Tax Revolt

Elections breed tea-leaf readers, but their pronouncements don't come with guarantees. Produced quickly for "instant analysis," they often don't bear up under close scrutiny. Take the "lesson" that last week's election results offered further proof that voters simply won't accept new taxes or candidates who advocate them.As Steven D. Gold argues in the adjoining space, a tax revolt did indeed seem to spur New Jersey voters. But they were reacting to a specific situation -- a large tax increase that was rushed through the legislature without an adequate public education campaign to show voters why the state needed the funds.

In face of an ever-deepening state budget crisis, Maryland Republican lawmakers who chant the refrain of "no tax increase" are courting the kind of political comeuppance that has befallen their GOP counterparts in New Jersey.Having ridden voter anger at a tax hike pushed through last year by the state's Democratic governor, James Florio, Jersey Republicans wrested control of the legislature from the Democrats this year, establishing veto-proof majorities in both houses.But as soon as they got in a position to carry out their promise to roll back Florio's unpopular tax, the lawmakers suddenly developed a case of cold feet -- and no wonder, since turning the simplistic tax revolt rhetoric of the campaign into public policy would wreak havoc on the state's fragile economy.

Ronald B. Hickernell, a three-term incumbent, has earned re-election in the First District. Berchie Manley, the Republican candidate, expresses valid concerns about overdevelopment but shows a dim understanding of the county's complex problems.In the Second District, Republican George W. Murphy has launched a strong challenge against Melvin G. Mintz, the incumbent. Mr. Mintz is the better of the two, but he ought to pay attention to concerns of the populous Liberty Road corridor.Third District Councilman C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger deserves another term.

WASHINGTON -- At a time when Washington is rushing to enact a package of election-year tax relief, most Americans say they would rather use the post-Cold War "peace dividend" to boost domestic spending or reduce the deficit than to finance tax cuts, according to a new Los Angeles Times poll.While Americans remain largely pessimistic about the economy, the nationwide poll found little evidence of a mounting grass-roots tax revolt that might pressure Congress to rush through the kind of anti-recession tax cuts advocated by President Bush and key Democrats.

In the heat of a fiery election campaign that centered on the issue of whether the county should place a cap on spending, the Recreation and Parks Department celebrated the grand opening of three of the most expensive projects in its history.Completion of the $18 million, 336-acre Quiet Waters Park; the $10.8 million, 14-mile long B & A Trail park and the $3.9 million, 1,500-seat Joe Cannon Stadium (see story, page 27), all in the two months before the election, placed them at the center of the debate over whether county residents were willing to continue footing the bill for services received.

Baltimore County Executive Roger B. Hayden pleaded with about 70 people who turned out for his first public budget hearing last night to lobby their state legislators for a 10 percent increase in the piggyback income tax rate."

In the final days of the campaign, even the Democrats were saying that maybe Dennis Rasmussen didn't have the personality to be executive. Too shy; too taken with status symbols; too thin-skinned. Partly true, partly perception. But it is not the main reason Rasmussen lost Tuesday.Rasmussen, who presided over an era of boom and growth (read: spending) in the county, was a victim of the anti-incumbency sentiment that is pervasive this year. Some of it was a result of tactical errors. The executive might have dealt with the tax revolt more constructively, taking his opposition directly to the people instead of to the Court of Appeals.

If Patrick Dornan didn't put the bottle in the mouths of the alcoholics, then, by golly, he shouldn't have to pay for their recovery at a state-subsidized drug and alcohol treatment center, he said last night.Slashing money for drug and alcohol treatment was one of dozens of suggestions for cutting state spending that were offered by the 30 people who attended the first of four meetings sponsored by Republican delegates.Republicans, convinced that Democrats who control the General Assembly want to raise taxes, have scheduled the hearings to solicit views on ways to cut spending.

Good for Gov. William Donald Schaefer. In New Jersey for a meeting of the National Governors' Association, he took one look at a police demonstration of the terrible destructiveness of semi-automatic assault weapons and vowed to try again and, if necessary, still again, to get a ban on such weapons in Maryland.The General Assembly would not give him such a ban this year. Wouldn't even vote on it. The governor said in New Jersey that he'd try again in 1993 and, if that fails, in 1994, his last year in office.

Baltimore County Executive Roger B. Hayden pleaded with about 70 people who turned out for his first public budget hearing last night to lobby their state legislators for a 10 percent increase in the piggyback income tax rate."