A Jobs Policy that will actually put people to work

Have you taken a look yet at Governor Ehrlich's Entrepreneur Agenda? You should, because it's the first time any statewide leaders have seriously come forth to address job creation to combat the O'Malley Recession:



Bob Ehrlich actually wants to do something to create an economic environment that will employ more Marylanders and improve the economic situation for Maryland's middle class families. Nothing sums up the current plight of small business owners than this:

Turning the economic tide requires a new approach to small business owners, who currently employ 1.2 million Marylanders. Since announcing his candidacy for Governor, Bob Ehrlich has met with more than 100 local entrepreneurs to discuss the hardships they face in Maryland. Nearly all of them believe they are an afterthought in the eyes of state government, and relay tales of being ignored, harassed, or given conflicting guidance from their state government.

And we are going to be able to do this through:

• Creating an attitude more conducive to small business development throughout State Government;
• Reversing the 20-percent sales tax, both as an incentive to bring small business back to Maryland, but to also provide a greater stimulus to spending an a better economic picture for Maryland families;
• Review current policies that bring irreparable harm to small businesses;
• Actually meeting with and discussing small business policies with small business owners.
  

In a nutshell, the next Ehrlich Administration will make owning a small business and creating jobs in Maryland easier. That is a far cry from what the O'Malleynomic antics of the current regime.

Why is this important? Because this is what the people want to talk about. The only thing that people around the state want to talk about right now is jobs, jobs, and jobs. The people of Maryland are fed up with Martin O'Malley and his inability to create a strong economic climate, and the people are fed up with Martin O'Malley and his administration continuing to adopt policies that harm the plight of Maryland's middle and working class families. And they are tired of Martin O'Malley trying to say that he's a jobs governor when so many Marylanders are unemployed due to his fiscal irresponsibility.

In the meantime, O'Malley flack Rick Abbruzzese has the unfortunate task of responding on behalf of the O'Malley-Brown campaign and hoping that his nose didn't grow:

"This is not a plan. Bob Ehrlich's so-called plan is all talk and no action - he is proposing a commission, a summit, a task force, three reviews and two explorations, but nothing to actually create jobs or help small businesses struggling because of the global recession."

Here's the pot calling the kettle block; because it was just last week that Martin O'Malley, after three years of destroying jobs, finally realized that jobs would be an issues in the campaign and responded by.....proposing a commission.

"This lip service is insulting because Maryland's small businesses and families expect and deserve more from a former governor. As governor, Bob Ehrlich actually proposed the largest-ever increase in state spending and increased taxes and fees that hurt Maryland's small businesses and families, while benefiting special interests. Now as a lobbyist, Bob Ehrlich has spent the last four years helping his clients export American jobs, bail out Wall Street banks, and defend giant oil companies.

Well, give the O'Malley/Democrat coordinated campaign one thing; they are coordinated. Never mind the fact that O'Malley and the Democrats are kings of special interests, the kings and queens of lobbying, and of course the drainers of oil recovery funds. But hey...Team O'Malley never let the facts get in the way of their goals, right?

"In stark contrast, Governor O'Malley has delivered results, including the Job Creation and Recovery Tax Credit to put unemployed Marylanders back to work and a rapid response small business loan guaranty program to get credit flowing again to our small businesses."

Martin O'Malley did in fact deliver results, if your idea of "results" is thousands of closed businesses, forcing Marylanders out of state, record unemployment, unconscionable and immoral tax increases, reduced tax revenues, and record budget shortfalls . To put it bluntly, the only result Martin O'Malley has delivered has proof that he is unprepared to lead Maryland out of the fiscal mess he has created.

Voters have a choice in this election. A choice between sticking with Martin O'Malley and his recession, or choosing Bob Ehrlich and change that will benefit all Marylanders. Click here to help Governor Ehrlich make that change.

Google-perplexing

It its clearly obvious that the people in Martin O'Malley's office do not know how to use Google.

Martin O'Malley, in his continuing effort to try to cover up the fact that he has destroyed more Maryland jobs than any other Governor in the nation, launched a new O'Malleynomic initiative today:

At remarks made this morning at a conference in Rockville, Gov. Martin O'Malley was expected to announce an administrative and legislative initiative to spur venture capital investment in Maryland's technology sector.

The program is called "InvestMaryland" and it will be run by the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development.

The governor called it "a public-private partnership to fuel venture capital investment in our innovation economy, such as bioscience companies," according to prepared remarks given to The Baltimore Sun.

So what in O'Malley's mind how will this program work? The Sun comes through with his explanation:

Insurance companies will be eligible for state issued tax credits and in turn they would invest dollars today in Maryland’s venture infrastructure. These credits will be deferred until 2015. A minimum of half these investments will flow into the Maryland Venture Fund. The balance will flow into Maryland based venture capital firms for the purposes of getting critical capital to Maryland businesses so they can create jobs and advance innovation in fields like the biosciences.

