“Happy Holidays, Maryland. Now bend over.”
What were your state legislators doing at 2am this morning? In Maryland, they were voting in a $1.4 billion tax hike:
Maryland lawmakers early this morning passed about $1.4 billion in annual tax increases and a public referendum on legalizing 15,000 slot machines as a far-reaching special session of the General Assembly hurtled to a close.
Passage of the bills is intended to solve two long-festering issues: chronic budget problems created by passing a landmark education law five years ago without funding to pay for it and the perennial debate over slot machine gambling.
Before adjourning at 2:36 a.m., lawmakers had sent two bills needed to execute a referendum on slots to Gov. Martin O’Malley (D), as well as another two tax bills and a measure to offer health insurance to 100,000 poor and uninsured adults without Medicaid coverage.
Lawmakers also approved legislation directing O’Malley to trim spending in next year’s budget by about $550 million, including slowing the growth in education spending.
“You’ve got to give Governor O’Malley a lot of credit for going out and, in essence, leading with his chin,” said House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel), who advised against holding the high-stakes session. “The governor took it all on his shoulders, and the legislature pretty much followed. . . . We’ve basically, in my estimate, taken a full legislative year of work and condensed it into 20 days.”
Republican leaders said the session was more likely to remembered for its frantic pace and for what would arguably be the largest tax increase in Maryland history. Legislation expected to be given final passage before adjournment included increases in sales, corporate income, tobacco and vehicle titling taxes, as well as an overhaul of the personal income tax system that would result in high-end earners paying more.
“Common sense and reason went out the window just to give the governor a victory,” said Senate Minority Leader David R. Brinkley (R-Frederick). “I think this whole thing has been a debacle, and taxpayers are stuck holding the bill.”
Everyone else should give thanks this holiday that they don’t live in my state.
Jonn Lilyea puts it another way: “Happy Holidays, Maryland. Now bend over.”
More at O’Malley Watch and Red Maryland.
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I guess cutting spending never occured to them.
But it could be worse, it could be NJ where the voters rejected the proposal for the state to borrow money, only to have the dems there try and pass the spending anyway.
…and let’s not forget the massive rate hike on utilities that occured earlier this year because the dems refused to do anything so that they could get votes.
Michelle,
I miss some of the people there, but I don’t miss the pols with their hands in my wallet.
Man, I wish I owned a fleet of moving vans. It would be very easy to pick a location to set up shop.
I don’t live in Maryland, but I do live just across the Potomac. I do not look forward to what those slot machines may bring.
That’s great. Sounds conceptually like building a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier without providing for a reactor, or a prison without money to pay for bars or guards. Details, schmetails; we’ve got The Children(TM) to think about, don’t you know?
And Maryland, eh? Michelle, most of the time I envy you and lament my circumstances for living in Oregon - “The Arkansas of the West Coast” as my late father once put it (with apologies to Arkansas) - but just this once I feel badly for you.
At least here in Ecotopia, the legislature mainly wants to stick it to smokers, and not necessarily - or better put, not right away - to everyone owning an alarm clock (which is how Ann Coulter describes the Democrats’ definition of “The Rich”).
Thinking about becoming the tax variant of an “economic refugee?”
Michelle I was born and spent the first 26 years of my life in that state. Glad I moved on. Democrats back in the “good old days” had a lot more common sense and a bit less corruption (that I was aware of) and seemed to work for the good of the state and the people. That seemed to change rapidly under the likes of Marvin Mandel and some to follow. Spiro Agnew used to be my boss and later he became a target of the Dems for his corruption. Well, grin and bear it because it’s no better in VA or PA. Now if you come on down my way to TN it gets somewhat better. We even have a halfway decent Dem Gov. Since the mayor election in Baltimore, that, too, is going to go further down the tubes.
I wish those knuckleheads would quit doing things like that. Now more Marylanders will be moving to Virginia.
We already have enough bad drivers on the road with all the illegals. Now we get people from a state that’s never heard of a turn signal.
Just kidding.
I grew up in the metro DC area and now live in metro NYC. With this tax increase, Montgomery County, MD will have higher taxes than NYC or Westchester County.
