2010 Political Endorsements

I can not believe 4 years have gone by that quickly.

Let grab our time traveling DeLorean, turn on the Flux Capacitor had had back to that mythical year of 2006. The Republicans were facing many losses in Congress; including names like George Allen, who once was considered a favorite for the Republican Nomination for President in 2008. Here at home Martin O’Malley became the Governor of the State of Maryland beating the incumbent Robert Ehrlich, and Ben Cardin beat Michael Steele to become the junior Senator of Maryland. Not to mention back in September of 2006 I had just lost in a primary election for the 42nd District House of Delegates. Plus Lisa and I were living in a small apartment in Cockeysville and just found out we were going to be having Lex was going to bless us with his presence in 2007.

So here we are 4 years later and the country seems to be ready for change. The country is begging for a change. President Obama was elected in office in 2008 but recent polling numbers show that he has disappointed a vast majority of those who elected him. The Congressional approval rating is at an all time low. All signs are pointing to more change this Tuesday. I love election season. I like the strategy that goes into getting elected and watching how everything unfolds. I am constantly telling people I want chaos and unpredictability on Election Day.

I love that you can get commercials from politicians like this one.



Below is a list of some endorsements I am giving for Maryland for a few races.You have no reason at all to listen to me but this is who I am supporting tomorrow.


The Governor Race
Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) VS. Robert Ehrlich (R) This is a rematch of their 2006 election. In 2006 Martin O’Malley received 875,352 votes (53%) to than Governor Ehrlich 757,099 votes (46%). I was shocked that Gov. Ehrlich lost that election. I never understood how someone who seemingly ran Baltimore City into the ground could get elected over a Governor who was able to bring us four years of a budget surplus. When Gov. O’Malley took office he raised our sales tax and furloughed government workers not to mention this report about a cover up on a “gloomy economic report.” I have not liked the politics of Gov. O’Malley since he was Mayor of Baltimore. I hope he gets beat this Tuesday and I hope he gets beat bad. I believe I was better off 4 years ago. I think the voters of Maryland are going to re-elect Gov. O’Malley but I am one vote that he will never get.
My Endorsement – Bob Ehrlich (Not really a surprise)

The United States Senate Race
Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D) VS. Commissioner Eric Wargotz (R)
This one really pains me. I am all for change this upcoming election season. I would be completely okay if every member of Congress gets booted out of office this year. Sen. Barbara Mikulski will not be one of them. I do not agree on a lot of the issue with her but the bottom line is she has been amazing for the State of Maryland when it comes to getting the state money and jobs. Eric Wargotz, the Queen Anne’s County Commissioner, had a very clever ad that got him past the primary. But he will lose in a land slide.
My Endorsement – Sen. Barbara Mikulski


1ST Congressional District
Rep. Frank Kratovil (D) VS. State Senator Andy Harris (R))

This is another political rematch in Maryland from the 2008 election. Frank Kratovil was able to ride the coat tails of President Obama and was able to capitalize on a nasty three way Republican Primary Race to earn an office in Washington D.C. Rep. Kratovil knew he was going to be in a tough election this season and it showed with his voting record. Dr. Andy Harris is the state senator for the 7th district and probably the odds on favorite to win. If Frank Kratovil continues to vote the way he has been and not along party lines I think the people of the 1st district are in a win-win. With that said I like Andy Harris. I met him the first time about 8 years ago and a lot of my beliefs are better represented by him than Mr. Kratovil.
My Endorsement – Andy Harris

2nd Congressional District
Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D) VS. Dr. Marcelo Cardarelli (R)

There is not a whole lot to say about this race. I know very little about Dr. Marcelo Cardarelli and Dutch will win in a landslide come Tuesday.
My Endorsement – Dutch Ruppersberger

Political Issue
Slots at Arundel Mills Mall
YES, YES, YES. I am all for slots going to the mall. The fact that the money coming in against the slots is from out of state gambling facilities tells me that is a decision that should not have even gotten this far. The No for slots people have had their campaign ads removed off television because they were telling lies. They suggest places like Laurel Park, which cannot have slots do to not filing paperwork. How can you not want to support something that is going to put a lot of money into your county? If the people of Anne Arundel County vote against this bill they deserve to go into financial purgatory.
My Endorsement – Put Slots at the mall and start it tomorrow.

