to find out whether it was Cameron who was holding Joe Flacco back or the other way around. The only thing that was obvious was that Flacco was no longer progressing under Cameron and the Ravens attack had become inconsistent and incoherent.

Don't hold your breath waiting for the Orioles to cough up big money for outfielder/first baseman Nick Swisher. The Boston Red Sox have - for the moment - radically pushed up the price of free agent position players with their three-year, $39 million signing of Shane Victorino. Maybe that was the idea, since it's hard to imagine anybody really believing that Victorino is a $13 million player.  Didn't he bat .255 last season with 11 homers and 55 RBI in 666 plate appearances last year?

When it comes to college athletics, it's time to speak truth to evil. You might think evil is too strong a word for what's going on in college athletics, but consider how Webster's Dictionary defines evil: morally reprehensible; causing harm; offensive. That pretty much sums up the state of big-time college sports today. The inane move of Maryland and Rutgers to the Big Ten is simply the latest example. Here's the current reality of college sports: •NCAA Division I sports - especially at Football Bowl Subdivision schools - has nothing to do with education.

Americans across party lines all have at least one thing to celebrate after this election: candidates supported by small donors won a David-and-Goliath battle in a campaign flooded with special interest money. But it would be a mistake to think that this victory means special interest or secret money will not continue to influence our politics. Campaign contributions are not a one-time gift but rather an investment, with the expected return being high-level access to our politicians.

Dolph Ziggler is ready for Hell in a Cell this Sunday, for many reasons. He's ready to steal the show, despite not having an official match on the card. He's ready to dispose of his Money in the Bank briefcase. He's ready to become World Heavyweight Champion. In fact, he is so confident that his time has come, he gave me an exclusive: his first comments as World Heavyweight champion ... before actually winning the title. "I would like to say that I owe a lot of people and that hard work paid off, that nice guys eventually get their shot, but I'm not going to say any of that stuff," boasted Ziggler in a phone interview Thursday.

There's a good reason that a majority of Marylanders in a recent poll for The Baltimore Sun said they opposed the expansion of casino gambling in the state: We're pretty much grossed out by the whole thing. Politics is a messy business, but the politics behind the casino referendum should be declared a Superfund site. As Curt Anderson, leader of Baltimore delegates to the General Assembly, put it last summer: "It really makes you feel kind of unclean. " The way this matter became a question on the November ballot - a cynical Senate president manipulating the legislature and governor into a summer session, $5 million spent by lobbyists, backroom deals that muzzled opposition and got the governor the votes he needed, tax breaks for casino companies - represents all that's wrong with American politics.

Out of school? Looking for a job guaranteed to bring in the big bucks?How about an internship at a stock brokerage -- or the White House? Or as a Web page designer or software writer for a computer company?Those are all good jobs. You wear a suit, drink coffee, sit in air-conditioned office. But if you'd rather have fresh air, lots of exercise and your own schedule, and still make big bucks, the answer is much simpler: cut grass.All a young entrepreneur really needs, says Robert Welcome, is grass, some rain, sunlight and a set of wheels with a sharp blade.

Every time I drive between Baltimore and Washington and come upon those big, spooky National Security Agency buildings in Fort Meade, I have cinematic thoughts about what goes on inside. I imagine the best and brightest of surveillance nerds spying on nuclear activity in Iran, on terrorist training camps in Yemen, on Kim Jong-un's playroom in North Korea. I also assume they're watching me as I drive along Route 32, taking my picture and running it through face-recognition software, recording the license plate on my car. If there's a cellphone in use, they're probably listening to the conversation, too. But wait.

Offensive coordinator Cam Cameron called a good game, and the Ravens were balanced in the 31-30 win over the New England Patriots. To come from 13 points down against a Bill Belichick-coached team is impressive. But the Ravens call on a 4th-and-1 at New England's 33-yard-line with 10:56 left in the game was strange. The Ravens loaded up and went heavy by bringing an extra offensive tackle, Bryant McKinnie, into the game. Good move. But then the Ravens gave the ball to rookie running back Bernard Pierce, who was tackled for a 1-yard loss.

With the Orioles and Yankees in a fabulous and totally unexpected race in the American League East, and with those teams playing the first of four games Thursday night in Baltimore, many in both Birdland and New York will have their minds on baseball and not President Obama's speech to the Democratic National Convention. But it won't simply be the grand distraction of a pennant race that pulls viewers away from their television sets — or at least away from full engagement in the Obama infomercial in Charlotte.