All posts by: Dinah Winnick

Washington City Paper has been covering a story about D.C.’s Certified Business Enterprise (CBE) contracting system and today responded to Mayor Gray’s statement that he’ll soon announce “a number of reform efforts” to the CBE. Gray has not provided details about those reforms, though they might involve additional staffing at the Department of Small and Local Business Development, which currently has no employees dedicated to investigating fraud in the CBE program, despite perceptions of fraud.

Where should they look for expertise on how to fix the program? UMBC political science professor George R. LaNoue told the paper, “I don’t know of anybody who has looked at the D.C. program.” Expressing concern over the dearth of data he continued, “These are very complicated issues, and for the most part people haven’t studied them.”

UMBC political science professor Roy T. Meyers commented in today’s Baltimore Sun story, “Leopold attorney bills taxpayers almost $21K for two weeks.” Anne Arundel County has so far been billed $20,743 by a private lawyer to defend County Executive John Leopold in a discrimination lawsuit, raising questions about who should pay the growing tab.

Responding to the case, Meyers asked, “What level of defense is a county executive entitled to?” questioning whether the county would act similarly on behalf of other employees. He noted, “The question to ask is whether a mid-level supervisor, say in the public works department, accused of the same pattern of behavior would have received the same level of defense.”

Meyers also appeared on ABC7 this week, criticizing ads that promote and decry Maryland’s upcoming gambling referendum by misusing data on the impact of casinos. Meyers said, “They are used to show a larger effect to the public—either positive or negative—than what an objective economist or jobs expert would calculate.”

UMBC political science professor Thomas F. Schaller appeared on television, radio and online media across Australia yesterday in coverage on the U.S. presidential election.

Schaller told “The World Today” and news.com.au that he expects the Democrats to hold the Senate and the Republicans to hold the House, by small margins, and President Obama to win the election by three or four points. Although one might expect high unemployment to hurt Obama’s chances, Schaller noted, many in the U.S. still blame former President Bush for current economic woes.

In a television interview on Australia World News, Schaller discussed Romney’s remarks about “the 47%,” which have dominated U.S. election news, and also the limited impact at this point of remaining undecided voters in key swing states. See the extended interview video for additional commentary.

UMBC political science professor Thomas Schaller has tough news for Americans frustrated with government gridlock. In his latest Baltimore Sun column, Schaller writes:

Americans sent divided governments to Washington in both 2006 and 2010, and will likely do so again this November. Since the conventions, President Obama’s lead over Republican nominee Mitt Romney has widened, and almost no sane analyst thinks the GOP will lose the U.S. House this November. So buckle up for two more years of stalemated, sometimes ugly governance in the nation’s capital.

The one remaining toss-up for Schaller is the Senate race, which might offer election night’s greatest excitement. However, he concludes, “Whichever party emerges this November with a Senate majority…the inability of the two national parties to solve major national problems is almost certain to continue for another biennium.”

Political science professor Thomas Schaller appeared on yesterday’s Marc Steiner Show to discuss the kickoff of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. Schaller spoke about the DNC and what it means for the election with fellow panelists Rae Abileah (Code Pink), Neil Sroka (Progressive Change Campaign Committee), Cory McCray (BEST Democratic Club) and legislative consultant Tyrone Keys. The program also received calls from Gov. Martin O’Malley and Maryland State Delegate Mary L. Washington, directly from the DNC.

Want to learn more about Schaller’s perspective on the election? Check out his regular columns in Salon and the Baltimore Sun.