For those of you wondering about the answer to that age-old question, “What do judges wear under their robes?”, here’s one answer:

I usually just wear simple black pants and a shirt—very rarely a suit. There’s some freedom in that, especially since I have so little time in the morning.

That’s Baltimore City District Court Judge Catherine Curran O’Malley, also known as Katie O’Malley, Maryland’s first lady.

O’Malley shared this tidbit and other details about her personal fashion and being a working mom in the newest issue of Baltimore Style Magazine (which was recently redesigned and relaunched.)

O’Malley also posed in the latest spring styles for a photo spread shot all around Government House.

The first lady also confirmed she loves finding a good deal:

I am a bargain shopper. My daughters shop quality. I buy my makeup at CVS and they buy theirs at Nordstrom. I go to Old Navy and buy yoga pants while they go to Lululemon.

That’s not to say she disregards her daughters’ fashion sense:

If I walk downstairs and look ridiculous, they won’t let me go out.

And isn’t that what family is for?

(Photo courtesy of Baltimore Style Magazine)

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A report released Tuesday by the Cato Institute names the best and worst governors for economic growth.

And while Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley avoided a failing grade — five governors received an “F” — the second-term head of state is only barely passing, by Cato’s standards.

O’Malley, by presiding over a bevy of tax increases since taking office, received a “D” in the institute’s report, eight points worse than his frequent sparring mate, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, a Republican whose policies earned him a “C.”

Of the 16 governors to earn a “D” or worse, 12 were Democrats. All five who received failing grades were also Democrats, while the four governors who earned an “A” grade, including Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, were Republicans.

In commentary published by The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, Cato tax policies Director Chris Edwards singles out business taxes as a much-needed area for reform in federal and state government.

“The Council on State Taxation found that state and local levies on businesses totaled $644 billion in 2011, or more than double the annual cost of the federal corporate income tax,” Edwards wrote. “True, the federal corporate tax rate is too high relative to other countries’ and is hurting American competitiveness. But business property taxes, sales taxes imposed on business purchases, and myriad other anti-investment levies imposed by state and local governments also impede economic growth.”

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Orioles outfielder/DH Chris Davis celebrates with catcher Matt Wieters. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

As the Orioles prepare for a Wednesday night game oozing with American League playoff implications, a pair of prominent Maryland Democrats showed the unifying power of a successful professional sports team.

Both Gov. Martin O’Malley and state Comptroller Peter Franchot began Wednesday’s Board of Public Works meeting by praising the success of the Orioles, who have already clinched a playoff berth and could force a one-game playoff with the New York Yankees for the American League East title with a little help from the Boston Red Sox tonight in the Bronx.

Franchot, a Montgomery County resident and also a fan of the playoff-bound Washington Nationals, said the Nats had given rival  Washington politicians something to agree upon.

The Orioles have had a similar effect in Maryland politics.

“I’m delighted the Orioles have brought O’Malley and Franchot together,” Franchot said, drawing laughter from those assembled in the State House’s second-floor reception room.

The pair have sparred frequently in the last year, often over the state’s economy or the oft-divisive gambling issue.

O’Malley said the state was “preparing for a Baltimore-Washington World Series,” and Franchot was quick to point out that he made half of that prediction, way back in March.

“Back then, it was just a fantasy,” Franchot said. “If that comes to pass, I imagine the governor, the treasurer and I will be first in line to buy those tickets.”

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Apparently tired of frequent attacks from Maryland Republicans, who routinely condemn the state’s Democratic leadership for developing a business-unfriendly attitude in the state, members of the executive branch have authored blog posts and editorials telling their side.

And now, the battle has gone to YouTube.

The state Department of Business and Economic Development posted a quirky, two-and-a-half minute video Friday that rebuts the claims of organizations such as Change Maryland that deride Gov. Martin O’Malley for taxing wealthier Marylanders, a practice that the group says has led to a mass exodus of state taxpayers to places such as Virginia and North Carolina.

The group also argues that high taxes have been a major contributor to Maryland shedding jobs in the last several months, causing the state’s unemployment rate to rise from a January low of 6.5 percent to 7 percent.

The video, which has been viewed more than 400 times on YouTube, claims that business people see Maryland as “the land of opportunity.”

It goes on to laud the state’s top rankings in public education and entrepreneurship and says Maryland has the 12th lowest tax burden on new investment. It also cites statistics that indicate the number of millionaires in the state has increased 19 percent since 2007.

And many of the claims made by Change Maryland?

“Absolutely false,” the video asserts.

And that’s “The Truth About Maryland,” according to DBED.

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The podcast returns with a look at breakfast — specifically, the morning meeting scheduled for Tuesday between Gov. Martin O’Malley, Senate President Mike Miller and House Speaker Michael Busch.

Daily Record State House reporter Alex Pyles also assesses the posturing and statements made in the last week about the “doomsday budget” and gambling. He also gives his prediction about when legislators will be back in Annapolis for a special session.

Enjoy.

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During an interview last week with The Daily Record’s Nick Sohr, Maryland Senate President Thomas V. “Mike” Miller Jr. took a moment to reflect on his positions on capital punishment in the state — with clear opposition to Gov. Martin O’Malley’s stance.

“In effect the governor has, by executive fiat, made certain that no one gets executed during his eight years in public office by not looking for another drug, by not proposing rules and regulations by which the drug is administered,” Miller said. “It’s unfortunate in my opinion that the laws of the state aren’t being implemented.”

Miller went on to say that in such cases as John Allen Muhammad — executed in 2009 for the Beltway Sniper attacks that terrorized the Capitol region in the fall of 2002 — capital punishment is the appropriate response.

“People like that forfeit their right to existence,” he said. “We had to depend upon Virginia to do our job for us.”

