One week until 90 days we’ll pay off for years

In a week the 2007 General Assembly session begins, and Democrats are salivating over the renewed possibilities – they now have the governor’s seat back so no more veto threats or messy override votes. Not only that, just 25 miles or so down the road in DC their party now holds the Congressional purse strings as well. It’s just the matter of that President sitting there but the folks in Congress can sucker him by pledging bipartisanship. (Did anyone check to see if Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid had their fingers crossed behind their back?)

But I’m going to focus on Annapolis for this post. Just three articles I’ve run across in the last few days (one in the Washington Times and these two in the Baltimore Sun) told me it was open season on our wallets and our liberty come next week.

You know, one thing that was not noted during the campaign was that Mayor O’Malley raised Baltimore city residents’ taxes by $30 million last year (according to the Times.) A higher property tax rate here, a $3.50 per month tax on cel phones there, maybe toss in a 12% tax on the rest of your phone bill and 2% tax on energy…pretty soon you’re talking about real money. That’s about $50 out of each average Baltimore resident’s pocket. To that end, State Senator Edward Kasemeyer (D- Columbia) noted in the Times article that “increases in state taxes on sales, income, gasoline, and tobacco are ‘in the mix’ for addressing long-term budget needs.” Since he’s the Senate’s Majority Leader, you can pretty much bank on the state grabbing your wallet.

And if that’s not enough, the Sun article regarding auto emissions points to a stricter California-style pollution regulation on autos sold in Maryland. In another case of the Eastern Shore paying for the sins of the rest of the state, it’s cited in the Sun piece that Somerset County’s risk for cancer caused by airborne toxins is 1/6 of that in Baltimore City. Yet the entire state would have to shell out extra (estimates run from $100 to $1,000 for the additional equipment in each car) if the legislation that will be introduced by Del. Elizabeth Bobo (D-Columbia) passes.

However, buried in the tome is one dirty little secret. Pending federal regulations will do much of the work that this bill would achieve. Even more ludicrous, environmental lobbyist Brad Heavner is quoted as saying “the required upgrades could (emphasis mine) prevent one additional case of cancer over the course of 70 years in 25,000 babies born statewide.” Yet those 25,000 babies would pay hundreds extra for every new car they bought to prevent one of them just maybe getting cancer.

And finally, with Democrats in Maryland it will be a case of “if we can’t get what we want because it’s unconstitutional, we’ll just change the constitution.” That’s what they aim to do in my other Sun example. That early-voting law they passed that was unconstitutional according to the Maryland Court of Appeals? Look for it on the 2008 ballot. It’s unlikely that, when an early voting measure was passed, vetoed, and overriden in the last two General Assemblies with solid Democrat support in all four votes, we’re going to see anything less than a 3/5 majority pass this turkey of a constitutional amendment along to Maryland voters. And with practically enough votes just in the Baltimore/PG/MoCo area to carry all four statewide Democrats to election in 2006, there’s little hope that this amendment would fail in 2008.

So in 2010 when Governor O’Malley is up for re-election, how out of the question would it be for busloads of inner-city Baltimore residents to have a nice day trip to the slots down in Ocean City with some of that walking-around money campaigns are allowed to have. The bus will make a stop in each county seat so fill out your early voting ballots and just check off the top name for each office (since Democrats will have the “top” ballot billing again in 2010.)

You see, somehow I doubt that the early voting effort will have a photo ID requirement. Just a hunch.

It’s probably a good thing I don’t read the papers every day because I’m sure that they’re just full of these bright ideas on how the Democrats are going to help out the working man by sticking their hand in everyone’s wallet and their nose into where it doesn’t belong. However, as a blogger and one who craves the return of personal freedom I may have to make this sacrifice more often just so I can point all of this out.

And may I suggest some alternatives?

As far as state spending goes, has anyone ever taken a look at just what the state really NEEDS? I’m not into spending money for money’s sake. For example – does the state really NEED to buy private land to keep it from being developed (and taking it off the county tax rolls?) Or, to use an example I heard on the radio news today, does the state NEED to move part of its Attorney General office to Montgomery County? I don’t sense an attitude in state government that says “we should try to use as little taxpayer money as possible because it’s their money and thus we should prioritize our spending efforts.” Instead we get efforts like the one I noted some time ago about raising the cigarette tax $1.00 a pack to fund Maryland’s bid to combat teen smoking and add people to the state’s health insurance rolls. I don’t care for coercing money from people to do something that private initiative could possibly do better.

Regarding the other initiatives, I believe that the cost/benefit ratio of the auto emissions regulation is too much of a burden on average Free Staters. While no one wants additional cases of cancer, the costs of the emissions equipment would burden everyone from the person who wants a new car to the auto dealer who could lose a few sales to neighboring states. In fact, this law could be counterproductive if the auto dealers’ association is correct and the cost is more like $1,000 plus per car. Then the more polluting older cars likely stay on the road longer.

And most who have read monoblogue know how I feel about early voting, particularly since Maryland already is a “shall-issue” absentee ballot state. It’s going to open a Pandora’s Box of fraud if my gut instinct is correct. However, it’s only when the Democrats lose that fraud seems to be a problem and early voting’s another attempt to game the system so they can’t lose.

Author: Michael

It's me from my laptop computer.

3 thoughts on “One week until 90 days we’ll pay off for years”

  1. While I agree with everything you say, when I was prepping for my taxes, I was angry at this last set of Republicans too! Look at all the new tax rules coming up for charitable donations. You can only donate new clothes, you have to get receipts for even the smallest donations (a reciept for each $10 Sunday service donation.) I’m assuming these rules were passed by Republicans. It seems no matter who we have in power, we’ll get the raw end of the stick. 😉

  2. I have lived in Salisbury my entire life and I truly love it here. However, with each passing year, I have become more frustrated with the Democrats grip on the state because of their power-base in Baltimore and PG County. Since it appears that we here on the Shore will NEVER have our needs and interests taken care of by those in Annapolis, I am in the process of moving out of this state completely. They will no longer have my tax money to steal and waste. The election of O’Malley was the icing on the cake. Texas, here I come!!!

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