Democrats

As the General Assembly prepares to draw new boundaries for Maryland's eight congressional districts, majority Democrats are considering plans aimed at squeezing out one or both of the state's Republican congressmen, according to a Democratic strategist familiar with the discussions. One map under consideration would slice Republicans from the Western Maryland district now held by Republican Rep. Roscoe Bartlett but make only small changes to the boundaries of the state's six Democrats in the House of Representatives.

Enough is enough. Partisan politics in Maryland has hit an all-time low. As Maryland is hurling headlong into financial ruin, the working, legal resident taxpayers are being taxed to the hilt. Both parties have their collective heads in the sand or at least their party leaders can't see the reality we face every day. Democrats and Republicans refuse to budge or do the dance of moderation only to swing back when the party leaders pull their puppet strings in time to cast their pre-arranged vote in a well orchestrated sham for television.

The recent op-ed piece by Jonah Goldberg ("End the mistake of government unions," Feb. 25) was so laughably one sided that no one could even take it seriously. Mr. Goldberg's main criticism of government unions seems to be that most of the union money goes to Democrats. I don't hear him whining about the recent Citizens United ruling from the Supreme Court that opened the floodgates for campaign contributions from big business. Why not? Because, of course, almost all that money goes to Republicans, the party that Mr. Goldberg supports.

A proposal to expand equal-pay protections for women, long championed by Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, was thrust into the national political spotlight Wednesday in a Democratic effort to court female voters — a crucial demographic in this year's election. The Paycheck Fairness Act has languished for years and faces tough odds again this year. But Democrats hope that by advancing the bill now they can send a compelling message to women weighing presidential and congressional candidates in the fall.

If it has accomplished nothing else, the tea party insurgency has made Republicans vastly more newsworthy than Democrats. While the party of the left plods along performing the boring old tasks of governing, the party of the right is engaged in high drama worthy of Shakespeare. The latest plot twist comes from Nebraska, where three conservatives have been vying to be the GOP's nominee for the U.S. Senate. The "establishment" candidate, state Attorney General Jon Bruning is, by traditional measures, a conservative.

Your recent poll, although unscientific, indicates that a majority of Marylanders are not satisfied with the outcome of this special legislative session ("What Maryland thinks," May 18). If they are not satisfied with the way that their elected officials have voted, then why did they re-elect them? They should know that liberals vote to increase taxes and spending. For them, government is the answer to everything. Maryland voters do this every election - they re-elect the same people and then complain.

Enough is enough. Partisan politics in Maryland has hit an all-time low. As Maryland is hurling headlong into financial ruin, the working, legal resident taxpayers are being taxed to the hilt. Both parties have their collective heads in the sand or at least their party leaders can't see the reality we face every day. Democrats and Republicans refuse to budge or do the dance of moderation only to swing back when the party leaders pull their puppet strings in time to cast their pre-arranged vote in a well orchestrated sham for television.

U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), a GOP presidential candidate, was on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday, and, as usual, the congressman skewered at least one sacred cow of American politics.  Paul's target this time? The notion that Republicans and Democrats are diametrically opposed political parties. You know, the idea that they're bitter political opponents. They fight over everything. They hate each other.  But the truth is, Paul said, they're the same party.  "We don’t have a good democratic process," Paul said.

In 1929, Will Rogers wrote that the trouble with Democrats is that they give the people what they think they ought to have instead of what they want. They haven't changed. Since then they gave us Social Security, Medicare and equal voting rights, right up to the present with Obama health care reform plan. Republicans have given us two depressions and the Bush tax cuts, with the middle class picking up the bill, and they have fought against every Democratic program. Will those Democrats ever learn?

In his commentary ("GOP: Tax the poor, protect the rich" Aug. 21), Dan Rodricks indicates that Republicans are saying that it may be time to tax the poor. We are already taxing the poor in Maryland. The state sales tax was raised, and the tax on beer was raised. These are taxes that are paid by everyone, but they hurt the poor more than the wealthy people. Gov. O'Malley now wants to raise the gas tax, and that again will hurt the poor the most. The Democrats control the Maryland House and Senate.

