GOP hopeful for Governor Larry Hogan is at it again, stating what’s obvious to anyone with common sense and who lives outside the I-95 corridor:
On Wednesday, January 13th, 2010 the Maryland General Assembly will convene its 427th Session. It is the final session of Martin O’Malley’s term and much of the focus will be on how to close the $2 billion structural deficit he created.
“O’Malley increased spending by more than a billion in each of the last three legislative sessions. Before Maryland can get out of this recession, Martin O’Malley must stop the spending spree, stop raising taxes on job creators, and stop asking taxpayers for bailouts,” Hogan said.
“In typical O’Malley style, he will let the legislators do the heavy lifting. Then, he’ll take the credit or pass the blame,” charged Hogan. “The state’s Spending Affordability Committee has recommended a zero-growth budget. The big question will be whether or not Martin O’Malley will listen.”
“If history is the judge, the answer is no,” said Hogan. “First Martin O’Malley blew through a $1 billion surplus we left him. Then, he increased taxes by over $1.6 billion. And when that was not enough, he then took a multi-billion dollar federal bailout which he used to increase spending three times higher than the Spending Affordability Committee recommended.”
“Martin O’Malley is no leader on fiscal restraint and his record tells the real tale. Increased spending, record tax increases, and a failed fiscal policy has caused Maryland to lag behind 42 other states,” Hogan said.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Maryland is one of just 8 states that lost jobs in its most recent monthly report.
“Maryland’s families are hurting. Our small businesses are leaving, or worse, closing altogether. We deserve better,” said Hogan. “It’s time for someone to take the reigns (sic) of the state and lead it out of our current crisis with fiscal policies that encourage long term job growth and businesses to stay in Maryland.”
“During these tough economic times, Marylanders deserve a Governor who will roll up his sleeves and get to work addressing these tough issues,” Hogan concluded.
Whether he has to beg (his friends in Washington), borrow (from whatever funds still have money), or steal (from the pockets of unwitting taxpayers), Martin O’Malley will get his wish. I don’t care what the SAC said about a zero increase, my prediction is that spending will increase as much or more in this budget as in any of O’Malley’s previous ones because it’s an election year and Martin O’Malley has to make sure his special interest buddies get more than crumbs so they’ll support him come November. The rest of us will get the crumbs now and the tax increase will come soon enough, in 2011 when all are safely re-elected.
Yet General Assembly Republicans can do Hogan and the rest of the ticket a favor by proposing a sound alternative to the budget (as they can since the General Assembly doesn’t set the budget) but more importantly just saying no to what O’Malley presents. There’s nothing more frustrating to the rank-and-file GOP member as seeing their Delegate or Senator selling out because they happened to get some goodie in the budget for the district – meanwhile that small favor is paid back many times over in higher taxes, fees, and the like. I’m going to be damn disgusted if there’s fewer than 37 GOP votes in the House of Delegates and 14 Senate votes against the O’Malley budget. (Yes, that means all hands on deck for this one.)
Maybe the Maryland GOP doesn’t like primary fights, but when there’s a member who deserves to go because they play ball too much with the opposition, I want to see them. We all deserve a choice, and if the Delegate or Senator thinks they deserve re-election they need to secure their base by convincing the Republican base they’re worthy of support on principle, not on simply having “Republican” on their ballot line.
If there’s one thing I dislike about Larry Hogan on a political level, it’s the fact that he would bow out if former Governor Ehrlich finally decides to get in on the race. I don’t think Ehrlich deserves a coronation because there may be someone out there who would better govern Maryland by conservative principles. I haven’t heard Ehrlich taking it to O’Malley like Hogan has and Bob needs to show me he has the fire in the belly again before he can earn my support.
Perhaps it’s not the “establishment” thing to say, but no one ever said I was conventional anyway.
