ANNAPOLIS - After weeks of haggling, state lawmakers chiseled out an agreement Friday that leaves Hagerstown's university campus with nearly full funding next year.
The compromise between the House and Senate guarantees the University System of Maryland at Hagerstown $2 million for fiscal year 2009.
"We won," Sen. Donald F. Munson, R-Washington, said after Friday's session, which capped more than a week of public and private talks. "It was a tough battle. I'm not kidding. It was as tough as cold war."
We pulled through! After weeks of uncertainty and the chance that Hagerstown may lose one of its most valuable assets, the people of Washington county prevailed upon their lawmakers to choose the right path. Hagerstown is growing and it needs institutions of higher learning to continue teaching the next generation more valuable skills. Without this, Washington County will not have a chance at building its economic base by brining in more skilled workers and high-tech businesses.
Thank you to all who wrote their state delegates to make this happen.
Barack Obama has won the Democratic Potomac Primaries!We kicked butt tonight team! Even if Washington County goes for Clinton over all, the signs of change are all around us. It is clear that things are beginning to shift in this rural part of the state. So with that in mind, say it with me:
Yes We Can!
Yes We Can!
Yes We Can!
Yes We Can!
Now we are on to the Hawaii caucuses and Wisconsin primaries!
Sen. Barack Obama swept the Louisiana primary and caucuses in Nebraska and Washington state Saturday night, slicing into Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's slender delegate lead in their historic race for the Democratic presidential nomination.The Illinois senator also won caucuses in the Virgin Islands, completing his best night of the campaign.
"Today, voters from the West Coast to the Gulf Coast to the heart of America stood up to say 'yes we can'" Obama told a cheering audience of Democrats at a party dinner in Richmond, Va.
Barack Obama | Change We Can Believe In |
We are so close, all we need is to keep this momentum alive and we will succeed in ushering a new generation into American politics, one that is finally for the people of this United States.
Maryland Democrats my message to you is to not be afraid of the message of hope and inspiration. Do not fall into the experience trap that Hillary Clinton has laid for you must see past this weak argument. Experience is a tiny fraction of what is needed to be a president, all you need to do is look at our current administration to see this truth. It is far more important to motivate, lead and inspire the people of our nation and spur them to action. We need someone who will look at our foreign policy and get our relations with the rest of the world back to where they should be while at the same time taking a more rational approach to the terrorism question.
A president is the public face of this country, they are the person that the rest of the world sees as our head of state, they are the one that people hold the breath for when they speak. Hillary Clinton is not a person that is going to have people listening to what she has to say, she does not have the ability to energize and unify people around a cause or an idea. The thing that many of us forget is that just because she is a woman des not mean she is the right woman for the job. While I admire the fact that she is doing this well in a strongly contested race, she is not the speaker Bill Clinton is and she is far to polarizing for this county.
Only Barack Obama has the ability to unify and do not worry about him being unable to navigate the political minefield in Washington DC. Not only has he been a Senator, but the President has many assets to call on when support is needed and Barack's biggest asset is his ability to move people, even the old establishment in DC. If we are able to make this happen and get Barack to the White House we will see a new day in this country, a day when young Americans stand up and push for progress, a day in which older Americans see the potential of this country which has been shuttered for so long, a day when we can go back to being an American versus a conservative or a liberal.
