Class Envy? or …
An editorial in this morning’s Daily Times read more like your typical Democrat whining, until you get to the end. To base an op-ed on a report issued by the “Progressive Maryland Education Fund” is suspect at best. To dance around the edges of “tax the rich” is to be expected from the left. To call for more state spending while refusing to acknowledge that spending is at the core of the state’s fiscal crisis is to be expected. To claim that:
Efforts by Comptroller Peter Franchot to more strictly enforce existing
tax collections, including an examination of vendors that win state or
federal contracts to make sure they do not owe additional taxes to
either government, can help bridge the revenue gap and thereby free up
funds to help enable more Marylanders to share in the benefits of
living in the nation’s wealthiest state.
is ridiculous on its face.
Sure, I would love to see a primary fight between Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and his not so friendly Comptroller. However, to argue that better tax enforcement is going to “bridge the revenue gap” in Maryland doesn’t even qualify as a pipe dream.
Trending: President Trump Must Be Reelected
Should Franchot continue strenuous tax enforcement? Absolutely. That’s what he was elected to do. That’s the number one duty in his job description.
Are Maryland’s growing fiscal problems due to a “revenue gap”. Of course not. The root of the problem is spending. There will always be a “revenue gap” when there is no control on spending.
The so-called “structural deficit” is merely a politically correct term for “we want to spend more than we have”. If the O’Malley administration and his Dem pals in the legislature were serious about solving the problem, it wouldn’t be through more tax increases. They have already demonstrated to the rest of us that this won’t work. Perhaps they might realize it themselves one day.
However, the attitude in Annapolis (and the Lower Shore according to the Daily Times) is one of give me, give me, and then give me some more. How much would be saved simply by making state employees drive their own vehicles and pay for their own gasoline during their commutes? How much would be saved by reforming public education rather that simply assuming that the solution is always one of “more money”. How much would be saved by simply reducing the state’s desire to act as some sort of supra county funding agent?
It is true that Wicomico County would be hard hit by a drastic reduction in state funding because of the revenue cap. However, by pushing spending decisions to the lowest level of government and forcing citizens to make hard decisions we can eliminate many of these ills over the long term.
Of course, if the nanny state disappears what do liberals have to offer?
cross posted at Delmarva Dealings