So what does it actually mean in the real world? Red Maryland has you covered with exclusive coverage of Martin O'Malley's internal monologue:

We will convince insurance companies to invest money in the state of Maryland and hope that they notice that the Governor has no pants and the effect of this program won't take effect until any potential O'Malley second term is over, when they realize that Martin O'Malley has no idea what he is doing when it comes to economic growth and development; in reality, venture capital will flow to Virginia where local and state political leaders actual welcome companies with policies that encourage job creation and economic development. But it's OK......because chicks dig me because I'm in a band.

Right....

Anyhoo, the name of this program is very curious because the name "Invest Maryland" has a history in this state when it comes to investing in our state. And it's not a good one:

Invest Maryland sued by state Suit alleges company misled investors refunds are sought September 19, 1995|By Kim Clark | Kim Clark,SUN STAFF The state's top securities regulator yesterday sued Invest Maryland Corp., charging that the Annapolis-based company misled investors who put up seed money to start a combined life insurer, stock brokerage and buffalo burger fast-food chain. In a 29-page civil complaint, Securities Commissioner Robert N. McDonald asked the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court to appoint a receiver to manage the company and to order Invest Maryland to offer refunds to investors. In a separate action, the commissioner yesterday also gave Invest Maryland Chairman Dennis K. McLaughlin 15 days to show cause why he shouldn't be barred from engaging in securities or investment activities in Maryland. Mr. McDonald said in the administrative order that he took the actions because he had "determined that [Mr. McLaughlin] engaged in dishonest or unethical practices in the securities business by offering and selling securities in violation" of the state securities law. Attorneys for Invest Maryland executives didn't return messages asking for comment last night.

Now you would think that the O'Malley team, in their infinite wisdom, would not name some pie in the sky venture capital scheme after a failed pie in the sky venture capital scheme from fifteen years ago. I mean, it takes two minutes to find this stuff on Google. But then again.....nobodoy, least of all people like us, have considered that Team O'Malley knows the slightest thing about job creation and putting people back to work. O'Malley and company has done a fantastic job putting people out of work and creating a less favorable economic climate for Maryland's middle and working class families. But actually bringing jobs to Maryland? No.

To put it simply; if Martin O'Malley's economic team can't figure out Google, how can they figure out the economy?

Slick Spots

Martin O'Malley's endorsement of union violence isn't the only bad decision that's coming back to bite him. After all, his pronouncements about oil washing up on Maryland's shores sure looks stupid considering it was O'Malley who took over 20 percent of the state's Oil Disaster Cleanup Fund to cover his excessive spending in other areas.

Of course, we have documented Martin O'Malley's irresponsible budgeting for some time now. Maybe O'Malley doesn't understand that you have contingency funds such as the Oil Disaster Cleanup Fund in case of a contingency such as the need to fund an Oil Disaster Cleanup, not to line the pockets of the union thugs and special interests who support his candidacy.

With Martin O'Malley in Annapolis, you get a Governor who never has your best interests at heart. It's past time to put the adults back in charge in Annapolis. Just another reason Red Maryland backs Bob.

They Just Don't Get It

Some people just don't get it. I refer you to the latest comments by Adam Pagnucco as it relates to budget and taxation here in Maryland.

On a post in which in he is discussing the shifting of teacher pensions from a state to a county responsibility, Pagnucco drops the following:

If Montgomery wants to preserve the quality of its schools, it must put up a tough fight and negotiate only when it has maximum leverage. That point is not now, but next year, when the next Governor – whoever it is – will have to pass a tax and spending package to deal with Maryland’s long-term budget deficits. Such a package cannot pass without MoCo’s votes.

Um.....what?

That point is not now, but next year, when the next Governor – whoever it is – will have to pass a tax and spending package to deal with Maryland’s long-term budget deficits.

There is only one problem with Pagnucco's broadbrushed statement.

It's not true.

What is the main reason why Pagnucco's statement bunk? It has nothing to do with the fact that Governor Ehrlich (who, by the way, will be Governor again next year) opposes the broad based tax and spending package that Pagnucco is suggesting. It has nothing to do with the fact that Governor O'Malley has presided over the least fiscally responsible administration in the history of the state, or the fact that O'Malley has engineered a series of immoral and irresponsiblie tax increases that has crippled our state financially.

It's the fact that, as many liberals continue to do, Pagnucco relies on the failed notion of taxes and spending being the solution to deal with our budget problems. People failed to realize that the time for Kenyes still passed.

What's more absurd is the fact that Pagnucco's premise continues to go with the theory that only through higher taxes and increased state spending. Hello? Isn't that the kind of policy on which Governor O'Malley's administration has be predicated upon? All O'Malley has done during his time as Governor is raise taxes, raise spending, and fail to take respoonsible steps to protect the fiscal health of this state.

Liberals like Pagnucco just don't get it. There is another way. Whomever is Governor in 2011 should take broad steps to reduce state spending and lower our taxes. Taxes at the very least should be returned to pre-O'Malley levels, in an effort to the middle and working class families that Maryland Democrats seem hellbent on destroying. Our spending plan should be rebuilt from the ground-up to ensure that only legitimate priorities and not Democratic special interests are receiving the bulk of our funding. And the Governor, whomever it is, should take broad steps to begin reducing the size of our state government. Maryland's government has for far too long been too big for its britches; we need a smaller, mor efficient government that only provides necessary services to the people of Maryland.

