Tax And Budget

MANY members of Congress finally seem willing to recognize something well understood by millions of unemployed workers and bankrupt business owners: The U.S. economy is stagnant, with no strong upturn in sight.Two million more Americans are out of work today than 18 months ago. Businesses are still shutting down and consumers are still staying away from the stores.Many lawmakers now understand that a package of tax and budget cuts is needed to lower the barriers to economic activity and growth.

The Sun's editorial board just does not get it ("Neuman's reckless veto," April 30). Maryland has been taxed to the hilt in the last seven years. There is nothing left to give. There have been 37 tax and fee increases. That is a failure of leadership here in Maryland. Constantly crowing about making budget cuts that never occurred is a failure of leadership. Perhaps, The Sun should stop pushing its progressive agenda and start being objective when it comes to the tax-and-spend ways of Annapolis.

WASHINGTON -- It will all look very official and proper when President Clinton, flanked by beaming congressional leaders, signs the tax and budget bills into law this morning.But don't look too closely.Between the lines lurks what can only be called human nature. Typos. Bloopers. Unintended consequences. Hidden provisions that have nothing to do with the budget. Vague directives. And outright mistakes.And all because of the way Congress operates: in a rush. In Washington, it is simply standard operating procedure to haggle and procrastinate and then cram at the last minute, pull an all-nighter and get the deal done in a flurry of adrenalin.

The Baltimore City Council passed $30 million in increased telephone, energy and real estate taxes last night, part of a $2.1 billion budget that - despite the new revenue - still calls for cutting some municipal jobs and services. Finalized in a daylong series of meetings, the tax and budget package was the result of unusually tough bargaining between the council and Mayor Martin O'Malley, who had sought $45 million in higher taxes to stave off deep cuts in the budget year that will begin July 1. O'Malley thanked the council for increasing tax revenues, which he called a politically painful but necessary step to avoid such quality-of-life cuts as less-frequent trash collections and fewer police officers on city streets.

With time ticking away on the General Assembly's annual 90-day session, a band of conservative senators launched a high-stakes filibuster in the Maryland Senate yesterday in an attempt to derail Gov. Parris N. Glendening's proposed tobacco tax increase.Proposing amendment after amendment, the senators were able to keep the Senate working on the governor's bill until after 9 p.m. before breaking for the night. The measure would double the state's 36 cents-a-pack tax on cigarettes and impose the first state levy on cigars and smokeless tobacco.

LAST SPRING, Sen. Pat Moynihan lobbed a fine grenade into the tax and budget debate when he proposed a cut in the payroll tax on wage-earners. The Moynihan bill went nowhere as legislation, for it would have diverted too much money from the Social Security system. But its subtext -- how about a tax break for working stiffs? -- bore fruit in the eventual budget deal of last November.Moynihan's real political contribution was to remind Congress why it makes sense to have progressive taxes. Namely, rich people are where the money is, while the middle class is already overstressed.

WASHINGTON -- A new study says Maryland would lose 99,000 jobs in 1995 and personal income would drop 12.5 percent below projected levels if a balanced-budget amendment were enacted this year.Legislation to add a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution has become a perennial on Capitol Hill. Current bills in the House and Senate have been around for more than a year.Lawmakers have shown renewed interest in the idea lately, and it is possible that the measure could be passed and sent to the states for ratification early this summer.

In an age of conservative Republican tax and budget cutting, Howard County's liberal Democrats have struck back - approving a hefty income tax increase to fuel a 9.35 percent rise in spending next budget year on a series of 3-2 party line votes, leaving local Republicans dispirited and frustrated. County Executive James N. Robey's income tax boost moves Howard from Maryland's third-lowest rate (2.45 percent) to the legal limit (3.20 percent) to provide money for a 4 percent pay raise for county workers, 311 new school employees and to pay higher fixed costs such as insurance - pending further state cuts.

ANNAPOLIS -- A proposal to prop up Baltimore by sending more income tax revenue the city's way appeared in deep trouble last night."I wouldn't say it is dead [but] I would say it is ailing," conceded Sen. John A. Pica Jr., D-Baltimore.Mr. Pica is a sponsor of the plan, also pushed by Gov. William Donald Schaefer, to redistribute some local piggyback income tax revenue to the jurisdiction in which it's earned, instead of where the taxpayer lives.Before the governor's aides could translate the idea into legislation, it drew fire from Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., D-Prince George's.

