Tag: maryland

Gov. Martin O’Malley (D, MD) proposes raising taxes on poor, homeowners.

If you’ve haven’t taken a look at Gov. O’Malley’s proposed Maryland budget yet, do so – and weep.  There’s enough idiocy in it for everybody to get a piece: more taxes for the poor (in the form of increased tobacco taxes*); more taxes for homeowners (caps on mortgage deductions) and other wealthy members of the upper professional class (caps on charitable deductions); and, of course, an Amazon tax (because this time Amazon.com simply won’t drop its affiliate program in Maryland in response, surely**).  But here’s the hidden time bomb:

In what O’Malley called one of his most “controversial” proposals, he recommended shifting half of the state’s $946 million tab for teacher pension costs onto the counties.

To help ease the pain of the shift, the state would pick up half of teachers’ Social Security costs, which the counties pay for entirely.

The change would save the state $239 million.

Continue reading Gov. Martin O’Malley (D, MD) proposes raising taxes on poor, homeowners.

#rsrh Well, one more day until New Hampshire.

And then we can stop pretending that we particularly care what those voters think, just in time to go over to South Carolina and pretend that we all particularly care what those voters think. And so the cycle continues.

…What? Dude, I live in Maryland and I’m a Republican. Nobody – and I mean absolutely nobody – is going to even pretend to pretend to care about how I, or anybody else, plan to vote in our primary.  Heck, the deadline’s in two days and the only people on the ballot for President at this point are three local Democrats.  Just the way it is.

Maryland redistricting map to get Voter Rights Act challenge.

So… the Maryland redistricting map was revealed and signed into law recently, and – shock!  Surprise! – the Democratic-controlled legislature managed to hack into one of the two Republican seats.  The short version: they went into Roscoe Bartlett’s MD-06, switched out a bunch of districts to make it more competitive, and then put central Maryland into the redistricting blender and hit ‘puree.’  Because, well, central Maryland is dominated by the Baltimore and Washington DC metro areas, which is another way of saying that it’s prime Democrat country.  The redistricting is likewise allegedly designed to give current Congressman John Sarbanes an easy, carefree life until such time as there’s a vacancy for MD-SEN; all in all, if you were hoping to see a Maryland redistricting map that didn’t look like a four-dimensional jigsaw puzzle, well, be disappointed yet again.

There’s just one small problem for the Maryland Democratic party, and it’s called the Voter Rights Act of 1965.  Or, perhaps, ‘karma.’ Continue reading Maryland redistricting map to get Voter Rights Act challenge.

Maryland planning more stealth tax hikes on poor?

In a socially-acceptable way, of course: ie, via another hike in the tax on tobacco.  The “Maryland Citizens’ Health Initiative” – a name whose hint of subtle menace should make small-government types involuntarily shiver – looking to raise it by a buck a pack, because… well, pretty much because they want people to quit smoking, and taxing it through the ceiling is supposed to accomplish that.  And it might… except for one minor little detail.  You see, Maryland’s state sales tax on tobacco is currently two dollars; over in Virginia it’s thirty cents.

You do the math.
Continue reading Maryland planning more stealth tax hikes on poor?

The RGA may be chuckling…

… (so sayeth Jim Geraghty, at least) at the way that Maryland probably will have to raise taxes to fix its budget shortfall, while Virginia will instead be trying to decide what to do with its budget surplus*: but as a Maryland resident I am finding that I don’t quite find the joke all that funny.  Particularly since Governor Martin O’Malley (D) is apparently planning to go for raising the gas tax again; which is to say, something unimaginative and counter-productive.

(pause)

Well, as above: so below.

Moe Lane

*I cannot wait for Tim Kaine to run for Senate next year, by the way.  I absolutely cannot wait.  And may O’Malley end up doing for Maryland and the DGA what Kaine did for Virginia and the DNC.

Martin O’Malley (D, MD) pushing for Amazon tax.

(Full disclosure: I am an Amazon.com Affiliate for Maryland.)

