24-23 Is All That Matters
Well, our best chance to stop this tax sham would have been in the Maryland Senate. Unfortunately, by a slim 24-23 margin, the Senate passed their version of the tax increases. There seems to be some unfair attacks in the blogesphere levied against conservative democrats who voted for the taxes in committee and against them when the votes counted.
This vote allowed us to see where each and every Senator stands when it comes to taxes. If the committee stopped it, it would have allowed some Senators to avoid the debate and thus be able to stay off the record in a controversial vote. Moreover, that would have allowed opportunists to play both sides of the issue while a select few would have to deal with a angry constituency that demands government services.
Keep in mind, by virtue of the numbers in this state, the committee will always have more democrats than republicans. Likewise, the committee members are also appointed by the Senate President. If he wants something brought out of committee onto the floor, you better believe it’ll happen. If not, that committee will eventually be stacked by those that’ll ensure the president gets what he wishes.
In the same way, the voters can vote out a particular Senator because they may not like that they voted to allow such a vote to go to the floor. In the end, they’ll simply be replaced on the committee by another member of the majority party. Thus, the bill still makes it out of committee and the tax package still passes by a single vote.
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Therefore at the end of the day, the only vote that matters ended up 24-23 in favor of the bad guys.
Voting For:
Britt, Gwendolyn, Prince George’s
Conway, Joan, Baltimore City
Currie, Ulysses, Prince George’s
Exum, Nathaniel, Prince George’s
Forehand, Jennie, Montgomery
Frosh, Brian, Montgomery
Garagiola, Rob, Montgomery
Gladden, Lisa, Baltimore City
Jones, Verna, Baltimore City
Kasemeyer, Edward, Baltimore County
Kelley, Dolores, Baltimore County
King, Nancy, Montgomery
Lenett, Mike, Montgomery
Madaleno, Richard, Montgomery
McFadden, Nathaniel, Baltimore City
Middleton, Thomas, Charles
Miller, Thomas V. Mike, Jr., Calvert
Muse, C. Anthony, Prince George’s
Peters, Douglas, Prince George’s
Pinsky, Paul, Prince George’s
Pugh, Catherine, Baltimore City
Raskin, Jamie, Montgomery
Robey, James, Howard
Rosapepe, James, Prince George’s
Voting Against:
Astle, John C., Anne Arundel
Brochin, James, Baltimore County
DeGrange, James, Anne Arundel
Della, George W., Jr., Baltimore City
Dyson, Roy P., St. Mary’s
Klausmeier, Kathy, Baltimore County
Kramer, Rona, Montgomery
Stone, Norman R., Jr., Baltimore County
Zirkin, Robert, Baltimore County
Brinkley, David R., Frederick
Colburn, Richard F., Dorchester
Greenip, Janet, Anne Arundel
Edwards, George, Garrett
Haines, Larry E., Carroll
Harris, Andrew P., Baltimore County
Hooper, J. Robert, Harford
Jacobs, Nancy, Harford
Kittleman, Allan H., Howard
Mooney, Alex X., Frederick
Munson, Donald F., Washington
Pipkin, Edward J. (E. J.), Queen Anne’s
Simonaire, Bryan, Anne Arundel
Stoltzfus, J. Lowell, Somerset
