The Anti-Business, Anti-Worker, Anti-Consumer General Assembly.
The General Assembly overrode Governor Ehrlich's veto of the so-called Fair Share Health Care Bill Tonight. Tomorrow, they will certainly override the Governor's veto of a minimum wage hike. And now we find out what the consequences will we see with government meddling in the affairs of private industry.
With the Wal-Mart bill, the most upfront and obvious consequence will deal with Wal-Mart itself. What happens to the distribution center that was proposed on the Eastern Shore? It could be dead, as a company spokesman was quoted in the Sun article that they now see the project "through a different set of lenses."
What about the cost to consumers? Wal-Mart stores in Maryland will almost have to raise prices in order to cover these costs. Will Wal-Mart close underperforming stores? How will this impact consumers who may be forced to pay higher prices at competing stores?
And what about the cost to workers? Will Wal-Mart hire fewer workers in the coming years? Will Wal-Mart be forced to lay-off workers to cover the cost of this law?
The Minimum Wage hike could have its own disastrous consequences, particularly for small businesses. How many workers are going to be denied jobs due to this wage increase? How many people will lose jobs? How many will see their hours cut in order to deal with the hike? How many small businesses will have to raise prices to cover these costs? How many businesses will go belly-up? The irony, as noted before, is that minimum wage hikes tend to cost workers jobs more than raise any standards of living.
The Fact of the matter is that once again the General Assembly is marching to the tune of a warped drummer. There may be no legislative body in our nation that is more opposed to free markets than ours. There may be no legislative body that is more opposed to consumers paying low prices and having more choices than ours. There may be no state legislature anywhere that does less for its small businesses and small business owners than right here in Maryland. Only in Maryland do legislators believe that they know more about how business owners large and small should run their companies than the owners do, and legislate accordingly.
The real consequence for this week's overrides? The General Assembly may have single-handedly decided re-elected Governor Ehrlich. Voters are on to their charade, and they understand that the Democratic leadership in Annapolis has only political interests in mind, not the interests of workers, consumers and business owners. Those voters will side with the Governor this fall, and hopefully they will send to Annapolis enough legislators to uphold this Governor's vetoes for the next four years.
And while the political consequences of the Governor's re-election and more Republican legislators appeals to me, I wish it did not come at such a high price to the constituents that the Democrats sold down the river.
With the Wal-Mart bill, the most upfront and obvious consequence will deal with Wal-Mart itself. What happens to the distribution center that was proposed on the Eastern Shore? It could be dead, as a company spokesman was quoted in the Sun article that they now see the project "through a different set of lenses."
What about the cost to consumers? Wal-Mart stores in Maryland will almost have to raise prices in order to cover these costs. Will Wal-Mart close underperforming stores? How will this impact consumers who may be forced to pay higher prices at competing stores?
And what about the cost to workers? Will Wal-Mart hire fewer workers in the coming years? Will Wal-Mart be forced to lay-off workers to cover the cost of this law?
The Minimum Wage hike could have its own disastrous consequences, particularly for small businesses. How many workers are going to be denied jobs due to this wage increase? How many people will lose jobs? How many will see their hours cut in order to deal with the hike? How many small businesses will have to raise prices to cover these costs? How many businesses will go belly-up? The irony, as noted before, is that minimum wage hikes tend to cost workers jobs more than raise any standards of living.
The Fact of the matter is that once again the General Assembly is marching to the tune of a warped drummer. There may be no legislative body in our nation that is more opposed to free markets than ours. There may be no legislative body that is more opposed to consumers paying low prices and having more choices than ours. There may be no state legislature anywhere that does less for its small businesses and small business owners than right here in Maryland. Only in Maryland do legislators believe that they know more about how business owners large and small should run their companies than the owners do, and legislate accordingly.
The real consequence for this week's overrides? The General Assembly may have single-handedly decided re-elected Governor Ehrlich. Voters are on to their charade, and they understand that the Democratic leadership in Annapolis has only political interests in mind, not the interests of workers, consumers and business owners. Those voters will side with the Governor this fall, and hopefully they will send to Annapolis enough legislators to uphold this Governor's vetoes for the next four years.
And while the political consequences of the Governor's re-election and more Republican legislators appeals to me, I wish it did not come at such a high price to the constituents that the Democrats sold down the river.
posted by Brian Griffiths at 10:39 PM
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