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Commentary

Dan Rodricks: A fellow congressman asks a question for the ages: ‘What’s wrong with Andy Harris?

In an interview last week with Bloomberg Government, Rep. Jim McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, asked a question for the ages: “What’s wrong with Andy Harris?” Some of us have been asking that question for more than a decade, wondering why a fellow with a medical degree would vote repeatedly to keep thousands of low-income Americans from getting health insurance; or why Harris, Maryland’s only Republican in Congress, would cozy up to a Hungarian leader one edict away from being a full dictator; or why Harris would oppose honoring police officers who risked their lives to defend the Capitol, where Harris works, from a mob.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Biden dares Congress to act on Big Tech. Here’s what might work.

Silicon Valley used to unify the left and right in admiration. Now, Big Tech still brings the two sides of the political spectrum together — but in outrage. This much was evident in this year’s State of the Union address: The White House sees potential for bipartisan cooperation against technology companies. On Tuesday, President Biden mentioned two policy areas in which he’s seeking reform, and in a Wall Street Journal op-ed earlier this year he mentioned three: Section 230, antitrust and privacy. This sounds like jargon, more of interest to D.C. lawyers than average internet users. In fact, each area of reform could have profound effects on how people use the web.

BGE bill sky-high? Check for third-party energy suppliers overcharging you.

Many BGE customers opened their January bill and balked when they saw the “amount due.” Yes, there was a cold snap and your heater used more energy. Yes, natural gas prices are high because of the Ukraine war. Baltimore Gas and Electric is our regulated utility, and their gas price in January was 93¢ a therm. In 2020, BGE’s gas rate was just 41¢ per therm. But for about 225,000 BGE customers the energy rate “gotcha” is that they’ve enrolled with a third-party deregulated energy supplier, rather than BGE’s regulated energy supply.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Dan Rodricks: An artist wandering and wading through the once and future Earth

I try to imagine what it would be like to stand along a river — say, the Jones Falls as it meanders through Baltimore — and look up from the mesmerizing flow to suddenly see a woman draped in a long cape of plastic bottles. What would I think? Did she rise from the river, like some gritty sprite burdened and barnacled with trash? Is she a cast member from a new post-apocalyptic movie: “Mad Max in Waterworld”? Who is this woman in the Jones Falls, bristling with bottles, and each bottle containing a stick with colored string?

Read More: Baltimore Sun
It’s not enough to back Social Security and Medicare; Congress must fix them

Too bad the biggest headlines coming out of President Joe Biden’s recent State of the Union address had to do with decorum, whether it was Marjorie Taylor Greene’s booing — and the many right-wingers who joined in this act of infantilism — or the beyond-ironic observation from serial fabulist George Santos who posted on social media that Biden was “gaslighting” Americans. Really? At least the latter received a well-earned rebuke of “You don’t belong here” from Republican U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney. The nation had no shortage of evidence that the U.S. House of Representatives (and the state of partisan politics, in general) was a mess before the speech.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Rethinking access to the American tip jar: It’s time to include nurses and dental hygienists

Americans are accustomed to tipping for a wide array of services. We understand that our gratuity makes up an important percentage of the wages earned by many different types of laborers: massage therapists, Uber drivers, hair stylists, tour guides, room service providers, valets — the list goes on. Much of the time, we don’t just add a tip because we’re adhering to a cultural norm, but rather because we genuinely want to acknowledge good service and show gratitude.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Baltimore City schools deserve an ‘F’ when it comes to educating its students

What exactly are the schools in Baltimore City doing? That is the question many should be asking after recent statewide test results showed that only 7% of its students are proficient in math, including 23 schools with zero students meeting standards. It's unacceptable and yet another indication that the Democrats in the city who run the schools are as competent at their jobs as their students are in rudimentary arithmetic.

US Dollars
Maryland’s college savings program failed parents

The first I learned that Maryland’s 529 Prepaid College Trust had changed the way it paid for rollovers — reducing balances by tens of thousands of dollars — was through a Facebook group organized by frustrated parents. Nothing about the recent problems at the Prepaid College Trust has been transparent. What’s really at stake is a breach of contract. Our contracts gave us the right to transfer our principal balances plus 100 percent of the earnings if we wanted to switch to another educational savings plan. Thousands of parents have used that option, earning 5 or 6 percent on their balances.

Blame Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson for the plot to blow up Baltimore’s power grid

The two people charged in federal court with plotting to blow up Baltimore’s power grid are certainly to blame for putting the region in danger, if the allegations against them are accurate. But they’re not the only responsible parties. You can draw a direct line from the foiled neo-Nazi plot, revealed by federal authorities Monday, to conservative commentators and conspiracy-mongering cult figures like Donald Trump, who for years have riled up their minions on the alt-right with distortions about Maryland’s largest city.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Breaking the scoring record is — somehow — a small part of LeBron’s legacy

With a jump shot last night against the Oklahoma City Thunder, LeBron James did it. Despite the Lakers’ 133-130 loss to OKC, no NBA great — from Wilt Chamberlain to Kareem Abdul Jabbar to Michael Jordan to Kobe Bryant — can ever say that they scored more NBA regular season points than James. Now it’s official: James is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. He didn’t need the record to cement his place as one of the greatest talents to ever step on the hardwood. But here we are.

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