Sept. 24, 2002
 
 So we have the Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates in our very own Allegany County Delegation. That should give us tremendous clout. We should be kicking butt in terms of what we get from the state back here in the Land of No Jobs. But then if that were true we probably wouldn’t be the Land of No Jobs, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
 
 Anyway, this is what Cas Taylor keeps saying in his campaign to be re-elected. Without the Speakership, he likes to say, we’re nowhere. We’re losers. We’ll get a whole lot ’o nothin’.
 
 Really? You think?
 
 We had some doubts about Cas’ claims that without him we’re toast, so we did a little investigating. Using the state publication Local Government Finances in Maryland, we looked into what other jurisdictions get - you know, all those jurisdictions without Speakers, all 23 of them. And we found some surprising information.
 
 Like this little tidbit, for instance: in Fiscal Year 2001, numerous small, rural, poor counties did better in gaining state assistance than we did.
 
 Can you believe it? Counties like Somerset, Caroline, Wicomico, Worcester, Garrett - all ranked above Allegany County in terms of state tax dollars coming back to communities. Washington County bested us as well.
 
 Wow! Are you stunned? We were stunned! Because according to our friend Cas, since those little dinky places don’t have Speakers, they shouldn’t be getting squat!
 
 What the heck is going on here?
 
 Inspired by what we found, we did some more poking around, specifically in looking at state financial support of public school systems. To be fair, we looked at increases in state assistance spanning Cas Taylor’s term as Speaker of the House - you know, since he’s had all that power that he’s supposedly using on our behalf. Guess what? We were stunned once again.
 
  From Fiscal Year 1992 through Fiscal Year 2001, Allegany County ranked dead last in growth of state assistance to local Boards of Education. DEAD LAST.
 
 It was pathetic.
 
 This whole discussion is pathetic. From what we could gather from state data, Cas Taylor’s whole "you’re nothin’ without me" argument is based on - well, nothin’.
 
 The reality is Mr. Taylor spends most of his time keeping all those other delegates - what, 140 of them? - happy. If they’re not all getting the pork they want, they’ll boot old Casper out of the Speaker’s seat. So Cas spends his time attending to the needs of every delegate in the House - not the needs of the people living in his district.
 
 Our needs are the last thing on Mr. Taylor’s list of priorities. And it shows. Have any of his efforts helped create an atmosphere where the private sector can grow and prosper, thus creating jobs and opportunity for the people struggling to make a living here?
 
 No.
 
 Is he paying attention to the needs in our school system? No. The needs of our families? No. The dire need for infrastructure re-building and improvements? No.
 
 Yes, Cas Taylor is busy. Busy making sure Montgomery County is happy, as Speaker of the House. He’s not so busy, however, as Delegate from Allegany County.
 
 Maybe we should elect someone who will pay attention to us. Then maybe we’ll do as well as Somerset, Washington, Garrett, Wicomico, Caroline - ok, we’ll stop now. You get it.