Cronies

Even before he set foot in the governor's office, Parris N. Glendening found himself defending the dubious activities of two cronies he brought with him from Prince George's County. Both labor and licensing secretary Frank W. Stegman and personnel secretary Michael J. Knapp have seriously abused their powers and have engaged in blatant favoritism.This summer, Mr. Stegman hired Mr. Knapp's wife for a $36,000-a-year job that should have been filled through merit exams -- and got approval to circumvent the law from Mr. Knapp himself.

It has become painfully obvious that The Sun's editors, along with columnists Jules Witcover and Thomas Schaller, do not like any members of the GOP or their proposals. Both Mr. Witcover and Mr. Schaller are forever either pointing at something Mitt Romney said, or something President George W. Bush did. Get over it boys, your man won again, and it's been going on five years now. It is time to start critiquing the job President Barack Obama and his cronies are doing instead of acting like they are perfect and infallible.

Back from his summer vacation, Gov. Parris N. Glendening didn't waste time before putting an end to the embarrassing performance of two cronies he brought with him from Prince George's County. Both labor and licensing secretary Frank W. Stegman and personnel secretary Michael J. Knapp had become liabilities to the governor, who announced their resignations Friday.What precipitated the move was a "good ole boy" arrangement that has no place in State House affairs. First Mr. Stegman hired Mr. Knapp's wife for a $36,000-a-year job that should have been filled through competitive civil service exams -- and got approval to circumvent the law from Mr. Knapp himself.

It's hip these days for everyone from world leaders to the Occupy Wall Street crowd to attack free-market, limited-government capitalism as wild and in need of control because it's supposedly the cause of the world economic collapse. This is a myth. It's too much government-facilitated cronyism that's causing the mayhem wrongfully attributed to capitalism. This trend now continues in the context of the London Olympics and its private security outsourcing. Security firm G4S fell drastically short of its contractual commitments to staff the Games with 10,000 security personnel, requiring the military to step in with 3,500 troops to make up the shortfall.

MONKEYING WITH Maryland's laws for awarding state contracts is perilous. It reawakens memories of the Agnew and Mandel years. And yet from the moment he took office, Gov. Parris N. Glendening has been outspoken in his wish to change the process so he can give more contracts to in-state businesses.That will be tough to accomplish without engaging in favoritism or steering lucrative work to cronies and political pals. Any move to give contracts only to Maryland companies would not only trigger retaliatory measures against those firms by other states but also could lead to fewer bidders and higher costs for taxpayers.

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia - Like a mob boss shoved into the shadows of forced retirement, former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic reputedly remains behind the massive gates of his villa along Tolstoy Street, a leafy lane so peaceful that the one cop on guard duty dozes where he sits. Yet beneath the calm, Milosevic's empire crumbles by the day as Yugoslavia emerges from a decade of thug rule and makes a tentative grasp at democracy. Long-buried financial secrets are being revealed, detailing the plunder of the economy by the Milosevic regime through a rigged banking system and corrupt state-run businesses that enriched the rulers and those close to them.

On stage together, they've been anti-war protesters (in The Trial of the Catonsville Nine), feuding roommates (in The Odd Couple) and cronies carping about an abstract painting (in Art). But before they were cast as old friends in Everyman Theatre's The School for Scandal, it had been more than three decades since Baltimore-based actors Wil Love and Carl Schurr had shared the stage in their hometown. In Richard Brinsley Sheridan's 18th-century comedy, which continues through Sunday, Love and Schurr portray Sir Oliver Surface and Sir Peter Teazle, respectively, close friends who haven't seen each other for 26 years.

Editor: There is an election in Aberdeen on Nov. 8, and I'm supporting Patrick McGrady, because he gets it. He understands that holding elected office is about serving the people, not about making yourself look good. After talking with Patrick awhile, I believe that he isn't running for mayor to make friends, but to get things done for our community. He speaks in simple terms, explains his positions well, and really cares about the people, not about schmoozing with political cronies.

It has become painfully obvious that The Sun's editors, along with columnists Jules Witcover and Thomas Schaller, do not like any members of the GOP or their proposals. Both Mr. Witcover and Mr. Schaller are forever either pointing at something Mitt Romney said, or something President George W. Bush did. Get over it boys, your man won again, and it's been going on five years now. It is time to start critiquing the job President Barack Obama and his cronies are doing instead of acting like they are perfect and infallible.