Your recent poll, although unscientific, indicates that a majority of Marylanders are not satisfied with the outcome of this special legislative session ("What Maryland thinks," May 18). If they are not satisfied with the way that their elected officials have voted, then why did they re-elect them? They should know that liberals vote to increase taxes and spending. For them, government is the answer to everything. Maryland voters do this every election - they re-elect the same people and then complain.

Maryland Senate President Mike Miller and House Speaker Michael Busch, both Democrats, have now rubber-stamped Gov. Martin O'Malley's historic tax increases on Maryland families, even though Maryland's continued economic suffering and out-of-control government are direct results of their party's continued dominance in Annapolis ("O'Malley faces political risks of tax increases," May 17). Businesses are fleeing Maryland for Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia because they cannot afford the taxes, regulations and the state's unfriendly attitude toward job creators.

If it has accomplished nothing else, the tea party insurgency has made Republicans vastly more newsworthy than Democrats. While the party of the left plods along performing the boring old tasks of governing, the party of the right is engaged in high drama worthy of Shakespeare. The latest plot twist comes from Nebraska, where three conservatives have been vying to be the GOP's nominee for the U.S. Senate. The "establishment" candidate, state Attorney General Jon Bruning is, by traditional measures, a conservative.

They did what they had to do, and they went home. That's the best that can be said of the special session of the Maryland General Assembly that concluded today. The tax increases, spending cuts, fund transfers and other measures lawmakers approved in 21/2 days this week protect public education, health and public safety and put the state on a path to fiscal sustainability, all while requiring a relatively minimal additional contribution from taxpayers. After a chaotic end to the regular General Assembly session, order has been restored.

As a conservative Republican, I cannot believe that I actually agree with a Montgomery County Democrat ("Income tax is facing dissent," May 15). If you missed the story, Del. Charles Barkley, a Montgomery County Democrat, stated opposition to the Democratic leadership's "doomsday" tax plan, telling The Sun, "I don't like the income tax plan. I don't think it's fair to taxpayers. " No kidding. Delegate Barkley is right: the new income tax is unfair to taxpayers. If you work hard and obtain wealth, why should it be taken from you?

It took three carefully scripted days, but Maryland's ruling Democrats finally put in place the budget deal that eluded them in the waning hours of the state's regular session last month. The revenue package approved by the House on Wednesday will raise income tax rates on 14 percent of Maryland taxpayers while shifting some teacher pension costs to counties. The adjournment of this week's special session effectively ended the first budget impasse the state had seen in two decades.

When I received my state employee paycheck recently, I assumed that since we no longer are subject to service reduction and furlough days I would have slightly more money. That, however, was not the case. Instead, I am making less money than last year because AFSCME, the state employees union, negotiated a sweet deal for the Democrats and themselves while claiming to fight for us. Our prescription co-pays were increased, as well as our portion of health insurance. The union also negotiated a 2 percent retirement increase that goes to the General Fund.

Why does The Sun allow Dan Rodricks to have a column on the front page with his idiotic views ("Drawing the line in cutthroat business of politics," Dec. 7)? In his column, he points out the use of fraud to get people to go to the polls is illegal in Maryland and wants to bash Paul Schurick for doing so. He fails to allude to all the signs for President Barack Obama that appeared during the 2010 election in African American communities in an attempt to get blacks to believe they needed to go to the polls to vote for Mr. Obama.

If money is the mother's milk of politics, then America's big corporations are Big Mama, and Big Baby is the Republican Party suckling at the enormous bosom of business. Democrats, meanwhile, are abandoned brats scrounging for nourishment wherever they can find it. During the long decades the Democrats held a solid majority in Congress, campaign donations from the corporate world were spread around between incumbents in both parties -- not evenly, but at least the D's got their share.

A carefully choreographed strategy to raise state income taxes to stave off so-called doomsday budget cuts faces a challenge in the General Assembly after several Democrats defied party leaders with a proposal to raise the sales tax instead. The brewing discontent within the Montgomery County House delegation stems from a belief that the governor's plan relies too heavily on their wealthy constituents. And though it faces little chance of passage, the proposal reveals a geographic fissure within the ruling Democratic caucus while underscoring the difficulty of forging consensus on a tax increase.