Speaker Busch

Regardless of how you think lawmakers should balance doing the will of their constituents and using their judgement to make decisions on legislation, it's often interesting to see how politicians deal with the occasional disagreements between constituents and conscience.

One such case is Maryland's debate about how to raise the money to pay for services that so many rely on. The breakdown between slot machines and other taxes or fees is not partisan, and regional differences also seem poor predicters. The Baltimore Sun analyzes the winds blowing in Ann Arundel County, where House of Delegates Speaker Michael Busch lives. It indicates that in governing our fairly liberal state, leaders like the Speaker might face challenges in their increasingly conservative districts.

Workers at Giant and Safeway approved a deal today that marked a compromise between the 30,000 workers in the Baltimore and DC areas represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers and the two large supermarket chains.