governor. [applause] >> thank you all. thank you all so much for being here. to my wife and our children, to my mother barbara, and my father, whom i know is here in spirit, and my brothers and thank you for the leadership you have given maryland. your steady movement forward has been an inspiration to all of us, anthony. to senator mikulski, thank you

for your leadership, your friendship, your kind introduction, in your poetry. to the senators and congrressmen, to judge bell, the county executive's and commissioners, to present miller, to the men and women of the maryland general assembly, the treasurer, members of the armed forces and the many courageous veterans who are joining us here today, a special welcome to the mayor of the district of columbia, washington, d.c., and the governor from the commonwealth of virginia, thank you all for your leadership, your service,

your presence here today. to the people of maryland, thank you for trusting me to serve you at this pivotal time in our history. today we. firm -- today we reaffirm that we are one maryland united by our belief in the dignity of every individual and our responsibility to advance the greater good. in our state, there is no such thing as a spare american. we are all in this together. we ask god for his blessing, protection, and grace. four years ago, few of us could have foreseen the suffering so many maryland families would have endorsed as our economy and financial markets nearly collapsed. we could not have imagined how many mothers and fathers would lose their jobs and their homes,

how many small businesses would be forced to close their doors. in times of adversity, the people of maryland do not make excuses. we make progress. we are determined to move forward out of this recession. maryland businesses have started to expand and hire again. they are doing so at nearly twice the national rate of job creation determined to make our children winners in this new economy. we chose to improve our public schools with record investments. along among the 50 states, we make college more affordable for more families by holding the line against any increase in college tuition for that years in a row. [applause] -- for four years in a row. we invested in research and development banks to courageous firefighters and police officers and better technology and

stronger partnerships with our neighbors in the district of columbia. we saved lives by driving violent crime, fire deaths and traffic best -- traffic deaths to new lows. we extended health coverage to more families and family-owned businesses. with our neighbors in virginia and guided by science, we restored a blue crab population that was on the verge of collapse. with tough, but fiscally responsible choices, we cut $5.60 billion in the state spending and reduced the size of our government. as we look ahead, we know that these next four years will not

be easy. foreclosures remain unacceptably high. wages remain stagnant. our national recovery has just begun. we have a long way to go. none of us have all the answers. you and i rightly sensed what is at stake. we are in a period of profound economic change. it is a change that will ask that all of our lives and the lives of -- that will affect all our lives and the lives of our children for better or worse. at times like these, a different level of leadership, imagination, and creativity is required by members in the one of us. the generation of americans ever built monuments to their own comfort. if maryland is to succeed in this new economy, if maryland's children are to be winners, we must be willing to make the tough decisions and the right

investments that move our state will work, forward by harnessing the will job-creating potential of maryland's innovation economy in aerospace, trade, and cyber security followed by maximizing the new job opportunities generated in the global trade by our modernized ports and the next generation of green tech manufacturing. we must improve education so our children can successfully compete to win in the global economic. we must make college more affordable by improving the skills of our workforce and build a world-class institutions of higher learning. we must improve public safety. we must restoring our -- restore our bay and taking emerging

technologies to create jobs in maryland. all of these pursuits are important and essential to the future. each creates new jobs and new opportunities. requires on one progress on all. i believe the better future that we seek dons' first in maryland. -- dawns first in maryland. there is not another state prepared to face the opportunities in the new economy. we are at the threshold of brilliant science, innovative technology and remarkable discoveries that will we make this world of ours for the better. from the schools, laboratories, and companies in maryland are emerging the technologies that will we make our world and make

it better world for our kids. the search for answers and solutions -- maryland is not a random scattering of isolated individuals totally on our own. there are some challenges that are so large that we can only really address them together. ,.. making this new economy hours, improving public schools, public safety, public works, and the protection of our public health and our national resources. we need each other as much as the next generation needs us. we cannot allow our individual sense of entitlement to tear apart our shared sense of command to. we must move beyond the debilitating idea that our children will not enjoy a better quality of life and we have,

that we are destined to decline, backslide, and failed. i say our best days are ahead of us if we choose to make it so. [applause] if the fabric of our social and political life is stretched and torn by the politics of division, violence casts a long shadow. we cannot allow it to separate us. we must find a way to move " we're together. we must find a way to make it in america -- we must find a way to together.rrd maryland is a vibrant, a living system. we are blessed by beautiful diversity, the cultures, or less, cities, towns, that first

religions and farmlands, devotion, song, --diverse religions, farmland, the motion, song. it is not as if there is religion here and signed their, government and economics over there -- religion here, science there, government and economics over there. we are here to make maryland whole again. we must recognize the unity that already is and find ways to work together that strengthen that unity. this is our challenge. it is not the challenge of government alone our society as a whole. it is the challenge of every individual values the title of assistant. with love, forgiveness and humility, let us move forward as

one maryland. i will work and sacrifice for the days ahead should be worthy of the hope god sees in the eyes of our children. god bless you all. [applause] >> new hampshire's first in the nation presidential primary is more than one year away. results are in from the presence presidential straw poll. the winner is mitt romney. tea party backed jim kimball becomes the new state gop chair.

this weekend on "road to the white house," two spespeeches. >> your name is now in the presidential compensation. you are aware of that. will that continue for months to come? >> i know it is shocking that that speculation will come along. i am here to be part of the compensation for 2012. there has been no decision about candidacy. but i want to be a part of the conversation. >> watch the speech in its entirety tomorrow on "road to the white house" at 6:30 p.m. and 9:03 p.m. on c-span. >> tuesday, president obama

delivers the state of the union address. c-span's coverage begins at 8:00 p.m. eastern. the republican response will come from paul ryan of wisconsin. we will have your phone calls and reaction on c-span, c-span radio, an online. you can also watch the address on c-span2 2. >> this week on "the communicators," a discussion meredith attwell baker. >> meredith attwell baker is a one of the two republicans who sit on the federal communications commission. if we could start with the vote

the fcc took this week, which omcast merger. you were for it. why? >> this is my first time on a merger with the fcc. we have fallen into some pitfalls. comcast filed this merger with us on january 28 of last year. we have an internal clock up 180 days or repaid it is a big merger and we should carefully consider it. we should do it in a more timely manner. manner.