Taxes And Spending

It's not surprising The Sun stands with the Democrats' proposal to cut $1.2 trillion from the deficit by imposing a $1 trillion tax increase ("Next, the voters' turn," Nov. 23). But to claim, as you do, that the public agrees with this never-ending tax-and-spend policy is proof of how far the newspaper will go to prop up the Democrats. Your claim that President Obama and the Democrats on the supercommittee offered up plans in line with the Bowles-Simpson commission is totally baseless.

Baltimore County Executive Roger B. Hayden has appointed his former campaign treasurer and the unsuccessful Republican candidate for state comptroller to head key advisory panels on taxes and spending.Larry M. Epstein, a certified public accountant who was defeated last fall by Comptroller Louis L. Goldstein, will head a Tax Equity Committee. The panel will seek ways to make taxes more equitable and recommend "how a new [tax] system could be implemented through the legislative process," said Carol Hirschburg, a spokeswoman for Mr. Hayden.

I am fed up with the over the top criticism the tea party congressmen have been getting from members of the Obama Administration, Democrats in the Senate and the House, liberal pundits, and even from the inside the beltway Republicans who don't appreciate the fact that if it were not for the tea party freshmen class in the House, the Democrats would have remained the majority party. Vice President Joe Biden most recently called the tea party members of Congress "terrorists. " Other liberals have labeled tea party advocates as stupid or dangerous.

Two reports came out last week that seemed to present a puzzling paradox. On the one hand, the Tax Foundation issued its annual rankings of state business friendliness based on taxes, and it pegged Maryland as sixth worst. On the other hand, the Census Bureau released figures showing that, once again, Maryland is the richest state in the nation, with a median household income of $70,545, about $1,500 more than last year. What gives? Sure, there are plenty of reasons in Maryland's case why business friendliness and prosperity wouldn't necessarily go together.

It's as true in life as it is in business: Nothing ever stands still. Regardless of how things appear, they're always moving forward or backward, getting better or getting worse.And here's another truism: In order to keep important things (or governmental services) moving forward and getting better, we must be prepared to either spend more money or provide the services in a much smarter, more economical way.Finally, we arrive at the ultimate governmental truism for modern day Baltimore County: Our citizens are already contributing the maximum they can contribute for the services they need.

ARLINGTON, VA -- Democrats think they have found their deliverer. He is the new governor of Virginia, Timothy Kaine. So confident are they that Mr. Kaine can lead them to the electoral promised land, they have tapped him to deliver their party's response to President Bush's State of the Union speech. Given the threats posed by foreign and domestic terrorists, Democrats risk exposing Mr. Kaine as an inexperienced lightweight who is not in the president's league of knowledge and experience.

Picking up the newspaper recently, I've noticed that the same topics seem to be dominating most of the local headlines: in-state tuition for illegal immigrants, higher tolls, gay marriage, state workers forced to pay union dues, crime at theInner Harbor. But the topic that affects all Marylanders the most - the state's shaky economy and resulting business and job losses - doesn't seem to be garnering the attention it deserves. About a month ago, The Sun's Jamie Smith Hopkins reported that Maryland ranked last in the nation in job creation - 50th out of 50 states, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

With the fiscal cliff surmounted, at least temporarily, a new Congress sworn in and Republicans licking their self-inflicted wounds, it is tempting to theorize that a new political reality has taken hold in the nation's capital - one where the American economy won't be taken hostage by the House GOP and Washington won't bounce around from one trumped-up crisis to another. The best evidence of this would be the lopsided and bipartisan votes in favor of the final tax package approved by both the House and Senate.

The General Assembly will not cut income taxes this year despite having a $1 billion surplus, key lawmakers said yesterday. They said the state should instead spend its riches on education and other priorities. Their assessment came after state officials announced that Maryland's fiscal picture -- while still rosy -- isn't getting any rosier. The release of revenue projections for the next few months dashed any remaining hopes to cut income taxes this year. "You can't spend and cut at the same time.

When the Maryland General Assembly began last January, Gov. Martin O'Malley came with a shopping list of new taxes and increased spending. When the legislature could not agree on a plan to raise taxes and spending, the governor labeled the budget a "doomsday" budget, and The Sun took up the siren call ("Debacle in Annapolis," April 11). In a period of economic recession, only the politicians in Annapolis would call holding the line on increased taxes and increased spending a "Doomsday Budget.