The Sun's Message

My RedMaryland colleague Mark Newgent talked about it earlier, but The Sun has a message for taxpayers; be quiet, pay up, and damn the Constitution:

Taxes in Maryland are going up this week. It's regrettable, but certainly no worse than any other price increase. Government has to be paid for the same as mortgages or milk. At least there's comfort in knowing that higher tax rates will allow the state to avert a projected $1.7 billion budget deficit next year. And everyone will be getting a bit more for the money - more aid for schools and colleges, more help with health care costs, better roads and transit.

The Sun's attitude here is sad and pathetic. There is no comfort in knowing that legislators voted to raise billions in new taxes to cover a "deficit" that could have been avoided with basic fiscal responsibility. And I'm not certainly getting more for my money. I'm not getting aid for college from the tax hikes. I'm not getting help with health care costs. Nothing can save transit so long as the Maryland Transit Administration is overseeing the Killing Fields on their systems. And many others in the working class and the middle class are seeing no benefit from the Democrats picking their pockets.

The editorial then goes on to be snarky about the GOP's participation in these tax hikes, and then the Sun proceeds to say this:

But the lawsuit would seek to scrap all of it for the flimsiest of reasons. The entire case centers on an obscure provision in the state constitution that says lawmakers in one chamber cannot adjourn for more than three days without a vote of assent from those of the other.

Now....this is kind of stunning. The Sun basically says that the General Assembly potentially violating the State Constitution is a "flimsy reason." That's really kind of amazing. And this is the same outfit that savagely criticizes the Bush Administration for violating "Constitutional Freedoms" that aren't actually in the Constitution. Under The Sun's logic, the General Assembly could suspend elections, or the writ of habeas corpus, and anybody going to court against the General Assembly in that regard would be trying to get those provisions overturned for "the flimsiest of reasons."

The Sun, as usual, have taken their marching orders from the Democratic Leadership and ran with them with absolutely no regard to how silly they look. Defending historic tax increases and talking about how wonderful than are does not constitute prize-winning opinion writing, just the regurgitation of talking points. And referring to potential violations of the Constitution as "flimsy" is just idiotic and beneath a "major" daily newspaper.