1 posted on 01/24/2008 11:34:14 AM EST by sickoflibs
Posted on 01/24/2008 8:34:10 AM PST by sickoflibs
With Wall Street on a slide, the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates, record numbers of homeowners facing foreclosure and economists talking recession, people might very well be wondering if the tax increases approved last November by the Maryland General Assembly were ill-timed. Yesterday, Gov. Martin O'Malley used his annual State of the State address to offer a spirited, if somewhat belated, defense of that decision.
The governor's argument can be boiled down to two points. First, Maryland needed to correct a neglected structural budget deficit that spanned two previous administrations and was only going to get worse. That's a debilitating condition Mr. O'Malley inherited, and he acknowledged that his unpleasant medicine, while necessary, was not going to make him politically popular in the short term - as recent polls attest.
But the other point, perhaps the one most overlooked by prospective voters, is that without the recent budget-balancing moves, the outlook for essential government services would be grim. Is an economic downturn the time to weaken the social safety net, to ignore the growing numbers of people without health insurance, to raise the cost of college tuition, to do nothing to help those who are losing their homes?
There are some commendable proposals in the O'Malley agenda, of course. None, however, is likely to raise the ruckus that tends to accompany a major tax increase. Yet many of these same proposals - quite a few of which will likely have bipartisan support in Annapolis - wouldn't be possible if November's deficit-reduction efforts had failed. The money simply wouldn't be there to pay for them. And that may be the hardest point to explain to the public - how much worse off so many Marylanders would be if Annapolis were now scrambling to close a billion-dollar-plus hole instead.
(Excerpt) Read more at baltimoresun.com ...
Sad but too many in Maryland believe greatly growing welfare state is critical to civilization.
Ya gotta love the Sun, spinning as furiously as they can. I’m already gettin dizzy.
Cut every department in state government by 5 percent. Do it again.
No nation in history ever taxed itself into prosperity.
They should offer the justification we hear a lot here in California: “If we didn’t have [the tax in question], people would (pick the appropriate activity:) buy the thing / engage in the activity / enter the contract, and we wouldn’t get any money out of it.”
It's for the common good?
If the future legislatures must follow the mandates of today's body then those in the future don't represent their constituents.
RE : “No nation in history ever taxed itself into prosperity.”
You are missing the Clinton campaign spin where the golden age was when Clinton raised taxes on the rich (and gasoline, and social security) and all the universe was at peace.
Spend beyond your means for 6 years in a row and it’s no longer overspending, it becomes a blameless “structural deficit” so don’t complain about the tax hike. I love it.
Maryland Tax Ping
From the original post: “the outlook for essential government services would be grim.”
Therein lies the crux of the issue. It’s well past time to redefine ‘essential government services’...far too much largess being voted to themselves by the sheeple. And, we know where that leads.
They’re so many lies and distortions in the article that I don’t know where to begin. “Essential government services?” Essential to whom?
Yeah, we're so stooooooooooooooopid for believing that budget cuts might encourage self-sufficiency, charity, and the private sector. Duuuuuuuuuuuh.
lib’s tax for power, control, and socialism.
According to Governor Ehrlich (as I heard it on the Grandy and Andy show), the deficit is actually a result of comparing revenues against a WISH LIST of things the government wanted to do, rather than what was actually being spent. According to Ehrlich, there was actually 800 million dollars in the treasury.
Maryland “Freak State” PING!
The problem with all this is the PREMISE of:
“CONTINUING GOVERNMENT SERVICES”!
Just what “services” must they provide (or rather, not in reality)?
The services provided should be FEW, and benefit EVERYONE. Not just to jack up the welfare doles which only benefit a very FEW and take from everyone ELSE. I get NO benefit/service from welfare nonsense or any other nonsense that isn’t used for everyone.
If we didn’t have all these “services” - WE WOULDN’T NEED THE MONEY!
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