Maryland so left-wing that “there is no recourse, there is no hope” for conservative counties.
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Under Governor Martin O’Malley, Maryland is quickly becoming one of the most progressive U.S states.
Maryland’s gun regulations rank among the strictest in the nation. Weeks after O’Malley signed them into law last May, Baltimore was wracked by a series of 28 shootings and 10 homicides over a period of five days. The city experienced a 7.4% increase in homicides last year.
Likewise, Maryland’s taxes are crippling. It has been ranked as one of the worst states in the country for businesses to operate in: Texas Governor Rick Perry has even invited Maryland businesses to move to Texas. Thousands of high-earning residents have fled the state, costing it $1.7 billion in lost tax revenue. Beretta firearms is taking their business to Louisiana.
Yet Maryland’s five Western counties are largely conservative. Residents of this mountainous region are tired of being trampled beneath the big government appetites of their state’s eastern majority. They have formed the Western Maryland Initiative with the goal of becoming the nation’s 51st state.
“We are enslaved to this government in Maryland that we want nothing to do with,” spoeksman Scott Strzelczyk has said. “All we simply want to do is peacefully leave… This is a peaceful way to resolve irreconcilable differences. Lots of people out there feel like there is no recourse, there is no hope.”
Conservatives around the country are increasingly turning to tactics like nullification and statehood in order to escape escalating government imposition. There are similar statehood efforts underway in Colorado, California, Arizona and Michigan.
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