SUNspeak

“The governor pleaded for their support”

That is how Sun reporter Bradley Olson described the arm twisting O’Malley and Mike Busch used on the MoCo delegation to get them to vote for the income tax increase, in today’s article about Delegate Luiz Simmons opposition to slots. Here is the full graph:

On Saturday, he led a defection of Montgomery County delegates over a proposed income tax increase that he said would disproportionately hurt many of the high-salaried people he represents.The revolt threw the session briefly into disarray, and prompted O’Malley to ask for a last-minute meeting with the county’s delegation. The governor pleaded for their support and eventually got it, despite outspoken and even somewhat confrontational objections from Simmons, which have also been voiced in front of House Speaker Michael E. Busch, several delegates said.

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So now in the Sun’s Orwellian milieu, “pleaded” means blackmailed.

The Washington Post was intellectually honest in describing how O’Malley got the majority of the MoCO delegates to support his plan:

A “whip count” taken Friday night by House leaders showed that a majority of Montgomery’s 24 delegates opposed the bill and that support in the chamber fell short of the 71 votes needed for its passage.

Nineteen members of Montgomery’s all-Democratic delegation wound up voting for the bill, however. Only four, including Del. Brian J. Feldman, the chairman of Montgomery’s House delegation, voted against the legislation. One delegation member was absent.

Some Montgomery lawmakers suggested that the shift was driven by an alternate proposal to balance the budget that was floated Saturday afternoon by House leaders. That plan withdrew $460 million in new transportation spending, a major priority for the Washington area.

The alternative also would have capped the income tax rate that county governments could impose on residents, a move that would have hit Montgomery particularly hard. Also absent from the plan was funding for the so-called geographic cost of education index, a formula designed to send additional dollars to counties, including Montgomery, where thecost of education is more expensive.