How Trump managed to act like the president when he is more than a month from being inaugurated is a puzzlement but reflects his particular talent for the spectacle, patched together from reality shows and Hitler-like rally scenes. As he piles up a collection of rich butt-kissers to populate his entourage -- er, administration -- more of the rest of us are calculating how far to burrow in to avoid his first swings at his imagined Deep State. We hope we can stop writing headlines like this one eventually, but alas not yet.

In Maryland, as you will see in the Memo, Progressive Maryland and allied groups are mounting their own campaigns to enable our working families to shake off the worst of the Marmalade Man. We are lucky in Maryland but have to watch our step with an economy well supported by about 150,000 federal employees. They are all watching their backs and we need to help them; a well-managed combination of policy and governance depends on them and, soon, may be even more the difference between bad and worse for all of us.

HERE IN MARYLAND

Superintendents Seek 'Partnership' With Moore on Changes to Blueprint Education Reform Plan Some state school superintendents are saying it's "clear that adjustments are needed" on the Blueprint for Maryland's Future education reform plan as the state faces a looming fiscal crisis, and are asking to work with the Moore administration on potential changes. The Nov. 27 letter from the Public School Superintendents’ Association of Maryland comes as the association is preparing to release legislative and policy recommendations this week to Gov. Wes Moore (D) and other state officials on some changes they believe are needed on the Blueprint. Maryland Matters

Congressmen Push Hard For Key Bridge Replacement Funds: Members of Maryland’s congressional delegation, including three who will soon retire, are in a last-minute sprint to secure full funding for the Francis Scott Key Bridge replacement before lawmakers leave for the holidays. They’re appealing to their fellow representatives and senators, making the case for Maryland and other states that have faced disasters this year, sticking together and trying to stave off a growing wave of pushback from the House Freedom Caucus. Baltimore Sun.

Juvenile Arrests Rise, But New State Law Not The Reason: A month after a new state law gave police more power to arrest young juveniles for crimes for which they previously couldn’t be prosecuted, arrests of youthful offenders in Baltimore have reached a monthly high for 2024. But none of that had to do with the new law, police said. Baltimore Sun.

Audit Says Prisoners Miss Out on Health Care Due to Lack of Oversight: Prisoners in Maryland’s in-state detention centers are missing out on needed healthcare due to a lack of oversight by the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, as well as failures by the contractors in charge of health services, according to the Office of Legislative Audits. WYPR-FM.

Maryland May Retain Third-Graders Lagging In Reading. Can Schools Afford It? As Maryland rolls out a literacy plan that could, among other things, hold back third graders who aren’t reading on grade level, some school leaders worry their districts may not have the resources to implement it. WaPo

Trump’s Mass Deportations Could Hit Maryland Economy, Experts Warn

 Throughout his campaign for a second term, President-elect Donald Trump promised his administration would carry out the largest mass deportation operation in American history. If successful, Trump’s move would put the estimated more than a quarter-million Maryland residents without legal status at risk of deportation, which experts say could damage the state’s economy long-term. “(This policy) is a very real worry,” Benjamin Orr, the president and CEO of the nonpartisan Maryland Center on Economic Policy, said. ”It’s going to have terrible impacts on families, and it’s also going to really slow down and harm our state’s economy.” Capital News Service

The Brain Drain Begins: As President-elect Donald Trump’s transition teams move into federal agencies, thousands of civil servants — and some of the Biden appointees they work for — are scrambling to insulate themselves from the new administration’s promised purge. [Many are among the around 150,000 federal workers in Maryland.] D.C. recruiting firms are seeing booming business from those looking for private-sector work.  Federal employees are scrubbing their Facebook and X accounts for any negative posts about Trump. Some are weighing putting in retirement papers, while others maneuver to transfer to seemingly safer agencies. WaPo

THE OTHER 49

REPUBLICANS: The conservative American Legislative Exchange Council unveiled more than 100 model bills and resolutions for lawmakers next year, including measures to study AI, limit government regulation and crack down on squatters. ALEC will back legislation creating an AI advisory agency within a state attorney general’s office to provide recommendations on best uses. Another model bill will allow states to use AI technology to detect firearms at schools. The group will also support bills defining nuclear and natural gas as clean energy; requiring renewable energy replacements to be operational before fossil fuel plants are shuttered; and bills to require students to receive instruction in American historical documents. Pluribus  AND more from AP and the Center for Media and Democracy

 And following the same line of thought: Blue States Worry That Blocking Trump Will Be Tougher This Time -- Democrat-led states successfully challenged policies during the first Trump administration. Now, they worry the new White House will be more prepared and less restrained. NYT

Democrats, Governor Edition  — Democratic governors met in Beverly Hills  Saturday to elect the new chair and vice chair of the Democratic Governors Association, choosing Kansas’s Laura Kelly to lead the organization in 2025 and Kentucky’s Andy Beshear as chair-elect for 2026. WaPo “Early Brief” newsletter…  Semafor, however, reported “Democratic governors [at that meeting] took a wait-and-see approach to the coming Trump administration this weekend, emphasizing possible areas of agreement over mass resistance.”

