Tax Dollars

I am troubled by the assumption of PlanMaryland opponents that they have an inalienable and eternal right to our tax dollars to support their high maintenance and energy consumption lifestyle. The purpose of the PlanMaryland legislation, like smart growth before it, is to withhold state funding for bad choices about how and where to live made by local government. If they persist in turning cornfields into vinyl McMansions, they shouldn't do it on my tax dollars. It's bad enough that any corporate functionary should get a mortgage interest deduction for living in a house with a profligate carbon footprint and commute on roads newly built on some of the best farmland on the planet.

It appears that federal, state and local governments have forgotten that the only reason we have government is to protect the population ("In Boston, sifting through fragments for bomb clues," April 17). Once again, our elected and appointed officials have shown that they can not provide our basic needs and are unqualified to protect America - although they spend our tax dollars on things that they think are important. It has been seven months since we lost four Americans in Benghazi, and it has been several years since Fast and Furious, and no one has been held accountable in either case.

I'm amazed at the mileage that "50 Shades of Grey" is getting since it seems to have no value except to excite hormonal interests. Since libraries are facing financial burdens and criticism, perhaps it would be good for them to specialize solely in reading material that has educational value. The readers of recreational material can easily get it at bookstores using their money rather than the taxpayers'. David Wenner, Bel Air

In an article about how some employers allow their employees to charge their electric cars at work, reporter Lorraine Mirabella describes the General Motors plant in White Marsh where employees can charge their cars as an employee benefit during work hours ("Plugging In On The Job", Feb. 19). The article is longer than it needs to be for what it describes and could be longer for what it didn't include. Nowhere in the article was it mentioned the average price a consumer would pay for the electric car. The article also stated that the company is part of a Department of Energy initiative to include charging stations for employees to use while at work.

Do we really need to have the nanny Gov.Martin O'Malley's New Hampshire visit as a 2016 presidential hopeful on the front page ("O'Malley rallies faithful in N.H.," June 3)? Do you think that is "informing" the Sun's million Sunday readers? The state of Maryland is already in the bottom 10 percent of states as far as taxes go for business climate. Now, I guess the governor can work on getting the U.S. in the bottom 10 percent of the world in taxes (if we are not there already).

Rather than fighting to save Baltimore's Poe House museum ( "Twain House director: Poe House can be saved," Feb. 12), a better way to remember the author's homes is to compile a book about them; after all, he only lived at the Poe House in Baltimore for three years. There must be a dozen other residences he enjoyed; Philadelphia claims him too. At a time when there are not enough funds for classroom supplies, we should be slow to remove any property from the real estate tax base; we are a city of churches, all of which are exempt from property taxes.

Republicans say they will not cooperate on raising the debt limit in mid-February unless Democrats agree to cut spending by an equivalent amount ("Trouble ahead," Jan. 2). What these trillions of tax dollars are allocated for is instructive. The Pentagon takes up more than half of all discretionary spending. Yet politicians wrangling about budget cuts - especially when they are busy amending the tax code so the wealthy contribute their share of the national tax burden - say very little about the military industrial complex.

I would like Gov.Martin O'Malleyto explain why citizens who no longer have pension plans or retiree medical and prescription benefits through their employers are forced to continue to pay for state employee pensions and retiree health coverage. We should be able to use the tax dollars currently directed toward these generous state employee benefit programs to save for our own retirement just as state employees should be saving for their own retirement. Marilyn Lewis

Editor's note: Red and white lanterns will brighten many Main Streetin many Carroll County communities this holiday season. And most of the time, taxpayers are footing the bill. In Union Bridge, for example, the Town Council -- meeting in an illegally closed session -- voted to spend $7,857 to purchase and install lights; officials had budgeted $20,000. Other examples include Westminster spending $3,200 and Taneytown, $2,899. Electricity costs are additional. The American Civil Liberties Union says towns should not spend money celebrating a religious holiday.

