Politics

After bumping our heads on the debt ceiling, then teetering on the fiscal cliff, we are now threatened with something called sequestration. Had anyone even heard that word before a few months ago? Can anyone define it? Around these parts, it's all too real. Federal government workers and contractors wait nervously to see what these automatic spending cuts will mean in job furloughs and program trims. In Howard and Baltimore counties alone, tens of thousands of families owe their paycheck to the government.

Gov. Martin O'Malley has shown the courage to put his anti-gun convictions ahead of his political aspirations ("Senate OKs bill to curb firearms," March 1). But he surely he must understand that this legislation, for which he is now responsible, will make him a toxic candidate for any future political office. James B. Astrachan, Baltimore Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

Don Rodricks column on Ticketmaster ("A chance to break free of Ticketmaster," Feb. 26) is very telling. To understand why Baltimore wants to keep the most-despised Ticketmaster, one should look at the type of politics typically played in Maryland where cronyism and favoritism are common. Why would a computer company get a large order for new phone services without competition? Maybe the company has a deal somewhere. And look at the case last year of the company awarded the contract to build and operate new rest stops on I-95, where a South American company with almost no experience in this type and size of operation was awarded the contract over an experienced U.S. company based on wildly exaggerated sales estimates?

Unfortunately, our nation faces enormous challenges in virtually every region of the globe. In countries ranging from Iran to North Korea to Syria to Mali, and on issues spanning terrorism, drug trafficking, global warming and cyber warfare, each day will bring seemingly impossible problems for our nation's foreign policy leaders, especially new Secretary of State John Kerry. There is one international issue, however, on which genuine progress is not only possible but is likely - if the secretary of state and President Barack Obama are prepared to make this issue a foreign policy priority.

I could hardly believe my ears when President Barack Obama chastised lawmakers for focusing on the next election instead of the nation's business ("Military bases in Md. brace for U.S. budget cuts," Feb. 27). President Obama started his run for a second term right after the results of the first election were in. The last four years seemed to be one long campaign, but now with the term limits in effect this is wrong. Mr. Obama wants to keep "early education funding," which is just another way of saying free day care for the poor.

Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson will speak at a prominent conservative political rally next month, alongside the likes of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and former vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan, the American Conservative Union said Wednesday. Carson "represents the optimism and hope of the future of the conservative moment," union Chairman Al Cardenas said in a statement announcing Carson's invitation. Carson will be among more than two dozen speakers at the 40th annual Conservative Political Action Conference, to be held March 14-16 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Prince George's County.

The Oscar for best picture was won by "Argo," the true tale of a secret rescue mission in Iran during the Carter administration. It beat out "Lincoln," the story of how black Americans were rescued from slavery. Does this mean Jimmy Carter's stock is on the rise? Nope, but Ben Affleck has certainly become a blue chip player in Hollywood. Politics -- not the Hollywood kind, but the Washington kind -- played a significant role in public perceptions of both films, as well as of a third that was nominated for best picture.

There was a time when the lines between the practices of politics and journalism were clear-cut. Professional politicians did their thing, which was getting elected and getting others elected. Professional journalists did theirs, writing and telling how the politicians did what they did. Seldom did the two meet in public opinion forums Today, political operatives are regular commentators and analysts on radio, television and the Internet, and journalists of all political persuasions run for public office, sometimes getting elected.

A deal struck in Richmond on paying for roads, bridges and mass transit could give Gov. Martin O'Malley some political cover if he decides to move forward in Annapolis with his own version of a transportation revenue bill in the second half of this year's General Assembly session. This weekend, Republican-controlled Virginia's legislature signed off on a conference committee's compromise on a transportation revenue package that includes tax increases as well as tax cuts -- but enough of the former to reach $850 million a year in added revenue.

In 2006, the last time Congress took a serious look at comprehensive immigration reform, hundreds of thousands of immigrants, legal and illegal, marched through the streets of the nation's cities. The resulting media coverage was filled with stories about real people - brown people! - whose lives would be affected by the proposed legislation. It was one of those rare moments when the public could witness the intersection of grass-roots movements, insider political maneuvering and their human consequences.