Taxpayer Money

The challenger says the longtime incumbent misused taxpayer money tosend two newsletters to constituents who technically aren't yet members of her district.The incumbent says her Democratic challenger is making much ado about nothing to avoid talking about the issues.The law says it's OK for U.S. Rep. Beverly B. Byron, D-6th, to mail newsletters to about 30,000 Howard County residents who were addedto her district during redistricting last year.The newsletters were sent to 252,000 households in Novemberand January, a Byron aide said.

There's a P3 in your future. Maryland is poised to join 34 states and key federal agencies in transforming the way government works. The new mantra, "P3," is shorthand for public-private partnerships. Maryland's P3 legislation, championed by Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, enables state agencies to engage business in planning, financing, building and operating public projects, from roads and rail to schools and other infrastructure. These could offset up to 10 percent of the state's capital budget, or $300 million annually, and create thousands of jobs.

IN a perfect world, no state would spend taxpayer funds to lure corporations -- and jobs. But reality dictates a different approach in which states compete fiercely to hold on to big companies and lure new ones.Maryland officials have handed out some $100 million to businesses over five years. In most cases, the money was well spent, ensuring thousands of jobs for local citizens. In a few instances, though, taxpayers were royally ripped off by companies that took the state's money and reneged on their promises -- or never intended to move from Maryland.

Gov. Martin O'Malley says the Netflix series "House of Cards" brought $140 million into the state's economy ("'Cards' a good deal, Md. Says," April 30). Where have we heard this before? In 2010 the Detroit Free Press reported that "Michigan's bid to become a Midwest center of movie production is to get a huge boost Tuesday with the announcement of a Hollywood film production studio and talent agency opening shop in Pontiac. Motown Motion Picture Studios, a new company, will open a $54-million, 600,000-square-foot studio and production facility at General Motors Corp.'s former Centerpoint truck plant and office complex in Pontiac, said Gov. Jennifer Granholm's spokeswoman Liz Boyd.

Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown and Annapolis Mayor Joshua Cohen this week disclosed to The Sun how much money their administrations spent attending a May convention in Las Vegas, two months after the legal deadline to respond to a public information request.  Representatives for both men apologized for the lateness of the disclosures.  * Brown and his chief of staff spent just more than $3,000 in taxpayer money at the event, the Global Retail...

I am concerned over the waste of taxpayer money by President Obama, Vice President Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for no purpose other than furthering their political agendas. They continue to travel around the country campaigning for their party and all at taxpayers' expense. On the other hand, this tax and spend administration denies senior citizens a minimal cost of living increase on Social Security payments for the second consecutive year now. This is an outrage totally uncalled for and unfair, and its high time to vote these liberals out of office on Nov. 2. Taxpayer money should not be wasted by these Democrats to promote their liberals agendas.

Why are we wasting taxpayer money on a show trial prosecution of state Sen. Ulysses S. Currie, when we all know he will get little more than a slap on the wrist, if that? Of course, if Mr. Currie were a Republican he would already be in jail, with the key thrown away. Gail Householder, Marriottsville

As a 44 year resident of Baltimore City, I cannot think of a better use of my taxes than paying to temporarily house the homeless individuals who are about to be evicted by the city from their meager camp in motels while they wait for permanent housing ("Homeless eviction plan criticized," March 5). Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's comments that doing so is "not a responsible use of taxpayer money," and Councilwoman Rikki Spector's reference to the camp as "toxic," made this proud resident of Baltimore feel shame that publicly elected officials would so openly demonstrate their contempt and lack of compassion for our most vulnerable citizens.

Baltimore's City Council shot down portions of a proposed charter amendment yesterday that would have made it easier for City Hall to spend taxpayer money - but that would have reduced public advertising requirements and independent oversight of that spending. On a unanimous vote, the council advanced a significantly watered-down version of the legislation, which was introduced by Mayor Sheila Dixon's administration. Though supporters vowed to resurrect the most controversial portions of the bill at a later date, the recent debate gave Dixon's leading mayoral challenger a ready-made opportunity to raise ethical questions from her time as City Council president.

It was with increasing animus that I read about the misuse of the Homestead Tax Credit ("City moves to strip undeserved tax breaks," Aug 24). It is chumps like me who play by the rules who have to make up for those who don't play by the rules. There is a line in the yearly tax bills that spell out the credit. People who do not know their assets should not be allowed to control any taxpayer money. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. In three years The Sun will do another article along these lines.