DEMOGRAPHICS: The costs of providing medical and long-term care to low-income seniors is beginning to squeeze state budgets as the oldest baby boomers begin to turn 80. Long-term care accounted for nearly 13% of Pennsylvania’s entire general fund budget last year, and other states aren’t far behind. Nearly one in five residents of Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, Vermont and West Virginia are over 65. By 2030, the entire baby boom generation will hit retirement age. By 2034, the Census Bureau projects adults over 65 will outnumber children for the first time. It’s a crescendo state policymakers have seen coming for decades: The largest generation in American history is well into retirement age, and there are fewer younger workers to help pay for the inevitable costs. Now, legislators are contemplating how to shift priorities for a society with more old people and fewer children. Pluribus News [Delaware and West Virginia but not Maryland? What did we do to become the peanut butter and jelly in this geriatric sandwich?]

NATIONAL AND THE FEDS

TEAM OF NONRIVALS WORTH $340BN AND COUNTING

At least 11 picks for strategic positions after Trump returns to the White House in January have either achieved billionaire status themselves, have billionaire spouses or are within touching distance of that threshold.

The net result will be the wealthiest administration in US history – worth a total of $340bn at the start of this week, before Trump further boosted its monetary value by trying to appoint at least three more billionaires. The Guardian

BTW speaking of the billionaire overflow, the Muskaswamy “efficiency” scheme should not be pronounced “doje” – that would insult the most serene republic of Venice, which maintained an aristocrat-heavy but balanced republic for many centuries longer than the US has existed. The pronunciation in our opinion is DOG-E…

Trump has experienced a double luck-out, inheriting good economies from both Barack Obama in his first term and Biden in his (hiccup) second. But he’s inheriting a demoralized workforce, as good jobs numbers mask an incoherent set of market systems. NBC News observes “Part of the problem appears to be a dramatic shift in the labor market back in favor of employers: A Gallup poll released Tuesday found U.S. workers are seeking new opportunities at the highest rate since 2015 as overall satisfaction with current employers has returned to a record low.

Gallup analysts note that the widespread disruptive and organizational changes in the wake of the pandemic have left workers feeling burned out. Two key observations from the survey: 

• Fewer than half the workers Gallup surveyed reported “knowing what’s expected of them at work.”
• And just 30% said they “strongly agree” that the mission or purpose of their companies make them feel their jobs are important.

Both of those findings are record lows for the survey. 

WHAT DOES SCORE HIGH?  It’s no surprise Republicans aren’t exactly rushing to repeal Obamacare. Fifty-four percent of US adults approve of the Affordable Care Act, according to Gallup, including record highs of Democrats and Republicans. And 62% of US adults say the federal government has the responsibility to ensure all Americans have healthcare coverage, a figure that has been steadily rising in recent years after reaching a low point during the bungled Obamacare rollout. The public is divided on whether a government-run healthcare system or a private system is better, but the share of Republicans who favor a government-run system — 21% — is the highest on record. Gallup Survey reported by Semafor

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 

And this week’s roundup of federal/DC news from Megan E, federal affairs director for our national affiliate People’s Action:

As you likely know, UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was murdered last week and the internet reacted with rage and gallows humor about health care claims denials. People’s Action’s statement is available here. This opinion piece in the New Yorker, “A Man Was Murdered in Cold Blood and You’re Laughing?”, which comments on America’s appetite for violence, including the structural violence in the health care industry, is worth the read.  

With the exception of a few career politicians and a handful of weirdos, most of Trump’s political appointees are corporate elites that seek to deregulate their industries (tech, crypto) and privatize government functions. The NYTimes reports that,  “Many of the tech executives involved in the hiring process are unwilling to sacrifice earnings in the prime of their career, and so are eyeing part-time roles, such as those externally advising the Department of Government Efficiency. Full-time roles there may require divestment.” 

Trump said that Liz Cheney and others on the Jan 6th committee should go to jail for something or other, which is both a fascist manifestation of his efforts at revenge and an effective distraction from his transition as he is doing out corporate welfare to billionaire CEOs and other loyalists. 

There is hope and uncertainty in Syria as long-time dictator Bashar al-Assad was overthrown over the weekend. People celebrated, storming the palace as political prisoners, including families with children were let out of prison and streams of refugees from neighboring countries returned home. The leader of the militants, Abu Muhammed Al-Galani, has said that the prime minister will continue to run the country. He is a former al-Qaeda member turned nationalist, and it remains to be seen what will come of the country. So far, “he has promised representative government and religious tolerance. The rebel command said Monday they would not tell women how to dress.” There are also other major militant groups in the country. The ouster is a big shift in power in the region as Assad was backed by both Russia and Iran. Rebels took the opportunity to strike while both countries were distracted by the wars in Ukraine and Israel and Lebanon. 

Congress has 11 days to pass a government funding bill. They are quietly working on extending current government funding through a continuing resolution (CR), through March. They are also trying to pass the National Defense Authorization Act, as well as farm bill extension and a disaster aid package that are likely to be attached to the CR. The Senate also continues to move judicial appointments to the floor as quickly as possible.

House Democrats are also reshuffling a bit as mounting pressure for senior members on top committee posts to move aside and allow younger generations to take leadership roles. AOC and Rep. Jamie Raskin are among the leading candidates to take top committee posts. 

In solidarity, Megan E