Doomsday Budget

Gov. Martin O'Malley on Thursday accepted some of the blame for the budget impasse that left the state with a spending plan that cuts about half a billion dollars from key Democratic priorities such as education. "We all hold blame," O'Malley, a Democrat, said on WTOP's monthly Ask the Governor show. "We're all public servants. ... When the public is ill-served, as the public is right now, we all share the responsibility. " "I wish we had had a different result," he said. "It was not for lack of trying.

WEATHER Today's forecast calls for partly sunny skies, steady winds and a high temperature in the mid-50s. Overnight lows are expected to be in the 30s. TRAFFIC Check our traffic map for this morning's issues as you plan your commute. FROM LAST NIGHT... Police officer kills self after traffic stop, chase : A Montgomery County police officer shot himself to death after leading a Maryland State Police trooper on a high-speed chase on the Eastern Shore early Monday, state police said.

Washington. -- Hats off to Governor Schaefer and his recent fiscal theatrics. If the purpose of his ''doomsday budget'' was to mobilize support for the largest tax increase in Maryland history, then he seems to have succeeded in spades.His no-new-taxes budget envisions an apocalyptic fiscal future: deep cuts in aid to the schools, drastic reductions in the police and fire fighting services, evictions of the homeless from state-financed shelters -- in the dead of winter, no less. No wonder that public-interest groups and concerned citizens are lining up to support the governor's billion-dollar tax proposal.

Howard Community College officials are considering a tuition increase that would cost the average student anywhere from $35 to $140 more each semester starting next fall.The increase is built into a $15.2 million budget for fiscal 1993 that HCC President Dwight Burrill unveiled to the school's Board of Trustees last week.The school's growing enrollment, which increased 10 percent last fall, is requiring HCC to hire more faculty and expand resources, Burrill said.The budget, which represents an 8.4 percent increase, calls for hiring 10 new faculty members and purchasing approximately $254,000 in new equipment and software.

ANNAPOLIS -- Maryland's lawmakers began their extraordinary extended session yesterday the way they ended their regular 90-day session at midnight Monday: arguing.They argued over whether they should keep working, or take a break to cool off and rest up.They argued over whether they should pass their so-called "doomsday" budget and let the impact of drastic cuts sink in, or try again to pass a tax increase that would make those cuts unnecessary.Mostly, they argued over how they got into this mess, failing for the first time since the current process was established in 1916 ++ to pass a budget before the regular session ended.

ANNAPOLIS -- After a one-day recess, Maryland's lawmakers were to return tomorrow to try to pass a balanced budget.They began their extraordinary extended session yesterday the way they ended their regular 90-day session at midnight Monday: arguing.They argued over whether they should keep working, or take a break to cool off and rest up.They argued over whether they should pass their so-called "doomsday" budget and let the impact of drastic cuts sink in, or try again to pass a tax increase that would make those cuts unnecessary.

ANNAPOLIS -- After a one-day recess, Maryland's lawmakers were to return tomorrow to try to pass a balanced budget.They began their extraordinary extended session yesterday the way they ended their regular 90-day session at midnight Monday: arguing.They argued over whether they should keep working, or take a break to cool off and rest up.They argued over whether they should pass their so-called "doomsday" budget and let the impact of drastic cuts sink in, or try again to pass a tax increase that would make those cuts unnecessary.

When better than on Friday the 13th to lampoon Doomsday, or more specifically Maryland's so-called Doomsday Budget. First target: A special session of the Maryland General Assembly. Going back about two weeks before the latest 90-day regular session of the Maryland General Assembly was slated to draw to a close, there was talk of a special session being called, either right after the regular session that ended at midnight Monday into Tuesday, or possibly in the fall. There's only one good reason to have a special session, and that reason has been in place for decades.

As they get older and feel the press of time, some men need to condense into a short span all that they feel they've missed before it's too late; they worry about their legacy and what the eulogist might say of them. Others are more relaxed about the whole thing; they fear neither time nor public opinion. They realize they can't change the world and look around with wonderment at those who do. Take Mike Miller - please. He's the president of the Maryland Senate who, with a great mane of white hair, looks in profile like a founding father, or perhaps an early 19th Century politician in the spirit of Clay and Calhoun, names he uttered in the State House last week after the 2012 General Assembly ended badly, without a budget compromise.

Democratic lawmakers limped out of Annapolis Tuesday having enacted a "doomsday" budget that slashes spending for education and other services they do not want to cut — and with no clear plan on how to fix a political mess of their own making. House Speaker Michael E. Busch and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller — whose clashes over gambling helped bring about a chaotic ending to the 2012 General Assembly session Monday night — agreed that a special session is needed to fix Maryland's budget.