WASHINGTON -- Trying to squelch a Republican drive for a major tax cut, the Treasury Department has estimated that a House GOP tax proposal would cost the Treasury nearly $3 trillion in the decade when retiring baby boomers begin to strain the Treasury.The department's $2.8 trillion cost estimate would be more than triple the $864 billion that the proposal is expected to cost in its first 10 years.Administration officials say the plan would almost certainly drive the federal budget back into the red, and they plan to use the new Treasury Department estimates in the battle with the GOP over what to do with the burgeoning budget surplus.

In an age of conservative Republican tax and budget cutting, Howard County's liberal Democrats have struck back - approving a hefty income tax increase to fuel a 9.35 percent rise in spending next budget year on a series of 3-2 party line votes, leaving local Republicans dispirited and frustrated. County Executive James N. Robey's income tax boost moves Howard from Maryland's third-lowest rate (2.45 percent) to the legal limit (3.20 percent) to provide money for a 4 percent pay raise for county workers, 311 new school employees and to pay higher fixed costs such as insurance - pending further state cuts.

WASHINGTON -- Trying to squelch a Republican drive for a major tax cut, the Treasury Department has estimated that a House GOP tax proposal would cost the Treasury nearly $3 trillion in the decade when retiring baby boomers begin to strain the Treasury.The department's $2.8 trillion cost estimate would be more than triple the $864 billion that the proposal is expected to cost in its first 10 years.Administration officials say the plan would almost certainly drive the federal budget back into the red, and they plan to use the new Treasury Department estimates in the battle with the GOP over what to do with the burgeoning budget surplus.

With time ticking away on the General Assembly's annual 90-day session, a band of conservative senators launched a high-stakes filibuster in the Maryland Senate yesterday in an attempt to derail Gov. Parris N. Glendening's proposed tobacco tax increase.Proposing amendment after amendment, the senators were able to keep the Senate working on the governor's bill until after 9 p.m. before breaking for the night. The measure would double the state's 36 cents-a-pack tax on cigarettes and impose the first state levy on cigars and smokeless tobacco.

WASHINGTON -- It will all look very official and proper when President Clinton, flanked by beaming congressional leaders, signs the tax and budget bills into law this morning.But don't look too closely.Between the lines lurks what can only be called human nature. Typos. Bloopers. Unintended consequences. Hidden provisions that have nothing to do with the budget. Vague directives. And outright mistakes.And all because of the way Congress operates: in a rush. In Washington, it is simply standard operating procedure to haggle and procrastinate and then cram at the last minute, pull an all-nighter and get the deal done in a flurry of adrenalin.

After a year and a half of relative calm, New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman is suddenly locked in intense political combat.She seems to like it this way.Her bare-knuckle approach to wage talks and her decision to lay off hundreds of workers have public employee unions in a state of apoplexy; two state workers were conducting hunger strikes recently. Democrats accuse her of bringing the state to the brink of fiscal ruin. And social and religious conservatives, opposed to her position favoring abortion rights, say they will block any attempt to put her on the national ballot in 1996.

WASHINGTON -- With a critical House vote scheduled this week on President Clinton's tax and budget proposal, he and his congressional allies have launched a major effort to win support.Democratic leaders estimate that they need 30 more votes to pass the bill. In the scramble for support, about 60 key House Democrats have been asked to attend a White House strategy meeting this morning.The vote, now scheduled for Thursday, "could make or break this presidency," said a leadership aide who asked not to be identified.

WASHINGTON -- With a critical House vote scheduled this week on President Clinton's tax and budget proposal, he and his congressional allies have launched a major effort to win support.Democratic leaders estimate that they need 30 more votes to pass the bill. In the scramble for support, about 60 key House Democrats have been asked to attend a White House strategy meeting this morning.The vote, now scheduled for Thursday, "could make or break this presidency," said a leadership aide who asked not to be identified.

Some call it a piggyback tax for the city. Others call it a commuter tax. Either way, a plan to help Baltimore capture some income tax revenue from the people who work there is in deep trouble."

WASHINGTON -- A new study says Maryland would lose 99,000 jobs in 1995 and personal income would drop 12.5 percent below projected levels if a balanced-budget amendment were enacted this year.Legislation to add a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution has become a perennial on Capitol Hill. Current bills in the House and Senate have been around for more than a year.Lawmakers have shown renewed interest in the idea lately, and it is possible that the measure could be passed and sent to the states for ratification early this summer.

ANNAPOLIS -- Embarrassed that they have already overstayed their welcome, state legislators pieced together a compromise $250 million tax plan yesterday that would balance next year's state budget and allow them to go home.Although such agreements are never a sure thing until a vote is taken, lawmakers privately confirmed they believe they can pass the compromise package in both houses and end their extraordinary extended legislative session.Publicly, however, they would only say what they have been saying for days: They are close to agreement.