It remains a mystery why Baltimore wishes to endanger the health and safety of people living in an encampment ("Homeless eviction plan criticized," March 5). Baltimore's "Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness" specifies an effective method to manage encampments: move the residents into permanent supportive housing without requiring them to use emergency shelters. This is the "Housing First" approach that the city adopted five years ago - and refuses to follow today. More than a decade of research has demonstrated the efficacy of the Housing First approach.

As a 44 year resident of Baltimore City, I cannot think of a better use of my taxes than paying to temporarily house the homeless individuals who are about to be evicted by the city from their meager camp in motels while they wait for permanent housing ("Homeless eviction plan criticized," March 5). Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's comments that doing so is "not a responsible use of taxpayer money," and Councilwoman Rikki Spector's reference to the camp as "toxic," made this proud resident of Baltimore feel shame that publicly elected officials would so openly demonstrate their contempt and lack of compassion for our most vulnerable citizens.

With cases that have reached a verdict, why do we often reopen them and demand another trial? The retrial of Antajuan Wilson for the murder of Bryan Adams in the Wilde Lake shopping center comes as a surprise to me. In the original case, Wilson pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison with all but 70 years suspended. This punishment is representative for a crime like this, but the highest Maryland appellate court has since called the...

The Baltimore City school administrators who never raised a cent on their own and could never claim "I built that" even if it came to a teachers' lounge, recently wasted over $500,000 in public funds (that's taxpayer money) on expensive local hotel suites, lavish dinners and even wings at Hooters for students "because that was what they wanted," and The Sun was so outraged by their indefensible waste of taxpayer money that it was called a "distraction" in an editorial. Of course, that was more than Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Gov. Martin O'Malley and the school board leaders called it. If one sifted through the lame excuses offered by CEO Andrés Alonso and his merry men for their partying on the taxpayers' dime, they came down to a combination of "it was business as usual" or that "some" of the wasteful spending was "justified" and/or we are sorry we got caught.

I am sick of hearing the excuses from the mayor's office when it comes to the inappropriate use of taxpayer money, taxpayer-owned sports boxes and tickets - graft - that come from places like First Mariner Arena ("Mayor's use of tickets examined," Aug. 15). Stephanie Rawlings-Blakemade herself out as a highly ethical politician who would never be what Sheila Dixon had become during her term as mayor. But the reality is, Ms. Rawlings-Blake is about to spend $2,000 of the taxpayers' money for police protection in California while she and her family are on vacation.

With the selection of Paul Ryan as his running mate, Mitt Romney forces the Democrats to produce a budget of their own. It's too hot of a topic not to. They can't bury their collective heads in the sand any longer, they have to cough it up. We all know President Barack Obama doesn't like to do the figures, but now he's going to have to. This forces his hand. My tea party group is thrilled with the selection of Mr. Ryan. We love people who can crunch the numbers. Many of us now believe this election is a showdown of the Obama vision versus the Ryan vision.

I am still wondering why we spend taxpayer money on government-run health care, free contraceptives and the like while we lack qualified teachers. The key to independence from government programs is a good education. We have a fresh crop of newly graduated teachers in Maryland with new ideas and techniques that will help our students succeed without government handouts. Yet there are no teaching positions. Baltimore County has 2,000 applicants for 30 positions, and I'm rounding the numbers.

WASHINGTON -- Lockheed Martin Corp. has launched a lobbying campaign to kill House-passed legislation that would block the Pentagon from using $31 million in taxpayer money in a $92 million bonus package for top executives of the nation's largest defense contractor.The corporate giant and senior Pentagon officials were caught off guard last week when the House approved an amendment to prohibit payment of the federal share of the bonus package, which critics called "corporate welfare at its worst."

Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown and Annapolis Mayor Joshua Cohen this week disclosed to The Sun how much money their administrations spent attending a May convention in Las Vegas, two months after the legal deadline to respond to a public information request.  Representatives for both men apologized for the lateness of the disclosures.  * Brown and his chief of staff spent just more than $3,000 in taxpayer money at the event, the Global Retail...

When it comes to responding to public information acts quickly, the state's larger jurisdictions could learn a lot from tiny Havre de Grace. Back in May, about 40 members from the state and seven local governments attended the Global Retail Real Estate Convention in Las Vegas. With galas and events at casinos, the annual four-day conference of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) serves as the ultimate business-government networking event with more than 20,000 in attendance.