Laundry list 2007 through 2010

I think someplace along the line I noted that I was on a whole slew of e-mail list from the various campaigns and I check them every so often.

So, the other day I got an e-mail from the O’Malley campaign regarding their “One Maryland” tour, with stops in Kensington, Solomon, Easton, Frederick, and Annapolis. Doesn’t sound like they’re traveling too far from what they REALLY consider the One Maryland – their power base in Baltimore, MoCo, and PG County.

But what I did with the link back to the O’Malley campaign website is done something I thought I couldn’t do anymore. I got (and saved to my computer) .pdf files of all of the promises O’Malley made during the campaign. The reason was for future reference, of course! So grab your wallet now because here’s just a few of the ways where our soon-to-be governor wants to spend YOUR money:

• “Adequately fund” the Department of Disabilities.
• Use “state resources” to better promote community oriented support and services.
• Create a statewide affordable housing fund to support development projects that ensure affordable housing.
• “Fully fund” the state’s paratransit system.
• Fund the Maryland Agricultural and Resource-Based Industry Development Corporation.
• “Fully fund” Program Open Space.
• “Dedicate funds” based on recommendations of the Kopp Commission study on school construction.
• “Fully fund” the Thornton Education Plan.
• Increase teacher pensions and incentive programs.
• Increase funding to the community college system.
• Increase weatherization funds for insulation and windows for low-income Marylanders.
• “Double funding” to the Community Energy Loan Program.
• “Fully fund” lead paint prevention programs.
• “Increase funding” to programs to reward farmers for planting cover crops and creating buffer zones.
• “Invest” in transit to provide “livable, workable downtowns.”
• “Increase funding” for community health centers.
• “Dedicate more state resources” to increasing access to care in rural communities.
• “Adequate support” to assisted living facilities in Maryland.
• “Double assistance” to counties for violent crime prevention.
• “Invest” in mass transportation options to allow Marylanders to use alternatives to cars.

That’s twenty bullet points, really just the low-hanging fruit among the myriad promises made while “the Mick” was on the campaign trail. I didn’t include the maze of tax credits he’s proposing for certain actions or any of the money I’m sure his “Environmental Bill of Rights” will cost, nor the millions his additional health care initiatives are sure to add to the toll. Already his Democrat allies in the General Assembly have thrown their support behind an extra $1 per pack cigarette tax, which is supposed to raise an extra $210 million but likely will fall far short of projections as “sin taxes” generally do. (It’ll get spent as if the $210 million was in the bag though.) And an article in the Sun from yesterday lends credence to a rumor that Maryland’s tax system may be overhauled, which would include an expansion (and possibly an increase) in the state’s sales tax.

But remember Maryland, you elected him so obviously you swallowed the promises hook, line, and sinker. (Well, except for folks like me who voted to retain Bob Ehrlich in office.) Unfortuately, the budget in Maryland is going to be balanced on the back of the businessman, the farmer, the landowner, and the other productive people – let the wealth redistribution by fiat begin. Hopefully Atlas will hold off from shrugging for four years and Maryland can rectify its 2006 mistake in 2010.

Author: Michael

It's me from my laptop computer. View all posts by Michael