It's a potpourri this week, with significant but unsensational (mostly) stories coming out of Maryland -- the floundering Trump war machine soaks up most of the attention. Health insurance costs get a double dose of coverage, as do arguments about ICE facilities in the state. Flailing about on the current war is hurting Trump most, Politico Playbook reports: "according to the latest NYT/Siena poll. 64 percent of voters say going to war was the wrong decision, more than double the share who think it was right. Trump is at 31 percent approval for his handling of the war and 37 percent overall job approval."

The Monday message from People's Action about doings in Congress reminds us in Maryland that our national reps are vulnerable to the big-money PACs -- most recently,  a power-financed one from Big Crypto that is bringing senators (one of ours, included) into line to vote crypto's way on the Clarity Act, as it is called. 

The Memo will be posted here after the email version has been sent.

The Trump administration is threatening everyone, state by state, from threats to the Chesapeake Bay from EPA to (successfully) bullying GOP state legislators on redistricting to wrecking the economy while trying to wiggle his way out of his disastrous war of choice in the Persian Gulf. The last time the Persian Empire definitely, inequivocally lost a war was against Alexander the Great. Trump ain't him.

Here in Maryland, a significant but way overdue event -- laying the last tracks for the Purple Line -- took place last week. It's the state's biggest mass-transit effort at this point (Baltimore Red Line, please phone your office). 

Those who worry about gun violence in the state -- and they should -- can be sombrely comforted that the biggest danger to gun owners is to themselves and their families. Opioid deaths, however, are down sharply. And, as the summer approaches, the state Parks system hopes a new reservation process will make it easier to enjoy the many still-wild parts of Maryland.

And BTW, if you are trying to pick a baby name, it doesn't have to be Olivia or Liam (top choices for seven years, wha?). The AP has a chart of runners-up to help out. It's News You Can Use.

Gov. Moore launches a re-election campaign, to nobody's surprise; an environmental icon laments the very faint green tint of legislative output this past session; boisterous May Day rallies follow the masterclass in leadership outlined to Congress by an actual King, and much more. News You Can Use this week notes the state by state chaos that will inevitably follow the Supreme Court's junking of the Voting Rights Act. While the administration and its indentured Congress ignore the promise and peril of Artificial Intelligence, states are shuffling uneasily through the possible effects on shopping, on employment, on our ways of life if we don't tend to the task of making AI work for us instead of vice versa. And, as 401Ks go down, the price of crude goes up. Nothing to see here? That's what Trump and his acolytes hope. It's all News You Can Use.

After the General Assembly session came to a raucus-caucus close (was it just a few weeks ago?), we see that lots of Assembly members (25 at this count) are seeking other positions or just some personal peace. Not all Marylanders, though, among those who were victimized by the DOGE frenzy are finding new positions themselves, roughing up the state's employment/unemployment status. Energy and its costs continues to be a major concern to Marylanders, and not only at the pump. We have news and explainers on the way the state is trying to bring those giant multistate energy corporations to heel, here at least. Other states are trying to clamp down on the uses of Artificial Intelligence and its potential harm to the (mental and physical) health of kids (let alone adults!) The total lack of national or state regulation of social media -- a decades-old failure -- has left us all in a defensive crouch and will require more backbone than most officials can muster to put the clamps on these purposely addictive and highly monetized "free" offerings.

In other words, it's an ordinary day in the USA, where making change has to start from the community level up. Look around, make your plans and find your allies. News You Can Use aims to be one of them, and Progressive Maryland is where you will find them.

Maryland is characterized as a Blue state, but getting people-centered laws through our General Assembly, with supermajorities of Democrats in both chambers, can be a years-long grind. As Progressive Maryland's recap of the session (see more below) observes, "Although we cracked the Senate for immigration protections and secured a few additional wins, the fact remains that the state's political landscape remains hostile towards people-centered policies. It should not have taken the Maryland General Assembly so long to enact these immigrant protection policies and in this current climate, defined by a worsening crisis of affordability, rollback of civil rights, and white ethnonationalist sentiments, we need elected majorities that will act swiftly and in favor of working people, not corporate actors… A legislature that continues its legacy of stalling on people-centered policies or a legislature should be replaced by one that is responsive to the needs of everyday Marylanders."

And it’s an election year. There is a countable, name-able number of Assembly members who are shirking their duties to their constituents and instead listening too closely to well-paid, and well-paying, lobbyists. Find out who they are and replace them.