Democrats head back to Annapolis with their eyes on your wallet!

Posted on January 9, 2012 by marylandhousegop

The 430th Session of the Maryland General Assembly begins on Wednesday and the Democratic leadership is collectively salivating at the prospect of increasing your taxes claiming they have no other choice.

A 64% increase in the gas tax is one of the frequently-mentioned proposals and illustrates how completely disconnected the Governor and Democratic leaders are from the people they were elected to serve. With, perhaps, the exception of Comptroller Franchot who has said the tax should not be increased, yet. The Democratic leadership will tell you that this gas tax increase is desperately needed to fund transportation projects, ignoring the fact that the State Highway Administration was recently found to have hidden millions of dollars from the Board of Public Works while asking for millions in additional funding. The Maryland Department of Transportation needs to get its fiscal house in order before asking for more of your hard-earned money.

Gas prices directly impact our day to day lives, even when we don’t drive. Retailers and other businesses pay those higher gas prices and then pass those increased costs on to the consumer. Then we pay more for groceries, clothing, and other goods. People are already struggling to make ends meet, but for the Governor and the Democratic leadership the needs of Annapolis are more important. If that were not the case then why would they push for a 64% increase in the gas tax in a year that is forecast to be the worst with gas prices reaching over $4 and possibly $5 per gallon. Maryland’s average gas prices already increased by more than 10 cents in the first week of 2012 and yet they continue to press their case!

But it is not just the gas tax that the Democrats want to increase. There is much, much more. Here are just a few of the tax increases recommended over the last few months:

• 300% increase in the Bay Restoration Fee
• 100% increase in Emission Inspection Fees
• 50% increase in Vehicle Registration Fees
• 8% increase in the Vehicle Titling Tax

Keep in mind these proposals are on top of the toll increases that went into effect in 2011 – a 60% increase at the Bay Bridge alone which jumps another 50% in July of 2013 for a total increase of 140% by the end of the Governor’s term in office.

Not only that, but these proposals would also be stacked on top of the tax and fee increases passed during the 2011 Session; the doubling the Vehicle Titling Tax, the Vanity Plate Fee, Land Recording fees, Birth Certificate fees; the 38% increase in the Nursing Home Tax; the 50% sales tax increase on alcohol.

Every dollar that is paid in higher taxes, tolls, and fees is a dollar taken out of our economy – citizens have less money to spend and businesses have less money to hire. This seems to fly in the face of the Governor’s plans for job creation.

Get ready Maryland. The Democrats are heading back to Annapolis and their eyes are on your wallet. Can you afford to pay more?

Governor O’Malley – Just Out of Touch

Posted on May 16, 2011 by marylandhousegop

Governor O’Malley has proven that he is out of touch with the realities of ordinary life in Maryland.

With gas prices at $4 a gallon and climbing, Maryland drivers will soon experience even more pain courtesy of Governor O’Malley. Coming this fall, they will be subject to whopping toll increases – a 100% increase at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge alone. Not only that, but O’Malley is already laying the groundwork to push for an increased tax on gas during the fall Special Session. This is all coming at a time when Maryland’s economy is hurting and ordinary citizens are having trouble finding jobs. Maryland’s unemployment rate is 7.3%, and that isn’t likely to improve any time soon with major companies like Northrop Grumman planning to cut over 200 jobs in Maryland by the end of the month. This in addition to the 600 voluntary buyouts the company has planned in our state. Last year, that company chose to locate its headquarters in Virginia rather than in Maryland. With Maryland ranked as the 45^th worst state to do business in, it’s likely that other large companies will be making choices similar to the one Northrop Grumman made, forcing out-of-work Marylanders to either commute or re-locate out of state.

Perhaps the reason that the governor seems so out of touch with the realities of Maryland employment numbers is that no one in his inner-circle has trouble finding jobs – in fact, several of them have been on the taxpayer dole for years. The Governor himself has gone from City Council to Mayor and then to Governor (and all the time he spends picking on Governor Chris Christie makes you think he’s looking for a national run sometime soon). First Lady Katie O’Malley received a Glendenning appointment to a 10-year term as an Associate Judge to the First District Court of Maryland in 2001. This was two years after her brother, Max Curran, received a Glendenning appointment to a 6-year term on the Maryland Public Service Commission. (Max by the way just landed a job with O’Malley Enemy #1, Constellation Energy. That should make family dinners interesting). Governor O’Malley’s father-in-law, Joseph Curran III, has been a Delegate, a Senator, and the longest-serving Attorney General in Maryland’s history. Not wanting his father in law to get bored counting his pension dollars, O’Malley appointed Curran to chair the Sex Offender Advisory Board. But, the nepotism doesn’t stop there. The Gov’s baby brother, Peter O’Malley not content in his post at the Maryland Democratic Party, is about to start a new job as Chief of Staff for the Mayor of Baltimore. It isn’t hard to find work when you know people.

But you know, maybe we’re being too hard on the Governor. After all, he wants to give you a job too (well, if your name is Jeeves that is). A job listing posted Thursday on the Department of General Services website seeks a Housekeeper/Butler for Government House, the home of Maryland’s governor. Starting in the mid-$30,000s, the salary is negotiable. So nice that he could open his doors and hire one of the unwashed masses. If you’re having problems finding a job because Martin O’Malley has run employers out of the state, don’t worry! The Governor has a job for you, provided of course that you don’t mind washing the “First Underpants”.