Maryland's middle and working class families, the ones who have been so hurt by Martin O'Malley's recklessness, knows that higher taxes are not the answer. If liberal opinion makers such as Pagnucco don't come to grips with the fact that there is an alternative to higher taxes and more spending....the people of Maryland will leave them in the dust.

Deschenaux questions O'Malley Budget

Last week I called Martin O'Malley's budget irresponsible budgeting. Warren Deschenaux, the General Assembly's Chief Budget analyst, seems to agree:

Maryland lawmakers should consider a Plan B in case the roughly $389 million in federal stimulus funds Gov. Martin O'Malley is counting on to balance the state's budget doesn't materialize, the General Assembly's top budget analyst said Monday.

"Some have questioned whether that money is reliably in the bank," Warren G. Deschenaux said at a hearing. "I would say that is not a certainty. The question then is: What to do about it?"

Deschenaux also warned that the roughly $442 million in cash infusions from previously untouchable parts of the budget that O'Malley uses to help close the revenue hole "amounts to an erosion of accounting standards." But he stopped short of ruling the transfers out-of-bounds, saying they had been used during past downturns to keep services going.

"We've been doing this for a long time," he said. "There is very little that is actually new in terms of the thinking underlying the 'found money' aspect of this budget."

"An erosion of accounting standards." Seems like a synonym for irresponsible budgeting for me.

The question, of course, is what the General Assembly is going to be with Deschenaux's assessment, particularly in regards to the $389 million in Monopoly money that O'Malley invented in order to cover this budget shortfall. When the General Assembly's own policy analysts are telling them that a budget seems to be relying on gimmicks, smoke, and mirrors it (should) be incumbent upon them to make appropriate cuts in order to pass a responsible budget.

But I'm not holding my breath...

O'Malley loses The Sun

You have to know that the budgetary mess that Governor O'Malley has created for the people of Maryland is bad when even the Sun attacks his budgetary shenanigans, labeling his budget as one held together by "Chewing gum and bailing wire":

Governor O'Malley's spending plan would, if all goes according to plan, leave $274 million in the state's bank account at the end of fiscal 2011. That's good. It would also leave the rainy day fund alone, also a fine thing. After that, things go south -- and fast.

The Department of Budget and Management predicts that Maryland will be $1.5 billion in the hole in fiscal 2012, followed by shortfalls of $2.1 billion, $2.2 billion and $2.5 billion. Former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. complained that his predecessor left him with $4 billion in out-year deficits, and Governor O'Malley complained that Mr. Ehrlich left him with $3 billion in shortfalls. But with this spending plan, Mr. O'Malley saddles himself or his successor with an $8.3 billion problem. The governor said putting together this budget plan was painful, but it's peanuts compared to what's coming in the future if something doesn't change.

The editorial goes on to point out, much like we did earlier, that the O'Malley budget plan is an irresponsible budget saddled with gimmicks instead of solutions:

The answer is that too many of the solutions he has employed are one-time tactics, not long-term fixes. For example, the governor saves $330 million in the fiscal 2011 budget by keeping most aid to local governments funded at the already-reduced level they are at now. But in subsequent years, that aid is expected to grow by 5.9 percent a year. He saves $78 million through continuations of employee furloughs, but that isn't a permanent solution either. He shifts money from special funds, like those dedicated to preserving open space, into the general fund and pays for those programs through the the state's capital budget, effectively borrowing money for them. Because they displace other capital projects, they won't increase the state's debt burden, but nonetheless, Maryland's debt service payments are expected to grow by hundreds of millions of dollars in the future.

Now in fairness, the Sun went on to attack Republicans by saying their criticism "rings a bit hollow, since they have offered few concrete ideas for reducing spending." Of course, there are tons of Republican ideas for cutting spending, none of which get a fair shake in the General Assembly. But the fact that a Sun editorial actually calls out O'Malley for his reckless spending and his inability to get our budgetary situation under control really should give the O'Malley Administration at least a bit of understanding about how far off the reservation that they have truly wandered....

When you look up irresponsible budgeting in the dictionary, you see a picture of Martin O'Malley playing his guitar

Not to take away from the zeitgeist of Scott Brown's epic victory in Massachusetts tonight, but take a look at the latest budget shenanigans from the office of Martin O'Malley:

Gov. Martin O'Malley plans to rely on a billion dollars in one-time accounting maneuvers to help balance next year's $13 billion state operating budget, avoiding deep cuts to services in an election year.

The strategy drew immediate concern from critics, particularly Republicans, who say the Democratic governor is deferring tough decisions.

O'Malley presented a broad outline Tuesday of how he plans to fill a $2 billion gap between revenues and expenditures in the spending plan he is required to submit to the General Assembly today.