Below I have some local races. I am not putting any explanations why just because I do not want to be doing this all night.

Maryland 7th District
State Senate – J.B. Jennings (R)
House of Delegate – Rick Impallaria (R)
House of Delegate – Pat McDonough (R)
House of Delegate – Kathy Szeliga (R)

Maryland 8th District
State Senate – Dee Hodges (R)
House of Delegate – Joe Boteler, III (R)
House of Delegate – Eric Bromwell (D)
House of Delegate – Norma Secoura (R)

Maryland 42th District
State Senate – Jim Brochin (D)
House of Delegate – Susan Aumann (R)
House of Delegate – John Fiastro Jr (R) – Got to support a fellow Loyola Don
House of Delegate – Bill Frank (R)

Thats all from me but most importantly;

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE!!!!!!

Some new pictures of the boys

Jack doing his first battle with spaghetti













Mommy and Daddy apparently lost the battle on this one

UFC 121

I do not think there was any doubt what my plans were going to be last Saturday Night.


Brock Lesnar is my favorite MMA fighter. He has fought 7 times now and I have made sure I have seen 6 of his fights. The only one I missed was his very first one which was not broadcasted in the USA - I don't think. The man is a beast. I pick him to win every time, and every time I hear every reason in the world why he is going to lose. At the end of the fight Brock’s hand is normally raised in victory. But that was not what transpired last night.

I should have seen this coming. Everyone started to pick Brock Lesnar to beat Cain Velasquez. My friend Matt who got me into MMA could give me no reason why Brock Lesnar was going lose. My friend Richard who will swear to me that Brock Lesnar is not a very good MMA fighter, thought Brock was going to win.

Well last Saturday Cain Velasquez destroyed Brock Lesnar. The fight lasted 4 minutes and 12 seconds before the official stopped the fight. The only way to describe Brock’s loss was that it was brutal. Brock had maybe 30 seconds or so of the fight where I had some hope but once Cain started to land his punches you knew it was only a matter of time. At the end of the fight Brock's face looked so badly beat up that Cain almost got arrested for assault.

The rest of the card was pretty good. I had a lot of fun with my friends Buzz and Richard over. I probabl;y didn't pay as much attention to the under card as much as other because I was having a lot of fun with Richard and Buzz. This was probably my last UFC show for the year and it was a great show to end it on.

World Series 2010

I sure did not see this World Series at the begining of the year.

My predicition is the San Francisco Giants in 6 games. I think I am going to root for the Texas Rangers. It would be nice to see them win their first World Series in franchise history.

The 2nd Drexler Family Gathering

Better late than never is what they say.

Way back on October the 2nd my family held the 2nd Drexler Family Gathering.

On September 1, 2008 my grandmother Julie Drexler passed away and her three daughters and one son all decided to have a family gathering. This was to make sure everyone stayed in touch (especially the cousins and their children).

This is the second year for the gathering and for the second year we held it at a place very near and dear to my heart Gun Powder State Falls Park in the Hammerman Area. Yes I used to work there years ago and even helped build the tire play ground that we were next too.

I know I had an absolute blast and Lex is still asking when he is going to see his second cousins Aly, Macy, and Megan

Below are some of the pictures that I have taken from my family facebook pages. Enjoy.

Did he just lose the election?

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!!!! Come on Bob!!!!!!! What were you thinking?

Below is an article from the Baltimore Sun.com dated 10/6/10 by Annie Linskey

“Ehrlich would cut school funding to offset tax rollback”

“Republican former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. says he would chop $126 million in education funding that goes primarily to Baltimore and Montgomery and Prince George's counties and use the savings to offset a penny rollback to the state's sales tax.

“Ehrlich, who is campaigning to win back his old job, said Wednesday that he views spending the money as "discretionary" — a position similar to the one he held when in office. He would prefer to lower the state's sales tax to make it more competitive with Washington and Delaware and encourage consumer spending.

“But Democrats have seized on the issue, first reported last week by the Associated Press, as a key distinction between Ehrlich and Gov. Martin O'Malley on education funding, seen as important to the Democrats that O'Malley hopes to energize.

“Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, whose city received $21.9 million in funding, said the reduction Ehrlich proposes would have a "dramatic impact" on the city schools system, which announced Wednesday that its dropout rate has plummeted.

“"There was a notion in Annapolis that putting money in the school system was like putting water in a bucket with a hole in it," Rawlings-Blake said. "We are not in that place right now."

“Democrats organized a news conference Wednesday in the Washington suburbs, where Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett and Rushern Baker, who is expected to be elected Prince George's County executive next month, criticized Ehrlich's plan. Montgomery County received $31.4 million this year from the formula, known as the Geographic Cost of Education Index; Prince George's County rececived $38.6 million.

“Ehrlich questioned O'Malley's commitment to the index, pointing out that the governor did not fund it in his first year, and only funded it fully in the last two years, when federal funds became available.

“"Martin O'Malley wants to use stimulus dollars and say he funded it," Ehrlich said.

“O'Malley called the money "a critically important part of full funding of education in our state."

“The reason we chose to fund it is the same reason it was enacted by the legislature," he said Wednesday. "It recognizes that in some jurisdictions the cost of education is greater, sometimes because of the cost of living, sometimes because of the impact of poverty."

“The index was created as a part of the landmark Thornton education law, which mandated billions in additional state education funding. Ehrlich called it a costly carrot that legislative leaders used to persuade the Montgomery County delegation to vote for the Thornton law.

“The index is one of the few state funding mechanisms that benefits Montgomery County because it is intended to add to teacher salaries in parts of the state where the costs of living are high or where working conditions are undesirable. Baltimore and 12 counties received some money from the formula.”

Look, I make no bones about it, I do not like the politics of Gov. Martin O’Malley. I wanted him to lose in 2006 when he ran for Governor and I want him to lose badly now. There are many reason why I want him to lose, but I can boil this anti O’Malley down to the 1% increase in the sales tax. I loved the fact that Bob Ehrlich proposed rolling back and removing that. How often do you see a politician putting money back in you wallet (stimulus package excluded)?

I have no idea what he was thinking. I hope he has a plan because I officially have doubt that he is going to be able to beat Martin O’Malley.

This is really depressing me and I feel like the only hope to "save" Maryland has been lost.

So This is 31

If you have not guessed by now October is my birthday month. I make kind of a big deal about it. I find it funny that everyone is so hush, hush about their birthdays and almost seem embarrassed when it is their birthday. That is not me. As you can see by my previous post I have announced that for the first 30 days October has been changed to Scotober. Maybe it is vanity, maybe I just find it funny but I like it and I am going to continue to run the joke into the ground.

My actual birthday was this past Monday the 4th. The day started out great when Lex woke me up. I said to him that today is my birthday. I think he may have been more excited than I am about my birthday. He immediately broke into a rendition of Happy Birthday. This may have been the best moment of my birthday. It was so cute and sweet that it really made my day. At work I was treated to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory by three of my co workers. It was an enjoyable time with a fun conversation. That night Lisa took me and the boys out to dinner at Kobe’s Japanese Steak House at the Avenue in White Marsh. It was another good time. Lex & Jack really enjoyed the show the chef put on for us. Jack was mesmerized by the whole routine and I am sure he was wishing he had more teeth so he could eat with us. Lex was scared of the fire and got bored about an hour into dinner and wanted to walk around. At that point we knew we were done and packed our things to go. We may not have finished dinner but the plus side of that is we have a ton of leftovers from there. When we got home Lisa gave a Superman bag to Lex and told him to give me my presents. In another adorable moment from Lex, he showed me the bag and said, “Here daddy” and then put the bag on the ground and wanted to open the presents himself.

Now for those of you wondering I received for my birthday
1) A Blue Tooth – stupid new Maryland Laws
2) Season 2 of Dexter
3) Season 3 of Dexter
4) Iron Man 2 on Blue Ray
5) And some clothes

All in all I am happy with the results. I will chalk this up to another good birthday. Thank you to everyone who got me a card, who called, sent me a present, took me to lunch/dinner and for everyone who sent me a note on Facebook.

HAPPY SCOTOBER!!!!!!

It is the 1st of Scotober. The next 30 days are going to be a blast.

HAPPY SCOTOBER EVERYONE!!!!!!!!