As Prince George's County's liquor-store corruption probe unfolds, veteran columnist Barry Rascovar reminds us that the county has a long history of such official misbehavior and a lamentable reputation among state politicians on that account.

A big week for progressives, despite the looming Trump event; there will be many voices against his brand of politics. And Maryland progressives must keep an eye on state government, where the governor's budget is likely to drop this week. Plus the past week's blog posts, with summaries and links.

While legislators play footsy with the Governor over the roads and budget, progressive agendas will challenge the Maryland General Assembly members to help ordinary people -- as they are sworn to do -- despite the lobbyists and donors looking over their shoulders.

The "tax plan" promoted by the President-elect may be more advantageous to some in relatively affluent Maryland, but others will get little or no benefit and the state may suffer from the consequent lowered federal revenue and drop in federal spending -- important for a state with a high dependence on federal spending for its continued prosperity. A detailed recent analysis from the Capital News Service at UMCP's highly-ranked J-school provides details.

Forcing state school leaders to grovel before the Gov and his henchpersons for the money they deserve is an old and despicable custom, usually with political knives out, that should be ended, says Barry Rascovar in Maryland Reporter (posted Monday, Jan. 9). And, to show that His Trumpness is not the only thin-skinned jerk in the cosmos, alleged Democrat Peter Franchot, the Comptroller, sent a mouthpiece to complain about Rascovar's colossal nerve in having an opinion about the matter.

The Maryland General Assembly opens this Wednesday (Jan. 11) and the fun begins. See some previews and the calendar of get-togethers for PM and allies as the session gets under way, plus the week's blog posts with summaries and links. One-stop progressive shopping.

We have lots of ways to struggle against Trump's Washington; despite calls from "pied pipers of the Left" there's no need to distract ourselves, "wasting precious time and energy fiddling" with impeachment chatter "while Trump and the Republican Congress are burning our house down," argues Hal Ginsberg.

Lots going on in early January ... our Weekly Memo clues you in on coming events and has links to the most recent blog posts. BTW you can get it by email every week; check it out.

To get you started on 2017 activism: our blog posts since June 2015 relating specifically to Prince George's and Montgomery counties, places where Progressive Maryland activists are hard at work on very local issues. You can catch up with political and community doings in those counties here, with summaries and links to the posts.

It’s the slack few days between holidays this week, but don’t let 2017 sneak up on you (2017?! What?! Wait, that’s too soon…). Whether your farewell to 2016 is fond or otherwise, the Maryland General Assembly gears up January 11 and a new state-level battle (or battles) begins. Plus early January events and links to this week’s blog posts.