Want to know how to cut costs in state government? How to trim the bureaucracy? How to stop the waste of tax dollars? Pick up a copy of the final report from the Butta commission on efficiency and economy in government. It doesn't cover everything, but this report shows how hundreds of millions of tax dollars could be saved every year.Commission chairman J. Henry Butta deserves credit for achieving in a little over one year an easy-to-use laundry list of steps that can be taken right away to start saving money.

As a taxpayer who has to report yearly to the federal and state government how much I made and how I spent it, I find it hard to believe an agency that spends our tax dollars can dodge audits for years with no accountability and the leadership not get fired ("City parks agency turns over books for auditing after 3 years," Jan. 10). No wonder there is so much corruption. There should be full disclosure every year so taxpayers know how government agencies are spending our money. In the private sector you would be fired if you did not keep up to date records of money spent.

Republicans say they will not cooperate on raising the debt limit in mid-February unless Democrats agree to cut spending by an equivalent amount ("Trouble ahead," Jan. 2). What these trillions of tax dollars are allocated for is instructive. The Pentagon takes up more than half of all discretionary spending. Yet politicians wrangling about budget cuts - especially when they are busy amending the tax code so the wealthy contribute their share of the national tax burden - say very little about the military industrial complex.

It's time Maryland taxpayers expressed their outrage over the ongoing incompetence in the Baltimore City school system. Taxpayers fund a great deal of what is going on in Baltimore City, yet what are we getting in return? A vibrant school system is essential to any community that wishes to be successful. The most recent debacle was the hiring of someone to counsel kids who had not been properly vetted by the school system before being allowed to interact with vulnerable young people ("City school system broke policy in hiring of Nowlin," Dec. 7)

It's wonderful that in our age of instant communication, digital reality and unmanned aerial warfare, there are still those who believe in miracles. And yes, miracles are very real, though infrequent. I'm one who's also hoping for the complete recovery of Teresa Bartlinski ("Call for a miracle," Nov. 29). However, it is important to credit the "miracle" of modern science that has made this adopted girl's survival possible. I also consider it a "miracle" that the Bartlinski family can pay for all the medical care and upcoming operation out of pocket and were able to go into enormous debt doing so. It's refreshing and humbling the Bartilinski's have not relied on any help from the government or taxpayer funded programs.

Susan Reimer 's column, "Surprising reaction to L'affaire Petraeus," (Nov. 15), brings up a number of salient points, most notably that male readers in large part thought that Gen. David Petraeus took the honorable, necessary course of action, while women who responded pointed out that chief executives of the past often had affairs but managed to carry out their duties. Ms. Reimer sums up her readers' feelings on General Petraeus and his philandering with the following: "With all due respect ... that has nothing to do with my oath of office, and it's none of your business.

During this election cycle, it is increasingly popular in some circles to condemn government as wasteful, inefficient and incompetent. While there are thousands of federal, state and local government programs, each with its own index of success or failure, it might encourage those who believe government is a force for good to consider a number of interventions by the Baltimore City government (with federal and state assistance, in some instances)...

It's income-tax time again, Americans: Time to gather up those receipts, get out those tax forms, sharpen up that pencil, and stab yourself in the aorta.No, seriously, contrary to what many so-called "people" say, doing your income taxes is not difficult, as long as you're willing to take the time to read the instructions carefully and make up numbers out of thin air. I'll have some helpful tax-preparation advice later in the column, but first it's time for a patriotic message on the topic of: Why You Should Pay Your Taxes.

The best news to come out of Capitol Hill last week was largely buried in the back pages. It was the statements made by senior Republicans that if President Barack Obama wins reelection in November, they will retreat in their position on raising taxes on high-earners. Finally, a sign of compromise of some sort. It's hardly a guarantee that Congress will retreat from the looming "fiscal cliff" of massive tax increases and spending cuts that could easily plunge the nation back into an economic recession early next year, but considering how ridiculous and self-destructive the political standoff in Washington has become, it's something.

After citizens have seen millions of their hard-earned tax dollars spent on making the Baltimore Grand Prix a reality, they should also be given the common courtesy to see how their money was spent and the city's return on its investment (Race's economic impact a secret," Sept. 5). To have the mayor's office decline to release the economic impact this year's race had on the city is a slap in the face to voters who were promised transparency in government by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.