It’s been a pretty ugly run for O’Guvnah these last three years, and the fourth doesn’t look any prettier.  After squandering a one-billion dollar surplus left by his predecessor, then suffering from a congenital condition that prevents him taxing less, spending less, and regulating less, the State of Maryland is in a pretty deep hole, well on its way to hell in an oyster shell.  Looking at another $1 billion deficit for the next fiscal year – in a year that includes an election for his very office – O’Guvnah is pondering who might run against him, and what their strengths are.  And his pick is:  Bobby Ehrlich.

O’Guvnah had laid all his hopes on a Clinton presidency, but those were dashed when her campaign nose-dived like the O’s in August.  Now, to keep any political future alive, he has to win re-election.  But he seems pretty convinced that Bobby Ehrlich stands in his way, sending out a fundraising dispatch that employs the “Ehrlich Factor”.  O’Guvnah, like all Maryland lawmakers and state-level elected officials, cannot raise money during the 90-day legislative session that commences on January 13th.  He claims that this is a GOP “advantage”. 

Of course, that leaves all of the other Democrat advantages in this state, like corrupt elections board officials, gerrymandered districts, ownership of the unions, and so on.

And this time around, you can pretty much count on the fact that Eddie Hale won’t be able to turn his branch properties into giant advertising whorehouses for the O’Malley/Brown campaign.  Not to mention the fact that there aren’t enough people working at the bank that care what Ed thinks about the 1st Mariner PAC anymore.  Ed Hale was a major bankroll and advertising advantage for O’Malley last time around, but now that Ed has pretty much blown his nuts off in the subprime collapse and 1st Mariner is teetering on the edge of both a NASDAQ delisting and a federal takeover, that well is dry.

So yeah, I’d say O’Guvnah is worried. He is his own Peter Principle:  he has risen to his own level of incompetence, and there are few to bail him out.

1st Mariner Bancorp, the parent company of 1st Mariner Bank, has been informed that they face delisting by NASDAQ unless and until it can raise its market capitalization and share price back above the exchange's minimum requirements.  According to the Baltimore Business Journal, 1st Mariner was informed by NASDAQ that they have until March 10, 2010 to bring its market capitalization above $5 million or risk removal from NASDAQ's Global Market.  This comes on the heels of consent decree by the FDIC and other regulators to increase their capital levels.

1st Mariner's stock has been in a virtual downfall since last fall, as the bank was pummeled by the horrendous business decisions of Ed Hale and his board to jump whole heartedly into the subprime market.  That bet failed badly, especially due to massive fraud in the Northern Virginia offices.  The bank also announced that it completed the sale of its Mariner Finance unit, which came in well below the hoped-for value at a paltry $10.7 million.  Ironically, Mariner Finance was the only profitable part of the company, due mainly to the aggressive collection techinques that insured payment on unsecured debt.  That Ed Hale was only able to secure $10.7 million in the fire sale is basically a statement by the buyers (MF Holdco LLC) that they see those outstanding loans as generating only pennies on the dollar.

The decline continues for Ed Hale, whose branches have been facing declining deposit values.  The bank recently announced it would close its Charles Street branch, which (again, ironically) had more deposits than many other worse-performing branches (such as the Shrewsbury, PA branch).

The Baltimore Sun is reporting that a French Bank – Paris-based Natixis SA – has scheduled an auction for Ed Hale’s Canton Crossing tower and the surrounding land on October 21 after Hale’s Canton Crossing, LLC defaulted on an $84 million loan.  According to the article, Hale is reportedly considering the sale of the building that opened three years ago.  My how the mighty have fallen.