Hmmm, I think I hear th e Fairfax County schools whispering about how comparable they are to Montgomery County. Perhaps you should ask Mark Levin about his alma mater, TC Williams compared to Whitman, Churchill or B-CC.
chsw
Oh, goodie. I get to pay my tuition and my little sister’s as well. Anyone else who wants some money at 2:36 am can find me awake, studying for my next physics exam, trying to get ther heck out of this state.
I’m open to suggestions for new curse words to use when describing O’Malley and his perverted band of merry men in the General Asembly.
Welcome to the club. I live in CA. With over 2/3 of the legislature locked up with dem nuts, there isn’t a tax hike or a social program they don’t like.
I live in MD. No Thanksgiving turkey for me this year…
The people that vote Democrat in state elections should be required to live in that state to suffer the consequences. That is what is screwing up Washington and Oregon -all the liberals fleeing their own mess in California.
It’s okay people…they at least have Steny Hoyer. Gag, ack, ack!!
And Montana, etc…
Maybe if enough liberals leave, we’ll get CA back. Wishful thinking.
Cool! slots are fun!
Do they payout in tokens or carbon credits?
Seems Mrs Frost got that last legislative item she was lobbying for during the SCHIP debate.
SLots for the tots.
Maybe they can vote to change the state’s name to Fairyland: “The State Where All Your Tax & Spend Dreams Come true!”
imho
BOHICA..yaw’ll see…
you’ve been warned…send the B*tch
and her perverted clan back wherever
in the Hell they claim to have originated from..
That goes for the
Myld democraps that do this crap
under the cover of darkness…
I am not sure which is worse:
Or the fact that the Frost’s are on SCHIP and your state sees nothing wrong with it.
Those democraps are tax crazy. Just imagine what will happen if they win big next November… May God help us!
Yesterday, the boy’s mother, Bonnie Frost, stood before a microphone at a Baltimore church, in a peasant shirt and clogs, to make a quiet appeal for broader health coverage in Maryland.
“My husband and I cannot afford health insurance,” she said, as advocates announced a new radio ad featuring her. The plan, to be debated as the legislature convenes in Annapolis next week, “would help a lot of working families like us.”
This is when she started supporting the adult expansion for SCHIP in Maryland
Now all the working people will pay for it.
Here’s something you may not have known about Maryland politics.
Nancy Pelosi is originally from Maryalnd. She is the daughter of the former mayor of Baltimore, Tommy D’Alesandro.
As Paul Harvey would say, “Now you know the rest of the story”
h/t SuitablyFlip
Lawmakers resolved differences to restructure the state’s income tax brackets. The income tax in Maryland now is relatively flat. That’s because everyone who makes more than $3,000 in taxable income pays a 4.75 percent rate. The change set up three new brackets. Single tax filers making more than $150,000 and joint filers making more than $200,000 will pay 5 percent; singles making more than $300,000 and joint filers earning more than $350,000 will pay 5.25 percent; people with income above $500,000 would pay 5.5 percent. The changes, which will take effect in January, will raise an estimated $197 million in fiscal year 2009.
Lawmakers also agreed to increase personal income tax exemptions for single taxpayers who make less than $100,000 and joint filers who earn less than $150,000 in federal adjusted gross income.
The sales tax will be going up from 5 to 6 percent, which will affect just about everyone. The tobacco tax will jump from $1 to $2 a pack.
Lawmakers compromised on raising the corporate income tax from 7 to 8.25 percent, reaching middle ground between the Senate’s 8 percent proposal and the House’s 8.75 percent.
Those rates are cheaper than here in New York, where the top bracket is over seven percent. In addition, New York City has its own income tax, and the counties piggyback on top of the state’s sales tax rate.
Oh how noble! The governor took on the tough job of overspending and raiding the hard earned money of Maryland workers, and the spineless cowards that make up the Democratic majority in the legislature took a year’s worth of intelligent debate on incredibly important matters to the people of Maryland and rushed it through under the cover of night in less than 20 days!
I’m glad raiding our hard earned money is all in a days work, you idiot.
I guess that means for the other 345 days of the year they’ll have to suffer state-paid-for inspections of the Bahama’s and Rio, etc.
Orrrr….maybe they’ll spend some time in Pelosi’s newly landscaped waterfront apartments.