And what is going to take the brunt of the Governor's budget axe? Health care and state workers, naturally:

He proposes steep cuts to to hospitals, and wants to continue this year's plan which forced state workers to take up to 10 days off without pay. Counties would receive the same reduced amounts of local aid and highway money they got this year.

And sometimes we joke about politicians trying to play with imaginary money when using their budget protections, but Martin O'Malley is actually budgeting using imaginary money!

O'Malley is also banking on Congress approving a new package of emergency assistance to states grappling with the worst economic downturn since the Depression. The governor allocates $389 million he believes the state would receive from that program if it materializes.

What planet is Governor O'Malley living on? He wants to cut aid to hospitals, but talk about expanding health care. He wants to confiscate two weeks worth of pay from state workers, but continue to expand the state bureaucracy, all while trying to be a "jobs Governor" as he runs for re-election. Most laughably of all, he wants to stick it to unionized state workers by (let me say this again) confiscating their pay but expect that SEIU and AFSCME will gladly and cheerfully give their money and time to his re-election efforts this fall.

You know, we have talked about O'Malleynomics for a long, long time as Martin O'Malley has smoked and mirrored his way through the first three years of his administration. But just when you think his budgeting skills can't get any worse, they do. All while trying to use Monopoly money to make it all work.

The General Assembly needs to force Governor O'Malley to make the tough decisions when it comes to passing a budget. We cannot afford to continue this gimmicked budgeting, and we need real solutions to dealing with our budget woes. And those solutions cannot be created on the backs of Maryland State Workers: regardless of whether or not state government is too big, it is irresponsible to take money out of the pockets of these workers who are serving the state of Maryland.

The O'Malley Budget is just the latest in a round of budgeting decisions that eschew responsibility and take money directly out of the pockets of state workers who make up a sizable chunk of Maryland's middle and working class families. And I have a feeling that voters are getting tired of the O'Malley Charade...

State needs to help roll film

I just wanted to expand upon something that we discussed yesterday on the Ehrlichs Radio Show about Martin O'Malley's work to eliminate the film production tax credit.

For those of you who don't know, Governor Ehrlich worked with folks in Hollywood during his administration in an effort to procure more film business for the state of Maryland, and established a tax credit for the first $6 million that a production company spent to film television shows and movies here in the state. When you consider the number of productions that have filmed here in Maryland (from the good, to the bad, to the demented) providing more incentives for production companies to do business here in Maryland seems like a pretty good idea.

Except it didn't seem like a good idea to Martin O'Malley, who worked to axe the tax credit.....never mind the fact that the cost to the state, in the grand scheme of things, was relatively minuscule.

Why is a tax credit important? Because it provides one huge incentive for production companies to do business here in Maryland. And when you talk about mid-size to major studio productions, that business provides a sizable impact to the state. I'm not sure how many readers have been on a movie set, but I got the opportunity to be an extra in a terrible Winona Ryder film that was filmed at Camp Fretterd. And there were hundreds of people working on that film at any given time; even David Paulson managed to get a gig with the film. And those hundreds working on the film didn't even include all of the other ancillary business that was attracted by the film; food purchases, hardware purchases, port-a-potty rentals, etc.

And those benefits are even greater if the state can attract an episodic television show to the area. While movies only need to film roughly 90 minutes of footage one time, episodic television creates about 26 hours of programming for every season. That means long-term, stable economic development in the area a film is being shot on location; you can't tell me that city businesses in locations around Baltimore didn't feel a sizable economic uptick that was directly attributal to the production of Homicide or The Wire.

If Governor O'Malley suddenly now wants to become a jobs Governor, why did he work to eliminate a tax credit that created jobs? Skilled labor that works in the film industry cannot survive the reduction in jobs that are available due to the elimination of the tax credit, which hurts union film workers. And the reduction winds up hurting small businesses. A small business owner from Baltimore County who owns a local production company that works on documentaries called into the show yesterday and noted that the elimination of the tax credit hurts his labor pool and his bottom line since so much skilled talent has left to the state. And that doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of the small business owners who run the flower shops and the food stores and the port-a-potty companies that would be hired to work on these productions.

Maryland remains attractive as a location for film companies; our state needs to be doing more to attract these large productions and the jobs and economic impact that comes with them...

Not Good Enough

Well it looks like the General Assembly's Spending Affordability Committee has advised Governor O'Malley to freeze state spending when he introduces his FY2011 budget next month. And while I commend the fact that even legislative Democrats realize our spending growth has gotten untenable, it still is not enough action being taken on the part of the legislature.

Fortunately, Republicans on the Committee tried to show Democrats the way:

Republicans rebuked O'Malley and Democratic leaders, accusing them of fiscal mismanagement. Some contend the state shouldn't accept federal stimulus funding, while others predict Democrats will temporarily reduce spending next year and then propose tax increases after the November 2010 election to fix a structural deficit.

A GOP proposal before the spending committee sought a 7 percent decrease in year-over-year spending. It failed on a party-line vote.