It’s still in the early stages – the Governor has started the paperwork process and Comptroller for Maryland Peter Franchot supports the idea – but the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, and goodness knows that the Democrats keep doing precisely that when it comes to Internet taxes.  Franchot (who, as the Red Maryland podcast above notes, is likely running for Governor in 2014) is claiming that the revenue that Maryland would glean would be roughly $160 million; given the way that Maryland’s Democratic-controlled government has wrecked the state’s economy recently, that number is a glittering prize.

A real pity that it’s a mirage.  Continue reading Martin O’Malley (D, MD) pushing for Amazon tax.

#rsrh President lying about SSM support?

John Aravois of AmericaBlog Gay is incensed, incensed! that the President’s people – prepare to be shocked at this revelation – lied about President Obama’s past support for same-sex marriage.  Apparently, Oceania has always been at war with Eurasia Obama had never… well, the title says it all:

“Senior White House aide: 1996 Obama gay marriage questionnaire is a fake, even though Obama signed it”

Via Glenn Reynolds, who probably is as contemptuous of this as I am.  And I support same-sex marriage; the only difference between me and the President is, I’m not afraid to say so.  But it’s amazing how outraged Aravois can still get over what is pretty much a routine betrayal of him by the President (perfectly safe one, too*).  I mean, come on.  For the love of God, how many times do we have to have this conversation?  THIS IS WHY THE PRESIDENT WILL NOT SUPPORT SAME-SEX MARRIAGE: Continue reading #rsrh President lying about SSM support?

Teamsters steamroller United Food & Commercial Workers.

Union solidarity is a myth.

David Freddoso has the details: essentially, the Teamsters and the UFCW are at cross-purposes when it comes to the Giant supermarket chain here in DC.  The Teamsters are angry at Giant because Giant parent company Royal Ahold is closing a Teamsters-controlled facility in Jessup, Maryland, in favor of a non-union one in Pennsylvania*.  This will be happening, and the real question is whether Royal Ahold will start the process with another Teamster-controlled Jessup facility.  As Freddoso mentioned, part of the Teamster’s push-back on this involves directly attacking the Giant supermarket chain’s reputation… which if successful will of course adversely affect the UFCW’s own workers. Continue reading Teamsters steamroller United Food & Commercial Workers.

Democratic legislators flee… SAME-SEX MARRIAGE bill? [Fixed]

In Maryland?

Apparently.  Maryland has been trying to pass a SSM bill for years – the last time they tried, its failure was a genuine shock to SSM supporters – and it did look like the latest version (HB 55, the “Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act”) would pass once it made it through the MD Senate (barely) last week.  But before it could goes to the House it has to get through their Judiciary Committee… and on Tuesday two critical Democrats refused to show up for the meeting, thus making the vote impossible.  It will probably surprise nobody here to read that both Democrats (Tiffany Allston, Jill Carter) are African-Americans who represent African-American districts; it might surprise some to hear that both are co-sponsors of HB 55.  I called the Maryland Assembly this morning: they confirmed that the bill is still stuck in committee, which means (among other things) that possibly Rep. Allston hasn’t made up her mind yet after all.  Or is just worried that her constituents won’t change their minds anytime soon.

This is not actually funny, although I concede that people opposed to SSM may legitimately beg to differ with me on that.  Neither is it a case of ends justifying means – and I will not concede that differing on that is legitimate.  The Republic will survive the establishment or non-establishment of same-sex marriages in one or many or all states.  What it cannot survive is the establishment of the ‘principle’ that participating in the democratic process requires you to continue to participate [only when you are winning]*.  If Rep. Allston’s and Rep. Carter’s constituents don’t like HB 55, then those two legislators need to decide whether they agree with their constituents or not.  If they do, they should vote no.  If they don’t, they should vote yes.

Either way, Allston and Carter can then deal with the consequences that come from making a choice – a choice, by the way, that they implicitly volunteered to make by running for office.  These two are no different in spirit than the state Democrats from Indiana and Wisconsin who are hiding out rather than do their jobs, and they should be treated accordingly.

Moe Lane

*[I had somebody point out that I mangled this point horribly.  Corrected, and my bad.]