I Can Hear the Trucks Idling in Maryland
Al Ritter
On Tuesday night I was reminded of another of another company that fled the state to avoid a governmental grab from an eminent domain claim that threatened to take away a businessman’s livelihood. Emotion played a large part in that grab too, as greedy politicians tried to snatch a private corporation from beneath its owner due to the discontent of its electorate.
You ask yourself “why would a government try to do such a thing, that’s unfair.” Yes it was unfair but emotion played a much larger part because the voters actually sided with the government. Alas this isn’t the first time Maryland and its voters have driven business away from Maryland nor would it be the last.
The date was March 29, 1984, it was 2:00AM and snowing, as the 17 Mayflower Moving Vans left silently in the dead of night to avoid a government seizure of all property a few hours later. This was the night that everyone in Maryland remembers bitterly as the “Night the Colts moved to Indianapolis.”
Funny how time and emotion, blur such a blatant grab governmental grab of property. The Baltimore political machine actually passed a law in secret, to grab the Colts and all their possessions from under Robert Irsay. Now to be fair here……lol…..Robert Irsay was NOT the nicest man in business either, but how should that affect how the law is enacted?
Maryland still uses massive political pressure from the Democratic Party to get what they want, and after 4 years of other businesses fleeing the state, the ghosts of the Mayflower Moving Vans are running once again. Businesses and conservative voters alike see the blatant actions of their government in Maryland moving farther left as our State has bucked the national tide towards fewer taxes and less government.
Personally I see the Democratic Party as raping the once great state of Maryland to create their own little nirvana. Once called the “free state” Maryland enjoyed that feeling of freedom and less government, but the stance of the last 10 years has changed the Democratic Party into a vindictive petty band of thieves, who attack everything and everyone who doesn’t think or act like them. The present Governor has become entirely dependent on the morsels of the Democratic Presidency and congress, and now by the referendum of state voters will continue its spending nature of money they don’t have.
Because of Maryland’s refusal to walk with main stream America, I must say the sound of that Mayflower Moving Van sounds pretty appealing to me, as I’m sure many businesses are considering too! I’m just hoping that the mass exodus from the state doesn’t cause gridlock on the highway!