Nobody is surprised that this failed on a party line vote. But it is absolutely correct that state cannot and should not maintain spending at it's current levels. Spending has already increased over the past several years at levels that we cannot afford. And that spending problem is only partially the result of the national economy. As we have noted again, and again, and again, the reasons Maryland has a spending affordability problem are:

• Unnecessary increases in social spending, that led to;
• Historic and immoral tax increases, that led to;
• Lower revenue and a higher costs for Maryland's small businesses, that led to;
• Fewer jobs and a higher cost of living for Maryland's middle and working class families, that led to;
• Lower tax revenues.

And of course we have talked extensively about wasteful spending and tax policy before.

The State of Maryland has a spending problem and our legislative leadership needs to cut spending. NOW. And until Martin O'Malley and the General Assembly decide to do right by Maryland's middle and working class families, Maryland will continue to have spending affordability and revenue problems.

Marylanders need responsible leadership. We get that chance in 2010...

And Jim Zorn is the NFL Coach of the Year....

Four-and-a-half years ago, Time magazine named then-Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley as one of America's five best big city mayors. I noted at the time that Time must be setting low standards to credit O'Malley as being good at his job.

Fast forward back to today, and you would be shocked and appalled to discover that Governing magazine has named Martin O'Malley one of their 2009 Public Officials of the Year.

Seriously:

Everyone knows Martin O'Malley is a numbers guy. The data-driven approach to policy and administration that he created as mayor of Baltimore, known as "CitiStat," has been copied by cities across the country. Now, as governor of Maryland, O'Malley is showing that states, too, can improve performance by measuring what they do and relentlessly monitoring their progress.

Emphasis mine. Because I'm not exactly sure what progress we are improving upon here in Maryland thanks to O'Malley and any of his metrics.

Frankly, somebody needs to get the guy a calculator and a clue so he might realize that spending more than you make is an irresponsible, reckless, and immature way to run a government.

The Governing article gets even deeper with O'Malley in an extended interview that has some, well, enlightening comments.

So as you're tackling these big jobs, how do you keep everyone focused and keep morale up when the budget situation is so tough?

I think there's two things that allow us to stay focused as we're jumping these budgetary bowling balls that keep coming down the gutter at us: It's clarity about the big goals — sustainability, security and skills — and it's the relentless stat meetings.

I ask you this; is a Governor who is so focused on his band really able to keep his entire administration focused on public service?

Next, we get to Martin O'Malley's thoughts on power and "being mean":

But how do you know when to back off a little and when to lean in?

When you actually hold the power, I don't think you ever have to be cruddy or mean. I appoint judges, and that's one of the things that I share with them. If you're wearing the black robe you don't have to be cruddy or mean, you've got the power.

Hasn't Martin O'Malley made a career of being cruddy, mean, petty, immature, irresponsible, and a bunch of other adjectives that you could insert here? O'Malley has some of the thinnest skin in the history of Maryland politics, and loathes it when he doesn't get his way. Just look at his shakedown of Constellation Energy and you will see a Governor who is more petulant than poised, and more concerned in political posturing that doing real work for real people.

And furthermore, you will note in the original that O'Malley himself put an emphasis on the phrase "you've got the power." You can draw your own conclusions of O'Malley's views on government intrusion and the scope and size of government from that little emphasis on that little word.

Then, the subject turns to the budget and the economy, and O'Malley continues to show that he has been living in some fiscal wonderland that the rest of us are not privy to:

We did a lot of things prior to getting hit with this recession. When we came in, we had what was primarily a structural deficit, not a cyclical deficit. That was the result of Democrats and Republicans alike, who had voted for huge increases in education investments, the cost of which they knew wouldn't come ashore for another five or six years, while simultaneously voting for 10 percent cuts to revenues. And so we had to address that utterly irresponsible fiscal math, and we chose to do that in a special session eight months into my first year.

Yes, he somehow managed to squander a $1.2 billion surplus eight months into his term. It was amazing and stupefying, yet he was able to pull it off. That leads us to....

Most of us remember it as a really miserable session — there was nothing terribly special about it. But we looked at virtually every revenue source available, the primary one being the sales tax. So we raised that by a penny. We also put in place a progressive income tax for the first time in Maryland's history, where we asked higher-earning folks in our state to pay a little more than a single parent who might make only $30,000 a year. And we also increased our corporate income tax by 1 percent. Those were some of the things that we did. And as difficult as it was, the fact that we did them before the recessionary tsunami hit has stood us well.

Yeah, it was a miserable session alright; mainly for Maryland's middle and working class families who have been suffering at the hands of Governor O'Malley's recklessness and incompetence. Higher and higher taxes continue to slow our economy, drive jobs out of state, and force middle class Marylanders into continued economic uncertainty, but Martin O'Malley thinks that this is a good thing. And what's even more delusional is the fact that Martin O'Malley thinks that Maryland's fiscal situation is good right now. He raises billions in new taxes, adds billions in new spending, wonders why the math doesn't work out, and then in an Orwellian fashion declares the crisis managed and that victory has been won. It's surreal.