Crab Cakes.
Michelle, you could move to West Virgina and save a lot of money. You wouldn’t even have to buy the kids shoes. Just a joke all you nice people in WV.
We may skip Virginia and move directly to NC although we may be here one more election to see if the bastiches can be voted out.
hmm, if they pay in crab cakes like those from By The Docks then it may be worth playing
Thank the lord I don’t live there any more. The MD state motto ought to be “If it moves tax it, if it stays still too long tax it.”
I LOVE crab cakes! (Hmmmm, warmer oceans mean more crabs).
Oh, what to do!
This is what happens when the tax and spend politicians are elected to office. Apparently, a lot of people in Maryland wanted this. The first thing the O’Malley said was to blame the money problems on Ehrlich. He implied that the past governor, not only proposed the budget but passed it as well. I guess the legislature had nothing to do with it, according to O’Malley. The Democratic party has come a long way from JFK; a man who believed that less taxes equals more revenue (the “paradox of economics”).
MM, I want to give thanks that you are courageous enough to stay in that area. You are close to the source of many of our problems, and keep us informed of the Hsunannigans of the DC denizens.
Of course, many of us would welcome you with open arms in the Lone Star State - for a while or a lifetime; we have a few books we’d like to get signed.
Michelle, you get no sympathy from me. I live in NJ. I buy everything I can from Amazon in protest. And there are more Florida license plates in NJ than NJ plates. They claim the population is decreasing every year, but are still building housing like crazy. The thought would never occur to them that people were just committing tax evasion.
Maryland elected those fools. What did they expect? Stupid is as stupid does…
Cutting spending never occurs to them, taylork.
Some days I believe certain politicians won’t be happy until they take every penny we earn, and redistribute it like mommy giving out allowance to the kiddies.
For those of you who don’t know this, there’s something called “tax freedom day”, where in every penny you’ve earned up to that point goes directly to the government coffers in the form of taxes. I believe the average is May in my state. So for five months, I work 40+ hours a week just to pay “my fair share”…
I need to get into politics to put an end to this nonsense. I’m sick of paying taxes that always HAVE to go up.
Not only does it not occur to them, it is not even in their vocabulary. They are socialists and see it as their job to ensure the continued growth of the government. This is how they define compassion.
And thus the exodus from Maryland will begin.
Move from MD to where? All of the people who could sell out and move to WV or MD did 2-3 years ago. If you didn’t move to NoVA while the housing boom was going, you’re outta luck now.
The people on live in the DC Metro area are people who need to be there…they’re hostages. They have no choice. Face a 4 hour commute or get taxed to death.
Education bills without funding.
Sounds like Michigan, where our Canadian Governor wants to move the State Police headquarters to a building being built by a large campaign contributor and lease it for, I hear, $116 million per year. The State Police say their present building, leased for $1.00 per year, is perfectly adequate.
Sorry to hear about your Holiday gift Michelle. If you could stand to live in Idaho we actually had a tax decrease for the current fiscal year, but not so sure it will last. The runaway growth in places like Ketchum, McCall, and Boise area have done a lot to improve the tax base allowing fiscally responsible Government (I’ll just say they are better than other states I have been stationed in, home is where the Air Force sends you) to give us a tax break. Since the growth is slowing down we may also feel the bite of an increase in our future too.
So proud of our elected officials here in Maryland. NOT!
The exodus from Md has already begun, 72% BGE increase sound familiar? MOM said he’d stop that one. Yea, right.
Now I’m seeing a bunch of libdolts who actually voted for the sleazy clown MOM just because he didn’t have an R next to his name trying to get out of here to go to Hanover Pa. What a bunch of liberal hypocrites. I could go on and on with examples of how liberalism is messing up this state and their hypocrisy but we don’t have the time.
I’ll bet that there are more than a few Cardin voters who are having buyer’s remorse.
Time to adopt a state motto I heard in PA: “If our potholes don’t kill ya, our taxes will!!!!”
Maryland has become a gang infested sanctuary state.
MD State Motto: If you can dream it, we can tax it!
I do give thanks for not living in a state such as Maryland, and do so often. It’s no accident that I chose to live in Texas, which has one of the lowest tax burdens in the nation (47th of 50 last time I checked).