Watch a video clip of Miller talking about his views on capital punishment in Maryland.

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Just look at the stock market over the last few weeks, jobless figures, unemployment insurance claims or really any metric you can think of and you won’t need much, if any, convincing the post-recession recovery has been anything but smooth sailing.

The state adds jobs one month and loses them the next. Big stock market gains are erased the next day. Governments in Europe and the United States seem to be taking turns doling out dire economic news.

The unevenness, doesn’t come just over days, weeks, months and years. It’s geographical, too. And that’s what you’ll find in the story today about Western Maryland, the first piece of The Daily Record’s “Help Wanted” series.

In Western Maryland, job losses in manufacturing and logistics have slowed the recovery. Washington County, with less than 3 percent of the state’s population, has accounted for 15 percent of the manufacturing jobs the state has lost since 2006. In raw numbers, that’s 3,500 jobs lost in Washington, a county of 147,000.

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The road on the left is Coastal Highway, bordered by the hotels and condos that, in good times, are full of the beach-going vacationers that drive Ocean City’s economy. The sign shows that even as tourists trickle back to Maryland’s beach town, Ocean City still has a long way to go to recovery.

This picture was taken outside the Long & Foster office at the corner of 118th Street and Coastal Highway after a drive through town last week. The south end of the main drag was full of “Vacancy” signs on the hotels closer to the Route 50 bridge. It was a weekday, of course, but the week of July 4 is primo vacation time.

Agents inside the office were good to the sign’s word, handing out packets with a dozen foreclosure listings. There’s a two bedroom, two-bath condo two blocks from the beach listed at $92,000. Two bedrooms, two baths and your own dock will run you $265,000. That one is two blocks from the beach, too, and a little larger and a little newer.

If you want waterfront, try two bedrooms and two baths in a bay-front condo for $309,900.

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Gov. Martin O’Malley earned kudos for the streamlined permitting program he unveiled Thursday from a source that rarely sees eye-to-eye with the Democratic chief executive — the conservative Maryland Business for Responsive Government.

“FastTrack” will allow developers to apply online for the streamlined state review, which will have agencies working concurrently to vet the project — rather than one at a time — and include oversight from the Department of Business and Economic Development and StateStat, the office O’Malley created to do data-driven analysis of government performance.

O’Malley signed an executive order Thursday morning to create the program.

“Governor O’Malley is taking a step in the right direction today by streamlining regulatory processes in Maryland departments and agencies,” MBRG President Kimberly M. Burns said in a written statement. “The executive order has potential to increase business productivity, investment and ultimately lead to job creation.”

The governor also announced the creation of the “Maryland Made Easy” website where DBED will build a consolidated, online permitting site.

“One of the ways in which we can create jobs, expand opportunity, and do it now, is by cutting the bureaucratic red tape,” said O’Malley said in a statement of his own. “We’re doing that with Maryland Made Easy, simplifying and streamlining the business licensing and permitting process — not just in specific agencies, but across our entire State government.”

“This is the FastTrack to expanding businesses in our state,” he said. “This is the FastTrack to jobs and opportunity, not in ‘a few years from now,’ but now.”

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Maryland slipped two spots in CNBC’s rankings of the best states to do business this year, finishing No. 29 out of 50 after placing 27th in both 2009 and 2010.

What may be worse for the Old Line State is that Virginia – Maryland’s most frequent foil when it comes to all things economic development and business friendliness – gained one place in the rankings and recaptured the top spot.

Maryland didn’t finish in the top five in any category the business news network used to determine the overall rankings. The state had its worst showing in cost of living, its 44th place ranking ahead of only New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, California, Alaska and Hawaii.

Perhaps more surprising for Maryland, CNBC ranked the state 38th for work force and 30th for quality of life, two factors that state leaders talk up as some of the state’s best selling points. The workforce ranking was based on education (where Maryland should have done well), worker availability (where Maryland may have hurt been by its relatively low unemployment rate) and union membership. CNBC counts union membership against states and Maryland’s stance has been very pro-union. It is the southernmost of the non-right to work states, a factor some economists believe hurts Maryland in its competition with Virginia and North Carolina.

Quality of life rankings were determined by local attractions, crime rate, health care and air and water quality. Notice there’s no mention of schools in there, one of Maryland’s strong suits. Just try and talk to a Democratic politician for two minutes without him or her mentioning the top-ranked public school system. Just try it. I dare you.

Maryland also got crushed in the rankings on infrastructure and transportation, finishing 39th. The Baltimore and Washington regions are some of the most congested in the country, so that’s not a surprise. But the rankings also looked at the value of goods shipped through the state, road quality and the availability of air travel. Hampton Roads does more business than the Port of Baltimore and while BWI is bigger than Reagan and Dulles, the two northern Virginia airports are larger when combined and Dulles offers far more international travel.

Where was the good news for Maryland? Probably just where you expected it would be. The state’s highest grade (10th place) was in technology and innovation. This included state support for innovation, patents issued to state residents, broadband access, and health and science grants made in the state. Virginia finished 11th in this category, the only in which it scored lower than Maryland.

Maryland finished 11th in education, which examined K-12 and colleges and universities.

Maryland has the 12th-best economy of all the states according the CNBC rankings that not only looked at the diversity in the state, but the fiscal health of state governments and the number of large corporations headquartered there. And Maryland was 12th-best in terms of access to capital for businesses.

And as much as this state is derided for having a terrible business climate, Maryland finished 18th and tied with pro-business Texas in that category, according to CNBC. But all things are relative, of course. Texas is blessed with neighbors like Oklahoma (24th in business friendliness) and Louisiana (26th). Maryland is stuck between Virginia (2) and Delaware (1). Of course, there’s always Pennsylvania (33) and West Virginia (49). So we’ve got that going for us.

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