Finally, as is Governor O'Malley hadn't already shown how divorced he was from reality, comes this:

In talking to some of the Republicans in the legislature, while they complain about Democratic dominance they do say that your administration is at least approachable. What's your basic strategy when it comes to working with the legislature?

I was elected following a term of tremendous polarization. It was almost the Newt Gingrich sort of thing, that you'd better not be seen having lunch with people that are not of your party. So I've tried to bring us together, and to underscore that we're one Maryland and we're all in this together. I do understand that each legislator is individually elected and each has a vision that they bring into government.

A Maryland Democrat talking about polarization is so incredibly comical, given the fact that it was Democratic leadership in Annapolis that refused to work with Governor Ehrlich when he came to them with a collaborative approach. In the time since O'Malley has taken office, he has taken a my way or the highway approach, particularly with Republican leadership in Annapolis; how many times over the years has Republican leadership been completely left out of the conversation, particularly when it comes to important issues such as taxation, the budget, and health care.

Sure, there are some Republicans who for whatever reason will give O'Malley cover and vote for his plans. But I think it is safe to say that Martin O'Malley has presided over the greatest partisan divide in Annapolis in my lifetime.

The fact of the matter is that this article in Governing has shown that the O'Malley camp is doing a nice job of pulling the wool over the eyes of people who don't see how he operates on a day-to-day basis, nor people who are living here in the state of Maryland. We see the kind of petulance, incompetence, and indifference that comes out of the O'Malley Administration on a Daily Basis. We see the middle and working class families who are struggling to make ends meet as they suffering from higher taxation and fewer job opportunities. We see state employees suffering furloughs because of lower than expected tax revenues due to businesses, people, and jobs leaving the state in droves.

It makes you wonder how any objective observer could recognize O'Malley's "Accomplishments". I suppose there is hope for Jim Zorn yet...

Other People's Money

Who else is stunned by this development?

A union representing more than 30,000 Maryland state employees asked Gov. Martin O'Malley on Thursday to tap into the state's $750 million rainy day fund to help avoid deeper cuts to state services. Patrick Moran, executive director of the Maryland chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, held a news conference Thursday with dozens of union members, who held up signs that read: "It's Raining." State officials avoid using the fund, fearing the state would to lose its Triple-A bond rating, which enables Maryland to borrow money at a more favorable rate.

I am glad that the Union at least can acknowledge when it's raining, but this is one of those metaphorical time when somebody is trying to piss on your head and tell you it's raining.

The rainy day fund exists when the state is short on money. This is true. However, financial mismanagement and incompetence by Governor O'Malley and his allies in the State House is no excuse to dip into the rainy day fund. It's very easy for AFSCME to call for O'Malley to take money out of the rainy day fund because it's other people's money; money that was collected in taxes at a time in which the state was collecting more money from the taxpayers than it was spending. The money was put aside for an emergency; a real emergency.

AFSCME trying to protect its flank in order to save union jobs in a bloated state government? That's not an emergency...

Governor O'Malley would be right to refute calls to dip into the rainy day fund in an order to cover the costs of his own mistakes. But there is an opportunity in this, but only if Governor O'Malley learns the lessons from his prior mistakes, reduces state spending, and reduces the size of Maryland state government. However, I'm sure the political pressures from his union allies to spend other people's money to protect their hide will take precedence over such common sense ideas...

Fitting

Adam Pagnucco reported on Friday about Governor O'Malley's fundraiser that was scheduled for today...........in South Beach...........at a place called "The Meat Market."

The jokes just write themselves at this point.

What's not quite as funny, though, is this thought: what is Governor O'Malley doing going to South Beach to raise money at a time in which Maryland's middle and working class families are suffering from his incompetent leadership?

.....or are business owners and Democrats in South Beach merely thanking Governor O'Malley for driving more and more businesses out of Maryland, improving the business and economic climate of states like Florida?

Either way, I am glad to see that Governor O'Malley had the economic resources to fly down to South Beach while so many of Maryland's families are suffering due to the Governor's inability to control spending and his never ending desire to raise taxes on the middle class.

Now and Then

Remember the good old days, say about 2006, when Bob Ehrlich was in the process of leaving Maryland with a $1.2 billion budget surplus at the end of his term? You're right, it wasn't that long ago, and it really just emphasizes how bad of a steward Martin O'Malley is with your money when a $2 billion budget shortfall is staring us in the face.

We as conservatives and Republicans can jump up and down in the face and say I told you so. We told you that the Democrats spending plans were going to bankrupt the state. We told you that the historic and immoral tax hikes from the 2007 Special Session were going to dry up revenues. And now it seems like every day we are being proven right.

But none of that is going to provide responsible fiscal leadership here in Maryland. Martin O'Malley has shown time and time again that he does not care about the interests of Maryland's middle and working class families. Nor has Governor O'Malley shown the ability to learn from his mistakes.

Unfortunately, just being right on the issues isn't enough in a state like Maryland. So what you need to do is to go ask your friends, your neighbors, your colleagues, one simple question.

Is Maryland better off now than it was three years ago?

