Tax Burden

My brother Hans sent me a Halloween cartoon last week. In it, three costumed children stand at the door of a house, buckets of candy outstretched. The man at the door says, "Look how much candy you have! I am going to take half and give it to the kids too lazy to go trick or treating for themselves!" One of the children replied, "Oh [no], a Democrat. " The cartoon sparked a memory of my father offering to buy Hans' and my candy each Halloween when we were children. My younger brother would take the offer, earn an easy $20, and then my mom would make me share mine with him. I told my dad and Hans that theirs was the Republican method — reap the benefits of the market and socialize its downside.

A proposed tax on bottled beverages was approved by a Baltimore City Council committee Monday, despite a well-organized coalition of opponents. The four-cent tax, estimated to generate $11 million annually, is the most lucrative piece of a $50 million package of taxes and fees proposed by Mayor Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake. Beverage bottlers and distributors and store owners oppose the measure and have launched a campaign of print, television and radio ads decrying the tax. Four of the five members of the council's taxation and finance committee approved moving the bill to the full council, but committee chair Councilwoman Helen Holton cautioned that her vote did not indicate she supported the passage of the tax. "My 'yes' vote is not indicative of my vote on the tax itself," said Holton.

"When I find a man who is not willing to bear his share of the burdens of the government which protects him, I find a man who is unworthy to enjoy the blessings of a government like ours." — William Jennings Bryan April 15 has come far too quickly for many Americans. Especially as we recover from a deep recession, tax time is a pain. However, this year, thanks to President Barack Obama and Congress, things will be just a little easier for millions of middle-class Marylanders.

M aryland's budget deficit is a long-term problem that requires a long-term solution. Over the past three years, the O'Malley/Brown administration has made little to no progress in addressing the state's budget deficit. Increased spending, a failed slots bill, the largest tax increase in our state's history and federal bailouts make for a dismal track record. The Department of Legislative Services projects a cumulative deficit of more than $8 billion for the years 2012-2015 - $1,428 for every person in Maryland - yet Gov. Martin O'Malley has yet to offer a long-term plan to deal with this crisis.

Maryland collects a measly $15 million a year in excise taxes on distilled spirits. Whiskey drinker Thomas Meighan Jr. might have cost the state that much all by himself in court, police and jail costs and general mayhem. Meighan had at least nine drunken-driving convictions as well as convictions for battery, disorderly conduct and theft before being charged with traffic offenses and manslaughter in the hit-and-run death of a Johns Hopkins University student last fall, The Baltimore Sun reported.

The Obama economic team's announcement this week that it wants more tax relief for small businesses is good news for the economy. Small business today is larger than big business - it earns more money and employs more people - and while Wall Street bailouts may be necessary to preserve capital and liquidity, they are also likely to raise the long-term tax burden of Main Street. If this happens, we will be hurting the very businesses that we need to pull us out of the recession. The predominance of small business in the American economy didn't happen by accident.

Wealthy already pay lion's share of taxes In his column "It's a 30-year sneak attack in America's class war" (Oct. 19), Dan Rodricks continues the propaganda of misinformation by the media and Democrats that suggests the wealthy are not paying their fair share of taxes. According to the Tax Foundation, in 2006, taxpayers with incomes of $153,000 and greater (the top 5 percent of earners) paid 60 percent of all federal individual income taxes. The top 1 percent (with incomes greater than $388,000)

I applaud the efforts by Keith Losoya and R. Paul Warren to demonstrate that the city is leaving millions on the table every year as a result of the underassessment of commercial properties ("Homeowners' burden," Commentary, Sept. 11). The city government needs to recognize that homeowners are one of the city's greatest assets. We help to stabilize and restore neighborhoods, clean and police the streets, and show our commitment to the city by purchasing property here, even though we know the suburbs offer better services for lower taxes.