Avoidance

Fortunately, John Leopold was told to take his tax hike and shove it:

Anne Arundel County Council members yesterday scrapped the proposed boost in the hotel tax and severely scaled back an affordable housing initiative yesterday as part of a laundry list of cuts to afford a pared-down budget for the school system.

After two weeks of deliberations and hearings, school officials who met with the county auditor determined that they needed $21 million - not $51 million - to close a budget gap.

I'm not saying I necessarily support all of the Council's decisions: I mean, Kevin Maxwell has somewhat been rewarded for his bad behavior and fiscal mismanagement in this regard as well. But I am glad to see that both Republicans and Democrats united to find other contingencies in the budget, and told Leopold to keep his tax hike. And he doesn't like it one bit:

Mr. Leopold condemned the council's actions, calling them "indefensible."

"They've taken the cold fiscal reality of 2009 and made it decidedly colder for 2010," he said.

No, what is indefensible is Leopold, a self-proclaimed fiscal conservative, always resorting to tax increases to cover spending instead of presenting the County Council with a balanced, responsible budget. What is going to make 2010 cold for Leopold and for all of us is the fact that Leopold was able to pull the wool over Republican eyes in the 2006 primary.

Of course, on the issue of taxes John Leopold is the biggest con man in the Republican Party. Always talking about being tax averse and being for the taxpayer, then trying to find new and creative ways to take more and more money from taxpayers. And remember, this is the same Leopold that supports Martin O'Malley's tax policies.

Leopold's behavior on the issue of taxes betray him as the unrepentant liberal that he has always been....