Hope and Change Pain

It is obvious to everybody that President Obama's handling of the economy leaves much to be desired. With monetary giveaways to any company with their handout, our "investment" in the auto industry, and record deficits on the way, Obama's fiscal policy seems more like a call for the limbo than it is a plan for fiscal recovery.

And apparently, as I have noted before.....we've seen this movie:

Barack Obama is committing the same mistakes made by policymakers during the Great Depression, according to a new study endorsed by Nobel laureate James Buchanan.

His policies even have the potential to consign the US to a similar fate as Argentina, which suffered a painful and humiliating slide from first to Third World status last century, the paper says.

There are "troubling similarities" between the US President's actions since taking office and those which in the 1930s sent the US and much of the world spiralling into the worst economic collapse in recorded history, says the new pamphlet, published by the Institute of Economic Affairs.

In particular, the authors, economists Charles Rowley of George Mason University and Nathanael Smith of the Locke Institute, claim that the White House's plans to pour hundreds of billions of dollars of cash into the economy will undermine it in the long run. They say that by employing deficit spending and increased state intervention President Obama will ultimately hamper the long-term growth potential of the US economy and may risk delaying full economic recovery by several years.

The study represents a challenge to the widely held view that Keynesian fiscal policies helped the US recover from the Depression which started in the early 1930s. The authors say: "[Franklin D Roosevelt's] interventionist policies and draconian tax increases delayed full economic recovery by several years by exacerbating a climate of pessimistic expectations that drove down private capital formation and household consumption to unprecedented lows."

Well, that's a cheery way to spend your Labor Day. But I think it is incredibly illustrative of the arguments being put forth not just in Washington but also in Annapolis. Both Obama and O'Malley are hellbent on trying to spend our way to fiscal prosperity while, at the same time, making it harder and harder for middle and working class families to compete on a level paying field. Both the President and the Governor are taking us on a reckless fiscal course that will lead to higher deficits at the national level, long-term inflation, and a reduction in earnings and income for most Marylanders.

At the Maryland level, this is a particularly damning problem. With our state Constitution requiring balanced budgets, it is painfully obvious to everybody the danger that comes with proposed overspending. When you combine liberal belief in the myth that Maryland has a recession proof economy with a senseless devotion to Keynes, you wind up with a hyper-bloated state budget that requires piecemeal cuts. And Governor O'Malley, instead of showing leadership and reducing state spending and the size of state government, instead tries to finagle his way out of it.

In short, the fiscal policies of Barack Obama and Martin O'Malley are not sustainable, will cause more and more pain for middle and working class Marylanders and are designed to avoid the tough choices that these leaders need to be making.

On this Labor Day, I challenge Maryland's leaders at the federal and state level to figure out how exactly they are going to make life more affordable for Maryland's middle and working class families. Your reckless fiscal positions have gotten us to this point; so how do you plan on fixing it?

Memo to Governor O'Malley

Your counterpart in Indiana, Mitch Daniels is a pretty smart guy. Read this. You might learn something.

Never Ceasing to Amaze

This is not the first time we have heard Democrats float this idea, but it never ceases to amaze me that in the middle of a recession that has seen Democrats continue to put the financial hammer to middle and working class families, they want to tax us some more:

A Montgomery County delegate says that legislators should consider new taxes after revenue shortfalls forced Maryland to slash $736 million from its fiscal 2010 budget this summer.

"If our guiding principle is to protect those vulnerable among us, we need to look at revenue, because clearly our problem is a revenue problem," said Del. Roger Manno, who added that the legislature should "as soon as possible, take another look at revenue as opposed to cuts."

Yes, clearly what is called for right now when families are suffering is to make more families suffer, and to make families suffer more.

What is amazing about Del. Manno's attitude is the fact that we need to tax more in order to protect the vulnerable. What that assumes is that anybody who makes even a reasonable middle class living should be forced to subsidize not just the needs of the poor, but also the needs of the special interest groups that bend over backwards to support Democrats during election season. If Manno was not so oblivious to the needs of his constituents, he would do something constructive in order to "protect those vulnerable among us" by sticking to basic good government principles. And a good start to enact those good government principles would be to fight for smaller taxes and to eliminate the very same wasteful government spending that Manno belives we need to raise taxes in order to afford.

Yes, the likelihood of a tax increase during the 2010 General Assembly session is slim to none. But remember that the small minority of Democrats who are willing to admit that they want to raise taxes in the year before an eletion will become a thundering cacophony of tax-hiking Democrats come 2011.

We owe it to our neightbors to make sure that these slicksters don't deceive the electorate into thinking they are against tax hikes, and the electorate needs to be reminded that the historic O'Malley tax hikes and O'Malley deficit will be child's play compared to what will come in 2011 if Democrats are kept in control of our state through another election cycle.

Asking for It

So Governor O'Malley, devoid of any ideas of his own in how to manage a budget responsibly, is asking the public for their ideas on how to cut spending.

I have a funny feeling that I'm not the only conservative in Maryland who has ideas on how to accomplish this task. So maybe we all need to tell Governor O'Malley what he really doesn't want to hear.