THE NOMINATION of Roland E. Arnall as U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands has been on hold for nearly a month, trapped in political limbo in the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where members deadlocked 9-9 on sending his nomination to the full Senate for a vote. The lawmakers who held up the nomination acted on principle, not partisanship, and were right not to support Mr. Arnall, who is enmeshed in legal troubles. A multibillionaire and major Bush donor, Mr. Arnall is chairman and founder of Ameriquest Mortgage Co. and principal owner of Ameriquest Capital Corp.

One week after Maryland received a D- for corruption risk on a national report, legislators are poised to cement crony capitalism into the state code. Allegedly designed to expedite major developments and create jobs, legislation supported by Gov.Martin O'Malleyoutlining rules for public-private partnerships passed the House on Monday. The amendments in HB 576 - which give public-private partnerships special legal status, and do it retroactively - show this legislation is about one project near and dear to the O'Malley administration: State Center.

The Sun's coverage of Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz and his friends' multiple pension plans ought to shame them into giving up their lucrative arrangements ("Pension double standard," Feb. 29). The Sun did something similar during Parris N. Glendening's governorship. Some of Governor Glendening's cronies from Prince Georges County began working for him as state employees when he became governor. After a few years, these cronies developed a double pension plan for themselves.

Editor: There is an election in Aberdeen on Nov. 8, and I'm supporting Patrick McGrady, because he gets it. He understands that holding elected office is about serving the people, not about making yourself look good. After talking with Patrick awhile, I believe that he isn't running for mayor to make friends, but to get things done for our community. He speaks in simple terms, explains his positions well, and really cares about the people, not about schmoozing with political cronies.

President-elect Barack Obama is sending conflicting signals on whether he intends to change the bankrupt culture of Washington's intelligence community and to introduce genuine reform to the Central Intelligence Agency. He appears to be ready to remove the top two intelligence officials, Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell and CIA Director Michael V. Hayden - both retired general officers - which suggests Mr. Obama recognizes the need to change the military culture of the intelligence community.

On stage together, they've been anti-war protesters (in The Trial of the Catonsville Nine), feuding roommates (in The Odd Couple) and cronies carping about an abstract painting (in Art). But before they were cast as old friends in Everyman Theatre's The School for Scandal, it had been more than three decades since Baltimore-based actors Wil Love and Carl Schurr had shared the stage in their hometown. In Richard Brinsley Sheridan's 18th-century comedy, which continues through Sunday, Love and Schurr portray Sir Oliver Surface and Sir Peter Teazle, respectively, close friends who haven't seen each other for 26 years.

WASHINGTON -- An internal congressional investigation has found that "major breakdowns" in legislative controls enabled former Republican Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham to use his position on the House Intelligence Committee to steer classified government contracts to political cronies, according to a memo distributed this week to Democrats on the panel. The memo accuses Republicans of backing out of an agreement to subpoena Cunningham and calls for the public release of a 20-page, unclassified report documenting the findings of the investigation.

WASHINGTON -- President Suharto, the Indonesian strongman of 32 years, has just been driven from power by an army of little people protesting rising food prices. Thus, he has learned the age-old truism that a leader can steal and cheat and commit myriad other sins, but he dare not take food off the people's plates.Mr. Suharto and his family have been cheating Indonesians -- who make up the fourth most populous country on earth -- since the 1960s when they exploited wheat given in the U.S. Food for Peace Program.

THE SCATHING internal audit of the Baltimore County school facilities department released this week makes it clear that the renovation screw-up at Deer Park Elementary was symptomatic of greater ills.The best that can be said is that auditors have found no evidence of outright corruption -- of school officials on the take or steering business toward cronies -- though Superintendent Anthony G. Marchione's decision to refer the matter to the county attorney seems to indicate a suspicion of malfeasance.

THE NOMINATION of Roland E. Arnall as U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands has been on hold for nearly a month, trapped in political limbo in the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where members deadlocked 9-9 on sending his nomination to the full Senate for a vote. The lawmakers who held up the nomination acted on principle, not partisanship, and were right not to support Mr. Arnall, who is enmeshed in legal troubles. A multibillionaire and major Bush donor, Mr. Arnall is chairman and founder of Ameriquest Mortgage Co. and principal owner of Ameriquest Capital Corp.

Just after dawn on the day Charlie Wilhelm decided to come clean, he heard car doors slam outside his Hampden rowhouse and knew this time his nightmare was real. As he bolted from bed and pulled on a pair of pants, detectives burst through the unlocked front door. P In the living room, Charlie restrained his barking Rottweiler while upstairs, his wife rousted their frightened children from their beds. Police, drawn guns at their sides, told Charlie they had a search warrant: They were looking for evidence of bookmaking.