Do your part over at http://www.governor.maryland.gov/budgetcuts.asp.

Peanuts

In Martin O'Malley's never ending quest to show he is incompetent when it comes to fiscal matters, he announced his plans to put a band-aid over a severed limb:

Health care providers who serve Medicaid patients will get paid less, the University System of Maryland will hire fewer faculty members and 40 state workers will lose their jobs as part of $280 million in budget cuts proposed by Gov. Martin O'Malley.

The Democratic governor has compiled a list of budget cuts to be presented today to the Board of Public Works, a three-member body that can approve midyear budget adjustments when the General Assembly is not in session.

But the cutbacks won't end there: O'Malley plans up to $470 million in further budget cuts before Labor Day. The next round of spending reductions will target aid to local governments and state employee compensation, O'Malley said during a news conference.

And what exactly is included in the current proposed reductions?

• Limiting how much Medicaid will pay for hospital stays over a certain length. Savings: $24 million
• Reducing funding for operating expenses at the University System of Maryland. Savings: more than $17 million
• Reducing the Maryland Lottery's advertising budget. Savings: $5.5 million
• Cutting funding for stem-cell research and Chesapeake Bay cleanup. Savings: $5 million
• Laying off 40 state workers

It's almost like Governor O'Malley is doing his part to do as little damage as possible now, in order to really have to do some financial jujitsu later.

Meanwhile, the adults are the only ones stating what's painfully obvious to the rest of Maryland:

The governor, who briefed reporters on his plan Tuesday afternoon, was harshly criticized afterward by Republicans for not acting more boldly.

"It appears to me to be inadequate and avoids the difficult decisions that need to be made," said House Minority Leader Anthony J. O'Donnell (R-Calvert), pointing to projections showing an even larger budget shortfall next year. "We are in dire financial straits, and the governor continues to fail to act."

It just continues to defy logic and explanation that Governor O'Malley refuses to face the facts that he has wrecked Maryland's economy. He continues to refuse to face that fact that his draconian and immoral tax hikes have stretched Maryland's taxpayers thin, and forced business to close or move out of state. And he refuses to take any preemptive measures to avoid near certain budget shortfalls in the future through adequate planning and fiscal prduence. Martin O'Malley is continuing to cut out peanuts when we desperately to take meat out of our budget.

Just once, I'd like Martin O'Malley to act like he gives a damn about the plight of our state and its taxpayers......

Pipe Dreams

The Sun had a reasonably written editorial this morning encouraging action that will not likely occur in this or any other universe; spending cuts by Maryland Democrats, including cuts to legislative scholarships, a roll-back to the tuition freeze, and a reduction in aid to local governments.

But let's take a look at Governor O'Malley's track record on this. Increasing health care spending in a fiscal crisis? Check. Pass prevailing wage laws to increase required spending on government contracts? Check. Billions to create a "biotech hub"? Check. And that's just a small sampling of the spending hikes that Governor O'Malley has foisted upon us, to say nothing of the tax hikes that have led to reduced tax revenues.

Sadly, we knew back in 2007 that Fiscal 2010 was going to be a tough year, yet Governor O'Malley and his partners in crime in Annapolis did nothing responsible about it. Why should we suspect that they'll start now?

The Governor needs to pay attention

How come it only ever seems like Governor O'Malley and his administration are surprised at the need for fiscal restraint, most recently shown through the announcement of an impending $700 million in cuts for the current fiscal year that would be coming down the pike?

How many times over the course of this economic downturn have Republicans, economists, and yes Maryland's conservative blogosphere, warned of the impending economic calamity from the imposition of O'Malleynomics here in Maryland? How many times did people note the folly of increasing discretionary spending during a budgetary deficit? How many times were Annapolis Democrats warned that drastic and immoral tax hikes during a recession would lead to a reduction in tax revenues (something that we have already seen this year)? How many times have people noted that the time Keynesian economics has passed, and its continued implementation would provide disastrous consequences to our state and its taxpayers?

Instead, Governor O'Malley insisted on continuing to raise taxes and to increase social spending in order to keep the coalition of interest groups that elected him in line. It's sad, it's objectionable, and it shows O'Malley's commitment to putting special interests ahead of the interests of Maryland's working and middle class families. Now, it looks like the Governor is actaully going to have to make cuts, which is a good thing except for one small fact.

O'Malley declined to detail specific cuts that he's considering but indicated it would be "impossible" to fully preserve budgeted spending for education, health and public safety because those areas comprise such a large part of the budget.

Two of those three are a severe problem, as two of the state's constitutional duties are to provide funding for public safety and for education. So instead of cutting spending or retreating on his silly list of 15 goals, he is going to really put the screws to the people and cut where it really hurts, presumably in a ruse designed to create popular support for a tax increase or to blame Bob Ehrlich for these cuts. Either way, O'Malley is (as usual) putting the political calculus ahead of the bottom line for Maryland's families.

I think the people are really starting to see through this charade. It is long past time that we return competent leadership to Annapolis. And Governor O'Malley is neither competent or a leader...